11/25/05 Recently a friend reminded I forgot to post last Friday. Sorry, I honestly forgot with the holiday coming and the launch of www.rotaryflytying.com I just overlooked it. When he told me I had not posted he also said he knew I wasn’t done for the season because I always post my “Well, that’s it for the season post” and mention the start of the Thursday Review.
So here it is THIS IS my – “Well, that’s it for the season post.”
Yep, the water is too cold for me to be fighting high flows, fast current and ice. So I’m packing it in. Oh, I’ll still sneak out for a warm afternoon of fishing back-eddies (sometime after the flows get back to the 6,000cfs range not the 30,000cfs plus flow it is now) but I won’t be out regular enough to make it worth mentioning in this weekly review of conditions.
I hope you enjoyed this years Friday Updates and hope you
continue to check weekly for the
Thursday Review.
If you go to the
Thursday Review right now
all you'll see is last year's
Thursday Review articles
but there'll be a new one next week.
As for the river out back it’s high, cold, fast and dangerous.
11/11/05 Congratulations on your service and thank you to all the veterans who read this. For those of you who aren't veterans be sure and thank a vet today for their service.
And, as for fishing - nothing has changed - high water everywhere. Fishing the edges and pocket water of the few waters open is about all we have. Heck, I think I'll go spend the day at the American Legion. Might as well - there's more water this week than last. :-(
11/04/05 Hey it's
Friday - sorry I'm late I just realized what day it is. Not much to report
anyway. Fishing at Shawmut is a no go. Water is still up over the
path
on the West shore - both shores for that matter. There are some guys
hitting it with a boat but little being caught even from a boat. If you're
fishing deep it's hard to get enough weight on the line to sink and top water
fishing is slow to nonexistent. Even if the BWOs come off (and some are)
the chance of a decent drift in this flow is slim.
I've been fishing high water back eddies and pockets. Catching fish but it's a little hard to keep a good one on. They get out into the fast current and you can't chase them and you can't hold them. Oh well, all during the high spring water I said maybe we'll have a good October - now I'm saying maybe we'll have a good spring. Not much time left for good fishing weather even if the water does finally drop in the next few days. But if it drops I'm going.
The picture on the left shows it is worth going now - you can catch fish even in this type of flow. However, let me tell you to get to these fish it was a climb. The photo you see looking up is typical of the cliff wall in the ravine I was fishing. Hard climb back up out of there. (no I didn't have to climb that particular spot I'm happy to say)
My plan is to hit Madison - high up next week in the mornings. The flow in Bingham is down to 13,000 (from 17,000 yesterday) and the Carrabassett and Sandy have finally started to drop and are hovering just above the magic number of 1,000cfs. It won't be wadable up there but I'll Spey it with streamers and hope for the best.
10/28/05 Wicked high - everywhere. Very little water to fish I'm afraid (read that ponds mostly). I hold some hope (but little) that they will lower the East Outlet for the weekend. The day before yesterday it was over 4,000cfs and today it is at 3,200cfs. Just have to watch. The Forks area is high all day long with a flow of 2,510cfs out of Flagstaff (plus Spencer Stream) and 4,800cfs coming out of Harris. Jeez, enough already.
I did have a good day at the East Outlet last Monday. The last day before they brought the water up. Check it out on the Forum - I titled the post "They Almost Got Me" because it was touch and go when they raised the water on me. Got some nice fish though (pictures in the post).
If you read the post you'll see why my question to myself on the East is "How do I get back?" instead of "How can I wade out to that spot?" it is something to keep in mind on the East.
And, don't put all of your gear away yet - I cut and pasted the post below, in blue, from last year's Friday update and there is a similar post to this one on the 19th of November (although by the 19th it was much slower fishing) so there should be some dry fly fishing left for us before the big freeze.
I'm baffled by the good fishing but very happy for it. Shawmut is still hosting a good hatch of Blue Winged Olives and the wading level is still fine. Not much else to report as there is little change from previous weeks. The water is cold (high 30's) flow is good, level is good, water is clear and FISH ARE RISING.
It sounds like Sunday there will be a
group of people up there see forum post
http://flyfishingonly.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1658
it starts out talking about last Sunday but fishing was so good they are talking
about a repeat for this Sunday.
And to get another perspective see
this post by Jeff Reardon on Tark's site, and yes he is talking about yesterdays
fishing even if it sounds like a June hatch day.
http://www.flyfishinginmaine.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=5453&forum=1&0
10/22/05 Shawmut is still high. The Carrabassett is below 1,000cfs but the Sandy is still well above 1,000cfs and until it too is below 1,000 we'll be high. Also Bingham is at 7,200 and Solon at 7,500 - those two change with a flick of the switch but not today I don't think. East Outlet is still at 511cfs and Harris down to the Forks will be running at 4,800cfs until noon and then dropping to 325cfs until 6:00pm. That makes the Forks, the Ball Field, Moxie Stream Inlet and the upper gorge likely looking spots.
I'm still holding out for Shawmut by tomorrow morning but who knows - I'll post tomorrow morning if you care to look.
10/21/05 Yep, this high water is getting old, especially since the water temperature is falling fast (49 degrees this morning) and when the water gets down we won't have many days left before the fish become inactive because of the cold - not to mention the case of lockjaw many of them develop during the spawn.
And, we also don't have a lot of water left to fish. Except for the East Outlet (only 511cfs today) most of the Kennebec is to high to wade. Solon is running at 7,500cfs, Bingham at 7,200 and the Dead at 2,620cfs - Jeez - enough already.
That said the Carrabassett and Sandy should each drop below 1,000cfs before tomorrow morning and so Sunday Shawmut may well be wadable. I'll be canoeing it Sunday for sure. Perhaps Shawmut will be wadable tomorrow but if your thinking about coming up perhaps you should call. For sure the flashboards won't be up so the flow will be strong.
There were several guys in here yesterday who plan on boating Shawmut today. If they report anything back I'll post it. Actually I'll plan on posting tomorrow morning anyway just to let you know what the levels are like.
In the mean time check out some ponds and keep your gear ready because when it starts it won't last long.
10/16/05 The river is blown out - check the post below and call for flows before you head out. Some of the places I mentioned below are still fishable - East Outlet and GLS jump to the forefront.
10/14/05 Well there is life after the flood as in the fish are still there. However, I've got to slow down just a bit when it comes to taking a picture of my catch. The photo on the left is of a Kennebec Brown I took this morning and I hurried the shot so much that the camera didn't get a chance to auto-focus, pardon the blur.
