Northwoods Sporting Journal, Jul. 2020

Job Hires Joe To Shoot Nuisance Bear July 2020

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July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Maine Cougar Sightings

what I was seeing. My wife saw the same thing. It had a long tail, and came toward Editor’s note: There us on the road and then are a variety of names that lopped off into the woods.” connote the same animal: Ed Harris, veteran mountain lion, cougar, panther, puma and cata- guide from Winn Maine, former owner of Harry’s mount.

Camps in Molunkus “Five years ago on a Tiff Shuttlesworth, sunny fall day I was driving Brewer “In November of on a secondary highway 2019 I saw, unmistakably, off from Rt# 2 near Hayna cougar walking along the seville with two hunters in wooded edge of my back his vehicle. Suddenly, after yard early one morning. (I cresting a hill, there was a have 8 acres surrounded by mountain lion in the middle large woods) We commonly of the road at about 80 have dozens of turkeys on yards. Big cat that looked our property and perhaps to weigh about 120 lbs. the cougar had become Had a three foot tail and aware of this food source. sleek body. Stood in the I saw it from an upstairs road for about 15 seconds window, ran down stairs to and than walked into the grab my binoculars that I woods. Following behind keep available. After being the big cat was another, 100% certain, I handed the about half its size.” binoculars to my wife and Gifford Stevens, said tell me what you see.

Bradley She has seen bobcats on “I was camping at our property before. Her exact remarks: that’s not a Long Lake in northern bobcat is it? Bobcats don’t Maine. Stepping from my have real long tails and a tent in the morning, there face like a lion? Have not was a mountain lion lookseen one in the 25+ years ing back at me at about 30 I’ve lived there, but I have yards. It had a long tail. seen one now. It was light There was no question: it brown and I’d guess 5-7 was a mountain lion.” feet in length, including Toby Stone the tail and maybe 75-100 “I recently saw a coulbs? Slender muscular body with an unmistakable broad gar on the KI road. My wife and I started at the KI head.” checkpoint and were headed to Greenville. About Herbert Irish, Fairfield “Three years ago my wife and I were driving the road into s Nesourdnahunk Lake in the fall and saw a cougar and a cub cross the road in front of us at about 50 yards. It was a bright sunny day about 10 a.m. I have seen enough mountain lions at zoos to know

Cougars in Maine?

one mile, maybe less, from Hedgehog checkpoint we saw a cougar enter the road about 50 yards ahead of us.

I was driving slow, due to the rough road conditions.

It sauntered its way in a long directional line away from us to the other side.

It was not in a hurry so we had plenty of time to know what we were seeing. Its tail not only dropped to the ground, but was long enough to curl back up at the end. No doubt for either of us that this cat was a cougar or mountain lion. This was last Sunday, May 17”

Happytown Road. At the junction of the Happytown and Rocky Pond Road they were astonished to spot a large, tawny-colored cat with a long tail on the edge of the woods by an open field. “I know what I saw,” says Mr. Geikie, “ it was no pussy cat. It was a mountain lion about 70 yards from our car. I did a double take and could hard-

Page 3

ly believe what I was seeing. The large animal was batting something around with its paws, sort of playing with a small animal the way a house cat plays with a mouse. We watched it for what seemed like a long time. It paid no attention to us. We finally drove away and it was still there when we left,” recall the Geikies.

Dale Dee, Caribou It was a sunny day in October of 2017. I was driving and bird hunting with a friend on the Barney Brook Rd, about four miles from Portage. A large cat with a long tail was crossing the road at about 80 yards. The sun was behind us. It stopped,. The animal looked at us and then crossed to the other side of the road and disappeared into the woods. We stopped to look at its tracks and it appeared that it was tracking a deer, which had also left fresh tracks.

Kay Sue and E. Duncan Geikie, Falmouth Three years ago late in the afternoon the Geikies were leaving their cottage at Branch Lake heading west on the Ellsworth If you think you’ve seen a mountain lion (cougar) anywhere in Maine in the last five years, we’d like to hear from you.

Please phone or email our editor, V. Paul Reynolds, at 207-745-3133 or vpaulr@tds.net

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

On The Cover

Job Hires Joe To Shoot Nuisance Bear - Pg 6 Mountain Lion Sightings Pg 3 & 36 A Striper Story - Pg 50 Moose Viewing Spots - Pg 24 Finding Summer Smallies - Pg 25

Contents

3. Maine Cougar Sightings 5. The Bird Perch - Karen Holmes 6. The Adventures Of Me & Joe - Bob Cram 9. Flight Of The Arrow - Jerome Richard 10. “A Hiker’s Life” - Carey Kish 11. “Just Fishing” - Bob Leeman 12. Women In The Woods - Erin Merrill 16. The Gun Cabinet - John Floyd 17. What’s In Your Woods - Bud Utecht 18. Outdoor Sporting Library - Jeremiah Wood 20. Aroostook Woods & Water - Mike Maynard 22. Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff - Denny Corriveau 23. Ramblings From T8-R9 - Benjamin Rioux 24. Question Of The Month 25. Best Bassin’ - Bill Decoteau 28. On The Prowl - Justin Merrill 29. Muzzleloading Afield - Al Raychard 30. South Of The Kennebec - Stu Bristol 32. The Buck Hunter - Hal Blood 33. Guns & Ammo: A Guide’s Perspective - Tom Kelly 34. Maine Outdoor Adventures - Rich Yvon 35. Against The Current - Bob Romano 36. Cougars: Are They Here? - V. Paul Reynolds 38. Fly Fishing - Joe Bertolaccini 39. Old Tales From The Maine Woods - Steve Pinkham 40. The Allagash - Matt LaRoche 42. Northwoods Sketchbook - Mark McCollough 43. On Point - Paul Fuller 44. Maine Tails - Jonah Paris 46. New Hampshire Outdoors - Peter St. James 47. Northwoods Voyager - Gil Gilpatrick 48. The Back Shelf - Gifford M. Stevens 49. Outdoors In Vermont - Gary W. Moore 50. Vermont Ramblings - Dennis Jensen 52. Green Mountain Report - Bradley Carleton 53. Kineo Currents - Suzanne AuClair 55. SAM News - David Trahan 56. Outdoors In Maine - V. Paul Reynolds 57. Marsh Island Chronicles - Matthew Dunlap 58. The Fur Shed - Blake Dougerty 60. The Trail Rider - Rod Fraser 61. The Singing Maine Guide - Randy Spencer 63. Anticosti - Mark Cote 63. The Tyer’s Corner - Hugh Kelly 64. Malarkey Cabin Chronicles - Ray Dillon 66. Mass Wanderings - David Willette 66. Salt Corner - Doug Jowett

July 2020

The Sportin’ Journal The Outdoor Paper For “Maine Folks”

The Northwoods Sporting Journal is the Northeast’s most comprehensive and readable monthly outdoor publication. Published at the trailhead of Maine’s sprawling North Woods, the Sporting Journal prides itself on being an independent voice for the region’s outdoor community for more than 20 years.

