Category: Maine

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern Maine, Ocean 12-05-2006 15:45
– – –
This am was a cold one. I hunted with WF.com member, Teal Tumbler from NY. It was overcast with 10-15 kt NW. Low tide at 0420. We were all set just after 6. There was a little chop on the water with a slight swell. The wind died down around 10 and was flat calm and sunny. There were some nice drake ediers buzzing around at legal time (but we didn’t shoot at any today). Mostly singles and pair. Had pairs of hen eiders and scoters coming into the decoys. The Oldsquaw was the primary duck today. They have teased me this year but today they gave us some fast shooting. My shooting was way off today and there should have been more ducks in the boat. Shot 2 nice drakes with long sprigs. unfortunately the one I shot was not recovered along with a white winged scoter. Not a lot of eiders around. After this cold wheather I had expected some fresh birds? Slow! Overall we saw good numbers of oldsquaw, black scoter, white winged scoter and very few eiders. There were around 6 big flocks of high flying canadas heading South. Had a great time today. Hope to be out Saturday. Should have some nice pics posted soon. I forgot my camera but Teal Tumbler had his.

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-12-05 15:46]

Posted By:
paul-reynolds
Guest

biddeford 11-30-2006 20:00
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
We had a great day last Saturday. The new diver spread seems to be working well. We had lots of Buffleheads, mergansers and some scoters work the rig. Three mallard rounded out the day. There was a few flocks of geese in the area but they had a different destination on thier minds. I’m looking forward for some real winter weather coming in to start moving the birds down to the coast.
I hunted the two previous days in the Saco area. There were plenty of mallard and geese in the air. We shot a limit of mallards and some bonus geese. I was very disapointed to have another hunter in the area 1. shoot 10 minutes early and 2. shoot from a no discharge zone. Actions like that will close an area to hunting very quickly especially in tight urban areas.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Edgecomb 11-30-2006 12:38
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Hunted this morning for puddlers bofore work. I arrived a bit later than I would have liked There was one other hunter on the other side of the road hunting the marsh off the river. I set up 4 mallard dekes. Before I was set up a coulpe of low flying ganzers flew by. I sat at this one spot until a bit past 7 and then decided to try and jump shoot. Shortly after getting in tht yak There were some shots in back of me that put some mallards in the air. Took one shot and missed. After that I headed back to the launch and headed to work. Hope to get out Tuesday for some sea duck action. Hope this wheather pushes some fresh birds our way. Will see!

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Ocean 11-27-2006 13:41
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
It was blowing pretty good in the early hours then lighten up around 10. Quite a few more eiders around then on Thursday and previous hunts. Seems the eiders are finally coming down from the maritimes. Lots of WW scoters around this year also. The sprigs on the oldsquaws are really getting some good length. Thursday there was a distress vessel being directed by the Coast Guard. I could hear the station at Boothbay but not the vessel on the radio. Hopefully all turned out Okay.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

11-26-2006 14:07
– – –
Nothing to report on since last report. Have had inlaws up since Thursday and this coming week is out. I may try and get a puddle hunt in before work.. mid cost. Looks like I will be getting my smoke pole stamp. Haven’t tried real hard for dear this year. Chasing ducks has been more exciting. Teal Tumbler and I have a sea duck shoot coming up in December, just hope the wheather holds out for us. Hope everybody had a good turkey day and ate till it hurt!

Later

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

North Atlantic 11-21-2006 14:20
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Slow gunning today as well Andrew. 1030 before drake limits where met. Love the dog story. Seems like it 4 to 1 ratio hens to drakes this year. Hopefully the cold will bring in more birds. Saw a flock of teal this morning they just wouldnt come in to the eider tollers. Tons of black duck also I guess the black decoys will go back in the boat for Thursday.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern Maine 11-20-2006 22:39
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
Hunted this afternoon with a friend of mine and my lab Murphy. The tide had just turned and the winds were light at less than 10 kts NW. Mostly clear with light clouds. Seas were calm with a slight roll. The current was the strongest I have seen it at this one spot probably due to all the run off. My decoy strings were dragging quite fast and had to be reset several times before the tide slacked off a bit. I use 20″ sash weights that go about 5lbs or so. My friend was doing the shooting while I was keeping the dog under control. It came time for me to pick up the gun due to some bad shooting. I droped a drake eider and released the dog. He was coaxed to the bird with some thrown rocks and locked onto it. The bird was about 50 yards from the boat. He was 5′ from the bird and it twitched a leg causing my dog to put the brakes on and swim towards a decoy string. He picked up a decoy and swam over 2 more before coming back to the boat and swiming around the anchor line with the snarl of dekes. We all had a laugh. After all was reset he retrived his 2nd and 3rd birds with no problem. They were blinds which I lined him up on and were coaxed to by thrown rocks. The 3rd bird was a drake hooded merganzer which I have never seen out on the ocean before. Ended the day with 4 birds…1 eider, 2 scoters and 1 hooded merganzer. Was not the best day but was a good day for the dog. Saw smaller #’s of eiders and scoters along with squas. We shot small flocks mostly singles and pairs. The birds just were not inshore. There was another hunter on his way in (from MA) from offshore and he reported slow gunning also.

All for now

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Southern maine 11-20-2006 08:13
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Took a regular duck trip first thing this morning. Buffies and goldeneyes. I was back home at 815 am. 3 buffs 2 whistlers 1 mergie quite fun just me and the dog on foot jumpshooting and pass shooting a local spot. Larry I sent you a pm. Back to eiders tommorrow.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Larry-Gausch
Field Editor

Berks County not Maine 11-19-2006 17:31
– – –
Any of you guys possibly up to taking some Pa. boys out for eiders this season? I would be willing to make the drive and would look forward to having some of you guys down our way for longnecks. “g”

Posted By:
Larry-Gausch
Field Editor

Berks County not Maine 11-19-2006 16:07
– – –
Any of you guys possibly up to taking some Pa. boys out for eiders this season? I would be willing to make the drive and would look forward to having some of you guys down our way for longnecks. “g”

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Midcoast 11-16-2006 10:26
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
Hunted new ground yesterday with a coworker about mid morning. Have worked in this area for about 3 years now and haven’t hunted or fished it yet from my boat so I finally gave it a try. Tired a couple of spots. Despite the forecast I was able to get out farther than I thought. Hunted an island and a large ledge. Had a low tide about 1230. Winds and seas picked up towords the end of the day. We shot at some ducks! The newbie I had in the boat just had a hard time letting them come in. Ended up losing one anchor to the bottom gods. Saw lots of squaw, black and surf scoters and eiders. Wasn’t enough lobster boats to keep them moving and due to the low tide the birds found other places to feed and stayed there.

