August 2009 Almanac
This Month: Salty Action, Evening Hatches, Far More
Plenty is going this month for anglers as striped bass, bluefish and mackerel swarm along the coast, creating excitement and more excitement for those folks in the know. Folks love tangling with blues and stripers, which routinely grow larger than most salmonids that folks ever hook. Fresh mackerel iced and then cooked the same day creates a fish meal fit for royalty.
Evening hatches on brook-trout ponds in the North Country and further south can be quite dependable this month. Folks can have memorable moments, covering rises along toward dark or bottom-dredging deep holes. Forrest Bonney told me last winter that Maine brookie ponds get little to no pressure, too, in mid and late summer.
Folks who know how to work a jig deeply clean up on black bass this month as they work drop-offs where the cows hang. River smallmouths also feed heavily this month, another attraction. Folks find bronzeback paradise on rivers such as the Penobscot between Medway and Old Town and the Androscoggin between Dixfield and Brunswick.
White perch and black crappie attract anglers looking for big fish fry this month because these schooling fish offer a concentrated population for folks to hammer. The white, flaky meat of these two species is second to none.
Bear baiting starts Aug. 1. Bear hunting has great importance for Northern and Eastern Maine economies, but in the scheme of things, bear hunting in Maine attracts darned few folks compared to deer and ruffed grouse. The latter two attract about 170,000 participants.
…Which brings up an intriguing point. These days, Maine has far more bicyclists than bear, waterfowl, turkey or squirrel hunters. This state is changing, and that point illustrates it in spades.
In fact, far more people garden than hunt for bear, waterfowl, turkey or squirrels, and this month, the fruits of their labors start in earnest as folks harvest tomatoes, corn, summer squash, new potatoes, new carrots, stringed beans and other staples.
Gardening goes with fishing and hunting like strawberries and cream as folks cook up a mess of mackerel or venison cutlets and accompany it with a tomato salad, summer squash with oregano and mozzarella, frenched string beans and other earthy delights.
August mornings were made for polishing bird dogs, and in fact, August mornings work just fine for so many pastimes — such as shooting bow and arrows, clay targets and rifles and scouting deer and bear.
August mornings also lend themselves to bicycling, getting those lungs and legs in shape for fall sports. In Central Maine during summer, major highways with breakdown lanes attract myriad bicyclists in their tight, colorful clothing, dotting roadsides everywhere. This sport has really taken over the state, and in fact, Central and Southern Maine (at least) have far more bike shops than sports shops!
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Tips of the Month
Modern Spider-Web Tippets Work
In my youth, a 7x tippet (.004) had a 1-pound breaking strength and a 6x (.005) two pounds without a knot. In short, that was the manufacturer’s testing strength. The knot cut the breaking strength in half to half-pound and one pound for the 7x and 6x respectively, so for trout larger than 12 inches, landing one on a 7x or 6x tippet required one, two or three requirements — or all three:
1) Great skill in playing fish on light tippets.
2) A reel with an ultra-sensitive smooth drag.
3) Water temperatures in the high 60s or low 70s to lethargic down the fish. Turn the clock ahead to 2009 and 7x tippets like Orvis Mirage have a 2.4-pound breaking strength and 6x has 3.6 pounds, and that’s counting the knots. Eight-x tippets (.003) such as Varivas measure 2.05 pounds! This improvement in manufacturing line makes light tippets extremely manageable and a must to fool August salmonids in low, clear water. With skill and sensitive drag, a 3.6-pound tippet can hold plenty of weight for playing trophy fish.
Simplicity In Itself
A mackerel recipe works superbly at home, but if someone takes an hibachi or small portable grill shore fishing to cook the fish immediately, the resulting dish is even better:
After catching enough mackerel to grill, get coals in a grill burning to a high heat. Wise grillers know how to judge high temperature, too. They hold their palm six inches from the coals and count one Mississippi, two Mississippi and then say ouch because they can feel the heat! (High heat is a two count, medium a five count and low seven to 10 seconds.)
Before cooking, butterfly the mackerel, salt and pepper to taste and grill for 10 minutes per inch of thickness (not a measurement from dorsal fin to belly but side to side). Measure the fish precisely, too. Say if the ruler shows 1 1/4 inches, the cooking time is 12 1/2 minutes — or 6 1/4 minutes per side.
As the mackerel cook, melt butter and put freshly squeezed lemon juice into it in about a 3-parts butter and 1-part lemon juice. (Your ratio may differ because this is a democratic dish.) Drizzle this mixture onto the fish about one minute before the cooking time is done — just enough for it to flame up a little and slightly scorch the butter for flavor.
You’ll never eat better fish than freshly caught mackerel cooked in such a manner.
