I had the good fortune to be able to fish with Argy and a couple of friends Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect, warm with bright sunshine and a brilliant blue sky. I won't waste a lot of words trying to describe it but have included a couple of pictures instead.
The fishing by the way was very good for this early in the season. Needless to say it was a great time in the Maine Outdoors. Wish you were there!
Wildflowers, Blackflies and Fiddleheads
We have had several sunny warm days and spring is progressing rapidly. Many of the woodland wildflowers are wasting no time blooming to take advantage of the full sunlight on the forest floor. It won't be long until the leaves pop and shade everything with full summer growth. Already the poplars and birches are sporting small bright green leaves that are growing almost magically every day.
For now though there are lots of interesting wildflowers to see. Today I noticed a carpet of Canada mayflowers with a few trilliums thrown in for color. A shadbush coming into bloom and the blackflies are hard to miss out of the breeze on a warm afternoon.
We have a small patch of fiddleheads that are usually ahead of most others in the area and we got enough to have them for a couple of meals this week. For those of you that are not familiar with them fiddleheads are the fronds of the ostrich fern when they first emerge. A Maine delicacy with a flavor similar to asparagus. They are wild but available in some of our grocery stores and on some restaurant menus in the spring. If you have never had them you should definitely give them a try.
All of this means that the rapid progression from early spring to summer is in full swing.
Fishing on Megunticook Lake
Every year I make an effort to fish on each of the waters I guide on at least once before guiding clients there. Not bad duty on a nice day. Last week I fished Megunticook Lake in Camden for the first time this spring.
The most notable part of the afternoon was the weather. It was warm and sunny when I left Union but at the launch there were clearly showers on the horizon. As I headed down the lake I passed other boats beating it back to the launch ahead of the showers. Sometimes when the showers are scattered like they were that day you can simply move out of the way and miss the rain. I was lucky this time and was able to do just that. It was fun to watch the rain pouring down a half mile away while standing in the sunshine. Each squall brought plenty of wind with it which made for some interesting boat handling.
The fishing was good for this early in the season. Several pickerel and a few bass managed to take the lures and flies I offered. The water temperature was still too cold for bass to be on their game. I had several follow or swim alongside the bait and not take. After I figured out that they were just too cold to be aggressive I tried stopping my retrieve and letting them take. Warmer water has now cured this problem and from here on will have fishing just like early summer.