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-11-16 15:53]

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Coast 11-13-2006 06:08
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Went Saturday very frustrating to see as many cripples as I did swimming around near shore. Someone is taking long shots and crippling alot of birds. Second trip in a that particular area that I have seen an overload of cripples. I get out away from shore and shoot ducks outside. It was slow but we got limits by 1030 one hen scoter got dropped. Another group showed up around 8 after the wind settled down and set up right around the point from us. Ignorant. Steel rain for awhile there. It is definatly slower than last year but is an average year. I am told by my cohorts that Bar Harbor area is very poor gunning this year, I also have been told by Maines biologist that Searsport area is very slow as well. I think December is going to pick up as we are still gunning local birds. The Canadian eiders just are not here yet, nor are the birds from even further north. Hoping for an arctic blast and setting up near shore this afternoon to try and clean up those cripples.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Saco 11-06-2006 18:05
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 40-45 Degrees
Had a great day of seaducking. 2 limits by 0830. Had a friend with his male lab Wiley who had not hunted out of a boat before and had not been hunting in two years do to his owners work schedule. He retrieved all but 4 birds. I personally was shooting only drakes today to try and make for a longer hunt. My shotgun had a malfunction during the first volly. As I found out later the magezine tube spring had commpressed and jamed when I loaded my 2 shells in and was causing my empty hull in the chamber to not fully eject and the new shell to jam in the feed well. Very frustrating! Also my GPS antenna is fried. I did see a lot of smaller (8 or so) flocks of squaw, common, white wing, and just a few surf scoters. For some reason there seem to be more scoter hens this year than I can remember. It must be from shooting all the drakes! Just kidding, FLG! Out of a flock of say 20 or so scoters there may be 2 drakes. All in all it was a great day…flat calm seas, SW wind overcast with a few sprinkles. Had a few tangles with the spread and had to move the anchors around when the tide changed.

Later

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

coast of Maine 11-06-2006 15:17
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
5-10 knot se wind today with 2-4 seas. Bumpy shooting as the 4 swells had 18″ waves crossing them quartering. Lots of White wing scoters around and the eiders are trading good. Saturday was nice but we hunted a sweet spot for bad weather mainly to check the bird locations, and the old squaw where coming in in flights of 30 birds and more. Good gunning so far and just the one juvenile scoter taken so far all others are adult drakes. It takes a couple hours longer to shoot only bull eiders and squaws but is worth it.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

North Yarmouth 11-05-2006 07:06
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Went deer hunting in North Yarmouth again from sunup to sundown. Was hunting with 3 others. Saw zero deer between all of us which is odd for this area. Two others in the group shot 3 yotes. Had one pop out in front of me but did not shoot. Beware of deer ticks. I pulled them off me all day. Be carefull and do a tick check at the end of each day.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Saco 11-03-2006 17:57
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
Hunted out of Saco this afternoon. Met up with a friend about 2ish. We had two limits in about 45 min. Lots of mature eiders and very few drake scoters. We did see a couple surf scoters, white winged and common scoters. Lots of scoter hens. No old squaw! The wind was NE @ 10 kts and then picked up close to 15+. Had a low tide about 1447 or so. Lots of birds!!! Action was fast and furious. No jewlery. Hope to get out there sooner than later.

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Southern Maine 11-03-2006 14:39
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Went eidering today, Still a ton of Juveniles here. It took from legal gunning until 10 am but I managed 5 drakes zero hens and zero juveniles. I let skunkheads, black scoters go on through. I managed one white wing adult but not prime. Only saw 2 gigglers and missed! Glad to have the missing out of the way. I would say the seaduck gunning is going now just take your time and shoot mature drakes unless collecting or if you see jewlery under mama eider. Still have 2 Saturdays open in December any takers out there give a call.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Central Maine 10-30-2006 15:52
Cloudy, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
Great duck weather on Saturday. Teal where flying like crazy, mallards, blacks and woodduck where decoying good. Quite a few flocks of scaup doing the worm across the lake. Nailed a banded goose around 10 am. Then flushed a raft of skunkheads on the boat ride in to camp.
Went out today extremly high water birds just had to many options and where not in the usual spots. I managed a pair of ringnecks and was pouring coffe heads down when a flight of blacks decoyed. On to seaducking!

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern ME 10-30-2006 10:27
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Hunted the opener (resident only) of firearms in North Yarmouth. The rain started around 0515 followed by the wind. Ended the day at 1000. Didn’t see zip. My brotherinlaw jumped a deer on the way to his stand. Among the 8 people I was hunting with, no one saw anything. Hope to get out for some sea ducks later this week. I’d like to know what kind of wind and seas Saco Bay was having on Saturday.

Posted By:
paul-reynolds
Guest

saco bay 10-29-2006 17:29
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Hunted Saturday morning. Very high winds and driving rain. Saw the first large flocks of eiders. There was several flocks of white winged and surf scoters. I also saw several flocks of Old Squaw. There was two flocks of mixed mallards and blacks of about 60 birds each. The birds were moving alot trying to find some calm water. When the wind dies down later this week the gunning should improve.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Merrymeeting Bay 10-25-2006 19:02
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Hunted Merrymeeting Bay yesterday afternoon. Needed a good tide to get to my not so secret spot. There were fresh footprints and hulls on the ground so I am guessing someone had some luck earlier on. I only saw one other boat close by and heard several shots down near Chops Point. Only saw one duck fly as I picked up the dekes. Did some scouting to the south and saw a handfull of ducks. Last year this time there were many more ducks. Hope to get up there again for the second season when it’s colder.

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Central Maine 10-16-2006 16:09
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 45-50 Degrees
Man was it foggy Saturday morning. It took 1 hour to go 6 miles and get setup. It stayed foggy until 1030 then it lifted like a curtain going up. Had a flock of honkers go over a legal shooting time. They where barking their heads off. Right over us but we couldnt see them and they didnt come back around to our calls. Got a couple of mallards. Went out today and got 2 wood duck.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
paul-reynolds
Guest

scarborough 10-15-2006 14:45
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Hunted in Scarborough Marsh yesterday. There were quite a few birds in the marsh before first light. We had mallards and teal in the decoys before first light but as legal time drew closer more and more birds began moving out of the marsh. The birds in the decoys decided to join their feathered brethren and head out as well.
We had some blacks decoy but our shooting was way off and all that flew in… flew out.

There were a few other hunters in the marsh and back at the ramp I spoke with several who were outside eider hunting. I did hear a lot of shooting after first light coming from the ocean. This group said that they had shot at a few birds but only downed one bird.
We took a ride around the marsh after our hunt and saw three teal and several blacks.

Posted By:
paul-reynolds
Guest

Bar Harbor 10-15-2006 14:17
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
Hunted Bar Harbor for Eiders. It was an incoming tide. Eiders were flying in smaller groups. The largest flock that came in was about twenty birds but most were much smaller. The birds were not flying steadily. I thought due to the lack of wind that the gunning would be slow. It was but it was also steady. Before I knew it we had three limits of eiders. We saw several small flocks of white wing scoters but no oldsquaw. There were larger flocks seen outside but they are slowy moving inside.

I hunted with Bill Pigeon of Eiders Down guide service. He has a first class operation and I highly recommend him.