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Where the Action Is
Excellent brook-trout-pond fishing lies quite close to Central Maine — an evening trip for Augusta-Waterville folks who want to hit hatches this month as dusk settles across the water. Check out DeLorme’s The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (MAG), Map 30, A-1 for details by finding the ponds next to Pierce Pond.
Pickerel (fly fishing only), Fernald (live bait prohibited), Dixon (fly fishing only and quasi-slot limit), Horseshoe (artificial lures only and quasi-slot limit), Higher (live bait prohibited), High (live bait prohibited and quasi-slot limit), King (fly fishing only and quasi-slot limit), Split Rock (fly fishing only and quasi-slot limit), Kilgore (artificial lures only and 1-fish limit with 14-inch minimum) and Upper Kilgore (artificial lures only and other strict regulations) ponds west and southwest of Pierce’s Upper basin.
Folks could spend a lifetime on these ponds and know Maine brook-trout fishing as it was meant to be.
The Reversing Falls on the Sheepscot River in Sheepscot village (MAG, Map 6, A-2) once drew Atlantic salmon in August. Those days have ended but that fact illustrates that this river stretch has cool water for striped bass and mackerel — a great spot to fish an evening or dawn tide. No one will find a more picturesque spot in all of Maine. MAG shows the way to the Falls.
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News and Tidbits
Maine Eagle Population Restored
The State of Maine is removing bald eagles from its Endangered and Threatened Species List, the first species to be removed from this designation. Protection has restored bald-eagle populations to more than 475 nesting pairs now in all 16 Pine Tree State counties. In 1978, wildlife officials first recognized the bald eagle as an Endangered Species in Maine and 42 other states. At the time, about 20 nesting pairs resided in Maine, primarily along the coast, and only one other nesting pair lived in the Northeast, and that was in New York.
Damning Coyote Study
An ultra-sophisticated, 2-year South Carolina study monitored DNA evidence to identify what killed fawn deer between 2006 and 2008 in a research zone. Of the 60 fawns in the telemetry project, 44 died within eight weeks. Coyotes accounted for 80 percent of the fawn kill, which broke down like this: One died after abandonment, unknown predators took two, bobcats six, coyotes (28 confirmed and seven probable).
European Confusion
Three European calibers, the 6.5x55mm, 7x57mm Mauser and 9.3x62mm Mauser have made a small comeback in the U.S. in recent years, but the number system confuses many Americans, discouraging sales. It shouldn’t. The first number gives the bullet diameter in millimeters — say a 7×57 Mauser is a 7mm…or .284 inches. The second number — the “57” — denotes the case length. The addition of an R at the end of the designation shows that it’s rimmed as opposed to rimless.
Maine’s Most Popular Cartridges
For decades, The Maine Sportsman conducted a survey that showed the favorite cartridges for deer, bear and moose hunters. Through the years, the calibers broke down like this — .30-’06 Springfield and .308 Winchester taking first and second place. These two cartridges took between 50 percent and 60 percent of the game in every survey. Third place often fell to the .270 Winchester, but occasionally, the 7mm Remington Magnum accounted for third place, somewhat rare but possible.
Bow Poundage
The lowest poundage bow that Maine hunters can use for whitetails might surprise some folks — 35-pound pull. Many people would consider this too light for deer-sized game.
Jobs for Pollution
In the 1960s, Great Northern Paper Company employed 3,000 people and in exchange, dumped an incredible 500 tons of organic waste into the Penobscot River. In those same years before the bottle bill passed, bottles — and other trash — lined rural and urban highways. People accepted these transgressions as the price of progress.
Wood-Duck Boxes
In 1936, the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey (later changed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) first installed wood-duck boxes for nesting, and by the 1980s, this agency, state agencies, clubs and private individuals had put up 150,000 of these boxes on the Eastern and Mississippi flyways. These days, that figure has risen to an incredible 300,000, which has literally saved this beautiful duck from extinction. Documentation shows that one particularly productive wood-duck box produced more than 160 ducklings.
‘Birch Allergies,’ You Say
Last spring across Maine, weather conditions conspired to create excellent pollen production from paper birch, giving folks severe cases of the sniffles, folks who have never had problems before. Birch pollen counts rose really high throughout the spring, creating warnings on weather forecasts that continued week after week.
Willow Shrubs
With the exception of black willow (Salix migra) found in southern and western Maine, the other indigenous willows in Maine are shrubs, a far cry from the 45- to 65-foot, large diameter black willow found along streams and ponds. Of course, this state has myriad weeping willows and other large willow trees planted here or produced by previously planted invasive species. Maine Indians routinely used willow bark as a medicine for aches and pains in the same manner that modern Mainers use aspirin, a synthetic derivative of the chemical found in willow bark.