Then I, again hurrying to to release the fish, took this picture on the right: note the swirl as I moved the camera during the shutter opening phase of the photo. That might be cool if I had done it on purpose and the fish was in the frame :-)
Anyway, Shawmut is not wadable, except maybe for those few who are comfortable up there when the White Rock is a foot underwater. Shawmut Dam lost all of its flashboards and so it will be hard wading even with lower flows until the flashboards are back. A lot of flow spills over that dam and the water pushes pretty hard with all that extra flow. Given that I still think people will be able to wade Sunday. I plan to wade or canoe, probably canoe both Sunday and Monday. The water temperatures are good, the hatches will still come off and someone should be out there taking advantage of it - it might as well be me.
The East Outlet has been low all week (only 511cfs today - normally 1,500 to 2,000cfs this time of year) since they have been holding water back to reduce our suffering here. Harris Dam TODAY is only flowing 325cfs and that's almost enough to make me close the shop for the day. You just know the high flows have pulled fish high into the gorge and now with a 325cfs flow those fish will be in every deep run just stacked up. The Dead below Flagstaff is also low (108cfs) and a spot you might look at this weekend. Grand Lake Stream is only 143cfs (maybe too low at least for my taste) and so if you do a little sniffing around you certainly can fine fishable water.
Right now is as good as the fishing in going to be until
next season. Water temps are good, clarity is good, fish are healthy and
in pre-spawn condition - don't let the coming rain rob you of the last of the
season. Put on those waders, bulk up with warm layers, use that raingear
you bought and take advantage of the best the fall has to offer.
Oh, and just for the record the fish above took a Tung-head Green Caddis Larve similar to the one on the right. It was one of three nymphs I had tied on. (the middle one) the others were a Double Beaded Stone and a Tung-head Prince. Yep, I caught bottom more than fish but it worked.
10/07/05 Much of the same. Hatches have started but haven't kicked into high gear yet. Fish are showing but it's sporadic. Flows are good, clarity is good. I went to Madison this morning and used my Spey high up towards the dam. Like Shawmut it seems the fish haven't moved up high towards the dam yet. I tried a number of streamers, skated a Bomber and tried some Bugmeisters, both dead-drift and skated but all to no avail.
Last year the water temp on October 8th was 56 degrees -
today the water temperature is 63 degrees. The fishing for the next three
weeks or so should prove to be some of the fall's best - don't waste it.
Go fishing. Here's a like to one of Jeremy's post last year about this time -
check it out.
http://flyfishingonly.net/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=1599
09/30/05 They're
backkkkkkkk....... Don't ya love it?
There were rising fish - early - but first there was
exploring with a streamer and it paid off. First I got the Brown - well up
in the wading area, I'm happy to say - and then the Smallmouth. Both good
fish and
a
great way to start the day.
Caught both fish on a Pearl Zonker that I later donated to
a rock. Classic cast quartering downstream and strip retrieve. I
started stripping
as
soon as the fly hit the water without a bit of pause to let it sink.
Instead I ripped it right across the top.
Both takes were hard and I didn't even have to
think about setting the hook - these fish were on. Both made me happy I
had put on a new 2X tippet section.
(Click either of the smaller photos to enlarge)
Then I went after the risers - then I got my butt kicked. Read "How to be Humbled Early in the Day" by Mike I can't catch em Holt. I had fish coming right out of the water on both sides of the canoe. Not a straight up jump but rather a sloping leap, spanning about 2 - 3 feet in distance. Not a bug on the water and nothing being caught in my seine. So I rigged up with a set of wets and swung them through the area - nothing. So I re-rigged and put on a heavy stone with a caddis emerger and cast upstream and let them sink as they came back and after they got by me I brought them up both fast and slow - nothing. So I re-rigged with a small wet and a size 20 pheasant tail and fished them dead drift, wet fly swing and stripped in both fast and slow - nothing. All the while the fish kept jumping and breaking water, I think I heard faint laughing.
And so it went until my alarm went off reminding me I had to be reeling in to get down here by 10:00am. This was one of the few mornings I was glad to hear the alarm go off - it gave me an excuse to quit. I guess I'll look at the bright side and call it good with two fish to net and a good idea what not the try tomorrow morning if they are doing the same thing.
09/23/05 Water is 66 degrees, clarity is good, flow is moderate and fish are moving. It's not great fishing yet but we are seeing trout - more in the afternoon and evening than the morning I'm afraid (since I do most if my fishing in the morning) but anyway we are seeing fish. It will be good I'm sure this weekend as I have to go to Vermont for the annual Orvis Dealer meeting. Just like the Hendricksons showing in the spring the weekend I go to West Grand it will work out that the river turns on this weekend while I'm away.
Hatches are spotty - the good Blue Winged Olive hatches haven't started but the aren't far off. Caddis still rule (standard stuff, tan size 14, olive size 16 - pick your favorite patterns) and there are still Lead Winged Coachman hatching. Check out Marshall's post at http://flyfishingonly.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2423 to see what he's going to try instead of using an Adams for an imitation.
Just a final note - we will be closed on Tuesday attending the Dealer meeting but will be here on Wednesday to hear stories about how good the weekend fished. And, check out this post right below - I put it up on Tuesday.
09/20/05 Nope it's
not Friday but I thought I'd post today anyway. Here's how the fishing went for
me. Sunday I couldn't get out
until 5:00pm or so. Using my canoe to go trout hunting I fished until
0-dark-thirty and only got one fish. Set up on two others but couldn't
hook them. The fish I got was a small brown. So yesterday (Monday) I
went back about 2:00pm (hoping to catch the BWO
hatch I was sure I missed the day before) and found little to no action.
I could only stay on the water until about 5:00 and
I didn't see much UNTIL the guy on the left started working.
He didn't make much of a commotion and I was lucky to see
him working. I pulled anchor and poled upstream until I was way above him.
I let my anchor partway down - slowly - and drifted until I was just below him
and off to his right and then let the anchor grab bottom. Then I
waited, and waited - and he rose again. Then nothing. Then again but
further out. Then nothing. Then again but closer - nothing steady or
rhythmic about this guy. Time was pressing -
had to be off the water in another half-hour so I decided to work the water.
With a light lay down I made a cast - then another - then
another - long drifts each of them, with a 14' leader, 5X and still nothing.
Then he rose again above me so I lifted and cast
above him - drift, drift - lift - present again. This went on for quite
awhile first above me then below me and not a take
or a look - most of the time with me holding my breath I was so scared of
spooking him. Then I cast one out and laid it
down (without much hope of a take) more to keep the fly working than to really
present and - slurp - he's on.
It was a good fight - he ran and tugged well - I almost
knocked him off while netting but finally I was able to snap these photos and
put him back.
There had been some mayflies (Lead-Winged Coachman ?) and a bunch of small
caddis but no Blue Winged Olives so I stayed with my Davy's Caddis, size 14.
It's hard to see even when you expand this photo but here's my favorite view of
a size 14 Davy's Caddis. No dropper, no hatch to
match,
just plain working the same water as him hoping to make repeated casts without
spooking him. Thank God the wind had died and things were calm. It
made it easier.