[Edited By paul-reynolds on 2006-10-15 14:29]

Posted By:
paul-reynolds
Guest

Waterboro, Maine 10-15-2006 14:06
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Opening day there were few wood ducks in the area but after first light there were not many birds moving. We took a few woodies though. I saw a few flocks of mallards and blacks.
There has been a fair number of birds on the Saco river with some blue wing teal in the area. With this front moving through I expect that they will be moving out soon.

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

South and central Maine 10-13-2006 12:51
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
I have not been on much since before the moose hunt. 850 lbs 18 point bull. Yes my wife shot it. I missed 2 days ducking so far. 2 more than I wanted and 3 to many. It is definatly slower this year puddle ducking. Wood duck, teal, blacks, mallards in the bag. Divers in the bag are blackheads and bluebills. Took a scotch double on black head last week young drake for a target and his sister fell as well. Havent nailed any mergies yet and have been passing on the coot. Had some whistlers rafted on open water yesterday on the way back to the ramp. Still to early in the year for good sea ducking. I have been checking some spots someone is gunning them, saw some floaters in the area, mostly brown birds flying now and shooting hen seaducks is not neccessary. Drakes are around but not that great plummage quite yet. Couple of more weeks and that will get going good. It looks like a bluebird day for tommorrow so all will be out and looking forward to next week.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
3baydogs
Guest

10-10-2006 18:10
– – –
Keep the field reports coming Andrew.. I check for your reports everyday of the season…

I’ll be in Maine from the 4th. of Nov. Till About the 12th. or so….I’ll be talking to you again.. Thanks for Help Andy..

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Casco Bay 10-10-2006 10:11
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted the Northeast corner of Casoco Bay this AM. First hunt out of the Royal river so I looked at a chart and went with a small island about 3+ miles from the ramp. Had a Low tide at 0742, 5+ kt NE wind, clear. Legal time was 0624. Was set up just after legal time and saw no birds flying. My hopes were down until I shot a double on eiders, ,then a single eider and then 2 scoters. All hens! I only had one mature drake eider come by but was well out of range. Picked up the dekes about 0830 and started scouting out new places. On the way back to the ramp I jumped small groups of drake surf scoters in the open water and some commom scoters as well. Was a good day over all. Found some new hunting spots that produced. Good day over all. My lab Murphy attempted his second retrieve on the 2 eiders but ended up grabbing one of my oldsquaw dekes along with the rest of the main line. need to work on blinds.

Later.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Saco & Scarbourgh 10-09-2006 12:17
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Hunted out of Saco last Friday for sea ducks. The wind was 10-15 NE with 2-4’s. Temp was in the 40’s then warmed up to 60’s or so. The tide was low @ 0428. I set up between 2 islands and had very few birds work (Surf Scoters & Eiders). They were not flying as good as I have seen them. Mostly when a lobster boat came out of the river. The eiders came in mostly pairs and singles and I did see my first flock of surf scoters for this area. The boat did have a camo netting draped over the exposed side and stuck up 20″ above the rail but could have used some more since quite a few birds spooked when they started working closer. The wind and incoming tide also made it tough positioning the boat. I was also alone which made it even tougher. Had the dog with me for his first sea duck hunt, lets just say he staued in teh boat the whole morning.

This past Saturday I hunted out of pine point with my bro inlaw and the dog. Set up between 2 islands and saw some eiders, white wing scoters and black ducks work. It was a bit swelly and windy where we were as the wind had picked up, so we picked up and moved to the lee of an island and set a few strings out. Ended the day with 0 due to bad shooting and a restless dog. There was also a frost that morning. The colder wheather should help keep the birds on the move. Will put some finishing touches on the boat blind and hopefully flare less birds.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern Maine 10-04-2006 13:42
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Well the opening day for pudlers was a flop. The spot I went to had a wire rope across the road. I did have permission to hunt this small 5 acre pond via a private road but did not want to overstep my boundarys as the road has always been open. So I went with plan B wich was an acsess to the same pond through a development. Well lets just say I would have been walking through somones yard were the road once was. Plan C worked well despite the fact that there were 2 tucks parked along the river bank. I put the kayak in the water, loaded up my gear and went up river. I found one hunter set up and asked if there was anybody else ahead of him. He said there was so I set up between both of them as light was approaching and I didn’t want to ruin opening morning for them. First light came and woodies were flying mostly up river. The other hunters shot some ducks. I didn’t even pull the trigger once. All out of range and high tailing it. There were 3 turkeys roosted on some dead pines located on a small island. If the the marine forcast cooperates I will try and get out for sea ducks tomarrow or saturday. The boat is all loaded up and ready to go.

Good luck!

Also I am looking for 1-2 people to go after sea ducks this week and weekend wheather permitting. I usually hunt out of Saco River and this year will be hunting out of the Royal river to. Give me a call…207-829-4047.

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-10-04 13:45]

Posted By:
gearhead
Guest

Headed your way 09-29-2006 07:44
– – –
Headed to Maine sat. morning.Back home for 2 weeks.Probably get there sun. afternoon late. I have the wife and boy with me but the boat and mud motor on the back. Last year we shot some black ducks on the coast and some teal inland close to my hometown.My cousin and his friend and I are headed upcountry to partidge hunt for 3 days.We are staying in his camper.Probably freeze me out.I have a few days when I dont have anyone to hunt with.I dont like to hunt alone in the boat but I will. If anyone in central maine wants to hunt for a day give me a call.I have a 15ft boat and mud motor and all my decoys and gear.Might be able to work out something. My cell no is 270-871-2474.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Mid-coast 09-24-2006 15:26
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 60-65 Degrees
Took a ride from Boothbay up to Cox Head (outside route) saw up to 1000 eiders around Cuckolds Light! Seas were 4-5 with heavy fog, vis was 50-150 yards. Came back to Booth Bay via the inside route. Not to many people out but a few striper fisherman. Not to much longer until opening day. Still need to go through everything. Can’t believe summer is over! Oh well. Good luck to all this upcoming season. Be safe on the water i.e. File a float plan with someone, wear your PFD and engine kill switch. Check the wheather often. Why do I say this. Because this year I know of a man who was approaching the baot ramp, hit a log and was ejected from his boat and got sliced up when the boat came back around over him. He lost his right arm. Also the Jeanie B out of Booth Bay. 78 year old man who’s body is still missing. With the amount of boats that were searching for him that day I am sure he would have been located if he was wearing a PFD. Granted, the wheather for both of these tragic events was very calm anything can happen at anytime to anybody!

Good luck and be safe!

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-09-24 15:27]

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Mass to Mid-coast 09-18-2006 11:57
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
This past Friday and Saturday I delivered a boat to Boothbay from Glouster. Left Glouster @ 0400 Sat am & proceeded North about 20 miles offshore. It was a beautifull day with zero wind and a nice lazy swell. I did see several center consoles shark fishing. Water temp was 60-62.5 F. We left Firhaven on Friday and the wheather was rather wet and dreary. Saw several minki whales and humpbacks. Didn’t see any tuna jump. Lots of porpoise! It isn’t over yet.

