Amazing to say but June is all but over and July will soon start. The season has already been busy.
Last weekend was filled with family trips and lots of firsts. Three year old twins were a total blast for two mornings as they took in their first fishing trips. One trip on saltwater where we saw lots of new sights and caught mackerel the second on freshwater where we caught bass, perch and pickerel. Another family with older boys fished for the first time and caught a tank full of mackerel.
A Scenic Maine Coast Boat Trip had another family watching pods of harbor porpoises, ospreys and lots of seals on nearby haul out ledges. Not to mention Port Clyde Harbor from the water, Marshall Point lighthouse and of course the Olsen House in Cushing.
The last family learned to fly fish together and the fish were cooperative. In the clear water of Megunticook Lake in Camden we all watched as largemouth and smallmouth bass stalked flies cast out by the kids. Pretty exciting stuff when you can see a fish swimming out to inspect your fly. A few fish actually grabbed the fly making for lots of excitement, especially for the guide.
This coming week has more family trips and even more variety. Summer is off to a great start hope to see you and your family soon.
If you are looking to explore the natural side of mid coast Maine maybe catch a few fish or just relax in the bow of a canoe. Now is the time to arrange for your visit to the Maine Outdoors. Please drop me an e-mail or give me a call and let's arrange a date!
Quiet Morning Trip
Last week I guided my neighbor Keith Bodine the winemaker at Sweetgrass Farm and Winery on a nature exploration trip as a birthday present from his family. One of the requirements of the trip was that Keith not paddle due to a recent injury. Not a problem because the Grand Laker has an outboard that makes the paddling effortless and with only a little more noise while still being able to negotiate the shallow narrow places that add so much to a trip like this.
The morning was perfectly still as you can see in this picture he
took making, the perfect backdrop to the newly varnished Grand Laker . We were able to get up to the Union fairgrounds where a tree across the river blocked our path upriver. We then headed downriver through White Oak Pond and down as far as where the brook comes in from North Pond in Warren. Where we were treated to four eagles perched in trees along with several blue herons. I am not sure why they were all right there and the fishing might be worth checking. A good variety of sightings that morning including ospreys, several loons, kingfishers, eagles of course and a green heron that flew right in front of us.
Keith had no luck that morning as every time he got close enough for a picture, whatever bird he was planning to photograph took off as soon as he raised his camera to get the image. So no pictures to show but great memories. If you visit Sweetgrass Winery make sure you ask Keith about his trip. As part of being able to customize a trip for clients I have offered this trip from the comfort of the Grand Laker for several years now and include this trip as part of the nature package I offer with LeVatout in Waldoboro. I'm looking forward to showing someone else that quiet corner of our area.
Megunticook Lake Bass Fishing
Had the good fortune to fish on Megunticook Lake in Camden recently with a couple from the Washington DC area. I arrived about an hour early to do a little research on the perch fishing for some upcoming family fishing trips but was quickly distracted by bass in the shallows feeding on the surface. For about 20 minutes I had fish at times fighting over my surface popper.
Feeling pretty confident about the trip I was about to guide I headed for the ramp and met my party. We started with a bang as I caught a fish on the first demonstration cast. The most interesting thing was that the surface action never was as good as it had been for me earlier that morning. Fishing was steady to be sure for the next three hours but after only a few minutes it was obvious that the surface poppers were not longer the lure of the day.
We boated maybe a dozen bass over two pounds, a bunch of little fish including bass, perch and pickerel. Actually some of the best pickerel fishing I have seen on Megunticook. At the end of the day I arrived home just ahead of that afternoon's thundershower.
All in all an excellent bass fishing trip.
Fisher
One of the animals that lives in our area but you rarely see is a fisher. Fisher are members of the weasel family and like their relatives the weasels and mink are great hunters. Because they are fairly secretive and not all that common it is more likely that you will see their tracks in the snow than the actual critter. Fisher have a reputation for ferocity but most of the time they live quietly in the woods on a diet of squirrels and porcupines.
One evening a week ago Argy and I were on our evening walk. As we passed a woods road that heads into a neighbors woodlot Argy asked excitedly what is that? I looked and there on its hind legs was a female fisher not fifty feet away. Jet black and clearly as surprised to see us as we were it. After only a second it turned and ran straight away down the road making my identification more positive as it ran with that weasel lope.
The entire encounter was over in around 30 seconds but it was a great reminder that we are fortunate to live where wildlife abounds and might be encountered at any moment. Any one of our nature exploration trips can put you where unusual and interesting wildlife sightings are likely to happen.
Natural Canvas Hat Give Away
This newsletter comes to you every other week in summer and monthly during the winter. Starting with this issue 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? Mindy Favreau of Portland, Maine. If you are in Portland this summer stop in and congratulate Mindy.