One more thing - if you're going to put on a hopper try a green one. :-)
09/16/05 Water temperature is 69 degrees, clarity is good, flow is moderate and there are fish showing when a hatch starts unlike the conditions three weeks ago when the White Flies came. As strong as the White Fly hatch was nothing was coming up to it - now - even the little caddis flurries are bringing up fish. The problem is there is still little hatch activity. But - with the weeds and just general crud not being too bad you can nymph and swing streamers to get fish. And, streamers are working as there are some Alewives coming down. It does pay to keep checking you fly though.
Yesterday Marshall was out with forum regular Streamer and his father - you can view Streamers post by clicking HERE. (scroll down) You might also want to read the post after his pictures that Broham made. It seems that upriver (Solon and up) it is even cooler and fish the hatches are stronger. Hatches here should pick up.
I figure we won't gain any temperature today and with tonight going into the 50s we should lose a degree or two. That would make for a good Blue Winged Olive hatch since the forecast for tomorrow is rain and those Blue Winged Olives seem to love the rain. Saturday night is also supposed to be in the 50s and Sunday night in the 40s - yeaaaaa, bring it on. That should put the water down to a good temperature and jump start the hatches.
Rain or not if you've got the time and inclination to fish I don't think you would be wasting you time - put on your rain gear and take advantage of it. Hard as it is to believe in a month and a half from now we'll be complaining the water is getting to cold. "Get it while you can."
9/09/05 Water
temperature this morning at Shawmut was 67 degrees and both the level and
clarity were good. I fished an upstream dry fly in the broken water
at the foot of the sluiceway for the first hour or so. No luck, no rises
to be seen despite what looked to be Leadwing Coachmen coming off the water
fairly regularly (saw maybe 10 up close as they floated by). So.... I switched
over to a WOOLLY BUGGER - Bead Head no less and the bass to the right is an
immediate result.
Now for those who would rather fish trout - take heart - for awhile even the bass weren't biting it was so warm. With Shawmut at 67 in the morning and a couple of 40 degree night in store for us the trout won't be far behind. For those of you who appreciate a good bass let me tell you this one was full of fight especially in the fast water of the sluiceway. If you check that picture you'll see that bass is deep through - that white strip is 4" wide.
There were lots of cormorants and occasionally gulls working the water so I'm sure the alewives are heading out. I think I'll be working some of the deeper water with White Marabous looking for some of those trout that haven't come up out of the deep water yet. I'm sure the water is cool enough for them to have the feed bag on.
As a side note I want to mention a gadget that I've been using lately. It's a magnetic rod guard that holds your rod and keeps it from blowing over or falling over if you have the rod leading against your vehicle. These things sell for $6.95 and Yep, I sell them and I'd be happy to sell you one but that isn't why I mention it.
What prompts me to mention them is I think they are a great
idea. I've tried all kinds of things when it comes to placing my
rod
in a safe spot. Before this
Magnetic Rod Guard came along my favorite way of keeping my rod safe was to
place it under my windshield wiper. I would just
lift the wiper, place my rod against the windshield and set the wiper back in
place. It worked but not as well as this rod guard and as a bonus the rod
guard gives me a way to hide my key.
When I'm fishing with friends I hold the key up and say "if one of you gets back to the truck before I do here's where the key is" and I reach up under the fender, grill, running board or bumper and place the key. The magnet keeps it there and I don't have to place it in the normal spots like in the gas cap or over the tire - I can put it just about anywhere. So if you've ever had the wind or someone jostling the vehicle knock a rod over give this little jewel a try. They really work.
09/03/05 Water temperature at 6:00am was 67 degrees and Shawmut is wadable but clarity is poor. White rock is showing by a foot (certainly, subject to change but with this weather it probably won't) and all the flood gates that they had opened have been closed. Clarity should get better as the day wears on. Shawmut is close to being good again. Certainly ready to start in fishing.
09/02/05 Water temperature has finally dropped below 70 degrees, Yippee - BUT the water is way to high to fish.
Yep, I got a water temperature of 68 degrees this morning. I checked the flow charts online and the Sandy and Carrabassett have crested and are dropping fast. We might be wading Sunday. Bingham and Solon are also high so heading up there is also out. Looks like more waiting but the temps should stay down unless we get some really hot weather. Today the air temps are predicted to hit the 80s but after that it's mid-70s daytime and mid-50s at night. Bring it on.
This flow should get the Alewives moving and also get the fish that had settled into the deep runs moving after them. The flow will also wash away a lot of the loose weeds and other crap giving us some relief from the crud that catches on our lines when we fish subsurface. All in all it's looking good for fishing.
I'll post again tomorrow on the flow level but at 5:00pm tomorrow I'm heading north to camp so I can't post Sunday - Sorry.
08/26/05 Yesterday I again drove to Bingham for my fish fix and again found the temperature to be 70 degrees and have decided to do my morning fishing here at Shawmut. One degree isn’t worth the 80 mile round trip. However, I did catch fish yesterday at Bingham and I didn’t catch any this morning at Shawmut. Part of that is, this morning, I waded fast and cast quick trying to cover as much water as I could – kind of wanted to get reacquainted with the place.
Here’s what I found – Shawmut is low, and
still warm (71 degrees at 6:00am) but dropping; down quite a bit from a week or
so ago. Birds (Killdeer I think) were on the exposed gravel bars by the dozens
feeding on dead nymphs I suspect. I spooked a bunch
of them and they put on quite a show flying circles to keep my attention away
from all the young ones that were still on the bar.
Weeds are thick but not as bad as the past few years. And there have been heavy hatches of White Mayflies the last two days. I mean very heavy.
I went up to Shawmut last night with the
intention of staying until after dark to catch this hatch but found when I got
up there that yesterdays sun had brought the temperature up to 73 degrees and I
generally don’t fish for trout when the water is above 72 degrees. That’s just
a personal cutoff and not meant to say anything bad about people who do fish for
trout at temps above that. I figure if the water is to warm for the fish they
won’t feed.
Anyway,
I also found a lot of baitfish feeding on small duns. The small rings in the
picture on the left were all around me. I suspect they are the overflow from
Lakewood. If they are spilling out now things should be good right after the
next big rain. Let’s hope that besides being a big rain it’s a cold rain.
It’ll be streamer time again. I could go for some streamer fishing before the
fall Blue Winged Olives start. 
Another interesting find was a turtle, egg pile. Check the picture on the right out. (click to enlarge)
08/19/05 Here's a good one for you. I've been checking the temperature every morning for the last week and getting readings of 68 - 69 degrees. Today I decided that instead of driving 40 miles each way to Bingham I was going to go to Shawmut and try for trout instead of Smallmouth. I got to Shawmut (only 3 miles each way for me) at about 6:00am. I waded in and thought well, I might as well check the water temperature and I got 74 degrees. This got me to thinking that one of my thermometers needs to be replaced. After fishing I came down to the shop and went down on the dock with both thermometers and checked the water temperature - both read 68 degrees. Puzzled would be a good way to describe my state of mind right about then.