Andrew White
VFE Maine.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Damariscove Island/Bantam Rock 09-04-2006 17:55
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Took a cruise this afternoon around Damariscove Island, Bantam Rock, and Pumkin Island. Saw 3 large rafts of eiders. Also noticed a large school of mackerell on the surface. Nothing appeared to be busting them. Soon! We are getting a light rain up here in Boothbay at the present time.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Casco Bay 09-04-2006 09:13
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Fished out of the Royal river last Tuesday. It sure felt like fall! I hit some new spots with Storm Chartuse 3″ shads and bait and my last productive spot off Bates Island. No Stripers were caught! I was fishing a slack low tide which is not my favorite. I did have a school of tinkers swarm my chum bag, only managed to catch 2. They were very skididsh. Also caught a 10″ mack on a chunk of mack which was put out for stripers, that was a first. While tooling around I saw many smaller rafts of eiders, mostly hens and imature drakes. Not to long before the season opens up. Need to start clearing the boat of all fishing gear. The early honker season kicks off tomarrow. Will be heading up just North of Rangely for some camping this Thursday. I did spot a flock of geese coming from there roost to a local private field in Edgecomb. Not sure where they are roosting.

All for now.

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Sequin 08-30-2006 13:42
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
I had a charter on the lower Kennebec on Tuesday. Things are slowing down for sure. Only 3 fish on a 4 hour charter. They were happy thou. Tons of blackduck on the river now. Those fish where all caught in the salt not even a strike in the brakish water. Plenty of eiders around no geese that day thou. The regs for the state came out on monday. 10-02-06 is the opener for all ducks. We have the six bird limit this year but the bonus 2 teal is gone. The state is trying to promot taking more mallards. Still 1 blackduck 1 can 1 sprig 2 woodduck 2 hoodies 2 scaup . 5 additional merganser in the bag makes for an 11 duck day inland with an 18 duck day in the sea duck zone possible.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Mid Coast 08-27-2006 19:36
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
I saw my first huge raft of eiders off the Damariscota river, maybe 500 birds. Have also been seeing resident honkers on my way to work in Edgecomb. Expanded archery opens the 9th (?). IF&W has not put out dates yet, not till September. Neither has the Feds. Will have to haul all my gear out and start going through it all soon. Can’t wait. I hate to see the fishing come to and end. Kind of feels likt it never really kicked off. As for sea ducks I hope to hunt new area this year.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Casco Bay 08-25-2006 20:36
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
Took my neighbor and good freind from school out on Wednesday for some striper fishing, leaving from the Royal River. Had a little rain on the way to the boat ramp but had none once we got to the ramp. We headed out to Eagle Island to look for some mackerel. As we drifted and jigged we saw 2-3 minki whales (or what I thought to be minkis). After about an hour of getting no bait we went up to Bates Island and anchored up. After trowing over the chum bag and tossing some tasty mackerel chunks in the area I toosed 3 chunk baits in on balloons and then handed to casting rods to my comrads. The action was almost instantanious. We had shoolies on jigs and bait. The biggest for the day was 29.5″. My biggest for the year and for the boat. Total of 6 fish landed and one lost at the boat. I would like to thank Storms 3″ rubber “Bunker” jigs and chartuse curly tail jigs for our good fortune. The mackerel I used was caught about a month ago which I brined, vacuum packed and froze. It thawed out nicley and didn’t turn into mush. We only had a limited amount of time to fish but the day turned out great. One problem that I have run into with fishing this area is the weed. Makes trolling harder if not impossible and can move into an area rather quickly and just make things miserable.

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-08-27 12:29]

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-08-27 19:25]

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Tantas Ledge 08-21-2006 12:57
Cloudy, High Winds – Over 70 Degrees
Took a trip offshore in my brotherinlaw’s Aquasport early sat AM. Went to Tantas ledge 17 NM out from Pine Point. Seas were 3′-4′ (forecasted)but more like 5′-6′, spaced just right for a wet ride out wind was 10-15 SW and picked up to 25 steady by afternoon. The seas calmed down also towards noon. Vis was great, could see land! (Portland). We were targetting Haddock, Cod and Sharks. We drifted for the day catching 3 Dogfish. The drift was fast despite having a bucket and drift sock out. We kept a shark rod out at all times and kept a good slick going. Caught one Blue Shark that was between 6-7′. I think we hooked the shark over Pollock Hub. Mackerell was the choice shark bait for the day. Also used jigs and bait for ground fish with no luck. Was a good day overall. Hope to get out next week.

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-08-21 20:32]

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Scouted Puddlers in Aroostook and Penobscot 08-20-2006 16:50
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – Over 70 Degrees
Got some serios scouting in this weekend. Local Canada geese are numerous should be a fun trip to Aroostook next month. I scouted a couple of teal holes in Penobscot county. Saw plenty of summer ducks a few mallards occasional blackduck and several teal. Looking good for the first week in October. Hopefully there will be a few bluewing still around. I still need a prime drake bluewing. I probably will need to travel to get him thou..

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Sequin 08-08-2006 16:16
– – –
I had a slow day today. Fished the mouth of the Kennebec, out to Sequin all around wood, pond, fox islands. Only caught 6 schoolies. 2 on the beach in the surf, 4 in the seafoam on the islands. More importantly I saw tons of eiders. Older drakes are starting in on their winter plummage. They still have a long way to go yet.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

OFFSHORE 08-07-2006 09:25
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Went about 6 miles offshore from the Royal river (was a mile West of the East Cod Ledge bouy) to try for sharks and maybe a tuna. Seas were about 2′ with a 5-10 kt NW. I saw and caught ZIPO. Not even a dogfish. I monitored the radio and found out that farther offshore (Jefferies and Stellwagon Bank) it was a slow day all around with one tuna hooked and several other tuna bites. I had 2 boats go by, suspecting they were going to Tanta’s. I had a water dept of 150′ +- with 67.5 F for a sea surface temp. This was the first offshore trip in my own boat and fourth overall but was a nice day for it. On my way in as I was passing Halfway Rock Light I trolled 2 orange big macks and a large mackerell Rapala with no takers. Once inside the islands the wind picked up to 10-15 with a 3-4′ chop. tried chunking next to some ledges and had no luck there. Ended up going in early. Other fisherman on the radio were having a hard time getting a bite form anything. This area is a new one for me this year so it is all a learning experiance, all in an effort not to spend gobs of my $ on gas going to my farther usual, familiar spots.

Tight lines.

