February 2024 New England Fly-Fishing Report

Hello everyone,

Mid-January finally brought some wintery weather in the form of snow and cold, but it was interspersed with warmer weather and rain. Bottom Line: Very few lakes and ponds froze enough to be safe for ice-fishing or ice-skating, except in the traditionally coldest climes. Strong currents from all of the continuing rain left inlets and outlets and hundreds of yards of water nearby unfrozen.

The Presumpscot River in late January looked in perfect shape to fish with moderate flow and no ice.

Until you got up north to the Rangeley area and northern New Hampshire and Vermont, there was barely enough snow for skiing or snowmobiling unless snowmaking capabilities could cover the slopes. I managed to X-country for a few days.

Such a strange, non-existent winter. Only four sunny days in January, and I feel temps on many days were running ten degrees above normal. In southern Maine, we used to have double-digit numbers of nights below zero. This year? None. It hardly ever gets into the single digits.

I would predict for everyone a very early ice-out and an early start to fishing season, but can you call it ice-out when many stillwaters didn’t totally freeze? Near me, Dundee Pond only partially froze and North Gorham Pond as I write this is totally open water. A few bays of the major lakes are frozen enough to venture out, but that is it.

North Gorham Pond, an impoundment of the Presumpscot River is entirely open water as I write this because of strong currents from all of the rain.

I did get some ice fishing in, but it wasn’t very good, maybe the fish are confused given the strange weather. I know that turkeys were gobbling, songbirds were singing their spring songs, and male woodpeckers were drilling, marking their territories in late January.

Caught this 22-inch pickerel.

A couple of eagles, photographed at a distance, waiting for me to throw a fish on the ice. They left disappointed.

The Presumpscot River and its impoundments give up a few impressive brown trout every year. My son-in-law and myself have landed three brown trout between 3 and 4 plus pounds over the last several years. A gentlemen ice-fishing one of the impoundments at the beginning of February landed a monster. Why can’t I catch a fish like this ice fishing?

Hard to tell how large this fish is, but a monster for sure.

I am a member of the Sebago Chapter of Trout Unlimited, (sebagotu.org) a fine conservation and outreach organization. We host an Ice-fishing event every year on Chaffin Pond in Windham for families who want to learn about ice fishing. This year the weather was good, pond was frozen, and 70 or so hardy souls turned out. We even caught a few brook trout despite the commotion on the ice. Come join us next year,

A nice brookie caught by a few of the young men attendees.

I am always interested in hearing about your interesting fishing experiences. Email me. louzambello@gmail.com

January Maine Fishing Report

The first half of January brought another freeze, rain, thaw, and refreeze cycle. Here is open water on January 17th.

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In fact, some very nice brown trout were caught below Saco and Presumpscot River dams that were wide open without any ice or snow.

Below is a big Presumpscot River Brown caught in mid January. The net opening is 18 inches.

Southern Maine BrownFinally, mid January brought winterlike temperatures. Well, winterlike for Connecticut, not Maine. But still cold enough to finally freeze sheltered ponds and coves for good. Usually, January is a busy time for me, traveling to and presenting at multiple fly fishing shows, TU meetings, and other fly fishing forums. This year – not so much. I still sold books every week through my website although the post office was  backed up and books took weeks to arrive. Anglers who have bought and read at least one of my books will email me wanting another title. I take that as a high complement.

I tried ice fishing last year for the first time in decades, but this January, with an open schedule, I had the time to take it up a notch. My family and friends (Mary, Will, and Lindsey) explored Dundee Pond and a few other local waters.

Past the following in your browser to see video of Lindsey’s first ice fishing attempt.

https://youtu.be/aGYjAC2rzgA

I would have had time for more “fishing on the hard” but (1) I was distracted by watching to see if our country’s democracy was going to hold, and (2) we were also babysitting our one-year old grandson for the month and driving down to Florida and back to drop him and his mother back to their home on Killarney Lake. Did get to do a bit of Crappie fishing while there.

In Florida, the spring crappie bite is on.

In Florida, the spring crappie bite is on.

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My daughter jigged this brookie.

My daughter jigged this brookie.

We caught other species as well; pickerel, yellow perch, largemouth bass, and landlocked salmon. You never know what it will be, but mostly pickerel and brookies.

My fist landlocked salmon through the ice

My fist landlocked salmon through the ice

 

We also found a local pond that I will keep quiet about for now, where we caught some very healthy largemouth bass including one that was the biggest I have ever caught using any method.

Panther Pond (3)

February will be a month I catch up on everything I planned to do in December and January. Replenishing fly boxes, replacing and fixing gear, writing articles, columns, and books, and so on.

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @mainelyflyfishing. Based on the statistics I have seen, fly fishing is welcoming many newbies to the sport. I want to remind everyone that at the back of each region in my Flyfishers Guide to New England book, I list recommended waters for new anglers as well as sites that are easy access.

Stay healthy everyone.

December Fishing Report

Seasons Greetings,

I hope that you are surviving Covid and figuring out a way to see your loved ones in some fashion; in person or virtually. My family had our Christmas in hastily-decorated garage with car doors and windows open and everyone wearing masks. I think we deserve an A for ingenuity.

December is usually a month with little fishing activity, at least locally. The last few years, my wife and I have been fortunate enough to travel to southern climes, but not this year.

The weather has been a roller coaster. Early December was warmish, more indicative of  November. Then in mid-December we had a burst of real winter; some zeroish nights, 20 inches of snow, and 4 inches of ice on the pond

Late December brought October weather – driving wind and rain, 50 degrees, and bare ground again with open water.

