Ridge Runners and River Rats on the Road

Last weekend found the RRRR crew in Southern Maine sniffing the salty sea air.  As the pungent brine smell hits my olfactory glands I instantly flash back to the last three times I have been either on the ocean or it's shoreline in my pursuit for a finned creature that calls that high salinity environment it's home.  The Striped Bass, Striper or Rockfish are all names that this elusive (at least to me) fish bear.  The striper has always appealed to me and those three excursions previous were my attempts to put my hands on one.  Every person I have talked to has a slightly different approach on putting a hook into one.  After hours of researching on the internet, I decided that any method you can dream up is someone's "secret" method.  This trip, I had an extra trick up my sleeve.  That was local knowledge!  Heather has family that lives in Old Orchard Beach and Saco.  I mentioned my quest for stripers to three of her uncles, Roger, Rick and Joe, and before I knew it plans were made and bait was bought!  We were headed out the next morning!  The location that was decided upon was Gougan's Rocks (not sure on the spelling) right on Old Orchard Beach.  A few of the fellow beach dwellers raised an eyebrow as we walked by with a varied assortment of surf rods, but we were not to be diverted on our quest.  I quickly learned how to sew on a whole mackerel and set a slide sinker, and then it was wade as far into the pounding surf as you could and use the length of the surf roads to cast the bait away from the shore.  The waiting game then commenced as we slid the rods into custom built PVC pipes made to stand firm in the sand.  It was different than  I am used to as each wave gave the illusion of a bite which made me jumpy in the beginning.  Then we noticed the birds feeding and Clinton explained to us that it was a good sign, because they are usually feeding above feeding fish.  Sure enough as the birds worked over us the rod bent deeply and pulled free of the rod holder.  I dove for the rod and as my knuckles tightened around the grips, I could feel the unmistakeable head shake of a fish.  My first observation was that this fish was strong, and was not interested in coming to see me!  As I fought the fish, I was getting some good coaching tips, the main one was to use the waves to help.  I would gain ground as a wave would roll in, and lose ground as it receded, but I was gaining more than I was losing.  Before I knew it,  I could see the dorsal fin breaking the surface of a wave, I was gaining on it!  After a careful, very fun tug-of-war, the beautiful striped fish was laying on the sand.  A quick measure showed it was 34" and therefore would have to go back as in Maine only fish between 20-26" or over 40"can be kept.  We quickly unhooked it, held it up for a couple of pictures and then I waded out into the waves and held it under water for only a few seconds before it sprang to life.  I had caught a striper and a nice one at that!  My goal was achieved!  Thanks to all who had a hand in helping make my wish a reality!    The picture is below.

Drake also had his first Cabela's visit and he was thoroughly impressed!

Stay tuned as there is lots more going on, I spent today on the water and have lots of pictures and video yet to come.  Check back soon!

Gear Review - Loop Rope

This winter I was fortunate enough to have been selected for a gear review opportunity on the Outdoor Blogger Network.  They had teamed up with the company LoopRope to give away a few of their products for trial of their unique cargo management tool.  It is essentially a bungee cord of the highest caliber with a lot of thought put into its design and build.  The loops are at uniform intervals allowing it to be adjustable to any cargo load not to mention the fact that the loops themselves allow for cargo management.  The demo video on their website shows multiple potentials for this product, but after carrying it for several months myself I have found many uses for it in the outdoor world.  On our ice fishing trips, it was an important asset to steady the mountain of gear we had loaded into our tote sleds.  When you are 3 hours deep into the woods, you don’t want to chance losing something by not having it tied down.  It is a great restraint for transporting a grill, not to mention holding shed antlers onto a snowmobile.   The shape of an antler can be anything but uniform and keeping them in place with traditional cords can pose problems.  All in all it has proven to not only be handy, but very durable.  The machined clips that it comes with are of top quality and with the locking tab prevent those feared slips where who knows what might get hit with the unleashed elastic.  The aesthetic appeal is also nice as it is a nice bright color which allows you at a glance to confirm its position.  It has proven itself for months now for me, and the only bad thing I can find about it is that I don’t have another one to go with it!  That might have to change soon! 

Bassin' on High Water

Quick update with much more to follow.  We went out and fished the St. John this weekend even though it was swollen way past it's normal levels, to try our hand at catching a few fish.  It was a bit of a challenge to find the fish with the water so high, but we managed to catch a few including a nice four pound smallmouth.  We captured lots of video footage which I will get compiled and posted real soon!  If anyone ventures out in the near future, use caution as the river is high.  Until then a little proof that we caught something.

Catch up time...

Wow, I can't believe it has been over a month since I last posted!  I apologize for dropping the ball on keeping everyone (if there is anyone left) up to date with the happenings around here.  There has been alot going on that I need to fill everyone in on.  I will start with the oldest news and work forward.  I have been trying out a very unique product called LoopRope, that has proven itself and is due it's full review in the next blog post...Stay Tuned...

