OK, It's Winter

I just scouted the upper Connecticut River here for a morning hunt. I might as well leave the boat at home, because I could walk to New Hampshire from Vermont right now. Forecast calls for -14 to -20 F overnight in my cold hollow, then warming through Sunday with a foot of snow on the way. I think I'll put the decoys away for this year as they look awfully silly when chucked out on the ice. Good luck to you Mainers.

m
 
Tod lets just say you should have gone out. Today was most likely the most birds i have ever seen and my best hunt so far.

I love the winter, we get our birds and ice creels for work!
 
I have a feeling my first choice spot may have ice tomorrow, but I have Plans B and C. I'll find open water somewhere on the coast.
 
Troy~

You say "Chilly" - my Dad would always say "Invigorating".....

Great photos - I especially like the one with the Eider stool.

Stay warm!

SJS
 
I had to put my vest on just to read all the comments and look at those pictures! Be careful, Jeff. Good luck.
Al
 
One of the most memorable hunts I ever had was off Bailey Island in 9 degree weather. The wind was light,the sun was bright and the Eiders piled into the decoys. I only remember the temperature because the boat ride out was INVIGORATING!! John
 
-4 on my back porch at 4:30 am. My partner with the boat decided to sleep in, and I couldn't find another taker on short notice, so it was just me and the canoe again.

I was out the door by 4:45, and to my "Plan A" spot around 5:30. It was a little warmer down there--probably above zero, but not by much. This a tidal flat/marsh complex that drains almost completely at low tide. I arrived about half tide to find a solid layer of ice as far as I could see. I went to get a cup of coffee and wait for some light to see and some more tide to push the ice. Sometimes the rising tide will push the ice up past my launching spot and open some water. When that happens, the ducks pile in.

Not today. When the light came up, there was ice out at least a half mile.

I headed up the road to my "Plan B" spot--a small tidal river that generally has enough current to stay ice free. Not today. There were patches of open water (and ducks on them), but big sheets of 2-3 inch inch were getting pushed upriver by the rising tide. Not safe canoe conditions, so on to "Plan C".

Plan C is a big brackish bay that sits between a large freshwater lake and a long tidal river. It's separated from the tidal river by three sets of "reversing falls" where there are rapids that run either upriver or down river depending on the tide. This creates enough turbulence to keep almost the entire 3/4 mile of tidal river ice free, and a real haven for the ducks when the freshwater lake locks up. The big brackish bay mostly freezes, but right at the entrance are two points that almost touch, and there is a jet of strong current there that almost always keeps a big open area.

I said "almost always". When I arrived this morning, the open spot was there, but between my canoe access spot and the open water was a band of ice. By now it was after 7, and it looked like my ducking was doomed. I headed into town for another cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich before heading for home. Nice warm restaurant, a copy of the paper, a third cup of coffee--and before you know it, more than an hour has passed. I left the restaurant and headed for home, but stopped at my launching site with the binoculars to see if I could spot any ducks above the ice.

Lo and behold, the ice band was gone, melted by the rising tide. And the open water spot was LOADED with ducks--mostly drake whistlers, but also some buffleheads, hooded mergansers, and a mixed flock of mallards, blacks and a few geese. I probably put up 4 dozen birds paddling up to my spot. None of the puddle ducks ever came back. But by the time I had a half dozen whistler decoys set and hid the canoe I had a drake whistler in the decoys before I was even loaded up. Five minutes later another dropped in and stayed. A few minutes later a hooded merganser landed in the same spot and was added to the bag. (They don't eat good, but I need one per year to get the flank feathers to tie brook trout flies.)

After that things slowed down. A lot of the whistlers were still flying about, but all high overhead and not interested in my decoys. I think I could have gotten them to decoy if I picked up and moved to the other side of the inlet, but where I was sitting was protected from the wind, in the sun, and very comfortable. I would have moved into the shade and wind and been a whole lot colder, and it just didn't seem all that important. It was warm enough in the sun that I unzipped my jacket for for quite a while was sitting without gloves. I added a drake and a hen bufflehead after about an hour, but by then the flight was pretty much over.

