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Date: November 13, 2022 Body of Water: Worthley Pond - Peru, Maine Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous Moon; Full plus five days Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Trout Time: 8 AM - 2 PM Conditions: Fog, mist, drizzle and some rain showers; mild northerly wind and 45 - 50 degrees. Water temperature 51 degrees (+/-). Sure, it was cold and wet; but the wind forecast was mild, and so this trip was a go! Based on my last trip to Worthley, I knew waders were in order. I'd just top them off with my neoprene StormR jacket, and I'd be relatively oblivious to any rain. And that's exactly how conditions played out! I was alone on the lake, and I started in the south basin, where I'd taken three of the four fish a week ago. My initial spread was the flat-lined J9 Rapala in fire-tiger/trout, paired with a small yellow/black "Bumblebee" Michigan Stinger spoon off two colors of lead. I was close to a couple of previous waypoints in just over 20 feet of water when the spoon-rod jumped; an approximate foot-long brown came to hand. I was off to a relatively quick start! When I circled around, I couldn't help but notice all the bottom-hugging fish off this point in 35+ feet of water. After an unproductive pass along the edge, I moved out into this deeper water and replaced the surface flat-line with a copper/watermelon Stinger presented with seven colors of lead. I spent 20 minutes or so in this deeper water, but didn't trigger any bites. When I decided to pull lines, I intentionally retrieved the seven-core one color at a time, with a long pause every 30 feet. This old Lake Michigan trick paid off, as a bonus brown pounced on my spoon. Still, this didn't seem like a winning formula, and so I headed to the north end of the lake, where I picked up the drop and bounced between 12 and 30 feet of water. I was now fishing with a small Wolverine spoon in fire tiger off two colors of lead, and an F7 Rapala in gold/orange. Each rod jumped, but neither hooked up. Fifteen minutes later, I replaced each presentation with an F11 Rapala in blue and a pink/silver DB Smelt off the light two-color rod. With the floating Rapala, I could also edge a bit shallower, as the low-light conditions had me believe that some fish were active somewhere. Pretty quickly, the F11 (125 feet back) was eaten at the edge of some weeds in about 10 feet, and I landed my third brown of the day. When the faithful F11 got hit, again, in a very similar position, I knew I was developing something; but this fish jumped off. I continued to work with the breeze along the eastern shoreline. The spoon rod got slammed a couple of times, inexplicably not hooking up. I repeated this pass again, but now replaced the F11 with a J9 in copper and orange. At the least, I could tell this bait was swimming properly by the throbbing rod tip; plus, this lure has historically been a rainbow killer. Why not give it a shot? This J9 took the next two fish, both rainbows in the 14 - 15 inch range. One of these was at the very tip of a rocky and weedy bar extending from shore into deeper water. This aggressive fish hammered the bait, hard! The other came on the back-side of an active group of fish that I marked in about 25 feet of water. My spoon rod jumped twice here without connecting; but when the trailing J9 entered this zone, an aerial rainbow attacked. Meanwhile, I continued to swim the pink DB Smelt off the light, two-color rig. The swings and misses revealed some fish, but not all of them missed; I caught three additional browns on this setup. They were all about 12 inches; not big, but mean enough to attack and bend my rod. These came from 12 to 30 feet of water, and it does seem that a fair number of strikes on this lake to date have come on baits heading to deeper water from shallower structure and cover. While the northeast portion of the lake had been productive, I decided to continue trolling the eastern shoreline to the south as my clock wound down. After a couple more misses on the DB Smelt, I was pleased to finally hook up; when I landed Trout No. 8 for the day at exactly 2 PM, I decided to call it a day. What do I have to say about this? I enjoyed the solitude and trouty weather. While I am looking for larger fish, I'll take whatever action I can find, and this was a pretty active day. I am sure that obvious hit-and-runs at least equalled the trout I landed. I lost only one, and I made contact with a lot more fish than in recent trips. I need to add another casting rod to my arsenal; those bottom-oriented fish in 35 - 40+ feet might respond to a blade bait, jig or spoon. P.S. This turned out to be the last boating session of 2022. Weather and holiday schedules conspired to convince me to put the boat away. At least I have a couple of improvements planned for amybaby22's 2023 season. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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Date: November 11, 2022 Body of Water: Upper and Middle Range Ponds - Poland, Maine Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous Moon, Full plus three days Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Trout Time: 8 AM - 2:15 PM Conditions: Mixed clouds; developing southerly wind from remnants of Hurricane Nicole; 45 - 70 degrees. Water temperature 49-53 degrees (+/-). I took advantage of the holiday to hit the water again. I decided to try Upper Middle Range ("Rang") Pond, with the option of navigating into Middle Range Pond if necessary. It was a beautiful fall day, if still too warm. But water temperatures had dropped over the week, and I had some confidence as I set my simple trolling spread on Upper Range. My confidence got a significant boost when the green S7 Rapala swimming 70 feet behind the boat got slammed as it came off a weedy flat and into 20 feet or more of water. Unfortunately, that fish came unbuttoned. This area looked fishy and so I took another pass. I thought this same lure found some weeds as the rod tipped twitched feebly; this turned out to be a 4-inch largemouth bass. I still felt skunked, though. The only other angler was bass fishing, and he was doing decently well by drop-shotting 15-20 feet of water. I reported slow trout fishing, and that turned out to be an understatement. By 10:30 AM, nothing else had happened despite a variety of baits and covered water, and so I navigated the shallow water connecting Upper and Lower Range. This was my first attempt on Middle. It seems to be a rather featureless bowl, but still with plenty of boulders, and larger and much deeper than Upper Range. It has a lot of water in excess of 40 feet deep, up to 70 feet or so. I focused my efforts on 15 - 30 feet and basically circumnavifished the lake. I fished hard from 8 to 30 feet of water, and I even covered the deeper basin water with up to seven colors of lead. I swam a variety of Rapalas and spoons, but my only hit of the day came at about 11:45 AM on a pink and silver DB Smelt trailing two colors of lead. This fish too came from a weedy edge as the bait crossed into more than 20 feet of water. Regardless, I was pleased to land a spunky and rosy, 15-inch rainbow. And that was it for the day, despite the approaching storm. The bite shut off, and I was on the road by 2:45 PM. What do I have to say about this? Both of these ponds offer ice fishing potential. Each harbors three types of trout, and I've identified a few areas within walking distance of access points. Upper seems to have a good weed condition, and they both deserve some more attention. And not just for trout; at least Upper Range seems to be a good bass pond. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: November 6, 2022 Body of Water: Worthley Pond - Peru, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous Moon; Full minus two days Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Brown, Brook, Rainbow Trout Time: 9 AM - 2:15 PM Conditions: About 65 degrees, mostly cloudy and a strong (15+ mph) southerly wind. Rain showers in mid-afternoon. Water was clear but tannic and 53 - 54 degrees. I headed north to try to escape the negative effects of the fall turnover. Based on just a bit of reliable intel and knowing the ramp location, I chose Worthley Pond in Peru (Oxford County), Maine for the day's expedition. It's about 75 minutes from home and so within a reasonable radius for a day trip. Plus, I wanted to scope it out before attempting to ice fish here. The ramp proved to be marginal, but still okay for my small skiff and given my willingness to get wet. Next time I will bring waders; but now I know what I face, here. Soon enough, I had picked up the drop-off and was heading north along the eastern shore. My initial baits included F7 and S7 Rapalas in Brown Trout and Silver-over-blue patterns, respectively. Moving along the edge between 8 and 20 feet of water, I always have confidence that these baits will find active trout! When I reached the lake's wind-blown north end, I switched things up and moved off the edge a bit. A J7 Rapala in orange/gold trailed 100 feet or more behind, while I also presented a small firetiger Wolverine spoon off two colors of lead. I'd just marked a couple of targets 45 minutes into the session when the lead-core rod jumped! But it was a swing and a miss, and as the day progressed, I started to doubt that I'd actually had a hit. I kept changing things up, though, and I relocated to the south end of the lake. Here, I picked up the drop-off and presented a small, orange-with-black-dots DB Smelt off two colors of lead on a very light rod. Fortunately, this set-up got slammed and I