While I was standing on the dock looking upstream I noticed a guy standing on shore wearing a bright orange T-shirt like the Kennebec Water District people wear. He turned and climbed up over the bank and I climbed up the stairs and headed towards where his truck was parked. It turns out that about 100 feet above my dock there is a water main that crosses the river and it has sprung a BIG LEAK. The end result is that many gallons per minute of cool, clear Kennebec Water District water are being pumped into the river and the fish have what could be described as a great cold water seep to seek refuge in and I have two working thermometers. I told the guy there was no need to rush the repair but he saw it differently. :-)
Anyway, Shawmut is still warm, clear, low and providing good Smallmouth fishing but the trout fishing is slow to nil. A few guys are working the evening hatch but not many. The rock bar that defines the bottom of the Pasture Pool is a great area for Smallies. Wade out to it and fish the water right below it. You will be fishing over fish.
However, if you want trout or landlocks it looks like the upriver areas of Solon or Bingham (Madison is as warm as Shawmut) are the places to go. But with an 80 mile round trip for me that's like having a $12.00 a day habit.
08/12/05 Still hot - water was 74 degrees at 6:00am yesterday. Today at 6:00am it was 70 - bring on the cold nights. Flow is moderate to slow. Clarity is good and weeds are up but not to bad. There is little trout activity and we are still not guiding for trout as they are stressed enough already without having to deal with us. However, with the forecast calling for rain, some thunderstorms and high 50 to low 60s for temps at night perhaps the water will cool some.
Upriver water temps are cooler than here in Shawmut and Bingham and Solon are producing some trout activity. Lots of Little Yellow Sally Stoneflies hatching up and down the river. Little mayfly activity and not that much caddis activity either. However, two guys were in here yesterday and they reported being on the Solon stretch the day before and having trout JUMPING out of the water midday. They couldn't see any insect activity and the sun was hot and bright but the trout didn't seem to care. They were actually clearing the water they were jumping so high. The guys also said they couldn't catch any of them - they tried a lot of different flies and had no luck. The activity didn't last long but it shows the trout have a mind of their own and pay no attention to our books that say that trout don't like and avoid the bright of day.
Now is a good time to be checking out spots you might want to fish later on in the season. Wading new areas when the water is warm and low is a good thing to do. It gets you familiar with the bottom of the area - highlights structure you might not find during higher water conditions and isn't so uncomfortable if you should wade to deep or take a digger. It may be the dog days of August but don't let that stop you from getting out and enjoying the season. It's going to be along winter - make the most of the summer - go explore with your rod.
Hey, if you have some idea as to what those trout at Solon were jumping for be sure and post it on the forum.
08/05/05 We're back.
Vacation was great - did some fishing but spent more time laying around on the
beach devouring book after book. The only problem we encountered all week
is I couldn't find a glass that didn't leak. They kept running dry. :-)
Well, we returned to the Kennebec to find little changed.
The water is still warm (71 degrees @ 6:00am - 75 by tonight), low and the flow
moderate. When people call to book a trip we are suggesting 1/2 day trips
and Smallmouths as the target species. Yesterday Marshall took three
people out although they did see some trout rising to an early morning spinner
fall Smallies were the order of the day, as they were all
last
week while we were away. Two things you have to say for those Smallmouths
- they put up a good fight and are a hearty lot. Great fun to catch,
willing and their survival rate is much better than the survival rate of trout
when the water is in the 70s.
Bingham is still probably the coolest water for about a 40 mile radius and that is warming (74 by the end of the day). Ponds still have a few Hex hatching but they are waning. You'll see a bunch one night - none the next. Most of the trout are deep or laying in the spring holes that fortunately feed a lot of our trout ponds.
Here in the river and on most ponds hatches are light right now and there are few insects to bring fish up. If you hit the water somewhere and are targeting trout bring sinking lines and use stout leaders so you can horse the fish in. At these temperatures you have to get them in and release them quick or you might as well keep them. A long fight now means almost certainly that trout will not make it even if you are able to revive it enough to release it.
There are still some stripers in the river from Waterville down and if you get lucky you may pick up a big one. Most people are reporting small fish but still quite a few. Several guys are spending their evenings fishing 5-weights and dry flies to small (12" to 18") stripers. You should try that trick it's great fun.
07/22/05 First things first, so before I forget we are going on vacation for a week. No Friday Update next week. We'll be up in Millinocket on Pemadumcook Lake and we plan to get some fishing in up there. However, mostly we plan to relax - got a pile of books to read my way through.
The water temperature is 70 degrees this morning. During these hot days it has spiked to 80+ but fortunately we are having cool nights that are bring the temps back down. Fish are holding deep most of the day. There are still some trout being caught but most of them are being caught deep.
Alder Flies are still hatching but it's the last gasp for them. The aren't hatching every night anymore and we might go two days without them and then have them the next night. Light Cahills and Sulphurs are holding on . Hex hatch is over in most of the ponds around here but I understand the ponds further north are still active. Plenty of tan and black Caddis.
The flow is slow, about 4500cfs and if you want to learn to wade Shawmut now is the time. The trout fishing may be off during the day but the wading is good and the smallmouth bass will keep you busy. With this warm water and low flow the wading is as easy as it gets here and if you get into trouble and take a dunking, well, it isn't life threatening like April and May's cold, high water can be. Put on some poppers and come learn this water under the safest learning conditions.
Not a lot else to add right now - there are still trout rising in the evening and still the occasional midday hatch that will bring trout up but like I said the smallmouth bass are willing all day long. Don't forget about our Spey Casting Class coming up in August (13th and 14th) it is a fun class and a great introduction to Spey Casting.
See ya in two weeks.
07/15/05 Water temps
have risen - 69 degrees this morning - probably 72 or 73 by this evening. Flow
is moderate to slow, level is good for wading. The air temperature for the
next three days is supposed to be in the 80s and next Wednesday it is supposed
to hit 90 degrees. Not good for fishing. The nights, however, are supposed
to drop down to the high 50s or low 60s so the river can give up some of its'
heat. That will help but if we could get thunderstorms that drop hail into
the river (and not on houses, fields and livestock) we could get through this.
:-)
Anyway, Light Cahills are still hatching along with
Sulphurs in the evening. Black Caddis and Alder Flies are holding up well.
More Alder Flies this year than most I'd say. Click on the picture to the
right and check out how many Alder Flies are hanging out on this tree trunk.
Must be a local gathering place.