Ice breaking up. It was soon completely gone.

Ice breaking up. It was soon completely gone.

 

 

 

I am old enough to remember that late December in Maine frequently meant single digit mornings, snow on the ground from early December on, and lakes and ponds locked up tight with ice. I swear our weather is New Jerseyish now, at least 10 degrees warmer than it used to be. We hardly see any below zero temps anymore.

Fishing was a roller coaster as well. Early December featured water temps still in the 40’s and trout were still active to a well placed nymph. Some big browns were caught in the Royal River and Presumpscot River – some stocked that size, others hold overs or wild fish.

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A typical early Dec. brown.

A typical early Dec. brown.

A huge holdover brown weighing in excess of four pounds, caught in slow water where he probably overwinters. During the summer probably lives in some undercut bank or under a sunken tree and only feeds at night.

A huge holdover brown weighing in excess of four pounds, caught in slow water  (not by me)where he probably overwinters. During the summer he most likely lives in some undercut bank or under a sunken tree and only feeds at night.

Brookies were active in early December as well, and fishing tailwaters worked well.

Brookies were active in early December as well, and fishing tailwaters worked well.

On December 22,23, and 24th the newly formed ice was thick enough (barely) to ice fish on, at least in Windham, Maine’s small ponds and lake coves. My Floridian son-in-law had never ice fished or had a brook trout fish fry so we fished a put and take ice fishing pond, caught some brookies and fried them up. I don’t think I had kept and cooked brook trout for over ten years.

First ice fishing of the year on Dundee Pond, a few days before Christmas

First ice fishing of the year on Dundee Pond, a few days before Christmas

We caught a number of large pickerel in front of my house.

My son in law, Brian, caught a number of large pickerel in front of my house.

Destined for the frying pan. We could tell from the coloring that one was recently stocked, the other two not for some time.

Destined for the frying pan. We could tell from the coloring that one was recently stocked, the other two not for some time.

The warm rain melted the ice and sent rivers and streams raging with high, 35 degree, brown water. But below dams where the flow was normal and waters clear, fish could be caught if the angler could tolerate cold fingers and only the very sporadic take from a sluggish fish.

High-stick nymphing with tiny nymphs or egg patterns is the highest percentage play for winter fishing

High-stick nymphing with tiny nymphs or egg patterns is the highest percentage play for winter fishing

A brookie caught December 27th

A brookie caught December 27th on a size 20 tungsten bead red midge nymph.

 

December Fishing Report and other 2019 highlights

The weather stayed cold in early December and ponds and lakes continued the freezing process, although  warmer temperatures and heavy rain in the middle of the month opened up some water again.

The Rangeley area has several feet of snow on the ground in places and lakes were locked up tight with ice.

The upper Presumpscot River continued to fish well in early December even with the colder water. I heard from anglers using flies discussed in my books that they were working well including the Cosohammer streamer, brook trout egg patterns, and bright-bead nymphs. Fly fishers are cetainly fishing later in the year now. Everybody used to quit when deer season arrived, but now the anglers are still at it after deer season is over! The following video was taken December 7th – a nice brook trout caught nymphing.

 

Year in Review: As I think back about 2019, I am reminded that you never know what might happen while you are fishing. For instance, you never know what fish species you might land on a fly. Here are two of the more bizarre hook-ups of the year.
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Will Folsum with four foot eel he hooked and landed with a small Prince Nymph

Will Folsum with four -foot eel he hooked and landed with a small Prince Nymph while fishing the fast water at the head of Dundee Pond.

A large yellow perch that took a 4 inch leech pattern designed for big largemouth bass or even brown trout.

A large yellow perch that took a 4-inch leech pattern designed for big largemouth bass or perhaps brown trout.

Finally, I found someone who illuminated me on the bait blitz that I posted a video of as part of my November blog. Apparently, landlocked alewives exist in Sebago Lake and the young of the year still attempt to migrate downstream. During several big rain events in November, a number of them were washed over the Sebago Lake and North Gorham Pond dams and became trapped in Dundee Pond, where in the shallow water, they became easy pickin’s.

Let me wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year with plenty of fly-fishing opportunities.

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. Only three months until official Maine fishing season starts.

First some corrections to my last post regarding speaking engagements:

I neglected to mention that I will be giving a presentation on January 11 in Littleton NH at the Ammonoosic Trout Unlimited Meeting. See their website or facebook for all of the info. My wife Lindsey and I will be giving a video and pictorial talk on western Cutthroat fishing.

My talk at the Marlborough Fly Fishing Show will be: Advanced Tactics and Patterns for Catching Difficult Trout and Salmon in Heavily Pressured New England Waters. My talk at the Edison, New Jersey show is: 3 Best Places to fish for Trout each month of the year in New England (36 in all)

My daughter, Erika, and her fishing-fanatic husband, Brian, were visiting over Xmas vacation, so of course we went flyfishing. On Xmas eve day we headed over to the upper Presumpscot and for this winter it was a reasonable day with temps around 32 degrees. We crunched through the ice-crusted snow and nymphed the clear but cold water. It was beautiful with the sun shining through the ice-covered trees. We didn’t really expect to catch anything but then we saw a pretty good rise in a slow pool and then another rise under the bridge. We increased our intensity and fished until feet were numb but didn’t get a strike. Oh well, we at least can brag that we were out there.

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