Here we are already four months through 2008; it seems like we just started the year. After an impressively snowy winter our spring has been warm and dry for almost three weeks. Yesterday was our first rainstorm in a while and it made up for the nice weather. We had a heavy rain with strong winds and every brook and stream was out of its banks. I am hoping to do some fly fishing for brown trout as soon as the water level falls back to normal again, but that will be a while. At the same time I am trying to get the new Lund ready for the coming season, make some repairs to my Grand Lake Canoe and get in next winters firewood.
The swallows and warblers have started to arrive and the next couple of weeks will be the height of spring bird migrations. Take a minute get outside and take a look; there are some amazing birds outside of your window right now. With all of the talk about the economy last winter I did not know what to expect for the coming summer season but it looks like this summer will be every bit as busy as the last few. Thank you to those of you who already made reservations. I am looking forward to seeing you again this coming summer and I hope to hear from the rest of you making plans for this summer soon.
New 20' Lund Alaskan Arrives
Argy and I got up early and drove to Bar Harbor to have breakfast with our son and his girlfriend before heading back to Ellsworth to pick up my new Lund at Branch Pond Marine. We got the paperwork filled out and wrote the big check before getting the walk through on how to make everything work. After going over all of the details we drove back to Union. A short break at my desk and I began fitting the boat out with the required safety equipment and handy items that I like to have on board. It did not take long to cover the basics so we headed down to Seven Tree Pond for the inaugural ride.
This is another 20 foot Lund Alaskan with a 75 hp Mercury Optimax outboard. I am hoping that the slightly larger outboard will give me a little more speed when I need it and more importantly the power that is sometimes needed to push that large boat up onto plane when loaded. It came through with an electronics package that includes an electric trolling motor on the bow and a fish finder already installed. The white hull did not get booed by Argy who told me that it was not ugly (a better response than expected).
The initial trip was a huge success if short, maybe a half an hour. The onboard speedometer is only off by 3 mph according to my handheld GPS with a ¾ throttle top speed of roughly 30 mph. Faster than the old one but not a lot faster.
There a number of features that I will need some time to figure out like a live well for bait. The trailer being brand new is a dream to load and unload the boat from, the only downside being that the crank is low enough that I have to bend over to crank the boat on. Better exercise for me I suppose.
I'm looking forward to many shakedown trips this spring before my first clients, and then to a busy summer seated at the console showing lots of folks my little corner of the world.
First Fishing Trip
While making sure that everything works as it should onm the new Lund Alsakan before my season really gets underway. I took advantage of awarm afternoon that we were having . I launched the boat in Seven Tree Pond and after an initial mishap (left the plug out when I launched, really good news the bilge pump works like a charm) I spent an hour or so bass fishing.
The day was warm with not much of a breeze so moving along the shore casting a plug was a snap with the trolling motor. (I am starting to get the hang of using it) To my complete surprise I actually caught four bass the smallest was 2 ½ pounds and the largest just under 4 pounds. Not a bad couple of hours to be sure. In fact the best spot I found had several bass competing to take my plug; unfortunately I did not realize what they were hiding under until I had put the boat right over top of it. Next time I'll be more careful.
An excellent couple of hours on the water. The best part of the story is that I had told a client who wanted to book an afternoon of fishing duriong that week I did not expect the fishing to be much good given the weather we were having three weeks ago. So I guess I can't see the future better than anyone else!
Speaking of Fishing
My trip to Groton, CT last week was very pleasant, Argy was able to go along and we had a sort of business vacation. The drive was simple and using the GPS for guidance we arrived with no trouble without directions, pretty amazing when you think about it. When we arrived at the Elks Club there was a marina out back. We walked out and met a couple of fishermen with a nice catch of winter flounder and an excellent recommendation for a place to eat dinner.
The CT RI Coastal Fly Fishers meeting was a pleasant event and they were a great group to speak to. We met a bunch of great folks that share a common interest in fly fishing. The stripers were just starting to arrive there which made me feel like I am a little behind in getting ready for them to arrive. After all Mother's Day and the alewives are not far off and the stripers are frequently right behind them.
Next week I am speaking to the Rockland Kiwanis on Monday at the Samoset and am looking forward to a local crowd and talking about the future of fish and wildlife management as well as what Maine Outdoors has to offer.
Booking now for the coming season!
Reservations continue to come in for spring and summer. If you are planning to be in the area please give me a call or reply to this e-mail so we can plan a date to spend some time outdoors together.