Tom Weaver sent that Alder Fly covered tree trunk picture to me along with two pictures of a flowering plant he saw the other day at Shawmut. He asked if I knew what the plant was and I don't - do any of you? It's a big one and I've seen them before but never looked them up. If some of you have please give us the answer by posting on the forum - to post on or view the identification thread just click here.
Flows up and down the river are good however, Bingham's flows are being bounced often. Be sure and check the flows there by calling 1-800-557-3569 before making the drive. Most of the hatches in the upper section of the river are the same as here and so evenings are likely to have a late evening blitz of rising fish. I'm talking at dark or just after I'm afraid. There are occasional fish rising during the day - mostly to Black Caddis. The guys who are having the most daytime luck are fishing down and deep. There was a group of guys in here just two days ago that headed up to Shawmut and they all hooked up. Line and fly of choice for the whole group was a 150 grain Depth Charge line with Cone Head, Olive Woolly Bugger. I guess that tells us where the fish are.
07/08/05
Fishing is holding up wonderfully. The
water temperature is 65 degrees even if it is July 8th. Flow is moderate,
clarity
good, wading easy, caddis hatches during the day are good and the mayflies are
holding off until the evening for the most part. The high water kept us
from fishing most of the daytime mayfly hatches but Light Cahills and Sulphurs
are hatching early to late evening. Last night there was a good hatch,
plenty of fish showing but they were sporadic until almost full dark and then it
exploded - fish everywhere. I was in my canoe in the fast water just below
the pasture pool in the hard current flow before the glide and it looked like it
was raining.
I had to stop myself from flock shooting
and make myself target one fish. Otherwise I'd just lay a fly down for a fish -
let the fly drift a foot or so - see a new rise and pick up and cast to the new
rise before I let my current drift complete itself. After calling myself
"Rookie" and making myself leave the fly on the water I started hooking up.
I had on a small White Wulff with a Black Davy's Caddis for a dropper.
Even though the Light Cahills were
hatching the fly the fish wanted was the Black Davy's Caddis. Go figure.
With
these hatches the fish aren't the only things that are eating well. These
pictures on the left and right show
a Light Cahill that didn't see the itsy-bitsy spider creeping up on it. I
just happened along just as the spider grabbed the Cahill. There wasn't
much of a struggle. I kept checking and about two hours later the Spider
was still latched onto that Cahill. It was quite a show.
For hatches there are still Alder flies and
the Black Caddis (small) are going strong during the day. Other caddis are
also hatching and so Tan and Olive caddis are good things to have with you.
And in case anyone is wondering with all the hatches going on - streamers are still working well. I went to Madison yesterday and walked up to the gorge area by the dam with my Spey Rod. It was worth the walk and climb to get to the upper water. Fishing was good and they liked my Spey Fly.
07/02/05
Fishing has been and is good. Water level is good and makes for easy
wading, clarity is good and the temperature is a little on the high side.
69 degrees this morning - down from yesterday's high of 73. Lots of bugs
on the water. Black Caddis (16-18), Light Cahills (12-14), Little Sulphurs
(16-18), Larger Sulfurs (12-14), Tan Caddis (14-16), Alder Flies (or Zebra
Caddis 12-14), Olive Caddis (14-16) Yellow Stoneflies (3/4" long) and several
more of both the caddis and mayflies that I'm just not sure of. All in all
it's pretty good now with a lot of fish being caught.
Here's a of friend of mine that I got to enjoy some fishing
with holding one of this year's browns, he caught larger fish but
where's the camera when you need it? Oh,
and before I forget it just to show how good the insect life is here in
the
Shawmut section - check out the size of this dragonfly nymph. He must be
eating good because he's bigger than the quarter I laid down beside him for
comparison. Click on either of these photos to enlarge them.
Have a good Forth of July weekend and get some fishing in.
06/28/04 I know it's not Friday but I thought I would post and say the Alder Flies are hatching and fishing is good. Check out these two posts from the forum.
Uncommonly common doubles. and
Shawmut Float Report and Pics. Fishing is good right now. Let's hope for some cool nights :-)
06/24/05 Sorry to be a little late today - actually forgot it was Friday. Shawmut is wadable but the level is high and the flow is strong. Caddis are hatching - pick a color and size and you'll probably find it. Some mayflies but not many. Good activity during the day - come fish if you want the wading, insect and fish activity are all finally happening at once. :-)
Tomorrow we are hosting a casting contest for the Maine Trout Unlimited, Kids Trout Camp. It goes on from 10:am to 4:00pm and the $15.00 entry fee goes to the Trout Camp. Here's a blurb I put on our forum about the Casting Contest.
Casting contest
this Saturday at Fly Fishing Only. Come one come all.
Entry fee $15.00 all proceeds go to the Maine TU Trout Camp.
We will host the annual TU Trout Camp Fly Casting Contest on Saturday the 25th
from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Rods will be provided – you must use the rods we will
have set up.
General outline of the contest rules:
The entry fee gets you five casts at the first of several target rings – each
cast that hits a target gets you five points. Total possible points from each
ring – 25 – 5 points per hit.
To cast at the second ring you hit the first target at least once and to cast at
the third ring you must hit the second ring at least once and so it goes on out
to the final ring.
Contestant with the highest final score wins an Orvis Rod of their choice
(Bamboo rods excluded) so think about the rod you might win.
Do you want a T-3, a Superfine, one of the new Power Matrix or perhaps that Spey
Rod you’ve been thinking about. Come enter and who knows you might win. It’s all
for a good cause.
To get more information about the contest and the 25% discount being offered on
most Orvis rods follow this link.
http://www.maineflyfishing.com/images/2005/handout.gif
Here are a few
answers to some questions that people have called and asked about the casting
contest.
Can I use my own rod?
No, you must use one of three rods we provide. They are all 8 ½’, five weights,
they are: one full-flex, one mid-flex and one tip-flex, take your pick.
Can I warm up or practice cast?
Yes, you have 10 minutes to use as you see fit. You may shoot at the targets and
practice all you like. However, if you are still practicing when the buzzer
sounds you are disqualified and would have to re-enter to participate.
Do we use real flies?
No, all outfits will have a piece of yarn on the end.
Do I have to reel in after my practice casts?
No, you can say I’m ready with your yarn setting in the first target if you
like.
How many false casts can I make?
All you want but you only have 10 minutes.
What happens if I miss a target?
You get five tries at a target. You make five casts at the first target and get
five points for each time you hit it. To cast at the second target you have to
have hit the first target at least once during the five tries. To cast at the
third target you must hit the second one at least once.
How many targets are there?
Five. The first one is at 25’ and then it is 35’, 45’, 55’ and the last one is
at 65’.
What about a tie?
A tie will get you name in a hat and we will draw the winner.
