A Week on My Own in Maine- A Photo Essay

Happy autumn! The equinox was this week. Thanks for reading this week’s post, A Week on My Own in Maine. I fished four days this week. It would have been more, but the weather… I don’t like fishing in cold, or the rain, or least of all, the cold rain.  Subscribers- if the photos don’t load, click this link- www.spottedtail.com/blog.

Maryann left on Sunday. I suggested Susan go with her, and I’d meet them the following Sunday. After they left, I thought I’d try to do some trout fishing. Off I went to the Wild River, hoping for a crack at some native brookies.

No fish here, other than guppies.

The river resembled an irrigated rock garden. I found what’s probably the deepest pool in the river- no sign of fish, and I could see every pebble on the bottom. The Wild flows into the Androscoggin. I was only a few miles away, so…

I met a local guy there who convinced me to gear up. I spent a couple hours swinging a streamer in a stretch about a quarter mile long, not a touch. The two other local fly casters there had just as many bites as me.

The fallfish, scorned by anglers all through New England. There’s no such thing as a bad fish.

I drove past Lovell to try my luck at Swan’s Falls on the Saco. I caught two fish there, fallfish, the largest specie in the minnow family. Not a trout or a bass, but a fish that took a fly and pulled drag- I’ll take it.

An old favorite, the chain pickerel.

Monday

The forecast was for a high of 54, with rain. Not a day I want to be out paddling, so I wadered up and fished the old channel of the Saco with a spin rod. Two more fallfish and a chain pickerel, and two pickerel cut me off. I was not skunked. The heavens opened up around 1400, so I bagged it.

Tuesday

The Saco went up four feet.

The rain continued all night. The Saco went up four feet! I probably should have gone whitewater paddling, but decided to go to Kezar Pond. At the old Saco, the current had reversed and was flowing hard into the pond. With visions of hordes of fish waiting for the smorgasbord, I rode the current the mile there, knowing getting back would be hard.

Hemlock Bridge, where I put in.

Kezar Pond. I’d like to fish it when conditions are good!

Fifty-two degrees and cloudy does not good bass fishing make. The hordes of fish weren’t there. I got two pickerel bites, missed one and was cut off by the other. On the windy side of the lake, with rain threatening and the river continuing to rise, and not much fish action, I decided discretion was the better part and paddled the mile back.

Kezar River Mill Pond.

I went to the Kezar River Reserve to check it out. Ended up going for a long walk and picking some boletus mushrooms that I ate for dinner.

Yummy stuff here!

Wednesday

Horseshoe Pond.

Same place, different view.

Best fish I got there.

We’re a little aggressive, aren’t we??

Sign at the boat ramp.

Snake at the boat ramp.

I found my way to Horseshoe Pond. A more scenic body of water is hard to imagine, but the fish weren’t on. I fished the entire way around, getting one small smallmouth and three tiny ones, all on surface flies. No bites on any soft plastics.

After wrapping it up at Horseshoe, I tried Kezar Lake. The biggest chain pickerel of the trip struck a Culprit worm on the first cast. I badly wanted a picture, but didn’t want to hurt the fish, or end up bleeding, so no photo. I fished hard until after a spectacular sunset, getting only one small bass on a popping bug.

Thursday

Moose Pond, near Bridgton.

Turkeys playing in the rain.

Rainbow rather than sunset.

The equinox fell on Thursday. It dawned raining hard. I did some writing, packing, fly tying, and cooking. The rain stopped about 1500. After returning the kayak to its owner, I put the solar panel back on the roof. There was heavy mist in the mountains- pictures were taken. Instead of the sunset pictures I wanted, I got a rainbow!

Friday

View on the hike.

Walks in the woods are good for the soul.

The wind howled around the house all night. It was 43 degrees when I got up. Susan was supposed to come back this day. I went for a light hike. When I got back to the Pond House I learned that she’d been delayed, so I went for a different light hike.

Boletus.

Coral mushroom.

Chanterelle.

Amanita muscaria. Don’t eat this one!!!

It quickly turned into a foraging trip when I found some chanterelles. Boletus, puffballs, and coral mushrooms were added to the bag. I’ll be eating them for breakfast with some eggs in a few minutes.

That’s the A Week on My Own in Maine post. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Take a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

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