Some of our writers are seasoned and specialized outdoors people who will share their know-how and insights; some of our contributors are simply lifelong outdoor people with interesting stories to tell.

Our aim every month is to capture the essence of Northern New England’s remarkable outdoor heritage by stirring memories, portraying outdoor humor, and sharing experiences and outdoor knowledge.

We also keep our readers up to date with late-breaking outdoor news and hard-hitting editorials about fish and wildlife issues.

Anyone who loves to hunt and fish, or simply finds the Great Outdoors a treasured place, is more than likely to find some special connections amid the pages of the Northwoods Sporting Journal.

www.sportingjournal.com

Main Office Phone: (207) 732-4880 E-mail: info@sportingjournal.com Fax: (207)732-4970 Vol 27 Issue 7 is published monthly by Northwoods Publications, 57 Old County Rd. North, W. Enfield, ME 04493 Periodical Postage Paid at W. Enfield, ME. and additional mailing offices.

The Northwoods Sporting Journal (ISSN#1548-193X) Postmaster: Send address changes to: Northwoods Sporting Journal, PO Box 195, W. Enfield, ME 04493 Northwoods Publishing Group Victor Morin - Susan Morin - Diane Reynolds - V. Paul Reynolds Publishers - Victor Morin Jr. - V. Paul Reynolds Editor - V. Paul Reynolds Director of Marketing - Victor Morin Assistant Editor - Josh Reynolds Associate Editor - Donna Veino Graphic Arts Manager - Gayleen Cummings Subscription/Distribution Manager - Alicia Cram Operations Manager - Annette Boobar Webmaster - Mike Morin General Sales Manager - Victor Morin Jr. Sales Department; Thomas Schmidt, Paul Hatin & Michael Georgia Regional Advertising Manager - Jim Thorne The Northwoods Sporting Journal invites submissions of photographs and articles about the Maine outdoors.

Manuscripts should be sent with a self-addressed envelope to: NORTHWOODS SPORTING JOURNAL P.O. BOX 195, W. ENFIELD, MAINE 04493 The Northwoods Sporting Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited photos or manuscripts. Photos submitted without a stamped, self-addressed envelope will not be returned.

All rights reserved, 2020. Written permission must be obtained from the Northwoods Sporting Journal to reprint any part of this publication. Any errors or omissions in ads or editorial matter will be corrected in the next issue of NWSJ. The views and opinions expressed by our monthly columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Correction: An editorial in the May/June issue reported erroneously that the

state of Wyoming was returning license money to non-resident hunters in an effort to mitigate the Covid-19 outbreak in Wyoming. That was incorrect and the Northwoods Sporting Journal regrets the error. Early on, Wyoming did suspend the sale of fishing licenses to non-residents, but that action has since been rescinded. Sara DiRienzo, public information officer for Wyoming Game and Fish, said that all license sales, both hunting and fishing, are on track. “Our hunting and fishing licenses are available as usual and we expect a robust fishing season and fall hunt in Wyoming,” she said.

Other Great Stories & Information

The Gun Cabinet - Pg 16

By John Floyd

8. Editorial/Letters 13. Outdoor News 41. Trading Post 45. Carroll’s Corner - Carroll Ware 67. Real Estate

Cover Photo: Mountain lion photo provided courtesy I-Stock Photos

“Just Fishing” - Pg 11

By Bob Leeman

Anticosti - Pg 63

By Mark Cote

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Birds of a Feather

July is always the month I can answer the question:”What is hatching?” The Eastern Phoebes will have a second brood in a nest under my front porch. They are used to our coming and going. But

Warblers, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos, Crows, White-throated sparrows, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Pileated, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees and Ruffed Grouse.

predators and prey often coexist in the woods. Some birds raise their young in carefully crafted nests on tree limbs or in the holes in trees they chipped out.

When the leaves fall in autumn is when you can see the evidence.

During this time of

Page 5

The Bird Perch

by Karen Holmes, Cooper, ME staying home has not been a problem. I sit on my porches and enjoy the stunning colorful vistas of skies at dawn and at dusk. I share my home with other living

There are Ovenbirds, Blue Jays, Hermit Thrushes and Robins, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, all sorts of Warblers, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos, Crows, White-throated sparrows, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Pileated, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees and Ruffed Grouse. the pandemic, I have realized how lucky I am that I A Merlin. always have slowed down other parent birds will raise Dingo especially en- long enough to pay attena ruckus when I get too joys seeing the wild Tur- tion to my surroundings. close to a nest or babies that keys. I made the mistake Keeping things simple and have left the nest as I walk of not having her on leash in my woods. I usually last summer and she chased walk my cattle dog named a big gobbler through the Dingo on the leash because woods. Luckily, they had I can control her. She just a confrontation where he loves to chase birds and hit her with his wings and still believes maybe some not his spurred feet. The day she can fly after them! gobbler flew away minus Here in my woods I have some breast feathers and quite a variety of birds my dog was exhausted and we encounter on a regular beat up enough so I could basis. There are Ovenbirds, catch her. This year I have Blue Jays, Hermit Thrushes nesting Merlins, Barred and Robins, Ruby-throated and Saw-whet Owls. It Hummingbirds, all sorts of is interesting to see how

creatures and enjoy seeing them. I am an amateur astronomer and the night skies with no light pollution make me realize how our universe is so vast.

It makes me humble and unafraid. Somehow I have an enhanced feeling of optimism, a greater sense of well-being because of my love of nature. I hope others feel the same during these difficult times.

Karen Holmes lives in Cooper, Maine. She is a retired educator and now enjoys having more time to write for various publications, volunteering in various wildlife research projects, gardening, hunting and fishing. She or her husband Ken hopefully had their moose permit drawn in June for the fall season of 2020.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Adventures of Me and Joe

July 2020

The Nuisance Bear

by Bob Cram, (Alias T.J. Coongate) Medway, ME

“You got ta do it, Joe! You got ta kill thet bear fer me!” Job Henwhipped sat on the bench at the back of the porch at Joe’s cabin, wringing his hands and looking thoroughly miserable.

