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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing Article Summaries |
Fall Is In The Air
By Mike Guarino An amazing transformation happens here in the Belgrade Lakes Region each year right around this time. All of a sudden you can start to feel fall in the air, especially during evening hours. The winds slowly start shifting more from the west and north, rather than the prevailing south and east winds of summer and the lakes turn oddly silent. The kids have gone back to school and the summer vacation season is slowly winding down, leading to a significant decrease in boat traffic. This combination of cooler water and quieter lakes is a fishermen's dream. On many weekday mornings, with the exception of the occasional loon or fishing boat, a quiet calm floats across the water. This sensation beckons anglers who have shared the lakes with jet skiers, water-skiers and speeding pleasure boats during vacation season. Summer around here is way too short, so many folks like to get on the lake as much as possible to play and beat the heat. There certainly is nothing wrong with that! But this time of year, straight through the end of October (and for some ambitious anglers even the month of November) is a fishermen's paradise! The surface temperatures on the lakes are dropping down into the low 70's activating bait fish and drawing game fish up from the depths. Local fishing reports from Great Pond have included good catches of brown trout and humped-back white perch. During late July and early August, the browns were not cooperating much, but this change in water temps has helped kick-start the trout bite. On Long Pond, the salmon and occasional brook trout are showing up more frequently too. Trolling is definitely the preferred method on both of these lakes. Five colors of leadcore line or downriggers set between 20 to 35 feet down have been drawing strikes. Lately the hot color has been blue and wobblers and rapalas have been hot. As the water continues to cool, many local anglers start trolling more reaction colors like orange and copper and orange and silver. A large tandem streamer in Mickey Finn trolled behind a dodger is always a good idea especially in early morning. These gaudy flies and spoons often get hit when other more traditional lures and flies come up empty. The warm water fish such as smallmouth, largemouth and northern pike start getting active again this time of year. In the last two seasons, some of the best bass and pike fishing took place in early September. It's important to note that during this time of year, you may not catch the same numbers of fish that you do in the spring when fishing is at its peak, but you do have a great chance of catching bigger fish. For many anglers the chance at a five-pound-plus bass or a fifteen-pound pike means more than catching large numbers of fish on their outing. Late August and early September is the perfect time of year to make an anglers dream a reality. Between the calm and quiet conditions on the lakes and the increased fish activity, it's easy to understand why so many anglers live to fish in the early fall. As an added bonus, the cooler temps also stir up the wildlife in our area. Lately more and more deer, red fox, raccoons and porcupines have been moving especially in the evening. In the last week, we have seen many deer on the side of the roads and even a cow moose meandering across the road. Drivers need to beware, but wildlife watchers are in heaven. It's a great time to break out the binoculars and glass fields to look at deer and other game. Good luck. Mike Guarino can be contacted at | ||