06/17/05 I'm depressed. The river is high, dirty and fast. Out of May and June of this year we have only been able to wade the river for about 12 days and 3 or 4 of those have been questionable, as in - you had to be nuts to be out there. And, that is the case today - it would be nuts to be on the river and fishing even out of a boat. Sorry I don't have better news.
My guess is we are looking at another 4 to 6 days before the river goes down.
06/16/05 Higher, faster and dirty.
06/11/05 Shawmut is very high. Flow is fast and the White Rock is way under. Yesterday's thunderstorms dumped a lot of water and the center gate and 1/2 of the mechanical flashboards in one bay are wide open. Wading is tough and dangerous - don't do it unless you are comfortable in fast, hard water.
If you are fishing from a boat or canoe
there are fish to be had. Got the fish on the right this morning about half way
down to Fairfield from Shawmut. The net opening is 15" and if you look close you
can see the right vent fin is clipped. That makes this fish a 2004 fish.
Not bad growth for a year in the river. :-)
The rock
below
is where he where he was holding. That submerged rock is normally breaking the
surface and it's too shallow around it to hold fish but with today's level it
was plenty deep.
That fish and two others were working - I got this one in and hooked the other two but didn't land them. Each time I hooked up I put the others down and as long as I was willing to wait they kept coming back - I was willing to wait. :-) The "Fly of the Day" was a size 16, Parachute Adams on 4X tippet.
06/10/05 Shawmut is wadable and the flashboards are up. The clarity is good, temperature is good, flow is fast and the level is on the high side. The White Rock is showing but the center gate is wide open and so there is a lot of push. There were mayflies on the water this morning along with caddis.
The Carrabassett and Sandy are still running high (western mountain storms won't quit) and we are getting the water. When they drop some the center gate will be closed and from then on we should have a fairly stable flow.
Lots of Stripers showing and being caught from Waterville to Sidney. Fishing has finally started.
06//03/05 Almost is the word of the day. Almost ready to wade, almost ready to hatch, almost done draining the thousands of acres of land that feed the Kennebec - but not quite. My guess is that we will be able to wade this weekend. Saturday if you really know your way around the Shawmut wading area and are careful. Sunday if you don't mind a hard flow and high levels. The fish are there and showing but we just can't get to them.
Flow today in Shawmut is around 17,000cfs and dropping fairly fast, remember a week ago the flow was over 70,000cfs and rising. Clarity is fair to poor. Water temperature is 52 degrees. Insects are hatching - the only one I've been able to catch and identify is a yellow Stonefly that landed on the back of the shop while I was standing there looking at the river. So I can say that the yellow stones weren't all swept to Bath. I haven't seen any caddis yet - none, at least not on the river. Some of the feeder streams and ponds are showing caddis but not the main stem of the river. Mayflies are showing around mid-day but they are out on the water and I haven't been able to identify them - they could well be Hendricksons. I don't think the Hendricksons are done hatching. The water was only above 50 degrees for a day or so and then the temperature dropped right back to the 40's. Last year at this time the water was 58 degrees and the Hendrickson were done - caddis were in full swing and fishing was grand.
If you fish Shawmut out of a boat it is ready for you. I'll probably canoe it Sunday even if we get a shower or two that keeps the flow up. If you are planning to boat Shawmut today you'll have a hard time anchoring up and will have to pick your spots but if the flow keeps dropping like it has the level and flow should be fine tomorrow and even better on Sunday.
05/27/05 Forget Shawmut for at least another week, the river is raging. Sidney is at 73,000cfs and still climbing. It's like Titleguy posted on the forum the question of the day, borrowed from CREDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, is "Who'll stop the rain?"
So my Friday Update is much the same - go fish the ponds - in the continuing rain. But if you want to read a little story about my "Day of the Spey" on Grand Lake Stream read on.
Grand Lake Stream was good to me if I’d get off my butt and go fish in the rain. Well, go fishing in the rain and HIGH WATER would be more like it. I don’t mind the rain but the high water threatened to give me a free ride to Big Lake. No section of the stream was without that threat. One slip and you were in for a hard recovery – even in calf deep water. It was a fast flow.
On Saturday when I got there the water was running at 500cfs and while high it was fishable. It was also pouring rain and I elected to fish the lake with friends and family figuring on hitting the stream the next day. We had good fishing on the lake – the largest salmon from the lake Saturday was 23” and FAT.
Sunday morning I was back out on the lake at 5:00am and trolled until 9:00am. We went back to camp, I baked a couple of pies for supper and headed to the stream, flow was still 500cfs.
I took a look at the Dam Pool and nobody was fishing it so in I went. No luck. I fished the pool – alone – for almost 4 hours it was raining hard. One guy came and fished for about 30 minutes and left. He also struck out. I nymphed, swung streamers, used attractor dries with droppers, played with soft hackles and sink tip lines – nothing. I saw one fish rise. Later that day found me back on the lake and it was rough, the fishing was good but you took a beating just being in the boat out on the water. Talk about Rock-n-Roll we were doing that, big time.
Monday morning started much the same – trolling early and back to camp. I baked a couple more pies and with my housework done I decided to Spey it. So I walked down to the hatchery pool and crossed at the bottom. After a short walk through the underbrush I hit the stream a good distance below the guy fishing the Evening Pool and strung up my Spey. Wow, that Spey will reach out. I was swinging streamers along the shore of the opposite bank.
Later I saw fish rising – again on the opposite bank so I switched to a soft hackle emerger. I knew the hatch was good-sized, dark brown mayfly even though I couldn’t capture one to be sure exactly what it was. I fell back to the maxim that has guided me since I started fly-fishing “Who cares what the name of the fly is as long as your imitation is the same size and color as the natural you’ll catch fish.”.
So, I tried and tried and tried, no success. I knew I had the right size and color fly and so looked to the leader for a fault. I was Spey casting and my leader was a 15’ knotted, beast with 3X tippet. I was afraid it was to big when I tied on the fly but tried it anyway. So, I pulled everything in and tied on some more sections and stepped down to 6X. Light tippet for a 12 ½’ Spey Rod – but it worked.
About three casts later I was into a salmon. Three jumps later I was wishing my tippet hadn’t broken – but I had hooked up with my Spey on 6X. Cool.
Anyway, the end result was that I did catch fish on my Spey
but I probably won’t fish my Spey much on GLS – the stream is just too crowded.
The rod will let you
work the whole stream – bank to bank in most places but it just isn’t fair to
dominate both sides of the stream like you can with a Spey. On a normal day I
would have been hogging a lot of water. As it was there were two guys below me,
on the opposite bank, who wanted to move up when they saw me hookup. To their
credit they didn’t crowd me although they did move upstream a little closer.
The long and short of it all was that I put the Spey away and fished my regular rod the next day and then they brought the flow to 1,100cfs – that was tough to deal with. It pushed the anglers and fish into a precious few holes and made fishing in any location other than those precious few holes a VERY dangerous undertaking. I headed for home.