“It’s like ter drive me crazy! I’ve tried ever’thin… loud noises, flutterin’ flags, dogs…I tried ter shoot ‘im myself, but he’s too quick fer me. I even thought o’ usin’ piezen, but it hain’t legal.” His big, overweight frame trembled with agitation.

Job Henwhipped owned a large farm on the outskirts of Mooseleuk. Much of his living was earned from a huge truck garden that he maintained over several acres of field. The fresh produce kept grocery stores and supermarkets stocked from Mooseleuk to Presque Isle and beyond.

Recently a large male bear had moved in and started making himself at home in the forests and fields around the farm.

Ignoring or evading all of Job’s attempts to evict him, he invaded the huge garden at will and what he didn’t

eat, he delighted in rolling in or digging up.

“This keeps up, he’ll put me in the poorhouse fer sure!” Job groaned.

Joe and I exchanged glances. To put Job Henwhipped in the poorhouse would be quite a trick. It was generally conceded around Mooseleuk that the prosperous farmer was the richest man in the county.

His thrift was legendary and some used words a little stronger than thrift. Job still drove the 1973 Ford pickup he’d purchased new 30 years ago and any breakdown or necessary repairs needed for his farm equipment would provoke loud lamentations and send him scurrying to the auctions. Buying new was anathema to him.

Joe stirred uncomfortably where he sat on a 3-legged stool. Shooting nuisance animals wasn’t exactly his cup of tea. “I dunno, Job,” he began. “I got a lot on my plate right now… why, I tole Peck Cordage I’d cut the pine off them back two acres for ‘im an my canoe needs gunnels an’…”

“I’ll pay yer,” Job

Recently a large male bear had moved in and started making himself at home in the forests and fields around the farm. Ignoring or evading all of Job’s attempts to evict him. interrupted.

“An’ I got that…say what?!”

“Said I’d pay yer.” Job gulped, seeming to realize what he’d said. “’Course, bein’ a poor man, I couldn’t

If you just can’t get enough of reading our Me & Joe Adventures, check out the All Outdoor section of our new Northwoods Sporting Journal website:www.sportingjournal.com You’ll find an ample supply of Me & Joe stories to keep you checking for a long time.

afford much…say, ten dollars?” Joe scowled and Job backpedaled hastily.

“I mean ter say, that is… twenny-five dollars for killin’ thet confounded bear.

You kin have the hide an’ meat, o’ course,” he added generously.

“I wouldn’t load up my rifle for less than fifty,” Joe said grimly.

“Fifty dollars! Why, thet’s a heap o’ coin! Man could buy a lotta seed fer thet kinda money!”

Joe got to his feet.

“Fine. Then that’s settled.

You kin buy a bunch of seed an’ replant what the bear damages and I’ll git

started on Peck’s wood lot.”

“Now, now…let’s us not be hasty,” Job said quickly. “Fifty dollars is a lotta money, but…well…I guess if’n you kin git rid o’ thet bear right off, it’ll be worth it.”

The deal was finally concluded. I knew Joe still wasn’t comfortable with the job but he was a man of his word. The next afternoon we met Job at the edge of his big truck garden. Joe had me along to help with the skinning and toting, providing he had luck on today’s hunt.

(Me & Joe cont. pg 7)

July 2020

Me & Joe (Cont. from pg 6) “Bear been comin’ outa them woods over there.” Job pointed at a spot fully 300 yards away beyond the garden. “He usually heads to the north, right toward the house.

I tried ter hit ‘im twicet, but the range is too long fer me, an’ I dassan’t git too close. He’s a big ‘un.”

Job anxiously wiped his forehead with a big red handkerchief.

“Where’s all the crop damage?” Joe asked suddenly. Don’t seem like much has been dug up.”

“Oh, most o’ thet is over on the other side,” Job said nervously. “Way over there.” He waved a hand in a generally westerly direction.

Joe looked at him thoughtfully, then turned his gaze toward the woods

Northwoods Sporting Journal and the farm buildings just up the road. “Where’s Cassandra, Job?” “What? Oh…she’s over visitin’ her sister to Masardis,” he grinned smugly. “Won’t be back ‘til late.” A look of concern clouded his face for a moment. “Say, you kin git thet bear kilt an’ taken care of afore dark, can’tcher?”

Joe smiled. “Job, I can take care of the bear if he cooperates. Been my experience thet bears are notional critters. Thet bear, he may decide ta eat berries over on Reed Mountain tonight.”

“No, no…this bear, he always comes…thet is he been makin’ a habit o’ showin’ up here ‘bout 6:00 the las’ few nights.”

He looked at us sheepishly. “It’s jist thet I’d like ter git the thing done afore Cassandra comes back, her bein’ sensitive an’ not likin’ ter see blood an’ stuff.”

I remembered the dragon lady that Job Henwhipped had married and thought privately that she’d probably be drawn to shed blood like a horsefly, rather than be put off by it. I kept my peace, however.

Joe was still looking narrowly at the overweight farmer who had taken to sweating profusely, though it was a fairly cool evening.

“Okay, Job,” he said finally. “We’ll take it from here.”

“Good, good! I got ter go inter town fer some fertilizer. Be back in time to help you fellers load thet bear.” He turned and beat a hasty retreat to his truck.

As he drove off in a thick cloud of dust, I looked at Joe. “Something bothering you?”

Joe stared off after the battered Ford pickup, then turned his attention to the broad garden acreage.

“Bears don’t usual act so

Page 7

punctual,” he said, chewing at his bottom lip. He slung his ancient Winchester over one shoulder. “Let’s us take a walk.”

I followed along as Joe skirted the edge of the garden, coming eventually to the edge of the tree line.

He slowed and I recognized the characteristic eye and head movements as he began a careful search for sign. I can track fairly well but Joe could follow a bug across bare rock. Presently he straightened up and gazed ahead toward the cluster of farm buildings.

“C’mon,” he said over his shoulder. “Take a look at this.” He set off at fast

walk and I looked ahead to where a broad path led out of the woods and in a straight line over a thickly planted broccoli field to the farmyard.

Joe headed right up the path, which was beaten down with huge bear tracks.

Many broccoli plants were also stomped into the dark earth, though few looked as though they had been chewed on.

