One of the primary directions we give to columnists who write the regional columns in The Maine Sportsman is to give you lots of specific information about where to fish and techniques that work.
We have to say they have accomplished that goal in great style and detail for the month of June. Whatever you like – salmon, trout, bass or stripers – you’ll find we’ve got it covered in this month’s issue.
That’s only natural, of course, since June is generally considered the most productive month of the year for fishing, whether you are lobbing big popping plugs for bass, or casting tiny dry flies for brookies.
Speaking of dry flies, if you fly fish you’ll definitely want to read this month’s Fly Box in which author Ken Allen gives you all the details on what makes the Light Cahill such a productive fly.
Should you have saltwater fishing on your mind, you definitely want to read this month’s column by Capt. Barry Gibson. He details the latest in fishing regulations that you need to know for bluefin tuna and other species.
All the other useful features that you’ve come to know and rely on are included in this issue too. You find sunrise/sunset and tide tables, a summary of regulations, the Wildlife Quiz and a huge Almanac full of helpful tidbits.
We want to call your special attention to our feature article about Maine bear biology for this month. We can just about guarantee that you’ll learn facts you never knew about bruins when you read that article.
Posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 by Maine Sportsman Categories:General
Sure, Maine’s outdoors folks have a jillion options now, no exaggeration, because this state’s outdoors offers diversions that many folks have never heard of – say fishing for wolfish or hunting red squirrels with a bow – and other activities that no one has invented yet.
But it’s June in Maine, and that means fishing, fishing and more fishing, including seven species of salmonids (brookies, landlocks, browns, rainbows, togue, Arctic char and splake), two black-bass species, striped bass, bluefish and mackerel – just to name the big dozen.
White perch, black crappie, northern pike, chain pickerel, hornpout, American eels, smelt, whitefish, yellow perch, sunfish, shad, cod, haddock, pollock, cunner, rockfish, flounder, blue sharks, dogfish and (you can add to the list) round out the array.
Predictable hatches on trout waters across the state have fly rodders in heaven now, particularly during evenings in the bottom third of the state and afternoons in the North Country. Ponds, rivers and streams really rock, too, because trees often shelter them from wind. Lakes and the Atlantic may have whitecaps, but upwind side of small ponds and flowing waters can look flat calm.
Brooks from Kittery to Fort Kent also produce big time now as black flies swarm, and even in populated areas, folks can find brooks without a sign of man along the banks – no beverage or worm containers, discarded cigarette butts or packages or footprints.
We get the feeling these brooks looked exactly like this before Old World settlers arrived, and many have descendants of brookies untainted by stocked fish.
Trollers love June because the month often means trolling at shallow depths – say 10 to 20 feet. Earlier in the month, boat traffic has not started yet so life is good for Maine anglers.
After World War II, freshwater trolling for trout and salmon took off in Maine with the advent of higher-paying jobs that allowed folks to buy boats and motors. In the 1950s, folks pounded lakes like Moosehead for togue.
Many post-WW II anglers actually specialized in catching lake trout, and why not?
Togue grew big, and the opportunity existed to catch a 20-plus-pounder on any outing. This sedentary fishing sport hit a crescendo in the 1950s and ’60s, but in the 21st century, bass boats, fly fishing and the like have turned many folks away from trolling for salmonids.
Black-bass enthusiasts love casting to spawning bass now as the males move onto the nest to protect the eggs and slab-sided females linger along drop-offs near spawning beds.
By July, bass move into deeper water except at night and dawns when shallows cool. Folks skilled with jigs do well next month, but now, anglers need little knowledge to catch black bass in shallow coves.
If stripers are ever going to swarm into Maine waters they’ll do it in June, as will mackerel and maybe bluefish. These fish boil up rivers and into bays along the coast, and stripers and blues produce big fish that freshwater anglers seldom duplicate in size.
Party boats do a brisk business off the coast, and folks who spend the money come home with fillets for the freezer, fillets of white, flaky meat. This sport offers fun and grocery-bill savings after the initial investment to get on board.
In early June, folks backpack, canoe trip and vehicle camp, but these sports don’t take off until kids get out of school, and then campgrounds fill up. By late June, some rivers have a flotilla of canoe trippers, and trails like the Appalachian have plenty of hikers.
Photographers after landscapes, wildlife images and action outdoor scenes get out now as do day hikers, bicyclists, runners, canoeists, kayakers and you name it. It’s June in Maine and we’re all enthused – if not overwhelmed – with all the choices the woods and waters offer.
In the 1990s, an annual phenomenon proved quite consistent. May 1 would kick off with no black flies, but by the May 4 or 5, they’d start swarming.
Turkey hunters noticed this trend and often said, “Get your turkey early before the black flies come out!”
Increasingly warm temperatures in April have started the black-fly hordes well before May, so that rule is less prevalent in the early 21st century. This year, some folks complained about black flies in March in Southern and Central Maine, a lament that will increase as the world warms more and more.
Global warming receives lots of negative press, but outdoorsmen who love to fish, bicycle, canoe trip, backpack and garden kind of like the warmer weather early.
Let’s take spring 2012.
March bicycling was delightful, quite a change from the past when pedaling in March meant bundling up as if it were winter, because well, temperatures, snow and sand on the road edges shouted winter.