And now for the shameless plug about our Spey Casting Class coming up in August - if you're interested go visit our Spey Pages by clicking on the words Spey Pages. If the class sound like something you would like to do give us a call at (207) 453-6242 or e-mail us at ffo@maineflyfishing.com. And, before I forget, there were definitely bugs hatching. I made a post on our Forum about the mayflies I saw and if you want to read it check this FORUM POST.
05/20/05 Shawmut is wadable. Water temperature is 46 degrees, right now 7:30am and will be 50 degrees later this afternoon if the sun stays out (at least it got that warm yesterday). Clarity is good. Flow is fast. Level is high but like I said wadable.
No strong hatches yet but several people came in after fishing up there yesterday and said Hendricksons were showing. Just a few but there was an advance guard of Mayflies testing their hatch abilities. We could see bugs in the air out back of the shop yesterday and see birds feeding on them but I wasn't able to catch one to identify. However, like I said several people were good enough to stop in and give a first hand report of seeing HENDRICKSONS - YES, IT HAS STARTED. Just a few but it will get stronger each day now.
Of course that just stands to reason since I leave tomorrow morning for 5 days at Grand Lake Stream. It never fails that the Hendrickson hatch is at it's peak while I'm away. I don't mind to much because I usually am enjoying myself renewing my acquaintance with GLS but I probably won't be dry fly fishing, up there, like I would here.
Although, I shouldn't assume that the Hendrickson hatch will bring fish up, at least not during the first couple of days of the hatch. Often the case is that we will have Hendricksons all over the water and no fish rising for them. It's very frustrating. I remember last season looking at hundreds of Hendricksons on the water and not seeing a rise. As smart as fish are giving credit for being they still have to be taught each year to look up for a free meal.
The flash boards are not up at Shawmut and so we will still have pulses of high water and wading will suffer but for the most part unless we get a hard rain things should be OK. Be sure and call or check the water flow page on the web at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/me/nwis/current/?type=flow if you are coming up to fish - it might save you a wasted trip.
Enjoy your week and if you're at Grand Lake Stream and see a guy walking around with a dazed, glazed over happy look on his face, decked out in Orvis gear and Buzz-Off clothing it's probably just me. If it's around feeding time stop me and point me towards Canal Side Cabins so I can make my way back to eat. Thanks in advance. - Mike
05/13/05 The river is fairly clear, flow is strong, level is high and the temperature is 44 degrees. No wading yet but I may float it this weekend just to take a look see and get an idea of what the high water has done. Who knows I may even take a fly rod :-)
There is rain in the forecast (rain Sunday, light showers Monday and maybe Tuesday) and unless it really dumps on us my guess is we'll be wading by Tuesday. If one were optimistic they might even say we could be wading by Saturday as the Carrabassett will drop below 1,000 today and the Sandy could by Saturday morning. The main stem of the Kennebec is running at 16,000cfs in Sidney - I'd like to see that down about 10,000 or less.
No Stripers reported in Winslow yet but Alewives are showing up. It won't be long before the Stripers show. Levels are getting there, water temps are better and good fishing is right around the corner.
5/06/05 Rain, Rain go away - come again some other day. Rain, Rain go away - come again some other day.
The river is still high and here's the forecast from the Maine Emergency Management Website:
.SATURDAY...RAIN LIKELY IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN IN THE
AFTERNOON. MUCH COOLER WITH HIGHS IN THE MID 40S. NORTHEAST WINDS 10
TO 20 MPH.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...WINDY WITH RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN LIKELY
AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS AROUND 40. NORTH WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY AND WINDY. RAIN LIKELY IN THE MORNING...THEN
A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS AROUND 50. NORTH WINDS 15 TO
25 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 70 PERCENT.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
LOWS AROUND 40.
.MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. HIGHS
AROUND 60. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.
.MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE MID 40S.
Which you can get anytime by going to
http://www.state.me.us/mema/weather/weather.htm
Anyway, the river is dropping, the Forsythia's are blooming and when most of them are in full bloom we should start seeing Quill Gordons and Blue Quills hatching. However, using a boat is the only way we'll be able to fish them because the RIVER WON'T GO DOWN. Not with three more days of rain coming.
So it's still small feeder streams and ponds for me. Some of the guys who post on our Forum have had luck on Don't ask/Don't tell pond and you can see the fruits of their labor in the Forum thread Ponds at http://flyfishingonly.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2119
The water temperature in back of the shop is 39 to 41
degrees (morning vs. midday) and clarity is fairly good. The Carrabassett River
will fall below 1,000cfs today and the Sandy is close to 1,000cfs also.
It's frustrating to
know
that once they fall below 1,000cfs we have a good chance of wading a day or so
after that and to know at the same time the rain that is coming is going to
drive them back towards the 3,000 to 4,000cfs they have been running at.
Oh well, I guess that gives me a little time to get the boat ready.
Greg Burchstead was good enough send the picture of a nice brown shown on the left (click to enlarge) with the following encouraging words - Black Flies have started. Never thought I'd say it but "Bring on the Black Flies" if that's what it takes to get the fishing started.
Speaking of Black Flies - after wearing Buzz Off clothing all last summer I've gotta say that stuff works. The hat and shirt Greg has on are Buzz Off and he, like me, thinks Buzz Off clothing beats Deet any day. You should think hard about buying some of that stuff. It does work.
04/29/05
Still no
good news, save the fact that, the river hasn't risen to our building yet. :-)
The whole river system is filled to overflow and the flood gates are open all up
and down the river. Better times coming I hope.
Well, all I posted earlier was the paragraph above and I
thought "heck, that wasn't even worth posting let alone reading" so I went
out and took some photos to make coming here to check the Friday Update
worthwhile. Check these out. The first one is the Sebasticook, Fort
Halifax dam taken as I was driving across the Winslow bridge. The ones below are the submerged Shawmut parking area.
There was no sign of the "Danger High Water" sign. It's well underwater. No sign of the White Rock.
04/22/05 Sorry, no good news about the river. It's very high again and the Carrabassett and Sandy are also very high. They peaked yesterday and are falling off today but it is going to be awhile yet. They are still skiing at Sugarloaf which means we still have a lot of melt to go. When I checked the flows about 10 minutes ago the two of them are around 3,000cfs - down about 1,000cfs each from yesterdays high. Generally they both have to drop below 1,000cfs before we can wade. Not only are tributaries like the Sandy and Carrabassett high the main stem of the river is also high. Bingham is once again dumping water through the flood gates.
There are some fish being caught in various places - the inlets of ponds and lakes that support smelt are producing some fishing. China and other lakes in the area are mostly open and the guys who troll streamers have had some success. Grand Lake Stream, The Upper Dead River and Moose River and a few other waters are mostly wadable but for the most part consistent fishing can't be found.