Norway Pine Not Scandinavian
Red pine (Pinous resinosa), though common enough in Maine, occur locally throughout the state, but rarely in widespread forests of it. With the exception of the Cathedral pines near Eustis, stands grow scattered.
The second common name for red pines — Norway pine — confuses folks because they think this tree came from Norway. In truth, though, this Norway designation refers to Norway, Maine, where settlers originally noticed the species. Since “Norway” implies that it’s a foreign tree, botanists discourage folks using it.
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Bird of the Month
‘Winter Chippy’ Livens White Season
The American tree sparrow (Spizella arborea) sings the sweetest of songs — a clear warble with a descending sound. For a plain-Jane bird, it adds the loveliest of sounds to our feeders and surrounding woods, and make no mistake, this species has a penchant for visiting birdfeeders. That endears it to birders.
Sparrow identification can be tricky for inexperienced birders, but with an American tree sparrow, the black “stickpin” on the chest along with its rufous cap makes this species a cinch to ID. The black chest spot shows up from quite a distance away.
American tree sparrows are slightly larger than another common sparrow around feeders — a chipping sparrow. The American tree sparrow measures 6 1/4 inches long, sports a 9 1/2-inch wingspan and weighs nearly three-quarters of an ounce.
Sibley translates the song as swee-swe-ti-sidi-see-zidi-zidi-zew. It has a flight call that’s a high, sharp tsiiw. Peterson describes its feeding note as a musical teelwit.
This bird summers on the tundra, where it builds a low nest with a well-insulated cup of bark strips and weed stems lined with hair and feathers. Because this structure is so low to the ground in the treeless landscape, this sparrow conceals it well and lays four or five pale-blue eggs, speckled with brown.
In winter, this species heads south to places such as Maine where it hangs around birdfeeders, shrubs edging parking lots in places such as Wal-Mart and McDonald’s and other open areas with forage and brushy undergrowth.
When this writer was much younger, I called the American tree sparrow the “Wal-Mart sparrow” or “McDonald sparrow,” illustrating how prevalent the species is in the shrubs around and through parking lots at these businesses. (Ken Allen)
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Do You Know?
Deer Decoys Work, But
Are They Legal?
Deer decoys make whitetails feel safer when these wary animals approach a waiting hunter. Do you know if deer decoys are legal for hunting this ungulate in Maine?
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Book Corner
Beyond Walden
Beyond Walden with the subtitle The Hidden History of America’s Kettle Lakes and Ponds by Robert Thorson (Walker and Company, New York) popped this reviewer’s eyes right open at first. Imagine? An entire book about kettle lakes and ponds.
Who’d have thought a publisher would have bought the work?
Once the reader gets into Beyond Walden, though, it dawns on the old brain that this topic certainly deserves a book-length work, and make no mistake, Thorson has done his homework. Tidbits galore catch the eye, and stuff will interest folks, stuff they never thought about before, including the extinction of early Clovis culture, early settlers use of kettle ponds and so much more.
It takes a good writer to handle such an esoteric subject as Kettle Ponds, and Thorson writes good prose, so it’s easy to read. Awkward prose doesn’t bog the reader down, and some of these books that come across my desk do bog a reader down.
Thorson’s organization of the book helps, too. It begins with the geology of this land formation, history of humans and kettle ponds, including natives and settlers, lake-forest ecosystem, family lake culture, habitats, flora and fauna, overdevelopment of lakes and ponds and the future of this ecosystem.
What jewels come from this book, too, and here’s a perfect example:
“Of all the good things that came from New England kettles, however, the most critical was the heightened appreciation of nature that launched transcendentalism as an intellectual movement.”
Thorson gets into Emerson’s first epiphany toward the transcendental philosophy, and even though this reviewer once taught Emerson in an American-literature course, Thorson taught me plenty about this American author.
Naturally, Emerson helped shape Thoreau, who it would be safe to say millions read now and darned few folks bother with Emerson anymore. Thoreau continues to grow in popularity, and in fact, he has grown so much that Thorson has his book title refer to Thoreau, not a bad strategy for attracting readers.
If you like nature topics, this book really is a jewel. Buy it even though it’s a little steep for a 304-page paperback — $26. (Ken Allen)
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Innocent Bystander
Old Knots Work Just Fine
It’s common enough to pick up a general national outdoors magazine and see a short article in a tips section that covers a new fishing knot that will hold better than any knot ever invented before, which always reminds me of stories, beginning with one in Nova Scotia.
About 15 years ago, on the Medway River, a Nor’easter brought me a wicked hot day of Atlantic-salmon fishing that produced two grilse and a 10-pounder that came to hand. Also, I had lost another salmon about 12- to 13-pounds when it snagged my tippet on a rock after a long battle. Having four fish on in one day ranks as good salmon fishing in anyone’s book.
