A Change of Pace

 I was reviewing my last few posts and realized that if someone doesn't enjoy looking at pictures of fish, they might find it kind of boring.  Now I don't know anybody who doesn't like looking at pictures of fish, but on the off chance that somebody like that happens to stop by here, I thought it might be nice to give them a change of scenery.  I am not particularly skilled with a camera nor am I overly artistic, but luckily I had some people with me the other night who thought this would be a nice picture.  I have to give credit to my sister-in-law Amelia for being the one behind the camera for these shots, and also to her boyfriend Brent who is usually the talented cameraman on our outings.  I will try not to get quite so caught up on catching fish, so that I can take time for a few pictures of things other than fish! 

Also the rod and reel that you see in the pictures are the ones that I will be reviewing for Abu Garcia thanks to the wonderful site called Outdoor Blogger Network!

Sunset Casting on the St. John River

Fishing Line - Almost Invisible

Two Days of Bassin'

Brent and I targeted bass last Thursday evening and we were rewarded with a few nice fish.  All told we landed four fish and lost three others in a couple hours before the sun set and left us racing the dwindling light back to the boat launch.  Most of our fish on Thursday were coming off crankbaits worked in 18-36" of water.  The fish were giving away their location by taking mayflies off the surface and allowed for us to pinpoint them more quickly.

Heather and I headed out on Saturday to try and find a few more of the fun fighting smallmouths.  We fished some new water that I had never been on before and it was a little slow on the start, but once we keyed in on them we brought 13 to the boat in a couple of hours and lost several others.  This was the day with the smallest bass of the season at 8" long and also the largest at 19" and pushing just over the 4 pound mark!  The pictures are below and I also included a video of a bass that I picked up on a current line.  We fish in a river for bass so some of our techniques and styles may look a bit unorthodox to some of you.  Take note of the canoe with the side mounted outboard, as I am working on a post about this watercraft, which is the preferred method of river navigation in our region of the world.

Bass Off the Current Line from Video

Heather with one of her many catches.

The Four Pounder!

Stay Tuned for Our Continued Outings!

Video of Muskie

Here is the promised video of last weekend's 37" muskie!

The still picture of the fish looks much skinnier than the actual fish was.  If you watch the video you will see the fish is actually quite thick for a post spawn muskie.

This fish was released to continue growing and to be caught another day!

Bass and Muskie Weekend

Memorial Day weekend allowed me to get on the water two days this past weekend and both days produced nice fish.  Saturday Heather and I went out to enjoy the weather and find spawning bass on their beds.  This time of year, under the right weather conditions, you can easily employ sight fishing techniques for these spawning smallmouths.  This provides for a very unique and exciting fishing experience.  The highlight of the day was when Heather hooked into a nice 3 pound smallmouth and when she pulled it towards the shallow water, a dark cloud appeared behind the fish which were quickly distinguished as 12-15 smallmouths in the 2.5-3 pound range.  That was a phenomenon I had never seen previously.  I have seen large schools of smaller fish and smaller groups of the large fish, but never that many, that size.  I quickly cast to the perimeter and we were rewarded with our second double of the day.  The day produced around a dozen fish that went over 2.5 pounds, which is a success in my book.  The biggest was around the four pound mark and was heavy enough to break the line right at the boat.  Again I encourage catch and release of the fish while they are spawning.

Nice Smallmouth off a Spawn Bed

Brent with a Bass

Monday was the day for muskie and Brent and I went out to try our luck.  We were rewarded with several strikes, and I finally connected with my personal best fish of 37”.  Based on the girth, I am estimating the fish to be around 12-13 pounds.  This fish fought very well and was a lot of fun.  Brent also hooked onto a fish which unfortunately gave a final headshake at the side of the canoe and managed to get away before the photo opportunity.  This was his first muskie hookup, which will hopefully be followed up by another chance where we can snap a picture.  I would estimate that fish to be in the 30-32” range.  

37" Maine Muskie

Enjoy the pictures and I am attempting to upload some video footage to go with it so stay tuned!

Coleman Products Maintain the Camping Heritage

From my earliest memory right up until present day all of my outdoor memories are centered around a crucial part of equipment, the cook stove.  For my family, the Coleman cook stove was a focal point of our long outdoor heritage.  Whether we were pan frying trout on a back country sand bar that were so fresh they were curling out of the pan, or warming our hands after a cold spring rain that made starting a fire almost impossible, or maybe just the wonderful aroma of bacon wafting across the frozen expanse of the lake that lured us back to the ice shack much like a rutting buck is pulled to doe urine in a scrape, the Coleman stove was always with us.  

The look of the stoves have changed with each generation, but all are still fully functioning no matter what age they are or how much abuse they have experienced.  My family has a tradition of fishing and hunting in a remote location known locally as Beaver Brook.  The area is only accessible by canoe propelled several miles with a setting pole or "pick poling".  Due to the work involved to to access this location, we typically spent the night.  When my great-grandfather first made the journey up to this area, he cut a few trees to make a camping site, set up his Coleman Stove and laid a piece of canvas on the ground.  Over the years our camping arsenal has grown to include many of the fine Coleman products and the camping site is much improved with such amenities as a clothes line and a fire pit, but the stove remains the focal point.  Thanks to the great products that Coleman has produced I have some wonderful memories of one my favorite spots in the world with my family members.  Words cannot express the joy and serenity that the thought of these memories rekindle.

There is something about being outside camping that requires all members of the party to each shoulder their own part of the work burden and at the same time lean on each other to accomplish everything, followed by relaxing time to reflect.  This draws people closer than anything else I know of, as well as giving each individual a great sense of personal accomplishment.

