Spring Fishing Season Peak | Mainely Fly Fishing Blog

Its that time of year! Every kind of fishing imaginable is hot or heating up. Stripers are at the beaches and ascending rivers. Trout fishing is still good with plenty of cool water in rivers and streams. Pond and lake hatches are starting.

Pond and lake water temperatures are cold for this time of year – I think because of some cold days and lots of wind. The leaves on my mature trees just came out in the last few days. Still, bass are heading to the shallows and will get aggressive on topwater poppers soon. The pike are still in relatively shallow water, attacking anything and everything.

I don’t have enough time in the week to fish everywhere I want to, plus it is peak gardening season too. I also have other responsibilities that I foolishly committed to. I should never agree to do anything in June.

I will be doing a Zoom presentation for the DownEast Chapter of Trout Unlimited on May 31. Anyone can watch if they wish. Contact them for more information and the link, or email me.

I am also giving casting and flyfishing classes at The Fly Company (fly rod maker and much more) at their facility/shop in Yarmouth on the Royal River. We try to do one at the end of every month. They sell out fast.

Due to continuing publishing issues, I (and everyone else) are out of stock on Flyfishers Guide to New England and In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout. I do have plenty of Fly Fishing Northern New England’s Seasons. I will shout it from the rooftops when I am back in stock, hopefully soon.

Here are some recent photos and videos. I realize I haven’t posted in over a month (computer meltdown) but I will circle back and post material from April and early May soon.

My first smallmouth of the year on a very versatile “fly” pattern – the red beadhead squirmy wormy. So far this year I have caught bass, brook trout, and a 20 inch plus brown trout on this pattern. Notice the very defined vertical stripes on this bass.

I have enjoyed learning about pike fishing on the fly rod this spring. My personal best is still under 30 inches but I lost one close to the kayak that was bigger. Knotting wire tippets requires additional knot knowledge.

Even though many stocked general law southern Maine streams are pretty much put-and-take fisheries, that doesn’t mean you don’t occasionally catch multiyear holdover browns like my wife, Lindsey, did recently. She was fishing a bend pool with lots of sunken wood in it – just where you would expect to find a larger brown trout.

Kayaking the area where the Presumpscot River dumps into Casco Bay is a good location to intercept stripers in mid May

’til next time….Lou