“What’s going on?”

I caught up with Joe near the farmyard. “Aren’t you afraid our scent will drive off the bear.”

“I don’t think the Green Bay Packers could (Me & Joe cont. pg 15)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Almost by definition, the act of hunting or fishing is an undertaking that often takes place in solitude. When we hunt deer and spend a day in the woods meandering ridges and the edges of cedar bogs, or follow a stream bed with a fishing rod in search of dark overhangs that hold brookies, we experience an aloneness. Most of us relish it. It is part of the attraction.

So, when Maine Governor Janet Mills tells us in her executive lockdown order, magnanimously from the state capitol, that “hunting and fishing is still permitted,” as long as we “adhere to the social distancing” rule there is something paradoxical, if not frighteningly mindful of a police state.

Hunting is social distancing, for gosh sake! Fishing is social distancing as well.

Many of us among the outdoor-loving set have been social distancing long before the corona virus shutdown began to turn our world upside down. The Nanny-State tenor of the governor’s admonition to hunt and fish as close to home as possible, or only go with a family member, should raise the hackles on any Maine outdoorsperson who values, not only civil freedoms and constitutional liberty, but simply the Godgiven personal prerogative of Free Will.

Anyone violating the governor’s decree can purportedly be fined or jailed, although the Franklin County sheriff has refused to enforce the governor’s executive order,

Essentials for Survival To the Editor: Thanks for the very welcome article by Jerome Richards titled 10 Essentials for Survival.

Over many years practicing as a landscape architect, I have been lost a number of times -- just walking away from the vehicle to check something in the field - just over this knoll!! etc. And

Freedoms Lost

insisting that it is unconstitutional!

New York State Governor Cuomo, who carries a heavy burden, insists that this awful pandemic experience is utterly “ transformative,” that we will “never know normal again.” He didn’t get specific. If he had, he probably would not tell us this. The biggest threat, once the virus has passed, ought to be frighteningly obvious: the loss of our basic freedoms! Government policymakers at all levels, whether it be Maine Governor Mills, New York Governor Cuomo, or Washington’s elected officials, have been personal witness to the astonishing submissive nature of scared 21st century Americans. With the exception of a couple of protests at the Blaine House and a fullpager newspaper ad by the Maine Tourism Association, there has been precious little commensurate pushback or challenges to Mill’s sweeping shutdown of Maine. By their very nature governments seek power and control. It was the collective caveat of our country’s Founders, who appreciated profoundly the dangers and wrote safeguards into our Constitutional system.

What we now know is that a national panic is easy to engineer, and if you scare citizens enough they will fall into lockstep, follow any governmental decree and forego civil freedoms, in exchange for bodily comforts and personal security.

The virus history is not yet written,

then, no sun, bad shadows, late in the day, can’t see anything familiar, don’t know where I am, no bearings, nothing familiar - of course - this is the first time I have been in this country, etc. and dressed in office clothes.

For a number of years I guided canoe trips in Alaska (with a partner) and we were well equipped for survival, no outside contact, no resupply, no heat, no body bags, etc. and a

month (300-500 miles) to get to an outpost with air.

My point here is that circumstances seem to always catch us -with our pants down-not on well- planned wilderness excursions.

Might you think about those circumstances where we just “go around the corner” in our daily work/lives and suggest what we might pick up in a very small bag that could perhaps save us from some very uncomfortable moments?

July 2020

even in Maine, but Maine is not New York, and the evidence may show that Governor Mills, with her sweeping edicts, plundered needlessly the already fragile Maine economy and presided over the demise of many small businesses. Not being acknowledged in the media-driven corona frenzy is that in 2017 the country lost 40,000 people from Influenza B and 400 in Maine. That’s more deaths per capita than is expected from the corona virus in both Maine and the entire country! There was no lockdown of Maine or the country during that flu outbreak.

Granted, other strains of flu have not been as virulent as Covid-19, but, statistically in Maine 99 percent of us will survive the Wuhan virus. How can the governor possibly believe that the health risk justifies the indisputable damage that her policy has imposed upon the state economy and employment?

When the peril subsides, and cooler heads prevail, there needs to be a gathering of Maine leadership, from the halls of government and the boardrooms of Maine businesses, academics and think tanks, to deliberate the constitutionality and rationale of the governor’s sweeping, statewide lockdown of Maine’s citizens and already marginal economy.

- VPR

We have worked in the high country of Colorado (USFS) bringing out tourists, etc from avalanches. etc and for a number of state, federal, local. regional. Organizations.

And, have had a number of great discussions with Paul Doughtery, Conrad Wirth, Jack Boothman, The folks in NY, VA, CO, MA, CT ME, etc where we have worked and tried to deal with people in the back country w/o any equip-

ment.

If you are unfamiliar with the ANWR and its people, try watching the Animal Planet) Channel on TV and search for The Last Alaskans. Heimo & Edna are friends and one can learn a bit about life below minus 30 from their experiences. We operate in country that sees minus 80 but not in the winter!

Don Wirth Topsham

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

UPDATE: Outdoor Ed Classes As you can imagine COVID-19 has impacted everything in the United States including every community in Maine. At first, I thought we were safe living in Maine and the virus would have little if any affect on us here and be a short duration event.

It’s now almost May 1 st at the time of this article, and the virus’s impact has become far worse than any of us realized. The foreseeable future has changed for all of us.

At the beginning of this pandemic many additional opportunities were available to outdoorsman such as expanded fishing and turkey hunting rules that were great. That I believed help to relieve some of the stress around the pandemic and the stayat-home order in Maine.

If the family is stuck at home together, why not be outdoors together?

Looking ahead, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Volunteer Instructors have a huge task ahead

of them on how we are going to handle the upcoming classes. Practically all the spring classes were cancelled or postponed. The way we held classes in the past will have to change quite a bit to keep everybody (instructors, students, and parents) safe during this time. Each class will

type of discussions going on at MDIF&W since this lockdown has started, so please know they are looking out for your safety and health at this year’s classes.

I would recommend that if you or someone you know needs the firearms, archery, or crossbow safety class that they start

Flight Of The Arrow

by Jerome Richard, Clinton, ME cept just taking the online course and printing out the voucher, and then presenting that to get your license.

