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Southwest Maine Freshwater Report and Photo Essay

July 21, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

Southwest Maine Freshwater Report

Thanks for reading this Southwest Maine Freshwater Report.

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

With the exception of Monday, when it rained all day, my week has been spent fishing, taking pictures, and picking berries, with social time in the evening with my wife and Maryann. Sometimes they come along when I take the boat, too! The entire week has been very relaxing. Susan won’t go on hikes, something about ticks and mosquitoes. I really could use some walking.

Waiting for a croissant at the French bakery. It was worth the wait.

 

Susan and Maryann come with me in the boat.

We try to watch the sun set every evening the weather allows it, too.

Haze as the sun drops behind the White Mountains.

 

I’m not the only person paddle fishing.

 

Different evening, different result.

Fishing in Kezar Lake has changed. Due to the rain, the water is up even higher than it was when we got here. Fishing in the shallow, weedy areas has slacked off, only one bite in about three days. That one bite resulted in a nice fish, but that’s still really slow fishing. Kezar Lake’s weeds are done producing fish until the fall, I think.

When I’m paddling in the weeds and there’s no action, I photograph Odonates, both dragons and damsels. Without a guidebook I can’t ID any of them. Once I get reliable internet, some time will be spent trying to identify them.

Dragonfly, species unknown.

 

Dragonfly, species unknown. Liked my rod as a perch.

 

Damselfly, species unknown.

 

Damselflies in coitus.

Several nice fish have been caught while fishing from the boat off rock piles with a jig and worm combo, and with Senkos on weighted hooks. One has to be careful when fishing around the rocks. Not only could you crush your motor, the weighted baits frequently hang up. But it seems that’s where the fish are.

Smallmouth from a rock pile.

 

Largemouth from a different rock pile.

 

Giving the fish some love.

I paddle fished Farrington Pond on Tuesday, where I got the best fish of the entire trip so far. Got a nice one on the ugly fly rod bug, too. The bass, three- and four-pound fish, were jumping clear out of the water after dragonflies. Usually a surface fly is killer when they behave like that, but I only got a single strike.

 

An artsy image from Farrington Pond.

Blueberries grow all around us here. Every day some time is spent picking and eating the delicious little morsels. I’ve been looking for mushrooms, too, but haven’t seen any edibles other than puffballs.

Friday saw a return trip to Farrington Pond. No leaping fish, no surface strikes. A half-dozen nice fish were caught- two on Senkos, two on a Culprit worm, two on eel-worm streamers, a pretty nice morning’s work.

This fish was in the weeds- Farrington Pond is shallow.

 

Nice fish on an eelworm streamer.

That’s the Southwest Maine Freshwater Report. 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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

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Back in Maine Again

July 15, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

Back in Maine Again

Thanks for reading this back in Maine again report. The intrepid reader will remember last week’s report came from Winthrop, Massachusetts. We spent Sunday and Monday there (and I got no more striped bass), and left for Maine on Tuesday.

Winthrop Beach.

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

The blueberries are ripe now. Time spent picking berries is always time well spent.

I’ve been spending much of my fishing time in shallow places with lots of weeds. I get lots of bites there, many from chain pickerel. I thought I’d brought a sufficient number of bass bugs, and if they negotiated the weeds well I probably did. But the face of those gurglers I like to use in Florida catch the weeds. I only had a couple bullet-shaped surface flies, and pickerel cut them off.

Some creativity would be needed to replace them, since I didn’t bring any fly-tying gear with me.

A piece of closed cell foam found lying on the ground could be cut into slider heads. Got two from it. Then another piece of foam was found and I made two more heads. Crude? Yes. Ugly? Oh, yes. I needed hooks to put them on, and something for a tail.

Ugly? Yes indeed.