"Sponsored by Coleman and hosted by the Outdoor Blogger Network, this is my submission for the Coleman Camping Heritage Essay Contest."

Even though I wrote this article for a contest, it truly reflects my honest opinion of the Coleman line of products and I appreciate all of the work that they have done to promote camping both past and present.

Bass Fishing Teaser

I know I haven't been super active around here lately, but when the sun is shining it is hard to stay inside long enough to write something that makes sense.  Here is a quick teaser from some recent trips.  The female smallmouths seem to be starting to stage near spawning grounds, so if the weather stays constant we should see the bass spawning soon.  The fishing has been slow with a few nice fish showing up, but they have been few and far between.  I also have a new fishing rod and reel courtesy of Abu Garcia and the Outdoor Blogger Network.  I have been putting them through their paces and will continue to do so for a few more trips and then I will be writing a review of it.  Stay tuned for new updates coming soon!

Smelt Dipping

Every spring, after the last piece of ice leaves the lakes, a new season starts.  Not our “official” mud season, as that is well under way by that time, but rather a season known locally as “dipping” season.  The reference is to dipping smelts.  Every spring, the rainbow smelts leave the lake and go up into the brooks for their annual spawn.  An annual tradition that has become part of the local culture is to intercept these fish and “dip” them.  The traditional method of take is with a long handled metal mesh net that can be seen in the photos.  As the schools swim up the brooks, the net is quickly plunged into the midst of the school and quickly swept though in attempt to capture as many as possible.  In my area, to avoid over harvesting of this important resource, smelt dipping is limited to one brook.  Below is a quick story of last week’s smelt dipping trip.

                “Are the smelt running yet?” was the question heard repeatedly everywhere you went, as everyone waited with great anticipation for the run of the delicious smelt.  Finally rumor began to spread that someone had gone and netted a few, but they weren’t running hard yet.  The only spot that is open for dipping smelts in my area is Mud Brook that dumps into Van Buren Cove on the ever famous Long Lake .  The lake is well known for producing very fat salmon due to the high numbers of smelt in the lake. 

     Finally I heard what I was waiting for, the smelt were running hard!  After a quick phone call to Blake to inform him of the latest news, we had plans to meet and try our luck on some smelt.  Heather and I headed down and met up with Blake and Sarah where the road turns to dirt.  We all piled into my truck and navigated the remaining miles to Mud Brook.  I knew from all of the stories flying around that the smelt had been starting to run between 9:00 and 10:00 P.M.  We were quite early at 6:00, but I had a slightly different plan than the majority.  The large schools of smelt run in the dark, but smaller schools move up the brook all day long, and they congregate in certain spots.  Over the past few years, I have made it a point to find some of these holes and mentally file them away for future use.  As we reached the brook, I was surprised to see only two vehicles waiting, as this is usually a very popular event.  Wasting little time I pulled on my hip boots and headed down into the mud and bushes to my first spot.  Squinting against the glare of the waning sun on the water I saw the dark cloud that was a school of smelt.  I hurriedly plunged the net into the water, and like a true amateur hit an unseen alder which slowed my scoop and up I came with only one smelt.  Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down and watched to see if the school returned.  Luckily it did, and by this time Blake had caught up to me after my headlong rush into the alders.  Since he had never had the chance to experience smelt dipping, I figured there is no time like the present to learn.  Quickly explaining the basics (see below) I handed him the net and he was off.  A quick plunge of the net yielded him similar results to my dip, and we now had a grand total of two smelt.  The smelt decided not to return to that hole, so we moved up to the next one.  As I reached the hole, the bottom looked suspiciously black, but I couldn't clearly distinguish anything.  Since it was my turn back on the net, I swung deep into the bottom of the hole and was thrilled to feel several small vibrations of the net pole which usually mean you are gathering lots of fish.  As I lifted the net clear of the surface of the water, I was rewarded with a net full of wriggling fish.  Quickly bagging them up, I discovered that in one dip I had managed to get over half of my two quart limit.  

     Handing the net over to Blake, he managed to pick up a few more stragglers from that school, and we were off to the next spot.  Hitting a few more of my favored holes, we quickly picked up our limits of fish.  It wasn't my best dip ever, as I have seen times where you can literally fill your net with fish, keeping your limit and releasing at least as many for another day, but it was good.  I managed to fill my limit in three dips and did something I have never done before.  I caught a smelt bare handed!  I was standing in knee deep water and watching a school moving through, when I had the bright idea to try to grab one bare handed.  I poised my hand over the water and when a part of the school that was close to surface swam by I struck, and sure enough I came up with a fish.  Probably not a huge feat, but I was quite satisfied by it.  One of the most rewarding things about smelt dipping is that you can go and be successful at it, and come home with a mess of delicious fish.  As we were leaving we went down to another spot on the brook and were surprised by all kinds of people.  There were at least 50 people waiting for the run to start, and it was rewarding to drive on by with our limit already in the truck.  An important note when it comes to fishing is that sometimes thinking outside the box pays off.

Limit of Smelt

Notice the Dip Net

Basics of Smelt Dipping:

1.  Look for schools, but don't be afraid of "blind" dips. (They can really pay off)

2. Dip from the head of the smelt towards the tail. (The swim faster forward than backward!)

3. Dip as deep as you can reach.  (They seem to dive deeper as you dip)

4. Sweep sideways and up as fast as you can. (The faster you are, the more you get)

5. Never dip more than you can use or what the limit allows, whichever is less. (When dipping is good, it is easy to get caught up and the temptation is there, but don't give in!)