That is still in discussion at MDIF&W. If you can wait another year as a junior hunter, that is great as hopefully a vaccine will be discovered and we can get

Looking ahead, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Volunteer Instructors have a huge task ahead of them on how we are going to handle the upcoming classes. Practically all the spring classes were cancelled or postponed. have to follow certain criteria based on social distancing, student size limits both in total size and how many students based on allowable floor space that meets social distancing guidelines. Strict guidelines on sanitation, hand washing, disinfection tables, chairs, doors, and mopping floors, and the use of face masks will be issues to resolve.

Some of the demonstrations that involve having student’s interaction may require the use of latex or vinyl gloves. These are the

Did you know that you can instantly access current and past digital issues of the Northwoods Sporting Journal? It’s true.

Simply Google: http://www.sportingjournal.com/digital-issues

now by just taking the online course first and seek out the second part of the classroom portion as soon as possible as I can see a potential for a huge bottleneck of everyone waiting to the last minute to find a class and they are all full.

There may be a chance that MDIF&W might ex-

Page 9

back to life the way it used to be. If you qualify for another year under the apprenticeship program, then go that route as an option.

I don’t want this article to scare anyone away from taking the classes this year. We all want to be safe and remain healthy.

Remember, most of us Vol-

unteer Instructors are not spring chickens. A lot of us instructors you might say fall into the category of senior citizens and we enjoy whatever discounts come with making it this long!

I’m starting my 23rd year as an instructor and I just have to “accept change” as part of life. We can all get though this together by following a few simple guidelines over the short haul.

Jerome Richard is past president of the Maine Bowhunters Association, Master Outdoor Safety Education Instructor for MDIF&W, Registered Maine Guide, member of Franklin Search and Rescue, and a Licensed Professional Engineer. He can be reached at jerome. richard7@gmail.com

Page 10

Northwoods Sporting Journal

“A Hiker’s Life”

July 2020

Hiking the Crest of the Smokies

by Carey Kish, Mt. Desert Island, ME Editor’s note: Carey Kish is a two-time Appalachian Trail thru-hiker and recently completed the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail through California, Oregon and Washington.

The 480-foot Fontana Dam, built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1940s and the highest dam east of the Mississippi River, backs up the Little Tennessee River into the 29-mile Fontana Lake. Just west of the dam is the small resort village of the same name and a favorite wayside for hikers that offers lodging, a grocery store, laundromat, post office and several restaurants.

I walked into Fontana Lodge forgetting entirely that it was Easter Sunday.

My room wasn’t yet ready, so a hiker friend and I were directed to the dining room, where the only menu available was a lavish Easter buffet. And there we sat, dirty and smelly amongst the well-dressed holiday diners, polishing off as only ravenous thru-hikers can, six plates each of ham, turkey, roast beef and all the fixings, plus salad and desserts.

For northbound AT hikers, Fontana Dam is a milestone that marks the

entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

More than 70 miles of trail traverse the park, following a magnificent mountain crest over some of the highest elevations along the entire AT, including 6,625foot Clingman’s Dome, Charlie’s Bunion, and my favorite, Rocky Top, which was immortalized in song by the Osbourne Brothers in 1967.

A rather odd flying saucer-like observation tower adorns the heavily wooded summit of Clingman’s Dome. Pack and all, I joined the throngs of tourists and climbed up to get a view over the park, feeling

The author pauses in his trek for a selfie in the shadow of Clingman’s Dome. my view. I could only hope to see a bear or two (no luck) and never lost a wink.

I’ve observed that few thru-hikers carry a small plastic trowel, which makes it near impossible to dig a proper cat hole for disposing of human waste.

see--North Carolina state line, and at many points along the rather arduous and often circuitous route, hikers can literally stand astride the boundary.

One of my favorite spots through this stretch was Max Patch Bald, an open,

A rather odd flying saucer-like observation tower adorns the heavily wooded summit of Clingman’s Dome. Pack and all, I joined the throngs of tourists and climbed up to get a view over the park, feeling much like an alien myself among the fresh-smelling visitors just out of their air-conditioned cars. much like an alien myself among the fresh-smelling visitors just out of their air-conditioned cars.

A series of stone shelters, most above 5,000 feet, serve as home for the night for hikers crossing the Smokies. The shelters thankfully no longer have the chain-link fencing that kept hikers in and bears out, a silly arrangement in

Just as disturbing, most Smokies shelters had no privy. Instead, hikers are directed to a nearby “toilet area,” which more often than not was a disgusting minefield of scuffed soil and used toilet paper.

From the Smokies north to the heights of Hump Mountain, a 200mile distance, the trail closely follows the Tennes-

grassy expanse topping out at 4,600 feet.

I reached the summit of Max Patch at 8:00 in the evening at the end of a difficult 17-mile hike, a day that featured 4,000 feet of strenuous climbing.

The mountain was my carrot and I kept pushing on even as my energy waned and water bladder ran dry.

But the effort was worth it,

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as I was rewarded with the best campsite of the trip, right there on top of the peak. And I had the place all to myself, enjoying an uncommon measure of glorious solitude.

Ahead, Hot Springs, North Carolina is the first real trail town reached by northbound hikers. The trail runs right down the main street, all the essentials needed by weary walkers can be found, from plentiful food and drink to comfy accommodations and an outfitter, just the ticket for a good rest stop.

Carey Kish is the author of “AMC’s Best Day Hikes Along the Maine Coast” and editor of the “AMC Maine Mountain Guide.” Follow more of his outdoor adventures on Facebook @Carey Kish.

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July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 11

Take a Kid Fishing

Well now! Here we are in the very best month of fishing in the northeast corner of the country. Why not, then, take some time to enjoy a day on a lake, pond, river or stream --- casting

ternoon after work, a Saturday, or even a Sunday afternoon after church services and dinner? That will give you seven or eight hours of spring daylight to drive to a brook trout stream,

tored over there. He would say, “Hey, Dad, we can troll the pond later. Let’s go over to the outlet and catch some brookies! What d’ya say, Dad?” As my son grew older, he became more instilled with the outdoors, and especially for this fishing game. You might be surprised as to how a young boy might turn out if he was introduced to the outof-doors and all that nature

“Just Fishing”

by Bob Leeman, Bangor, ME fishing lessons as really young boys. We collected frog’s eggs, picked wild strawberries, raspberries and mushrooms in season. They discovered animal woods and stream trails, picked an occasional wildflower that was not protected, and identified

born turtle not far from that spot. We took it home-only to return it the next day with a belly full of angleworms. He had learned his lessons well. By the way, that grandson has become a master caster, loves fly fishing and taking his own sons out for similar experiences

As my son grew older, he became more instilled with the outdoors, and especially for this fishing game.