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-08-07 09:33]

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Kennebec River 08-03-2006 12:24
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – Over 70 Degrees
Had a early morning charter today. We hit the outgoing tide and the low pressure system was right on time with the tide change. We used Atoms, sluggos, bigeye chug bugson open face reels. 27 fish the shortest was 15″ largest was 25″. After I dropped the party off I went back out for me and nailed 4 fish on the 8 weight using super sinking line and an herring pattern. One was 22″ (lunch) the others where all 20″. Not a bad 4 hour charter and 1 1/2 hour relaxing trip for me. I even got home and picked up before this rain started.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Royal River 07-29-2006 19:33
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Launched my boat in the Royal River again but this time I went all the way out into the ocean and did a little exploring. The seas were choppy and there was a good swell coming in. Tried to troll for blufish and mackerell but there was to much weed in the water. I did manage to find the mackerell out by West Brown Cow Island and put about 40 tinkers in the livewell. Only caught about 5 clubs. After loading up I fished a bit more inshore and live lined 2 macks on a bridel rig (wich works great and you can chuck them a mile without the hook ripping through) and managed to hook a blufish until it cut me off. My next move was to the Cousins Island Bridge. I figured it would be a long shot due to a water temp of 70 F but I thought i’d give it a shot. No takers. The water temp out by W Brown Cow was in the mid 60’s. Hope to get out next week when the cooler temps roll in.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Royal river 07-19-2006 16:34
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Took my boat to the Royal River public launch yesterday about 0630. Fished around Cousins Island along a sand flat. The tide was ebbing and there was a very light 5 kt wind or so. Didn’t see any stripers busting bait on the surface. While jigging a 4″ Berkley shad I managed to hook a herring in the lips which quickly wnet onto the bait runner with a balloon which produced a 16″ schoolie. I had my neighbor with me. He had plenty of schoolies swim right up to the boat following his lure and managed to hook one, but the hook pulled. Didn’t have to much time to fish, the wife wanted to go to Sabego for a swim in the nice 83 degree water. Talked to a local fisherman at the boat ramp. He mentioned catching mackerel right by the marinas at the head of the river, other than that he said it had been hit or miss with a few big macks. Hope to get out this weekend.

Tight lines

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Sebago Lake 07-13-2006 10:15
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – Over 70 Degrees
Took my wife and lab Murphy out on Sebago yesterday before the rain rolled in. The surface water temp was 79 F. I noticed lots of fish stacked up on the “lee” side of shallow humps. I did not fish, instead I swam and trained the pooch to retrieve out of my bigger boat. He acts crazy around the water and on the boat. After a while he calms down and takes a nap. Had to keep him leashed on the boat or else he was jumping over. Will be putting in my VHF and AM/FM/CD player this weekend at work and hope to fish somewhere in the mid coast area.

Tight lines

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern to Midcoast 07-10-2006 20:21
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Well I haven’t been out in my boat for stripers since my last report but based on reports I have read and heard it is still hit or miss on the mackerel. Some bigger stripers have been caught up to 40″ off the Kennebeck and Saco rivers. Water temps are in the 60’s for the most part. Small “snapper blues” have been caught which could explain the shyness of the macks. I have been catching squid in Boothbay under a dock light at and around midnight. Have also caught some shoolie stripers in the harbor and seen some slot fish following my lures. Hope to get off shore soon as I have a fixed VHF radio now. Just need some nice wheather when I am not working. All for now. Hope to get out Wed and Thur. Tight lines.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Scarbourgh River, Pine Point 06-26-2006 15:52
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – Over 70 Degrees
Fished the later part of Sunday with some family on the Scarbourgh River/Pine Point. We had the boat in the water by 1245 and fished some red and pink tube lures with a blood worm flavored snythetic bait. No luck. Spent a bit of time trying to catch some mackerel for the live well. Managed to pick 2 up, real close to the rocks and that was it for the day. We anchored up on the ocean side of the rather large and poorly marked sand bar and caught a 20.25″ on chunk mackerel in 4′ of water. Lastly we moved up just below the dayboard and oposite the jetty and pulled in another on a chunk of mack, 25″ long. Had one rod rigged with a slip egg sinker and had one hit. The crabs ate most of our bait. Also saw lots os 3-4′ steurgon junmping clear out of the water. I have noticed this in the Saco, Kennebec and Scarbourgh rivers. Looks like it would be a fun fish to catch if it ever makes it to game fish status. The wheather was very overcast with no rain, temps in upper 70’s with a 5 kt NE wind that picked up to 10+ kts towards evening. Hope to get out again Wed or Thursday if it is not raining to bad.

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-06-26 22:46]

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Royal River 06-20-2006 08:12
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Fished the Royal river out of the North Yarmouth public launch. It costs $5 per launch and they will credit you what has been spent this season towards a season pass which costs $50. This was my first time on the Royal. Figured I’d try new water and save on gas money by fishing closer to home. The tide was ebbing with a slight SW wind. I found a large sand flat that had schoolies boiling at the surface chasing silversides. Managed to catch some on a popper and a few on the fly. I headed back around 10 or so once the sun started baking me. I fished as many grass banks as I came across with no luck. Ended the day with 7 schoolies. The water temp was 64 f.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern Maine 06-18-2006 18:57
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – Over 70 Degrees
Fished the Mighty Saco yesterday. Launched at 0500. Fished top water and rubber shads on my way down the river along the grassy edges and landed a few shoolies. At 0600 or so I headed out of the mouth and trolled for mackerell for 2 hours. Headed back in with four macks in the livewell, they were on the large side. I live lined and chunked. Managed to take a 24.5″ striper and a schoolie on chunks. In all about 6 stripers were put in the boat with about half lost at the side. The mackerell were very sparse. This may be due to bluefish, which I heard were around! The sea water temp was 61 and the river temp was 66. The fishing slowed down around 10 when the sun started baking my brains out. I did mark lots of fish stacked up in the deeper holes in the river. Hope to go tomarrow.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern ME 06-02-2006 09:56
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Went to Saco River yesterday with the boat. It was a beautiful day despite what the wheatherman was calling for. I caught several schoolies on ruber shads and top water baits in the morning on the outgoing tide. Decided to try and find some mackerel and see if the new live well would keep them alive. I fished straight out of the river and ended up loosing a huge club mackerel at the boat. The tide was ripping so I decided to go back in and catch some schoolies and let the tide come to a stand still. went back oout to get some macks. Ended the day with about 10 big ones, (which are being brined for shark and tuna baits) smallest was 10″. Used my home made trees with a small Yo Zuri diving plug to keep it just under the surface. I was about 3 miles out from the red and white entance bouy and paralleled land at 2 kts. That speed seemed to trigger a bight, any slower and I got nothing. Ended the day with 20 or so schoolies, biggest was 19″. Did see one boat at the ramp with a slot fish. The river water surface temp was 62 and the same just off the mouth. The ocean surface temp was 53. Not to many people out, of course it was a week day. I did try and live line my smallest mackerel in some rocks but nobody was home. Lastly, I did see about 100 eiders, mostly drakes.