We went to Bridgton on Friday to get lobster rolls. Next to the lobster place was Unc’L Lunkers Bait and Tackle. Wasn’t expecting much when I went in, but they had #2 Aberdeen hooks and some fly-tying materials, and bunches of other stuff. I bought the hooks and a green calf-tail. Larry (the owner) gave me a tube of super glue. I was ready to make some flies!

Close-up of Ugly Bug.

After a trial with carpet thread that gave unsatisfactory results, I used dental floss for tying thread for the other three flies. It worked much better. After finishing the tying, weedguards were super-glued into the flies.

Ugly Bug wurk gud.

A few bass were caught with one during the first test. No big ones, but the flies work, which I thought they would. So next I have to go to the weedy place and really fish them. I guess that will be in next week’s report.

A fatter specimen on the plastic shad, caught over a rock pile.

When I was here in Lovell earlier this summer, I caught a bass that was missing part of its gill cover. I caught it again this week. All largemouths look pretty much the same, but a missing gill cover is fairly distinctive. All this proves is that catch-and-release works.

The weeds hold lovely things, other than fish.

 

Dusk comes to Kezar Lake.

That’s the back in Maine again report. 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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

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A Better Kezar Lake Report

June 30, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

A Better Kezar Lake Report

Thanks for reading this better Kezar Lake Report. More days spent fishing means more fish caught. Plus the loons, a bald eagle, ravens, and other winged creatures greatly enhanced the experience. And, we had some rain!

Best wishes to all for a safe and enjoyable Independence Day weekend.

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Because my wife is awesome, she said to me, “We should go out in the kayaks.” Mind you, she’s not interested in fishing, but doesn’t mind if I do. I got a few fish, none better than this one-

We went to an art gallery in Bridgton. They had photography on the wall that makes mine look like the work of a rank amateur. Visit this link- https://darylannleonardphotography.com/home

After we got back from our soiree, I went out paddling in the rain. Got a bass who was missing his gill cover, and a chain pickerel.

 

These fish are so awesome!

A couple non-fishing photos I got in the places I was fishing:

 

This is a damselfly, insect order Odonata, but I don’t know the species. Beautiful creature, though.

Our last day in Maine I got to fish in the rain again, and got a few bass and pickerel, none nicer than this one:

That’s the better Kezar Lake report. 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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, travel blog · Tagged: , , ,

A Poor Kezar Lake Report

June 24, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

A Poor Kezar Lake Report

Kezar Lake at dusk.

Thanks for reading this poor Kezar Lake Report. Only two days this week were spent fishing, because we had to drive to Maine from Florida, five glorious days spent in the van.

Needham’s skimmer (I think) at Okeefenokee NW Refuge.

 

At Lackawanna State Park in Pennsylvania.

Hope everyone enjoyed the solstice.

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Our plan was to visit the Canadian Rockies. Then Canada caught fire. Didn’t they know we wanted to visit? Anyway, we cancelled all our reservations, which was a pretty good financial beatdown. I hope the parks get some of our money.

Ralph Tedesco had a cabin he mostly didn’t rent this summer, and said we could use it! Talk about saving our vacation! Bless you Ralph, and now we’re at Kezar Lake.

I bought my fishing license Friday morning, then put my gear together, dragged a kayak down to the lake, and went for a spin. Nothing like starting a fishing trip in the heat of the day. Predictably, the bite was off. I got a single strike, from a chain pickerel. I saw two fish examine my flies and say no. And that was that, at least for the afternoon.

 

Dragonfly exuvium, on a pine tree.

Saturday morning I got up at 0530 and tried again. I got a few smallmouth bass on a surface fly, and hooked and lost another nice pickerel. Done at 0830.

That’s the poor Kezar Lake report. 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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

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A Week on My Own in Maine

September 24, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

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Welcome to Maine

September 10, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

Welcome to Maine- A Photo Essay

Thanks for reading this week’s post, Welcome to Maine. Again, lots of photos with captions! For subscribers- if the photos don’t load, click this link- www.spottedtail.com/blog.

A lot happened this week. I turned 70! Who’d a thunk it?