You might be surprised as to how a young boy might turn out if he was introduced to the out-of-doors and all that nature has to offer. has to offer. Too, father eagles, herons, even tur- in the wilds today. and son, and/or daughter, key vultures, along with actually learn from each all manner of wild birds. other. Sometimes it’s little Even today they can idenBob Leeman is Masthings that you hardly knew tify several bird calls in ter Maine Guide, outdoor existed, between kids and spring, squirrel chatterings, writer, naturalist, book and deer grunts in the quiet author, and a co-host of elders.

Even better, like our woods. the MAINE OUTDOORS” One time I took my radio program on Sunday family used to being at camp life, try a family eldest grandson fly fishing evenings from 7-8 p.m. His outing, picnic, walking in from my canoe, in early three books are all availDavyn Reynolds, 10, son of Zeb Reynolds the woods, or just a scenic spring, and we watched able at several bookstores with a Branch Lake Bronzeback. country jaunt together in a snapping turtle laying and fly shops, or directly a worm, fly, or lure with a fish the culvert, below the the old jalopy. her eggs onto a dug-out from him. For information youngster? beaver damn, or walk along Both of my oldest hole. Later that season, we on his books, please call I know! I know! You’ll and cast a baited barb and grandsons got streamside found an inch-long new- 207-989-7696. say, “Well, I just don’t have spinner. When my son was the time right now.” (That’s small, I built a camp on a “Coastal Auto Parts your local what they all say.) Don’t trout pond and the whole NAPA Auto Parts dealer since 1981” give me that alibi again. family enjoyed our free (And Mom would agree) time there---swimming, “Owned and Operated by a Maine Family That Cares” If not for a whole day- fishing, boating, and all that All Stores Open Monday - Saturday --how about an evening? goes with it. Those memowww.napaonline.com Good time---an evening. ries will live with all of us You have two or three forever. We trolled streamBangor Auburn Belfast Bethel Blue Hill Bucksport hours after supper to try ers and lures for salmon 786-2220 338-2930 374-2090 469-7903 947-3396 824-2102 201 Northport Ave 82 South Street 325 Center Street 636 Hammond Street 38 Main Street 10 Mechanic Street your luck somewhere. If and trout, walked the banks you have a canoe, why and sunk worms for dinner Caribou East Millinocket East Wilton Hampden Ellsworth Farmingdale not slip it into a local, brookies in the inlets and 498-2707 746-5204 645-3532 667-5322 582-4470 862-2200 slow moving waterway, outlet streams.

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Page 12

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Women In The Woods

July 2020

Dreaming of Fishing

fantastic salmon. I cheered.

We watched fish jump all around us. A brook trout jumped between me and my line – the pink and yellow dots popping out of the water for a brief second.

by Erin Merrill, Portland, ME As I write this, there is 8 inches of wet snow on the ground and the power has been out for more than 12 hours. This article – my July article – will hit newsstands and your mailbox, when things are warmer, brighter and maybe under less social restrictions. And it will be July! A time when

we can enjoy being outside more and wetting the lines.

I’m reminded of a fishing trip that I took last summer with my friend Staci. We have a great spot to fish and this particular day was no different. Under a bluebird sky, we watched Mergansers swim and fly around us. A slight breeze

Each time this happens, Staci manages to land the best catch of the day. In this case, it was a fantastic salmon.

I cheered. We watched fish jump all around us.

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The author, right, and her fishing buddy Staci enjoy a day on the water. kept the bugs away. I half expected to see a deer or moose come down to take a drink.

We pulled our waders on, grabbed our fly rods and headed into the water.

I’ve learned that fishing is a very territorial activity so

I was not surprised when a shirtless fisherman swam out from shore and stood in a shallow section of water and began casting in Staci’s direction. Each time this happens, Staci manages to land the best catch of the day. In this case, it was a

Hours passed and we enjoyed our little piece of water. We swapped wet flies for dry ones and had many heart-jumping moments each time we felt the bump on the end of our line. The water kept us cool against the warmth of the sun. And after some less than productive casts, the swimming fisherman went back to shore and left us to enjoy the water.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 13

Outdoor News - July 2020 Edited by V. Paul Reynolds

July. Covid-19 be damned. Let summer in Maine begin! Remember the virus doesn’t do well in fresh air and warm days.

And there is any better place to “social distance” than in the woods and on the waters.

Although fishing conditions have begun to peak, there is much angling left.

Togue (Lake Trout) will be found by those willing to go down deep with lead core line or downriggers.

Fly fishers are keeping a vigil over the ever-popular Green Drake hatch on trout ponds. Stripers and mackerel runs keep it going for salt water anglers. Bass fishermen are enjoying Maine’s incomparable bass fishery.

Meanwhile, if you were lucky enough to boat a fat landlocked salmon, don’t forget to poach it, apply an egg sauce and find some fresh garden peas to go along. Happy Fourth of July!

Father And Two Daughters Rescued

An off-duty game warden and his wife, along with Parlin Pond campowners, likely saved the lives of a father and two daughters whose boat capsized in early May. Emily MacCabe was outside working at a family cabin on Parlin Pond when she thought she heard someone screaming along the densely forested shoreline at about 1:30 p.m. After scanning the shoreline and listening more, Emily and her husband Game Warden Kris MacCabe thought they could see someone walking the shoreline, without

clothes, screaming for help.

Kris MacCabe got his neighbor Don West, and then took West’s boat across to the shore where 14-year-old Kiana French of Skowhegan was screaming. Kiana told Kris their boat had capsized, and her sister and father were still out in the middle of the lake.

Kris placed Kiana in the boat of Ray Levesque, another camp owner who was helping, and then Kris and Don West traveled out to the middle of the lake approximately 1800’ from where they found Kiana and rescued Gary French, age 40, of Norridgewock and his daughter, Cierrah French, age 14 of Skowhegan, who were still in the water and hypothermic. MacCabe and West brought the trio to shore where they were taken to Levesque’s camp.

It appears that Gary and his two daughters, were out fishing on Parlin Pond when the weather worsened and the winds picked up. Waves started to crash over their 12’ aluminum jon boat, and they started taking on water. Despite efforts to bail the boat, the boat eventually capsized. The three placed on their lifejackets and attempted to swim to shore, but only Kiana was able to swim the 1800’ to shore, where she took off her clothes and started screaming for help. Emily MacCabe stated the only reason she saw Kiana was that her fair skin contrasted against the dark trees as she moved. Kiana said she took off her clothes because she thought she had seen it on a reality TV show.

