Early July was hot here just like the entire east coast. Of course heat is relative, I am pretty sure that we did not break ninety degrees and most afternoons there was a sea breeze that dropped the temperature to more pleasant levels. Last weekend we had rain that has returnDon in door of Yukoned us to more normal temperatures and the forecast shows high temperatures around eighty for the next ten days.
Early July is filled with a variety of trips with every trip that Maine Outdoors offers being done at least once in two weeks or so.To me July 15th marks the middle of the summer season and it will not be long until Labor Day is behind us and the best weather of the year is here. If you have not already made plans to get out in the Maine Outdoors it is time!
Please drop me an e-mail or give me a call and let's arrange a date!
Just to prove that fishing is not always easy even for an experienced angler chasing what should be easy to catch perch. Over the weekend the rainstorm that broke our hot spell produced some very good fishing. Saturday on Megunticook Lake in Camden before the rain started was excellent with lots of bass coming to the boat including several good sized specimens. Sunday it poured but the fishing even in the rain was very good and it was one of those times that it seemed like only the bigger fish were feeding. A good number of large bass came to the boat and a couple of bigger ones unhooked themselves before arriving at the side of the boat.
Monday was a family perch fishing trip and I was expecting that it would be a snap after the success I had experienced over the weekend. Wrong again! I simply could not find a school of perch in any of my usual places. After moving a bunch and trying to get on the little smallmouth bass so the kids would catch something. I was able to locate a school of perch and everyone caught a bunch. As usual the best part was being able to see the fish congregate around the bait and then all rush in to grab it!
The parents of the young boys were great about the slow fishing early on. Telling me that this was actually better because they did not want the boys to think it was too easy. It was not easy but we were successful and the morning flew by!
Over the two weeks I have guided a variety of fishing trips and can say without a doubt that we are enjoying some excellent fishing on freshwater and while the striper fishing is still slow in the Saint George there are fish in the river.
On freshwater the largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing has been good to excellent using spinning and fly fishing tackle. The hot weather did slow things down for a day or so but the cooler weather of the last couple of days and a little rain combined to remove the impact of the heat. Over the years I have developed specific fly patterns for some of the local lakes and ponds and they really make the difference for my fly casters. With spinning gear the color preferences have definitely changed from last summer but not so much that it was impossible to figure out.
In the freshwater section of the Saint George the alewife fry become an important food source for all of the predator species including yellow perch. Over the next couple of months this food source becomes more and more important determining where and how I fish with my clients. I would guess that today's rain will move that process forward quite a bit.
I have had a couple of nice mentions this month in articles on completely different topics. In the June issue of Backpacker magazine one of my stories about calling in a moose as a pull quote. Shortened for sure but still there I am on page 42. The best part of that one is the call I received late one evening from my oldest son. Expecting the worst I was stunned to hear him say "Dad did you know that you are in Backpacker magazine?" I replied that no I did not but had talked with a writer last winter. Not to quibble but they called me a certified Maine Guide apparently they do not know that Guides in Maine are Registered.
In the July Maine Sportsman Editor Harry Vanderwiede has an editorial about the need for new leadership at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife mentions me. "I'll simply observe that Don Kleiner, a person many believe was the best I&E head the Department ever had, lost his job because of political, not performance reasons." Harry thank you very much for the compliment. Humbly noted and very much appreciated!
Natural Canvas Hat Give Away
This newsletter comes to you every other week in summer and monthly during the winter. We are giving a Natural Canvas Hat to one lucky subscriber each time the newsletter goes out. Nothing to do just be a subscriber and when you are the lucky one just reply to the newsletter with your mailing address and I'll pop your hat in the mail.
If you have a friend who would like to hear about what is going on at Maine Outdoors forward this newsletter to them so that they can subscribe too! I'll take care of the rest!
Oh and the winner this week? Kevin Mowry of Warwick, RI. Congratulations Kevin.