We had to change quarters, moving to what was quite an upgrade, still here in Lovell.

The new digs…

 

We’re not on Kezar Lake any more (although we still have access), but rather, on a small (=/- 80 acres) pond. No smallmouth in it, but chain pickerel instead.

 

I’ve loved these toothy critters since I was a child.

I took the kayak out after dark the other night and got four bass to three pounds on a popping bug in 30 minutes, the hottest bass fishing of the trip. Most days I go out in the mist, and quit when it burns off.

 

I went fly fishing with Registered Maine Guide Bob Duport, Western Mountains Fly Fishing, on the Rapid River, hoping for brook trout and landlocked salmon. Both those species like cold water. In early September the water is as warm as it gets all year. I had three bites, missed one, lost one, landed one.

At Pond in the River.

 

Across the pond!

 

Sasquatch guards the fishing hole.

 

Bob gives me a lesson.

 

It’s fly fishing only there.

 

The brookie I got was respectable, if not huge.

 

 

One of the master’s many fly boxes.

Susan and I went for a paddle around Kezar Lake. We came upon what I assume was a loon family. Two of them got close to us- I could see them swimming under my kayak, very cool.

 

I got a bass, too.

 

Don’t get the idea they were all big ones.

 

Sunset came, as it always does.

 

We went to the farmer’s market in Bridgton. I took a photo of a lady with a small, fuzzy dog.

We went apple picking. Some of the apples became pie. Magic!

 

 

We went to Grafton Notch State Park.

 

 

 

 

We bought a blueberry pie at a roadside stand- we are currently pie-wealthy!

That’s the Welcome to 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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

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From Vermont to Maine

September 2, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

From Vermont to Maine- A Photo Essay

Thanks for reading this week’s post, From Vermont to Maine. Again, lots of photos with captions!

My last post ended with, “We’ll see what else plays this afternoon!” We went to the Goodsell Fossil Reef Reserve.

 

When most people think of “old,” as refers to our planet, dinosaurs usually come to mind. When the creatures whose fossils we saw here were alive, dry land was still barren, no life at all. The rocks and fossils we saw there are 480 million years old, and formed way before those reptiles appeared. And even at that, life on earth is relatively young in the 4,500 million-year-old history of our little rock. Gives one pause…

 

After leaving Grand Isle, we leisurely made our way to New Discovery State Park in the Groton State Forest, passing through Burlington and Montpelier on the way. We stopped for lunch in the capital city…

Yes, someone hung a motorcycle on the wall of this house. ????

 

The Long Trail runs the length of Vermont. I hiked some of it in my youth.

 

The state house in Montpelier.

 

The Vermont State Museum. It was closed for our brief visit.

Groton State Forest is the largest publicly-owned property in Vermont, with seven state parks. Although we only spent one night here, we certainly enjoyed our stay!

 

 

My wife, mountaineer.

 

View from the top!

 

 

Undoubtedly.

From New Discovery we crossed New Hampshire, stopping at the AMC Pinkham Notch Camp to purchase a trail map. Then it was on to Lovell, Maine.

You see little stands like this on all the back roads through New England.

 

Moose heads in pickup trucks, not so much. In St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

We’ll be spending the month of September here in a cabin on Kezar Lake. I purchased a Maine fishing license and wasted no time, catching a four-pound largemouth (which I foolishly did not photograph) on a Senko, and a fat smallie on a popping bug.

A Kezar Lake view.

 

I have access to a boat. And a kayak.

 

On an early morning paddle.

 

 

Those readers in Florida may be envious- it was 46 degrees here this morning.

In addition to exploring the nearby countryside, we’ve also gone on a couple easy hikes. I’m hoping I’ve still got enough lung power to attempt one of the more strenuous ones.

 

 

 

An amazing, big chunk of quartz on top of the mountain.

 

 

Someone carried a cast-iron bench up there, very nicely done!

That’s the From Vermont to 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

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,