The father and daughters were examined by EMS personnel, but did not need further treatment.

Game Warden Tennie Colman and Jackman/Moose River Fire and Rescue were also arrived on scene.

Wardens Recover Body of Missing Angler

After two days of searching Estes Lake, Maine Warden Service divers recovered the body of Kenneth Ham, age 56 of Hollis.

Hollis was located at approximately 10:00 a.m. through the use of a remote operated underwater vehicle or ROV, operated by game wardens.

The ROV was utilized in an area largely inaccessible by boat due to rocks and shoals. Once located and confirmed by the camera on the ROV, divers were dispatched and recovered Ham. Ham drowned after the canoe he was in with two others flipped over at approximately 4:30 p.m. in early May. Game Wardens searched with boats, divers, sonar and a ROV in an area identified by witnesses as where the canoe capsized.

Ham was in the bow of the canoe and was headed out fishing with his eight-year-old son and a friend. When Ham turned around to adjust his son’s life jacket, the canoe overturned, throwing all three in the water approximately 150 yards from shore.

A witness on shore called 911, and rescue personnel were able to launch a boat and rescue the 8-year-old boy who was

wearing a life jacket, and Ham’s friend who was clinging to the canoe. They had been in the water over 35 minutes before they were rescued. Rescuers were unable to locate Ham and continued searching Monday until dark and during daylight hours on Tuesday.

The Season Ahead

Lyford Lodge and Cabins and all eight high mountain huts will need to stay closed for the remainder of 2020. Preparing the huts, in particular, to receive guests is an undertaking that’s strenuous and temperamental even in the best conditions. That’s part of what makes them such an iconic destination to begin with. But we seek safety and certainty more than anything else today, and this is a necessary step toward achieving it.

AMC has already contacted most guests with existing reservations affected by these changes, and everyone has been gracious and flexible in receiving the news. Many of you have also made emergency gifts to support the organization. All of your generosity is deeply moving and something that I’m personally grateful for: it’s saving livelihoods, holding our community together, and exemplifying the very best of the AMC hospitality that we’re so eager to share—just as soon as it’s safe to do so.

We’ll continue to post more detailed information on closures and cancellations to our dedicated webpage as it’s available.

In the meantime, if we can help you with anything at all, I hope you’ll reach out without hesitating.

John Judge President and CEO of AMC

Over the past week, senior staffers and I have finalized some difficult decisions about which AMC places and programs we believe we can safely open, and when. In each case we’ve had to balance the top priority of our collective health and safety against the practical challenges that have always existed in working off the beaten path, and that are now much more complicated. We can see our way through some of those challenges, but not all.

As of today, we’re looking forward to welcoming guests back to most AMC facilities no sooner than July 1 of this year. This is a timeline that should allow us to care for visitors and staff with all of the usual spirit, though heightened safety protocols such as physical distancing will be ever present.

Our goal is to maintain an authentic AMC experience as much as possible, and opening any sooner than July would require disruptions to the experience Michael Vermette that would alter it beyond Selected as Allagash recognition.

Visiting Artist In two cases, we The Department of simply can’t reconcile the logistics needed to open Agriculture, Conservation with the health and safety and Forestry (DACF) anstandards that we’re de- nounced the selection of (News cont. pg 19) termined to meet: Little

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Me & Joe (Cont. from pg 7) drive off that bear,” Joe returned absently. He stopped on the edge of the yard and gazed all around, noting the flowers carefully tended in their beds, the clothes flapping gently on a line, the sacks of grain on the back porch.

“Less us set up on the porch here fer a bit,” Joe said finally. “Looks like it’s gonna be a purty sunset.”

“But what about the bear? I mean, aren’t you supposed to be bear hunting?”

“Thet’s jist what I’m doin’,” Joe replied complacently as he sat down in a ladder-back chair, leaned it back against the wall, and rested the rifle across his knees. “I s’pect thet bear will be along d’rectly.”

I sat down on the edge of the porch and wondered about Joe’s peculiar actions. The sun began to sink in the west and long shadows stretched out from the woos, invading the fields.

“Look there,” Joe said quietly, not moving his chair from its leaned-back position. I glanced where he was pointing and saw a huge bear emerge from the woods and start slowly across the field toward the house and barn. The animal was big and chunky, with thick rolls of fat along his sides that rippled as he walked.

The bear plodded along the beaten trail as though drawn by a magnet.

Down the road, a roil of dust appeared and a minute later, Job Henwhipped’s truck rattled into the yard.

He was out of the cab in an instant.

“Whatcher doin’ up here?” he cried. “You got

Northwoods Sporting Journal ter be down by the woods!

You can’t be here! Why… if…” he stopped uncertainly.

“There’s yer bear.”

Joe nodded down the trail.

Job stared and a crafty gleam came into his little pig eyes. “Yeah! Thet’s him! Shoot ‘im, Joe! Mow ‘im down! They’s still time…”

“Someone’s comin.’”

“What?!” Job’s head whipped around. A look of terror suffused his puffy face. Ahead of a thick dust cloud a Cadillac Seville came hurtling down the road, slowing marginally to turn into the drive.

“Git outa sight! Hide!

Don’t let ‘er see yer!” Job cried in fear.

“Comfy right here,” Joe said with a yawn.

Cassandra Henwhipped climbed out of the Cadillac and stalked across the yard like an approaching storm.

“What’s going on here?” she demanded as she stopped by the steps.

“What are you two doing here? Get off my porch!”

“Now dear…heh, heh,…they was jist leavin’,” Job said in a whiny voice. Joe let his chair down with a thump and stood up with the Winchester dangling from one hand.

“Come ter shoot thet bear,” Joe inclined his head to where the big boar was now nearing a corner of the barn. “Jist like yer husband, there, hired me ter do.”

“He what?!” Cassandra turned a venomous gaze on her husband. If

looks could kill Job Henwhipped was being drawn and quartered on the spot.

“He hired you to shoot my bear?!”

“Now, Cassy,” Job quavered. “It ain’t like you think.”

“It’s exactly like I think! You’ve hated Chester since I started feeding him three years ago. You’re so stingy, you begrudge him a few dozen bags of grain I buy for him every year! He wouldn’t hurt a fly, and you want to kill him!”

Job finally lost it.