stayed hooked up. This fish had come from about 28 feet of loon-occupied water right next to shore. It looked fishy above the waterline and below via sonar. I finally landed my first trout of the fall. Even though it was just a small rainbow (12 inches or so), it had hit the bait with gusto and I was pleased to welcome it aboard! I then made the best move of the day; both hits had been on "hot" colored baits and so I replaced my long, flat-line with a J9 Scatter Rap in a fire- tiger/trout pattern. Both hits had come in 25+ feet of water, too, and so I aggressively zigged and zagged between the edge in 12 feet and 30 or so feet of water. These tactics paid off with three more trout and another drive-by miss between 11:45 and 1:15. The fishing wasn't hot and heavy, but it sure was better than the previous day or earlier in the morning! The trout weren't big, averaging about 14 inches and topping out at 15 or 16. But they were all individually aggressive, and fun on my light tackle. All came between 20 and 30 feet of water, and all ate that same J9 Scatter Rap. What do I have to say about this? Are these the fish I can expect, or are other, bigger trout readily available? I don't know yet. Of course I was spoiled by Lake Michigan and connecting lakes, but my scaled-down tactics are still fun, and I will take whatever trout come my way while I learn and recalibrate. I'm still looking for that hit where it's difficult to get the rod out of the holder, though! I've got a 3-day weekend on the horizon and the weather is taking a turn to cooler conditions. Maybe that will jump-start the trout fishing. I've got plenty of ponds to try, but I can see myself returning to Worthley very soon! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: November 5, 2022 Body of Water - Little Sebago Lake - Windham, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous Moon; Full minus three days Boat: amybaby22 With: A Target: Brown and Rainbow Trout Time: 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM Conditions: Too nice; clear and warming up to 75 degrees with a persistent southerly wind. Water was clear but with lots of leaves; water temperature was a dreaded 53 - 55 degrees (+/-). A joined me on a local trout quest on this beautiful day. Too beautiful for effective fishing; the only activity with a worse curse for such gentle November weather would have been deer hunting. Little Sebago Lake is relatively nearby, has a nice ramp and a bit of a reputation for trout, even though it is likely a better bass/perch/pickerel fishery. I've only fished it once, through the ice. I had targeted trout but scored just a dandy chain pickerel and some assorted white and yellow perch. With the evening scheduled, we stayed close to home and gave this popular lake a shot. I did not like my thermometer's reading; with the breakup of the thermocline at about 55 degrees, short-term chaos and for fishing can ensue. On Lake Michigan under such conditions, targeted trout and salmon could be on the surface, or they could be more than 100 feet down. Any presentation could be as likely to get hit as another. Success often boiled down to persistence, covering water, and a good dose of luck. Here, the anoxic bottom water could now mix with the surface, releasing trapped organics but also giving fish new harbor. I'd be lucky to find anything that would concentrate any catchable fish. In short - I never had that good luck and I never found any biters. Despite covering the surface down to 20 feet or more, and exploring the central and southern basins of this complex lake, I never had a touch as I trolled stick-baits, small spoons and salmon flies near edges and in the open basins. It just never happened. But A had a great day soaking up the sun. Everything worked well, we encountered no problems, and we "discovered" another potential water, Chaffin Pond. That small pond holds brook trout and could provide for an accessible trip for Maine's State Fish through the ice or at ice-out. What do I have to say about this? I detest getting skunked, but the fall turnover always represents a difficult challenge. Every trip is a new experience to me, here, so I will continue to pay my dues. It was worthwhile learning this lake. The neck between the middle and south basins has a fair amount of current and shallow water. It's within walking distance of the ramp and could be worth investigating through the ice for trout or pickerel. And, I don't mind having Chaffin Pond in my back pocket - it is small, protected and accessible, and could offer a promising alternative to the larger bodies of water I've explored so far. Plus, I've plans for the next 10 days or so, maybe I'll build on this (negative) experience. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways |
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