I have also made an arrangement with the company Fuse who have a very nice line of camouflage electronics accessories, and in this day and age electronics are everywhere, so we might as well wear them in style and make them camouflage!  The touch of a camo cell phone case goes well with any attire and lets everyone know where your interests lie!  Check them out at their link on the left side of the page.  A review is on its way for this product as well, but I like to really put products through their paces before I talk about them.  (You didn't hear this yet, but I am impressed!)

Now on to the outdoors!

The fish have not been entirely cooperative with my efforts to hook them, but I have managed to hook into a few.   Heather, Drake and I hit one of my favored locales just as the ice was receding from the shores and managed to hook onto a couple of nice trout.  This was Drake's first fishing trip as we work to embody the - "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime" - even if we release most of our fish, he will learn the principles and also a little conservation!  There have also been some fish getting caught by other people, so check these out.

Turkey Hunting...Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  That sums it up!  This was my third year in pursuit of these feathered foes, and the third time was not a charm.  I had a great time, enjoyed some great company and ate like a king, so all was not lost!  (Thanks Lee and Nika!) Lee and I were out the door by 4:00 a.m. after roosting some birds the night before and hopes ran high as we navigated through the field in the darkness and setup the decoys in a likely spot.  As the morning began to dawn we heard the first gobble, and in no time we had 7-8 separate gobblers calling back as we hen called.  Surely we would get a bird!  As they flew down, we started hearing hens as well and we knew we could be in trouble.  Sure enough, those loud mouth toms would not leave the hens and left us 200 yards away.  Not to be outdone, we went into stealth mode, slid into the tree cover and used a combination of running, walking, crawling, and rolling in attempt to get ahead of the four large toms and their hens and close the distance.  We painstakingly made it to almost 50 yards when they decided it was time to leave.  I sent them on their way a little faster by shooting at a big tom that was closest to us, with him showing no effects of the shot.  We trailed him down into the woods for a ways to insure he wasn't wounded and managed to find a nice shed whitetail antler, but he was moving fine.  We saw a couple of other toms throughout the morning, but they seemed to want nothing to do with us.  All I can say is maybe fourth time is a charm!

A more fortunate hunter than I!

Speaking of sheds, the moose antler shed hunting has been slow, mostly I think due to the decreased snowfall early in the season when people found most of them, but an honest effort was still rewarded with a few of the prized antlers.

Mike Michaud - aka "The Legend"

Ok, I promise to be back soon and fill everyone in on what is going on.  I am going to attempt to get into a weekly posting routine.  I think in the next week or two the fishing should really turn on, not to mention several other things I have on the go and you wouldn't want to miss anything!  Stay tuned!!!!!

Open Water Fishing

I first want to apologize for my extended hiatus, but busy doesn't even begin to describe my schedule lately.  Work, family and home renovations don't leave a whole lot of time for writing and keeping everyone up to date.  There has also been lots of stuff going on around the blog, so let's get started!

