Summer Doldrums
- Thread starter Carl
- Start date
Yeah, if you want to live in the east and prefer native fish, Maine is probably the best fishing state. No steelhead, and not much for browns or rainbows, but it's brook trout heaven, with landlocked salmon, striped bass, and shad, too. If you make that Grand Lake Stream trip, you want to to fish in mid-May to early June or during the October extended season. Most of the landlocked salmon will be in the lake the rest of the year. I think it is the prettiest of Maine's landlocked salmon rivers, especially in October with the foliage (and some the east's best partridge and woodcock hunting).
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
Good conversation. Maine has been on my "get there" list for awhile.
James Woods
Active member
Thanks everyone for relieving the boredom. We are dry here on the New York/Vt border. Battenkill low, but fishing has been good because of the cool weather. Tribs very low. These are reliable reports from friends, as I have been dealing with a Springer puppy, "Ruthie." Hoosic and Wallomsac on report also fishing well-though also low. Gonna get out one of these cool mornings and fish a "cast of wet flies." I have been fascinated with this form of wetfly fishing the last couple of years. It fits my ADHD nature as I can keep moving-I also note that consistently rising fish on the Battenkill have become infrequent.
Best and stay well all.
Best and stay well all.
James Woods said:
Ruthie would be perfect for those Grand Lake Stream birds--I'm a flushing dog fan. Maybe a DHBP gathering in October of 2023? I'm joking, mostly . . . . .
tod osier said:Dani said:
I'm hoping to draw a moose tag that year [], so you all can help drag it out.
October in Maine is a special thing, I'm all for it. I'll bring my .22 for grouse and my worm rod for trouts.
Well, if we are going for flushing dogs over pointers, might as well drop the fly rods and bespoke doubles, too.
Jeff Reardon said:tod osier said:Dani said:
I'm hoping to draw a moose tag that year [
October in Maine is a special thing, I'm all for it. I'll bring my .22 for grouse and my worm rod for trouts.
Well, if we are going for flushing dogs over pointers, might as well drop the fly rods and bespoke doubles, too.
Who said anything about flushing? A retriever works well to pick them up after potting them in the road.
tod osier said:Jeff Reardon said:tod osier said:Dani said:
I'm hoping to draw a moose tag that year [
October in Maine is a special thing, I'm all for it. I'll bring my .22 for grouse and my worm rod for trouts.
Well, if we are going for flushing dogs over pointers, might as well drop the fly rods and bespoke doubles, too.
Who said anything about flushing? A retriever works well to pick them up after potting them in the road.
If we're road shooting, easier to hit with a 20 ga. rested on the truck's mirror. Preferably short barreled for safety and easy hiding under a blanket behind the seat.
a "cast of wet flies."
James Woods-that is a fun way to fish. I occasionally do a little of that myself. A light cahill and a leadwing coachman. Perfect this time of year.
James Woods-that is a fun way to fish. I occasionally do a little of that myself. A light cahill and a leadwing coachman. Perfect this time of year.
greg setter said:
When I fished for finicky brown trout more often, I used to often fish a pair of flies--a dry, so I had a visible indicator to get the drift right in some tricky spots, and a small olive soft hackle on a short dropper underneath it. It was amazing how many times I had what I thought were rises to the dry fly, only to find the fish had actually taken the soft hackle hanging a few inches lower in the water column.
Out west, the same technique was effective when there was no hatch on, and I'd fish a small hi-vis floating grasshopper or beetle pattern and hang a sinking ant pattern on a short dropper. All the visual fun of dry fly fishing and the effectiveness of small wet flies!
Troy Fields
Well-known member
I love that pond Jeff. Not sure if it's still there, about 2/3rd's the way across on the left shoreline (100' off) there were a couple submerged trees (logs) and you could see the tip of one just under the surface. That was always the "x" with a Black Ghost Marabou and a super fast sinking line. That story brought back some great memories. Thanks!
I won't name it, but that sounds like a different pond in the same area. And my experience of that spot is that a big orange muddler pulls that trout to the surface from the log . . . .
LOL--there is no shortage of opportunity if you are willing to walk a couple of miles.
LOL--there is no shortage of opportunity if you are willing to walk a couple of miles.
Got up way too early and made it to the bait shop at 5:15. No shrimp, truck hadnt arrived yet. Waited around until 5:45 when bait truck arrives. Got bait, drive to boat ramp and launch. Pull cord on my Merc promptly breaks while struggling to start it. Back on trailer, drive home, fix pull cord, hook up hose, yank on motor until it finally starts and runs. Restarted 3 times with one pull. GRRRRRRR.
Back to ramp, launch at 8am. Fished the large pilngs around the Gandy Bridge in Upper Tampa Bay. Caught a pile of short grey snapper, two keeper grey snapper, a couple of lane snapper, a grunt, a pile of jacks and a couple of nice Spanish mackerel. Ran out of shrimp around 11am, left them biting.
Fish tacos for dinner tonight, back at it tomorrow morning!
Back to ramp, launch at 8am. Fished the large pilngs around the Gandy Bridge in Upper Tampa Bay. Caught a pile of short grey snapper, two keeper grey snapper, a couple of lane snapper, a grunt, a pile of jacks and a couple of nice Spanish mackerel. Ran out of shrimp around 11am, left them biting.
Fish tacos for dinner tonight, back at it tomorrow morning!
Troy-a black ghost marabou is one of my all time go to flies. I have caught fish on it everywhere I have ever fished, including out west. It's just a great bait fish imitation/representation. 1979, I'm in college, just starting to tie flies, went up to Errol for the weekend, fishing just below the dam. I'm catching fish like crazy on that fly, and have used it ever since.