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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing Article Summaries |
The Dog Days Of Summer Are Here
By Mike Guarino In the last ten days central Maine has seen some drastic changes in weather. Last week we had temperatures pushing 100° with high humidity and dead-calm water, quickly followed by a cold front that dropped temps to normal highs of 75°-80°. Surface temperatures on the water dropped by ten degrees in less than a week. The good news is that the cold front brought some perfect sleeping weather. However, what's a fisherman to do when Mother Nature changes her mind so dramatically? Persistence is definitely the key, along with some good old fashioned patience. When the dog days of summer take hold here in central Maine, the fishing can slow down, but big fish can be caught. There are a few tactics that can improve the odds and put more fish in the boat. The best approach is obvious but not always easy, especially when you are on vacation. Getting up at the crack of dawn isn't always high on a priority list, but hitting the early morning bite will definitely help you catch more fish. In the early morning hours, the fish are feeding more aggressively and actively chasing bait fish and other forage. By mid-day, the high sun and soaring temperatures can put fish down making them more difficult to catch. There is also a significant amount of boat and jet ski traffic during the middle of the day which makes fishing conditions more difficult. Early in the morning, trout and salmon will be higher in the water column making them more accessible to anglers. Smallmouth bass and white perch will be found in shallow water too, especially around sunken rock piles that are located close to deep drop offs. Lately, the white perch have been feeding actively at dusk while they cruise the shorelines looking for small minnows. Lots of folks on East Pond and Great Pond have reported excellent catches of these tasty perch. Small worms and grubs have been working well along with spinners and live bait. Last Saturday at the East Pond boat launch, two fishermen had a pail full of 12+ inch perch along with six hefty crappie. They were excited to head home and prepare a yummy fish fry for their family. If anglers want to kill some fish for the pan, I can't think of anything tastier than a few perch and crappie — a little lemon, salt and pepper, and garlic salt is all it takes! Let's get back to getting up early in the morning. There's yet another advantage to seeing the sun rise over the eastern shores of our lakes. On any given weekday, just as the sun rises, a fisherman here in Belgrade Lakes gets a sense of remoteness. At dawn, you can hear the loons call and the osprey screech, the lake is often calm as glass, and the only disruption to this perfect setting is the occasional fish hitting your lure or bait. It's actually a difficult portrait to paint in the printed word, so you'll just have to find out for yourself. Good luck! Mike Guarino can be contacted at | ||
