|
Date: April 15, 2033 Body of Water: Mousam Lake - Shapleigh, Maine Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Trout Time: 8:30 AM - 1 PM Conditions: Bright and sunny; ENE breeze less than 10 mph and 50 - 65 degrees. Water temperature 46 - 51 degrees (+/-). What a difference a week makes! After a few days of intense sunshine, the ice was gone, the dock was in, and both air and water temperatures were a solid 10 degrees or so higher than six days before. I hit the water with high expectations. I started in the southern basin and circled through the productive water from Easter Sunday. This only produced a small brown bass on the first pass (DB Smelt strikes again!). I trolled through the neck leading to the causeway access to the main lake without a touch. By 9:30 or so, I was setting up my trolling spread along the reef guarding the northernmost portion of the lake. I circled and strafed the reef a couple of times with my blue F11 Rapala and the DB Smelt of choice off two colors of lead. I tried to focus on 8 - 11 feet of water (the spoon was running about 8 feet down at about 2 mph), but of course wandered both too shallow and over deeper water. With no touches, I expanded my search. I'd just passed over a shallow rocky point when I had a heavy hit on the trusty DB Smelt. Unfortunately, this fish came unbuttoned without a sighting; it felt sizable. Continuing upon the shoreline, the next rocky point produced another heavy strike. A beautifully fat, 3+ pound smallie put on an aerial display and came to hand. When the next pass produced another brown bass of about 15 inches, I had to think that perhaps the first fish had been a bass and not the trout I sought. Lesson learned; these bass were fit and staging on shallow rocky points with the water temperature between 48 and 50 degrees. With that knowledge in my back pocket, I continued my quest for trout. I turned north, and my next action was a 14-inch brown trout on the lead-presented DB Smelt. This fish ate in about 12 feet of water as I dropped the spoon back, over an existing waypoint from last year. I continued north and explored both shorelines and basins. Although these had produced in 2022, I wasn't touched, this trip. With the clock ticking, I decided to grind out my time on known, productive spots. The reliably productive DB Smelt was a given presentation, and I had faith in the F11 for producing a big fish. I had just edged over the shallow shoulder of my reef into about 6 feet of water. I adjusted boat positioning "out" while watching my lead-core rod. It got pulled down hard, and I thought I might be snagged, but the drag was slipping too fast and I could feel the rod pulsing. I had two thoughts; a side-snagged fish, or possibly a big lake trout. I carefully worked the fish into sight; it was a fine laker of 10 or 12 pounds! It hadn't fought too well so far, but when it noticed the boat, it went on a continuous run of almost 100 feet (confirmed by the counter on my reel and the disappearance of all my lead core line and well into the backing). I slowly worked the fish back to the boat. It was a beautifully marked charr and the white edges of the fins were brightly lit. As I reached with the net, the hooks pulled and she side-stepped the mesh. Ugh! While not a targeted brown, this was a "hella" togue for an inland lake, and would have been my best Maine freshwater fish to date. Lesson learned; this lake has potential for togues, and to catch them in cold water on shallow reefs is always fun! Was it a good way to end the day? I can't decide. But my time was up, I had to go, regardless. What do I have to say about this? I was little surprised and disappointed with the lack of action from brown trout but that near-miss made the day. I also learned about the next day's bass tournament, and so I decided that my next trip would have to be somewhere else. So much water, so little time... Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Steve LachanceRI --> NH --> MI-->MA-->ME Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|
Proudly powered by Weebly