May 2007 Almanac
This Month: It’s May! Let’s Go Fishing! No, Let’s Go Hunting!
May in Maine has everything to recommend it for anglers because salmonid fishing really hits full swing now.
In the bottom third of Maine, hatches (Hendricksons, red quills, Drunella cornuta, tiny blue-winged olives, sulfur duns, caddises and more) hit full swing in rivers and streams.
In the North Country, ice-out mania takes over as ice leaves ponds and lakes, and fishing rocks for four to six weeks.
Brook fishing from Kittery to Fort Kent peaks in May as soon as black flies swarm and alder leaves reach the size of a mouse ear.
In the bottom half of the state, trolling remains good, but folks might have to get down 20 feet. In the North Country, it’s still surface trolling with fly rods or light spinning gear.
Landlocked rainbow smelts spawn now and lie near tributaries and outlets. Savvy anglers take advantage and cast there from daylight to dark, often finding action on the lips of drop-offs near sure where currents spill into the stillwater.
Stripers arrive in downtown Augusta on May 10 and swarms of these line-sided beauties are also coming up the coast in Southern Maine.
White perch head toward their well-known spawning areas two weeks after ice-out, and folks with 5-gallon white buckets show up to catch the ingredients for a fish fry.
As the month nears its end, black bass move toward spawning beds.
Pickerel bite well through most of May, but other warm-water fish such as yellow perch, sunfish and hornpout pick up more near month’s end.
Northern pike attract crowds to places such as the Belgrade Lakes and Sabattus Pond.
Turkey hunting has taken over thousands of households in Maine as folks live for spring and turkeys.
Season dates follow:
In Wildlife Management Districts 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26:
Season A: Week #1: April 30, 2007 through May 5, 2007 and Week #4: May 21, 2007 through May 26, 2007
Season B: Week #2: May 7, 2007 through May 12, 2007 and Week #3: May 14, 2007 through May 19, 2007 All
Permit Holders: Week #5: May 28, 2007 through June 2, 2007
A Spring Wild Turkey permit is required in addition to a big-game hunting license. Permit holders may hunt only one season – Season A or Season B depending on their year of birth, explained on DIF&W’s Internet web site or by a Department spokesperson at 1(207) 287-8000.
Youth Spring Wild Turkey: April 28, 2007. In addition, junior hunters (10 to 15 years of age) may also hunt any Saturday during the open Spring Wild Turkey hunting season.
Limit: One Bearded turkey per permit holder.
Crow hunting in Wildlife Management Districts (WMDs) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6: February 15, 2007 through April 14, 2007 and August 1, 2007 through September 29, 2007
In WMDs 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29: February 1, 2007 through March 31, 2007 and August 1, 2007 through September 29, 2007
Limit: As many as a hunter desires to shoot.
Woodchucks attract as many bowhunters these days as they do folks with flat-shooting rifles.
Speaking of bowhunters…. Folks start shooting on the range in earnest now after a slow winter. Stump shooting while scouting also draws a few shooters out.
Smoothbore enthusiasts hit the clay-sport ranges, too.
Rifle hunters work up new loads and practice trigger squeeze.
By the end of April in Southern Maine, red-maple leaves unfurl and resemble delicate red flowers. In the North Country, this event doesn’t occur until mid-May. Whatever latitude, though, red maples “bloom” when the water temperature hits 48 to 50 degrees…as a general rule.
Warblers begin trickling into the bottom third of Maine in early May just as black flies begin swarming in good shape.
Deer begin having their fawns from early May until July.
In the bottom third of Maine, warbler migration hits full stride by the third week when apple trees flower.
Orioles begin returning in the third week as tree foliage begins taking hold. Folks who nail orange halves on poles with perches just below the fruit attract these beautiful gold-and-black birds.
Folks who nail apple halves above perches draw cardinals to feed.
Least terns return near the end of May and establish colonies on sandy beaches, where they begin courtship rituals.
Gray tree frogs begin their mating calls now — a half-second, loud trill. The call can last three seconds but averages a half-second. This frog may repeat the call 10 or 11 times over a 30-second period. Other Maine anurans with trill calls are the spring peeper and American toad.
Tent caterpillars construct sticky nests in the crotches of young branches of wild cherry and apple trees.
Snapping turtles migrate from water and lay eggs in gravel.
Next Month: June! It’s Green and Fish Are Biting Everywhere
June in Maine rivals the Emerald Isle in lush greenness. Fields, verdant oceans on the landscape, sway in the breeze and forests turn as green as they ever get.
Northern Maine brook-trout ponds peak this month, as do north-country brooks and streams.
Late spring rains bring landlocked salmon and brook trout up rivers in the northern half of the state — perfect fishing conditions.
Lake trout begin moving toward deep holes, concentrated targets for trollers.
Stripers and mackerel invade the coast, and folks in the know think this is the best month for catching cows and bulls.
Bluefish might arrive before month’s end.
Black bass move onto spawning beds — the fastest fishing of the year.
Early in the month in the bottom half of the state, salmon, browns and brookies are still near the top and trollers seldom go below 20 feet.
Brookies in brooks and small streams move to springs and deep holes now, easy targets for veteran anglers.
Partyboats along the coast pick up action as the month progresses toward the end.
Car campers, backpackers and canoe trippers pick up the tempo now that school is ending.
Bear hunters like to scout now as do deer hunters.
Archers, smoothbore enthusiasts and riflemen like to shoot more now that summer has arrived and spring fishing slows.
Turkey season has ended so these hunters concentrate more on fish.
June ushers in warm-water fishing for perch, sunfish, hornpout, pickerel and eel.