Tight lines

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-06-02 09:57]

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Mid Coast 05-30-2006 19:34
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Bumped into a fisherman leaving the upper Kenebeck. He said the schoolie action was unreal. He did manage to catch a few 30″‘s for every 15 schoolies. He was using a berkley 4″ shad and a top water plug. Farther downstream the water was filled with terns, gulls and seals all feeding on bait. The river just smelled like fish. Oh, i saw no other boats out! I’m sure that will not last long. Will be going Friday regardless of wheather.

Tight Lines.

P.S

Paul Reynolds Welcome to the field editor program. Your picture didn’t post. Are you trying to physc me out?

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-05-30 19:35]

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern and Mid-coast 05-29-2006 07:55
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
The sea water temp has jumped up rather quickly from all this warm wheather we have been having. The current sea water temp from a southern Maine wheather bouy is 51 degres up from 48 last week. Shoolie stripers have moved into all rivers up to the Kennebeck. Mackerel have been reported off shore and in Boothbay harbor. I do have a confirmed catch of a 21″ “slot” striper out of Pine Point in Scarbourgh. When it happens it happens quick. I was out in Sebago Lake Sat afternoon and the surface temp was low 60’s. Fish were marked around 40 to 60 feet. Didn’t fish. Not to much traffic out. A beautiful weekend! Lets keep it that way.

Tight lines.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern Maine 05-28-2006 06:01
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Well I have heard of schoolies being caught in the Royal River. Mackerel are off shore according to the Bunny Clark’s fishing report. Hope to get out next Thursday. Water temp is in high 40’s. Summer is here and so are the temps.

Tight lines

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Scarbourgh 05-26-2006 15:45
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
This is a belated turkey report from last Thursday. I hunted an up and coming development in Scarbourgh. Hunted in a clear cut where my broinlaw took a jake the week before. I went to same spot and heard 2 toms 100 yds infront of me and to my right. Also heard a hen off my left shoulder about 75 yards. Niether tom came closer and after an hour of calling I decided to locate one of them. I walked towards the tom in front of me. Down a gulley and through a swamp I went and then up a ridge to another clearing. I saw a hen 300 yards to my left. As I climed over a sand bank that looked over another gulley I was met by a jake that beat feet rather quickly. Not once did this bird gobble at my call while walking through this area. Will give it a try for the last week.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

None 05-15-2006 08:34
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Add Rain to wheather conditions and lets just say that I did not venture out for Mr. Tomy T. I did get up at 0350 to take a peak at the wheather. Lets just say I was a lazy TV watching bum this weekend. Watched ESPN2 on Sunday. After all it was Saltwater Sunday. Can’t stand watching bassmasters on Saturday. Rather watch the Bloomberg channel.

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Lobster Lake 05-10-2006 14:09
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 35-40 Degrees
Well the trip to Lobster was for 1 fish. 440 miles round trip for one fish. I had a blast thou. Saturday morning we launched the boat after driving since midnight. I was fishing by 8 am. Fished until 1 pm stopped for lunch. Back out from 2 until 5 pm. 40 mph North wind with thunderstorm and a cold front in the low thirties by 7 pm. It blew all night and rained until 5 am. Everything was dried out by 9 am. We had to vacate the campsite by 12 pm so we fished the stream until 1 pm then headed out. Smelts are done there but still running at Chamberlain/Eagle. Wacked a 18lbs Jake with a 6″ beard this morning with my recurve. Birds have moved to the feilds where I am. They have been in the woods pretty much all spring. I worked some feild birds yesterday that boss gobbler wouldnt come in. Feild birds again today with 3 jakes coming right in at the same time. Nailed my bird at 19’ with the gobbler guillotine broadheads. WOW effective!

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern Maine 05-09-2006 19:29
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
Well The day started at 0350. Arrived at a spot at 0445 where I had called in 2 nice toms in a matter of 3 minuetes (a few weeks ago)fter locating them while scouting. Went to that spot again and could here one answering my box call maybe a second. Tried to pinpoint him and put a stalk on but I just coouldn’t zero in. He had to be at least 200+ plus..just barley within ear shot. By 0730 I had put about 2 miles behind me trying to locate a bird so I went back to the first bird(s) I heard and got a better position on him. Let me say that I was hunting in the woods. I have seen no birds this year in the open, just in nice thick crap. Well I got to within 50-100 yards, put the dekes out the heard nothing for an hour while yelping and purring. I may have gotten to close! Oh well. Was fun and a learning experience. I stopped by the home of Anne and Rock Angestinoe of Creative Maine taxidermy. They had several turkeys come in and the hunters have reported that most of the birds have been shot in the woods, as oposed to fields. A brid came into them yesterday that had a 10.5″ beard and only weighed 14 lbs. The turkey flocks in the Southern Maine area have seemed to thin out a bit. Wonder why. Sickness or predators? All for now. Will try and outwit one of those sly dogs on Saturday.

Andrew White
VFE Maine.

Posted By:
scattermaster1
Web Member

05-07-2006 22:28
– – –
Hey field editor, hows the puddle duck hunting in Maine, any areas better than others how bout for geese, canadas, and or snows and blues. I live in Chicago and am looking for a new state to retire in. I guess u would consider me an avid waterfowler who hunts about 40 days a season here and North Dakota. Kinda just wondering what opportunities are elsewhere. Plus I love lobster… I doubt I’ll find anywhere as good as here but I have to get out of this city eventually. Let me know. Thanks.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Saco River 05-05-2006 18:44
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Well I went to see if the rumors were true about stripers showing up in Southern Maine. The river water was 50 Deg but muddy as heck and there was lots of weed floating around which didn’t help your fly from fouling. Also talked to another fisherman taking his boat out. He stated that he had been fishing for 3 hours with no luck. I didn’t mark anything on my finder. Only a matter of time. There are pods of stripers that do winter over in Maine, according to a DMR official that greated me at the ramp. He had just come up from the Piscataqua river. No fish showing up there either. Soon. With these warm days the water should warm up quickly. Hope to see the mackerel a little earlier this Spring. I did test my livewell I installed. Worked like a charm. Takes a bit to prime the run of hose but it will work just fine. Heeeeeeeeerrrrre mackerel.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

05-01-2006 19:32
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
From mid coast Maine to Hartford CT I have seen pairs of drake mallards chasing a lone hen through the sky and then having there way with her in the water. Amusing to watch. If only ducks stayed together for life, it would be all turned around on the drake.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern ME 04-26-2006 11:37
– – –
I took advantage of some free time and the nice wheather and scouted out an old public stomping ground for turkeys. After pulling off a main road about 100′ and parking the blazer I had located 2 toms within 5o yds of my parked car. I yelped, then listened and heard no response, took 2 steps and heard a gobble. I yelped again to pin point the toms and heard two gobbles. So I walked into the relatively thick brush and could hear them runing twords me. Not 1 min after I hid behind a tree did they come strutting in 20 yds from me. I also had a hen that was competing with my randy hen calls come in off my left shoulder only to compromise my position and let out some alarm puts which quickly put an end to my fun. This was the closest and first time I have called in a turkey and will make my season regardless of wheather or not I tag a turkey. On another note I saw plenty of acorns still on the ground which leads me to believe the dear had an easy winter and will make for hopefully a great season this Fall

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-04-26 18:32]

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

04-24-2006 16:30
– – –
I have no fishing report as I have not been since opening day. On the other hand a few mallards around work have been spotted shagging one hen. As for sea ducks, I have seen equal numbers of drakes with hens. Tiz that time of the year. We should have a good brood for this Fall. As for the dry Spring we may see a double hatch of upland birds. Have only seen this in the early 90’s. One of these days I will go through all me dekes and fix them up for this Fall. Just need to finish house work. One important item I need to build is a dog ladder for my Lund. I’m thinking PVC, any suggestions?