The day had begun at daylight and continued until dusk that evening. In the gathering darkness, a huge salmon rose to my fly, renewing my fervor that had been waning after fishing from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. However, the fish then ignored my presentation for cast after cast.
I changed flies in the gathering darkness, tying on a Black Bear Green Butt. Normally, for submerged flies, I use a turle knot because of its high breaking strength and more importantly it allows the wet fly to ride better in the current, but darkness was coming and the long day in the rain and driving wind had chilled me. In short, a simple clinch knot would do.
Immediately, the big salmon took the fly, and before coming to hand, the brute took me from the Lake Pool downriver about one-third mile to the bridge in downtown Greenfield, where a fisheries biologist happened to show up and weigh it — a 28-pounder exactly — allegedly the third biggest salmon caught on that river.
You see my point. If a simple clinch knot can hold a fish like that, it’ll work for most freshwater fish just fine. No one needs a better knot.
…Which reminds me of another story from a day chasing tarpon:
On this trip, my setup included a world-class leader tied with two Bimini twists on a 16-pound shock tippet. A Homer Rhode loop had secured the fly and a nail knot had attached the butt to the fly line — a quintessential tarpon-leader design.
At mid-morning, I was casting around an island and securely hooked a mangrove trunk, which spooked my guide. He had a bad snake phobia and had seen a huge one, hanging on a mangrove branch at that very spot the previous week.
“Break ya’ leader off, Ken…I ain’t goin’ onto that island for nothin’.”
I pointed the rod at the mangrove and started pulling and pulling and was dragging the boat, anchor and all, toward the island. With each foot closer, the guide’s brow furrowed even more. You could’ve hidden a raisin in the creases.
Finally, there was a loud snap, and my guide breathed a sigh of genuine relief.
What broke?
The nail knot came apart, really shocking me. It’s the first time that I had ever had one let go, but after all, I was pulling an anchored, half-ton boat. It just went to show how strong these world-class leaders are, too, proving the fact that new knots for holding fish don’t pass the straight-face test. As far as my guide was concerned, the old knots held too tightly. (Ken Allen)
Next Month: What a Busy Month!
In the 1960s and ’70s, September passed as a lethargic month for sports folks who might do a little fall fishing, very little, and occasional scouting or shooting on Saturday. That was it. Turn the clock ahead to 2009, and holy cow, it’s the busy-man’s month. An outdoors type can wear themselves ragged during the ninth month.
Fall trout and salmon fishing has taken off, and it doesn’t end Sept. 30, either. The state has hundreds of waters open through the entire fall, and many folks have given up hunting for fishing and stick right with this pastoral sport. Hatches can be blistering in the fall.
Northern Maine rivers have brookies and landlocks running up them as soon as rains raise them, and fishing can be phenomenal. Fish far too large for the river run up from lakes and ponds and offer folks sport that has made our state famous for two centuries.
In the South Country, brown trout move into shallows each dawn, and as waters cool near the end of September, browns, brookies and landlocks move from ponds and lakes into rivers, some of them marginal waters now made cold by early fall weather.
Bassers also hit the water hard in autumn and like their salmonid cousins, they take advantage of the hungry fish. As waters cool, folks have great black-bass sport and don’t quit until deer season — if then.
Meanwhile, striped bass hang around into October, and folks take advantage of the bounty and beach solitude in September for sure. Boaters may not see another angler. It’s a great month for the salt, and it continues into the colorful month of October when solitude is a gimme.
White perch and black crappie continue cooperating as do pickerel, hornpout and yellow perch. Rod-bending action persists all month for this hardcore group looking for a delicious fish fry.
September has plenty of hunting these days, too, beginning with the expanded archery season that runs three months from early September to early December — or more specifically this year Sept. 12 to Dec. 12.
The big hunting this month offers a paradox — bear. It’s a big deal in the North Country but darned few people do it in the scheme of things. Folks sit over bait for much of September and near the last two weeks chase bears with hounds. A handful of sportsmen try fair chase. Archers aren’t among this group because they must sit over bait because of the limitations of their bow and arrows.
Gardens really produce the staples now — the root veggies such as potatoes, carrots, parsnips and more and winter squash and corn, beans and other high-carbohydrate foods that got ancient humans through winter.
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Answer to “Do You Know?”
Deer Decoys Work, But Are They Legal?
According to the State of Maine Hunting and Trapping Laws & Rules booklet, deer decoys are perfectly legal to use in this state, which should surprise no one. Decoys are legal to use for wild birds and game throughout much of the world. In fact, it would be difficult for the average hunter to come up with a state, province or country where decoys are prohibited.