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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing Article Summaries |
You Never Know What You'll Catch in the Belgrades!
by Mike Guarino Well, this week I decided to sit on the porch at the Center for All Seasons and take advantage of our local library's free Wi-Fi. What a great place to relax and write! My view consists of gorgeous Great Pond and the marina, with a just a few youngsters running around laughing and playing in the water. Really, that's what summer is all about around here and most folks take advantage. Not to be a downer or anything, but this past Tuesday morning I was zipping across Long Pond at a comfortable 40 m.p.h. around 5:30 a.m. and I could distinctly feel fall in the air. I actually stopped the boat and put on my winter cap. Even though we are in the "dog days of August," locals knows that fall isn't too far away! Just now two young kids walked by me carrying fishing poles loaded with a hook and bobber. The young girl, whom I guess is about 10, had a pre-bought package of worms and the lad with her was about 14. He was carrying his T-shirt — which looked pretty dirty and wet by the way I asked them if they had any luck, and they told me how much fun they had. "There's a lot of sunnies under the dock and I caught a small mouth bass!" The little girl was delighted with her catch and made no bones about it. Ah This week there's a couple of photos in the article. One of them shows my new best friend Abby. She's about 6-years old and cute as cub, but it's her mannerisms that won me over. I'm not sure I can fully explain in text how she acted during our fishing time, but I'm going to give it a shot. When we first met at the dock, her dad Mike introduced us and I caught a glance of the cutest little thing all dressed and ready to go. She almost smiled at our introduction, but played the shy card which didn't really surprise me. I've got two little girls of my own and they can work a room like nothing you've seen in your life. Well, let's get to the fishing. It turns out Abby isn't shy at all, and she knows her way around a fishing pole too. She caught her share that evening and each time she'd get a bite, she'd make the same noise — a cross between a loon yelling at a passing jet skier and someone who just burned their finger pulling a marshmallow off a stick at the bon-fire. What a riot! While she did catch herself a respectable largemouth, she wasn't quite ready to hold her first Belgrade bass all by herself. There's nothing wrong with that in my opinion, but I have a feeling that she'll be helping her dad take fish off the hook in no time. Mike my friend, you've created a fishing partner for life and the memories you two are going to share will truly last a lifetime. 
The second photo in this week's article is certainly lower on the "cuteness" scale — Sorry, Nate — but is definitely worthy of discussion, praise, and awe. Nathan Lawler caught this big walleye last week in the Belgrades. He gave me a ring and told me about the fish and then sent over the photo. What a fish!! Now, it's important to mention that this is an invasive species here in Belgrade and they were unceremoniously plopped in our lakes by someone who does not care about the overall health of our watershed. This invasive issue has been creating awesome coffee shop talk and biological headaches at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for years. For whatever reason, the Belgrades continue to draw the headlines in this discussion. Personally, I'm in a great mood today and really don't feel like having the negative "invasive species" discussion. So let's just talk about Nate's fish, a true beauty. The walleye is a sought-after game fish that lives in the northern United States and Canada that feeds primarily on yellow perch and bait fish. It's well known for its table fare and fighting ability. When you think about how much water is in the Belgrade chain of lakes and how few walleye are here, to catch one on a crank bait in relatively shallow water is probably the fishing equivalent of hitting the lottery. When Nate and I talked about his catch, you could sense his excitement and enthusiasm. He told me how hard the fish fought and what a strange combination of exhilaration and confusion the fish created upon landing the trophy. When you go fishing out here, honestly, the last thing you'll hook into is a big walleye! Nate, I'm happy for you — great job on catching a fish that has everyone in town talking. Mike Guarino can be reached at | ||