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Oxford County 04-17-2006 09:33
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Great salmon chop out there yesterday. We caught 3 salmon. They where hitting 5′ down with a copper dave davis on 6’in front of a sewn smelt. So far we have had a great salmon season. 21 fish landed 3 kept,4 short, the rest legal fish. Plus a mess of togue. Wont be long now until a streamer is the only thing working.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
flylineguide
Guest

Androscoggin County 04-09-2006 09:21
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Thursday April 6th Fished sewn on smelt 90 to 110 yards behind the rig on flyrod with sinking line. Wacked 6 fish 3 salmon 3 togue. One hook up was a double. Both near 2.5 lbs salmon. Later nailed a 3.5 + lbs salmon. Put the togue back we kept the salmon. Yum! Anrew I fished sebago one day as well the salmon where 20 – 25 deep. The smelts were still in the lake good at that time. They are probably coming up now.

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste of motion. Action with vision can change the world! www.flylineguide.com flylineguide@outdrs.net

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Sebago Lake 04-08-2006 12:29
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 40-45 Degrees
Fished Sebago out of the South ramp (Rt 35 & 114. Launched the boat about 0600. Was the 3rd boat there. Trolled out from the ramp for a mile or so with DB smelt and sewn on smelt both on lead core. Trolled along the Camels Pasture and then out into Great bay. All the fish I saw on the machine were in this area from 50 to 111 feet. No stirkes at all. Tried dropping a Buzz Bomb down when we went over a pod of fish with no luck. Ended the day at 1100 just as the sun poked through the clouds. Lots of boats out though!

Tight lines

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern to Midcoast 03-26-2006 15:19
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
April 1st (Sat) will mark the opener for the 2006 fishing season. The lake I live by is 95% open, the fingers seem to thaw out last. The Raymond boat ramp for Sebago Had plenty of ice, 100 yards or so from shore. The rest of the lake looked open. I would assume that the Western boat ramps would be open. My freshwater gear has yet to be gone through but my slatwater gear is ready to go. As early as May there may be some shoolie stripers showing up at the river mouths. Water temp will determine that. Hopefully there will be no more snow and Spring will be a dry warm one to get the fish active. My new boat is just about ready to go. THe only delema I have are rod holders for trolling. Lund has made it hard to use my Down East clampons. The gunnel is just to large so I have to wait for Bass Pro to ship me a solution. Other than that she is ready to go. Good luck to those who will battle possible crowds at the ramps. Post up with and tell about the fishing conditions.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Mid Coast 03-18-2006 14:13
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Put my Lund Alaskan in the water today for my first trip. Despite my num face I’m sure I was smiling when the GPS read 28 kts. Not to bad for a 50 hp Suzuki. Took a while to find the sweet spot. The live well pump leaked pretty bad but all and all everything worked great. The GPS doesn’t like cold wheather. I will be putting a large round live well which I need some hose and thru hulls to complete.

Saw about 100 eiders small groups of long tails and 4 surfs. Was the only boat out there. Hopefully Spring arrives early!

Later

Posted By:
MUTTLEY
Guest

Washington County 03-03-2006 16:23
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – 0-10 Degrees – Open Water
Its been a screwy winter, two weeks ago it was 55 deg and this last week it never got over 15 deg with nights subbed. Ice fishing has been so so (haven’t actually gone in two weeks), but have been doing a little Snowshoe Hare hunting this last week to keep up with my shot-gunning. No Beagle and I don’t want my Chessie getting the wrong idea, but still have scared three up and got two of them (only shot at the two), so, not to bad, but wish I could find more. Seen more Grouse out this last week then I saw all season, but isn’t that always the way. Not seeing to many birds out when I’m on the water, a few flocks of Old Squaw, numbers 10 to 15, every once in awhile. What’s every body else doing in Maine to keep there skills sharp in the off season?

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Southern Maine 02-18-2006 11:31
– – –
Well it has been some crazy wheather. I hope Spring comes early w/out the rain. My new baot sits idel in the yard. I need some warm wheather to take the cover off and start fixing things up a bit. Right now I am just forced to make a mental list. I got the prop reconditioned throught H & H prop in Bath. Put a class 3 hitch on and will register it next week. If we have another warm spell and the boat ramps are not iced in I might take a ride. Have been reading all my instruction manuals. The Garmin 188c is quite the all in one machine. If the engine gives me a warm fuzzy feeling I may pic a flat day and go off shore a bit for sahrks or cod this summer. Need to find out some spots first. Have been out 5-7 miles before and caught some nice blue sharks. I will also get a Sea tow membership for the year, $119 but will go up $20 March first. A small price to pay if they come out and tow a nonmember back in. Also piece of mind. Check them out at wwww.seatow.com. We will see. As for fishing I have not been on the ice for a couple weeks. Although the bass, pickerel and white perch fishing has been great everytime I have gone! Give forest lake I try. As I dit at my desk the wind is here again. Spoda blow 25 today and even windier tomarrow. Come on Spring. What are other people doing now that it’s Feb?

Posted By:
MUTTLEY
Guest

Cobscook Bay 01-30-2006 15:26
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Went out Saturday 28Jan2006, called the station at 0400 and found out the temp was already 32 deg and only 6 kts gusts, grabbed my CBR and headed out…what an end for the year. Shot 3 old squaws, saw many more, Bucky(CBR pup)finished his first year, wished I could have shot a few more for him 🙂 . Finished the day winterizing the boat, couldn’t have asked for a better day…time for fishing the hardwater, had between 10 and 12 inches of ice on “The Lake” sunday, not a great start, few pearch, but its still early.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