I got home a little after noon, and the temperature was up to a balmy 12 degrees.

Here are a couple of poor photos. Sorry for the poor condition of the ducks--they were pretty frozen by this time!

The day's bag and the canoe:
View attachment Canoe and ducks.jpg

The hoodie and the whistler and one of my yard-sale LL Bean whistler decoys:

View attachment decoy and ducks.jpg
 
-4 on my back porch at 4:30 am. My partner with the boat decided to sleep in, and I couldn't find another taker on short notice, so it was just me and the canoe again.

I was out the door by 4:45, and to my "Plan A" spot around 5:30. It was a little warmer down there--probably above zero, but not by much. This a tidal flat/marsh complex that drains almost completely at low tide. I arrived about half tide to find a solid layer of ice as far as I could see. I went to get a cup of coffee and wait for some light to see and some more tide to push the ice. Sometimes the rising tide will push the ice up past my launching spot and open some water. When that happens, the ducks pile in.

Not today. When the light came up, there was ice out at least a half mile.

I headed up the road to my "Plan B" spot--a small tidal river that generally has enough current to stay ice free. Not today. There were patches of open water (and ducks on them), but big sheets of 2-3 inch inch were getting pushed upriver by the rising tide. Not safe canoe conditions, so on to "Plan C".

Plan C is a big brackish bay that sits between a large freshwater lake and a long tidal river. It's separated from the tidal river by three sets of "reversing falls" where there are rapids that run either upriver or down river depending on the tide. This creates enough turbulence to keep almost the entire 3/4 mile of tidal river ice free, and a real haven for the ducks when the freshwater lake locks up. The big brackish bay mostly freezes, but right at the entrance are two points that almost touch, and there is a jet of strong current there that almost always keeps a big open area.

I said "almost always". When I arrived this morning, the open spot was there, but between my canoe access spot and the open water was a band of ice. By now it was after 7, and it looked like my ducking was doomed. I headed into town for another cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich before heading for home. Nice warm restaurant, a copy of the paper, a third cup of coffee--and before you know it, more than an hour has passed. I left the restaurant and headed for home, but stopped at my launching site with the binoculars to see if I could spot any ducks above the ice.

Lo and behold, the ice band was gone, melted by the rising tide. And the open water spot was LOADED with ducks--mostly drake whistlers, but also some buffleheads, hooded mergansers, and a mixed flock of mallards, blacks and a few geese. I probably put up 4 dozen birds paddling up to my spot. None of the puddle ducks ever came back. But by the time I had a half dozen whistler decoys set and hid the canoe I had a drake whistler in the decoys before I was even loaded up. Five minutes later another dropped in and stayed. A few minutes later a hooded merganser landed in the same spot and was added to the bag. (They don't eat good, but I need one per year to get the flank feathers to tie brook trout flies.)

After that things slowed down. A lot of the whistlers were still flying about, but all high overhead and not interested in my decoys. I think I could have gotten them to decoy if I picked up and moved to the other side of the inlet, but where I was sitting was protected from the wind, in the sun, and very comfortable. I would have moved into the shade and wind and been a whole lot colder, and it just didn't seem all that important. It was warm enough in the sun that I unzipped my jacket for for quite a while was sitting without gloves. I added a drake and a hen bufflehead after about an hour, but by then the flight was pretty much over.

I got home a little after noon, and the temperature was up to a balmy 12 degrees.

Here are a couple of poor photos. Sorry for the poor condition of the ducks--they were pretty frozen by this time!

The day's bag and the canoe:


The hoodie and the whistler and one of my yard-sale LL Bean whistler decoys:
Click to expand...


Very nice Jeff. We got to Stockton- waited 10 minutes for the engine to start peeing, climbed and headed across the harbor- about 200 yards from the ramp the motor quit, the first time. Pulled for a minute, got it going and it died again. Pulled for several minutes, nada... Paddled back to the ramp; wnet home, drank beer.
 
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