In early May, we see green everywhere in the bottom half of the state, but it’s still drab with browns and grays. By month’s end, green explodes across the state. The differences between May 1 and May 31 are astounding because by month’s end, Maine is as green as a rainforest.
May means salmonid fishing in Maine as folks find fast fishing, trolling for landlocked salmon, brook trout, brown trout and rainbow trout. Some folks also troll for lake trout, but this species no longer excites Mainers as it did in the 1950s and ’60s. Modern anglers prefer landlocks and brookies and maybe browns and rainbows.
Brooks with brook trout attract a small and dedicated group who are as much hunters as they are anglers because this sport demands stealth. People who like brook fishing just love to sneak to the bank edge and pull these little jewels from undercut banks, deep pools and pocket-water runs.
In the bottom half of Maine in May, fly rodders do well, matching the hatches, which start in earnest from about May 7 to May 14, depending on latitude and elevation. Hatches may begin farther north before May ends.
Bassers good with jigs do well early in May, and by month’s end, particularly in unseasonably warm weather, bass move onto spawning beds.
Warm-water panfish attract folks after a fish-fry, and white perch and black crappie really excite this crew. Some folks like pickerel, yellow perch, sunfish and even eels, though.
Stripers arrive in certain places like the Kennebec or Saco Rivers in May, and folks in the know do know where to find them.
One die-hard group goes bonkers after turkeys this month. As of this writing, the season starts in the tail-end of April and continues into very early June. Talk in March suggests an earlier opening because of unseasonably warm weather, but time will tell.
Camping, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, bicycling, running, watching wildlife and photographing landscapes and wildlife – just for starters – show that the new Maine has lots and lots of outdoor diversions.
You could call May a challenging month for the average Maine sportsman, challenging because there are so many different activities to choose from.
What will it be for you? How about rising before dawn to call tom turkeys, or how about heading for the coast to try for the stripers that are once again swimming in Maine waters? Maybe you’d like to head for a stream or river to cast dry flies for brook. Perhaps you want to head for one of the state’s big waters, like Moosehead and troll for salmon and lake trout.
The point is, there is a lot to choose from and you’ll find articles telling you where to go and what to do in this month’s issue of The Maine Sportsman.
There are plenty of standard features in each month’s issue that you will find helpful items like sunrise/sunset times, the tide table and a summary of which seasons are open for fish and game species. Those are all loaded into our big Almanac section that brings you a wealth of fascinating tidbits and trivia every month.
You’ll find many extras in this issue too, including excellent photos of trophy fish and game plus a bunch of interesting letters to the editor.
You may have a challenge deciding which outdoor activities to pursue this month, but you definitely can learn more about them when you read the May issue of The Maine Sportsman.
Posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 by Maine Sportsman Categories:General
Dozens of times in this writer’s life, April Fool’s Day began well before daylight – an early start to get to one of the few fishing hotspots in the state. Back then, the open-water fishing season in Central Maine kicked off April 1, and a small army of anglers did get out that day.
As dawn’s first light crept across the landscape, all the snow and ice would catch my eyes and make me think, “You gotta’ be kiddin’ me!”
Oh, I knew snow, ice and cold temperatures were there all right, but on the opening day of angling, the fly rod in my hand and meteorological signs would all come together in a dismal rush. This reality prompted the typical comments about fishing being an April Fool’s errands.
Snow, ice and cold discouraged me, but some of us did catch fish. We didn’t do it every year, but Aprils could start with action. Dawns at the Wings Mills Dam on Belgrade Stream below Long Pond and The Spillway in Belgrade Lakes village have provided me with some glorious moments. Sea-run brook-trout brooks have also offered grand moments.
Birdwatchers love early April because many mornings produce a new song or two from a species just arriving from the South. Also, birds that spend the winter begin vocalizing more. Serious birdwatchers know the calls and rejoice.
White-water canoeing and kayaking started back in March, and Maine has rivers and more rivers for the sport. No sport causes more illegal campfires along river banks than white-water enthusiasts.
Picking dandelions in early April and later in mid- to later-April gathering fiddleheads brings out the food-collecting instinct in folks as does digging root veggies such as cattails.
Snow really begins to melt in fields and on hardwood ridges facing the southeast, and folks aware of this inevitable pattern wander these more open areas, feeling soft earth beneath their feet for the first time since last November or December, the month depending on latitude and elevation in the state.
Often these walks on field edges generate mood shots with a camera – images that capture textures and somber grays, browns and black. Stone walls, pine needles on the ground, ledges, huge tree trunks and more get the creative juices flowing.
These above diversions keep us busy until ice-out mania begins, and then, fishing can be as good as it gets all year. In fact, the first four weeks after ice-out and the first two weeks of January produce a huge share of fish for The One That Didn’t Get Away Club. Folks might think fall yields trophies for the club, but in truth, fall is pretty slow for trophies.
As the months slides toward its end, folks hike places such as the Camden Hills State Park and similar spots in the bottom third of the state.
April’s an odd month in Maine all right. In Southern, Central and Mid-Coast Maine, folks are fishing and hiking right from April 1, while the month starts off up north with snowmobiling going strong.
And last but not least, turkey hunters scout hard all month. This sport has created zealots in Maine, which has some of the best turkey hunting in the country.
One of the primary directions we give to columnists who write the regional columns in The Maine Sportsman is to give you lots of specific information about where to fish and techniques that work.