Wish I had better news for you.
04/15/05 Happy Tax
Day.
Here are some pictures from my morning run to Bingham and back. The top two are
Wyman Dam and the water just below it.
As you can see they have closed the flood gates at Wyman. They started regulating the flow again the day before yesterday. It is bouncing between 2,500cfs and 6,000cfs. The flow is coming up to 4,000cfs at about 6:00am but there will be a lower flow from noon until 4:oopm - it will be 2,000cfs.
This may not be the case tomorrow if it hits 50 degrees today and 60 degrees tomorrow. Tomorrow may well be high flows all day. Best to call and check. 1-800-557-3569
Solon is at 4,500cfs and should stay there all day. as you can see in the lower picture on the left the rocks above the bridge are showing. I didn't stop at Madison but it is high.
Shawmut (on the right) is high and the flashboards
are down. There is a lot of water coming over top of the dam and the flow
is
very strong. If someone wanted to they can float it at this level but I
don't think it would be productive - just a fast ride.
The water temperature is 35-36 degrees and there are occasional pieces of ice and a few tree limbs passing by out back. Not something I want to wade. Pond outlets and inlets are still your best bet and several area ponds and lakes have opened if you want to throw a boat in. Webber is free of ice, as is most of China Lake and St. George. Haven't heard about the Belgrade Lakes.
04/08/05 Not much has changed in the Fairfield area - Shawmut is still high and dirty. What has changed is that to get above the high water this week you can't just go upriver to Bingham. This week you have to go all the way to Moosehead and the East Outlet to find low flows. Bingham is flowing at 12,000 to 15,000cfs and the Forks area is also way high.
The East Outlet (which is open in April this year) is low as Moosehead isn't quite full yet but it will be soon. If you want to try the East Outlet before it to becomes a raging torrent I suggest you get there soon.
Myself I'm heading to the coast this weekend to help a friend get his boat ready for the season. I figure if I'm not fishing I might as well be helping someone else get ready for fishing. If I wasn't headed for some boat work I'd be heading to the Belgrades to hit places like Wings Mills dam or Belgrade Stream to see if I could interest some pre-spawn Pike in a discussion about "the right fly."
Good luck to those of you who venture out this weekend, pay
attention to the inlets of lakes and ponds. Also look for some action on the
outlet streams of those same lakes especially if they are dam controlled.
Oh yea, if your curious the water temp is 36 degrees. Come on sun - warm it to at least 45 for me. Actually 50 degrees and these flowering would be even better. Guess that's still a way off.
04/01/05
As usual there is little fishing to be had today. Most ponds and lakes are
still covered with hard water and only small areas around the inlet and outlets
can be fished. And from what I saw, while making my annual April 1st run
to Bingham and back, the edge of a pond inlet is where I'd be fishing tomorrow.
Speaking of rain if it holds off today until fairly late
there are a couple of spots I might try on the river. The Kennebec from
Bingham to Solon is very fishable. The flow at Bingham has been fairly
consistent, bouncing from the overnight low flow of 2,500cfs to around 4,500cfs
and them to 6,000cfs before dropping back down to the overnight low. When
the melt really gets going you won't see them shutting down to 2,500cfs
overnight - they will be dumping water. Here's what Bingham looked like
this morning. There were boats down below also but the guy on the bank was the
only guy I saw afoot.
The river levels were also pretty good in Solon. The water level was fine and from the bridge you could see the rock pile on the left looking upstream - a pile you can often wade out to but I'm not sure I would try that area today or tomorrow. The flow there is just to fast and there isn't any reason for a cold fish to be fighting that current - no hatches today I'm afraid.
As you move down the river from the bridge the water in
front of Evergreen Campgrounds looks good although again yielding to the current
and fish not wanting to fight it I might fish Evergreen closer to the eddy area
where they launch boats instead of right out front of the restaurant area.
From Solon down the river was to high for my taste. The Carrabassett and Sandy are coming up and so is the main stem of the Kennebec below them. Madison was high enough to submerge the small island above the concrete spring hole and Skowhegan is also fast. Shawmut follows suit. All three areas are fast and cold but surprisingly clear. The water has colored up some but is nowhere near the normal spring color of coffee with to much milk in it.
So all in all it's a typical opening day - a real teaser and a promise of things to come. I think the river will fish well this year, I'm encouraged by the way the melt is going, even the promise of rain for the next couple of days is OK with me. Kind of kick the melt into high gear and get it over with - it's gotta happen, so I figure - let it happen quick without a lot of flooding so I can fish.
The text below is cut from last year's 1st Friday Update - if you read it you will see little difference.
Yep, it's another just a little to cold and early post but the good times are coming.
04/02/04 Water temperature, cold, water level, high, water flow fast - hatches none. Sounds like April doesn't it. That was my opening line from last year and of course it is the same this year. The water isn't as high this year but it is too high to wade in Shawmut anyway. Water temperature is 37 degrees and the water is dirty. Here are some scenes from up and down the river.
Madison
is also to high to wade or too high for me anyway. The picture on the left
shows a little bit of broken water. That broken water is caused by the
submerged island just above the spring-hole walk-in at the Pines. To the
right is a picture of the island on the West side of the river. I wouldn't
want to try to wade over to it.
Solon is another story. Levels are easy for wading but the water is
just
as cold. The
view
on the left is looking upstream from the bridge and the one on the right is
looking downstream. Looking upstream the you can see the rock pile on the
left that is showing and downstream you can see the ledge drop that comes out
from the West bank. Both often not showing.
Bingham is also low and should be looked at hard if you are thinking
about going f
ishing
this
weekend. The picture on the left is from the Bingham bridge looking
upstream. You can see forked-stick beach on the right. The picture on the
right is Austin Stream which you can see is quite low for this time of year. And
below, left is Wyman Dam again low levels and the close-up on the right shows
that the flood gates aren't open so if someone was willing to take the risk of
driving
down the powerline access - or perhaps I should say the risk of not being able
to drive up out - they would have easy water compared to most years. All
in all it promised to be early fishing and low water early. That's OK by
me as long as we get some summer rains. We don't need another dry summer the
fish have had it hard enough with the last three years of drought.
I'll close this years first post with a section taken from last years post because this location would still be where I'd go tomorrow if I wasn't working and you might find me there Sunday or Monday.
"And finally to the place I'd fish if I was going to be out instead of here
working. There aren't that many good access wadable spots out there on
April 1st any year so I'm not going to say where I found this gravel bar but I
will say it is on the Kennebec. As for where you might want to go this week or coming weekend - try getting
up towards the dams at some lake outlets. The ponds aren't overflowing and if
you are streamside and above the swollen feeder streams that swell the
downstream flow you might find fairly clean fishable water."
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