The first day of April means more than April Fools Day to me.  It is the official start of the open water fishing season here in Northern Maine.  Every year I try to make it a point to get out and wet a line.  Last year I was rewarded with two muskies in only a couple of hours time so this year I took the day off to really focus my efforts.  Blake Hatt and Brent Stoliker decided to join the craziness that my fishing trips entail.  The weather forecast was less than ideal with a snow and rain combo predicted for the day, with temps hovering around the freezing mark.  The ice on the St. John River hadn't yet "run" so while there were big open spots, they were still separated by ice sheets.  The water level was also amazingly low for this time of year.  Evaluating the conditions, I decided that shore hopping would be our most effective way to cover several of the open spots.  Meeting at our pre-determined time of 5:00 a.m.(I told you my fishing trips are crazy) we wasted no time grabbing our gear and walking the quarter mile to our first location on top of the 18" of crusted snow.  Thinking to myself, that walk wouldn't be pleasant if it warmed up and we lost our crust, we pushed on along the faint markings of a trail winding though the trees.  Thanks to the contrast of snow we were able to navigate easily even though it was pitch black.  As we neared the river we switched on our head lamps to navigate the ice field along the shore and get into position on the river bank.  Wasting no time we hooked on our lures and started probing the icy, wet darkness below us.  We spread out and used the splash of lures as they landed to judge where everyone's line was and avoid a big tangle.  Hopes ran high as the lures made their first pass through the water.  Cast after cast we worked the water in fan patterns trying to convince a toothy behemoth to strike.  As the light started to creep into the sky, we could see a couple of boats show up and launch.  All guys I know, so as they would pass by we would keep tabs on each other by yelling over the sound of their outboard motors.  The piece of water that was open around the boat launch was not overly large and most boats worked in a circuitous fashion.  Time ticked by and still no fish to show.  Working at that hole for a couple of hours we decided to move downstream to the next likely spot.  By this time we were soaked from the snow and rain mixture and the wind started to pick up making for cold conditions.  We took a quick break and sipped some coffee to warm us up from the inside and then we were back at it fan casting to all of the little eddies and current lines that looked like a potential hiding spot for a yard long fish.  In five hours time we had effectively covered every promising looking spot that was thawed open, were froze to the bone and had no fish to show for it.  Just as we were ready to head out one of the boats picked up the first and what would be the only fish of the day.  It was a 10 pounder that Corey Daigle caught out of Bud Soucy's canoe.  This gave us a little bit of encouragement and put some fire back into our casts as we started working the water again.  We kept casting until all but one of the boats had left and it was up for debate whether or not our frozen fingers were still functioning.  We then decided that if the muskies weren't up for being caught, we would try our hand at a brook trout or two.  Besides if we picked the right spot we could drown a worm and sit in the heated cab of the pickup to thaw out.  After checking a couple of favored locales and finding them still locked up tight under a coat of ice.  Finally we found a spot by a culvert that had opened up enough to fish.  As we threaded the worms onto hooks the wind seemed to pick up even more and turned an already cold situation frigid.  I used my preferred presentation with just a worm floating down through the current and leaving the bail on the spinning pole open I hurried back to the truck a few feet away to warm up.  We watched the baits for a couple of hours checking the bait every few minutes to no avail.  Just as we were ready to pack up I decided to try a lure just for fun.  On the first retrieve I saw a fish dart out from the edge of the ice and swirl at it.  Quickly casting again, I waited and just as I saw the swirl I felt the line tension up and I quickly lifted the rod tip to set the hook.  Ahhh, there it was that tugging and pulling that I had waited all winter for.  The foot long trout put up a good fight and after a quick admiration I released him to swim another day.  We decided that since we were no longer skunked we could call it a day and go get some warm, dry clothes.  A slow start to the 2013 fishing season, but I hope to redeem myself soon!

Stay tuned for exciting news and product reviews and for up-to-date fishing reports in the near future!

"Big Eagle" Ice Fishing

Eagle Lake.  A confusing name in its simplest form with the State of Maine housing 3 water bodies sporting the name - Eagle Lake, and two others named Eagle Pond.  Luckily one is located in the southern portion of the state and therefore does not find its way into the folklore and stories told here in Northern Maine.  That only leaves two lakes to distinguish between, so in true Maine fashion, the simple solution was to rename one and thus the larger water body became unofficially “Big Eagle Lake” or just “Big Eagle”.  This is the second lake in the chain of lakes that form the headwaters of the famed Allagash River.  Enough rambling...more fishing!  About 40 miles of pavement and 75 miles of gravel logging road separate my house from this famed fishing hole.  By leaving the house at 4:00a.m. we were able to navigate the majority of those miles before we reached prime fishing time.  As soon as we arrived, we unloaded our gear and piled onto snowsleds to make the final trek of our journey down onto the frozen expanse. We drove down the winding path through the trees descending into the waterway until we broke out onto the lake.  The lack of camps and it's remoteness adds a feel to the lake that cannot be described until experienced.  We made short order of drilling through the 30 inches of ice and dropping our baits into the depths.  Preferences for bait varied, but my preferred setup was a large lake smelt 2-3' off the bottom in hopes of hooking onto one of the monster togue that are rumored to inhabit the lake.  The day started with Mike Michaud "The Legend" (check him out via our guides page!) hooking onto a nice 3 pound laker.  Before it had cleared the hole, Ron Soucy had his own battle on with what would be our largest fish of the day.  The 5 pounder was beautifully spotted with a forest green/black background.  We followed up those with four other togue in the 3-4 pound range, caught by Tim, John, Corey and myself.  In between the togue, I managed to hook into two small cusk and Rocky Bard also picked one up.  The action was steady, with several flags in between to keep us running.  Unfortunately not all parties were able to catch fish with Jesse and Bob getting skunked, but for every day you go without fish, you are that much closer to catching a monster.  The weather was beautiful and as we rode home, I watched the sun set and a feeling settled over me that all was right...or maybe it was just exhaustion!  

Check out the action in the photos below.  I also captured lots of video footage that I will try to compile in the near future and get posted.  Also, open water season is knocking on the door so stay tuned for lots of upcoming action!

Ice Fishing Video

This is the most recent creation by Ridge Runners & River Rats.  It is a compilation of video from the outing described in my recent post on Madawaska Lake.  I tried to keep it a realistic length for people to watch and if you have comments on how to make it better, just let me know.  Enjoy!