WINTERIZING YOUR BOAT 01-27-2006 11:50
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Well the temps have been low which is good for the ice and the wheather mild for the most part. As I said in my last post I am all done for the season. I just wanted to hit on winterizing your boat and trailer for the long winter ahead. People may not put much thought into this simple procedure but it can save you hundreds of $ in the long run. If you store your boat inside your garage (unheated) or outside a fuel stabilizer is a must. I use Store And Start or the NAPA brand. Top your tank off and put the reccomended amount in. Then run your engine with a pair of muffs for about 10 min or so making sure to get it up to temp. After that you want to spray a fogging oil into each carb until the engine stalls out. Make sure you get it into each carb before it stalls out. Now pull the kill switch off and pull each spark plug out and spary about 5 seconds worth of fogging oil into each cylinder. Now crank the engine over several times. Make sure to spray the threads of each plug and then install the plugs. Now for the lower unit, drain out all the oil making note of any water or metal flecks in the oil. Fill the lower unit back up from the bottom plug until it comes out the top and then install the top plug and then the bottem plug this prevents air pockets from forming which can toast you lower uint. If you have a bit of water coming out, the seal on the shaft could be worn out or the washer on the fill and drain plugs could be worn or missing. As for metal flecks that means you have even bigger gearing problems. Check your shifting linkage and make some adjustments if needed. Next you want to grease all zerc fittings and spray your power head lightly with WD-40 or a corosion blocker. If you use your engine in the salt make sure it is flush and washed down super good. As for your trailer, give each bearing a good bit of grease and if you realy want to, pull the tire and hub off and inspect the bearings. I like to do this in the Spring when it’s warmer. Lastly I will lean a piece of plywood up against each tire to keep off the snow and ice. You can also put jack stands under the trailer to help prevent flat spots on the tires. For larger boats, DO NOT keep your engine trimmed up if it is stored out side. Why? Well if water is trapped in the exhaust housing it can freeze and crack your lower unint! For smaller engines this applies to. My 15 hp comes off and goes in my shed on a stand. One thing I forgot to mention is to pull your prop off and gease the splines. Now all of this work does not take that long and a bit of maintanence goes a long way! When fishing season comes you can bet that everything will work poperly. Just my 2 cents. One last thing. For engines with remote steering making sure your wheel is amdships. If it is turned one way or another your stering ram will most likely be seized up come Spring. Make sure you lube all your steering components!!. Also if you have a secondary filter (outside your tank, on bigger boats) drain out the sediment bowl and possibly change your filter. One les thing to do in the Spring.

Andrew White
VFE Maine

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-01-27 11:51]

[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-01-28 19:42]

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

01-20-2006 15:08
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Well I am officialy done hunting for the 2005-2006 season. The wheather was nice every time I was working and crappy when I was off so I took advantage of the warmer wheather yesterday and winterized my engine and buttoned up the boat. Over all it was a better season than last year. I judge this by the # of times I went and secondly how well I did. Hunted ducks 6 days out of the season, shooting my limit of sea ducks on the second trip and baging my first drake wood duck which will be on the wall by the Fall. Now I just hope the ice stays so I can fish the lake by my house more than I did last year. So far I have caught more than last season. I will post an ice fishing report from time to time. I have found one link www.iceshanty.com. This covers many states and will keep one busy on the computer for a while.

Later

Andrew White
VFE Maine

Posted By:
seaduc
Magazine Subscriber

casco bay 01-04-2006 16:14
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
went out monday seaducking with flylineguide out of durham maine we hunted out of his 21 bankes goliath what a day we all had our limits of eiders scooters oldsqaw saw tons of birds can wait to go back

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

01-02-2006 10:28
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Well now that I am back at work in front of a working computer I wiil just say that I have not been hunting since the black powder season. If my work shcedule coperates with the wheather or vise versa than I will go sea duckin. I just remembered that my boat needs to be registered ($30) and also my truck ($95) and if I want to ride my snow macnine around that will cost $35. Where does it end. December is an expensive month. If anyone likes to read and wants a good book I have just finished reading “Ones Mans Wilderness” and “Panther” (hunting dog short stories). Just started reading “The Legnadary Fox” by Oscar Cronk. I’m not a trapper but those of you who are I’d reccomend it! So ya, a lot of reading and no hunting. I ended up going down to mother in law’s a few days early. Her father had a big heart attack the a week before Christmas and managed to survive well enough to not tell anyone until the next afternoon. Ended up having triple bypass, He is 80 years old and takes no pills! The day after the surgery I went to see him, told him he looked good (looked white as a gohst and his hands were really swollen and was shaking from all the pain killers) So he told me I was full of sh!t. All in all it turned out to be a good holiday season all around. All for now.

Andrew White
VFE Maine

Posted By:
DuckDoc
Guest

stonington,me 12-07-2005 09:59
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hunted the 1,2,3 ofDec. Had a great time. Hunted with Sugarwing Outfitters. Great guides.4 man limits of eiders everyday.Also 4 banded birds taken-3hens/1drake.Definetly a trip i would do again.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

NONE 12-05-2005 20:03
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No hunting this weekend. The marine forcast was elcrapo..20-30 kts gusts up to 45 kts seas 5′-7′. Was in the mood for some sea ducking. Maybe Wednesday, will have to check wheather and tides. Ended up putting deck furniture and all my other junk up for the winter. Built an a frame for the boat to keep snow and ice out so it would be ready for action. Hope to make it up to Merrymeeting one last time. These cold temps should start to ice it up if it continues. Took my muzzle loader out for a walk the other day and saw lots of sign in an area I have never hunted before, always a good sign. No sightings though. I may go out one more time to justify the $15 license. Yes a license in another little baggy. No more stamp and $5 more. Why do they keep changing things? Also got 2 more tags which I don’t understand? The only situation you may fill more than one tag is in an expanded archery WMD and when you have drawn an extra any deer tag. Oh well. Have enough venison in the freezer until next year.

Later

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Port Clyde 11-26-2005 13:20
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Took a trip up to Port Clyde this AM. Saw 3 hunters pulling there Lund out of the water by the general store. I talked to them and found out it was a little slow along the ledges with a combo of bad shooting by all. They managed a few drake eiders. On our way back to Boothbay I spotted a duck boat up against a rock ledge. There were lots of larger rafts of eiders and smaller groups of scoter (Surfies) and some oldsquw. The mergansers have also shown up. I forgot to mention that about 3 weeks ago I have been spotting some buffle heads in the little coves and smaller ponds in the boothbay area. The wheather was perfect for sea ducking today. Seas were calm with a 3-4′ swell spaced apart and about a 5 knot wind. The temp was also pleasant thanks to the sun. All for now. Need a fix of sea ducking. Hopefully Tuesday depending on the wheather.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

Falmouth/Cumberland area 11-25-2005 06:31
Cloudy, Accumulating Snow – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Well I managed to get out Thursday morning and hunt till 0745. No sign and now deer what so ever. The snow picked up mid morning and then changed to rain or sleet depending on where you were. It moved through rather quickly. While stuffing my face with food it looked very nice out, sunny, light wind and a bit warmer. I’d imagine the deer were probably out and about. Won’t be able to get out his weekend but will for the black powder season. No ducks.

Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor

11-22-2005 17:14
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On another note I stoped into Cronk’s in Wiscasset on my way home last Friday. I wanted to try some of this pee in a bottle. Tried it once years ago but figured I’d give it another try. Well all I can say is leave your wallet at home. Just walk in and start talking to Oscar Cronk for about 10 min. By the time you leave you will smell like every kind of critter pee they sell!!!!!!!!!!!