“Durned right I do! Lookit the crop damage he does!

Eats us outa house an’ home, the big pig! I’m sick o’ payin’ fer it!”

Cassandra’s voice dropped low and gravelly, losing its careful diction.

“You’ll keep payin’ for it, and you’ll like it, you, you,…I’m gonna cut me a withe!” She turned toward a stand of supple little maples near the corner of the house, pulling a clasp knife from her purse.

“No! No!...Not a withe!” Job cried, holding out both hands in horror.

She ignored him and cut a thin, flexible sapling about three feet long. Advancing toward her husband she whipped the withe through the air. It made an evil, hissing sound.

“No! Don’t! I won’t never…” Hissss…..

THWACK!” The snapping strike of the withe was punctuated by a high-pitched, trembling scream from Job. He turned toward the open

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Page 15

barn door in a lurching run.

H i s s s s s … .

T H W A C K ! ! !

“AAAaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!” He disappeared, screaming, through the big open doors, Cassandra close on his tail.

“Ugly thing, a withe,” Joe muttered. “My grandpap whacked me with one once. Ain’t nothin’ stings no worse.”

At the corner of the barn, the bear listened to the unusual sounds emanating from the building with an air of uncertainty.

Joe stepped down from the porch, the rifle cradled on one elbow.

“Guess we kin leave now,” he said with a slight grin.

“Our work here is done.”

Cassandra Henwhipped came striding out of the barn and crossed the yard to where we were standing. With a growl of rage, she raised the withe.”

Joe never moved a muscle. He just stared at her evenly. “You hit me with that stick, woman, an’ I’ll kill thet bear.”

She glared at him for a long moment, but something in his eyes made her pause.

“Humph!” she said finally, dropping the withe and stomping up on the porch toward the bags of grain.

“Here, Chester,” she

called sweetly to the bear, who now stood in the middle of the yard, his nose in the air. “Come over here you darling little boy and mommy will give you some nice grain.” The big bear shambled eagerly toward her.

“Mommy brought some honey for you from town, too. Come here away from those bad men.”

We walked down the road toward where Joe had parked his Jeep, away from the thick sounds of the bear eating, away from the pitiful moans coming from the barn.

“What do you think will happen now?” I asked, looking back over my shoulder.

“Not my concern.”

Shifting the rifle from one shoulder to the other, he seemed to consider the question. “Oh, I ‘spect they’ll make up. Mis’ry likes comp’ny, as they say.

An’ I wager ol’ Job will be spendin’ less on seed an’ more on grain from now on.” He grinned as a thought came to him. An’ the next time he comes around wantin’ me to do his dirty work for him, I know jist what I’ll say.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’ll jist say ‘I’m gonna cut me a withe!’…an watch ‘im jump!”

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The Gun Cabinet

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Good Bears

by John Floyd, Webster Plantation At the end of this month, bear hunters and bear guides across the state of Maine will begin one of our most cherished fall rituals, making final preparations on our bear bait sites in anticipation of August 1, 2020 – the first day we may place bait. Clearing shooting lanes, erecting tree

work including monitoring the hunting grounds and surrounding areas for mature bruiser bruins gets overlooked. Here are some of the things I do and what I tell my clients during their pre-hunt safety brief to help make sure they get a good bear.

Leading up to the ac-

in, but the photo is proof positive. Another benefit of using cameras at every site is determining the time of the visit. If you can pattern a trophy boar, that gives you a huge advantage.

Also, over time you can watch sows come in and by following the breeding cycle year after year, know a season ahead if there will be cubs or yearlings around. I monitor this very closely and can pinpoint

the ears look, the bigger the bear. You can take that one to the tagging station!

I’m often asked how to tell the difference between a wet sow (one which is nursing cubs) and a dry sow. Because we use trail cameras so extensive-

July 2020

one thing, every time – shot placement. Many clients have received tons of information from friends or the internet regarding gun type, caliber required and vitals, some of it suspect at best, long before their bear hunt here on Tucker Ridge. The

Regardless of sex, most mature bears average about three feet high at the withers when on all fours and the biggest indicator of a good bear is this – the smaller the ears look, the bigger the bear.

stands, and ensuring our equipment is ready for that very first August morning run has been tough work.

Black flies and mosquitoes have no doubt feasted on us for weeks as we lop limbs and pole-saw branches, but for us, it is a labor of love.

And while the mechanics of being prepared to shoot a quality Maine black bear cannot be overlooked, sometimes the scouting

tual hunt, I monitor activity at all of my sites through the use of trail cameras.

There is a big difference in noticing that a bait site has been visited when refilling the barrel or bucket and actually seeing the bear in a photo. Ravens, raccoons and even fisher are notorious for raiding bear baits.

Seeing an empty container doesn’t necessarily mean you have a bear coming

certain sows in my area and know whether it will be a ‘cub year’ or not. I’ve had the pleasure of watching one particular sow for six seasons and follow her life story as it relates to her raising young, an amazing experience to be sure.

When it comes to identifying sows versus boars, I pass along some tried and true characteristics I’ve seen in bears in my area. Boars tend to be thicker in the shoulders and neck areas. Sows tend to have shorter legs. Regardless of sex, most mature bears average about three feet high at the withers when on all fours and the biggest indicator of a good bear is this – the smaller

“The author, his client and a good bear”. ly, I’m able to show a side fact of the matter is this; by side comparison. Wet there is no caliber or carsows with have noticeable tridge that can overcome a bare patches on their chests bad shot, especially a miss. where the young cubs suck- My golden rule for clients le and have worn fur away. is this - relax, get a good And more often than not, sight picture, and decide if cubs will run into a bait site this is your bear. If it is, it’s well before the accompa- a good bear – it’s your bear. nying sow. Yearling bears have gained some woods John is a Registered awareness and are concur- Maine Guide, an NRA Cerrently less exuberant when tified Instructor and is the approaching a site. owner of Tucker Ridge OutEven with the best doors in Webster Plantapreparations in place, due tion, Maine. He also works diligence in monitoring as an outdoors writer and your areas and bear biology can be reached at john@ knowledge in hand, taking tuckerridge.me or on Facea good bear comes down to book @writerjohnfloyd Huge Selection Of Ammo

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July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 17

Self-Quarantine in the Woods

The title may induce you to think I am making light of the current environment we are caught up in. I have to say I am empathetic for everyone experiencing the complications of the dilemma and please be sure I am doing my part to be part of the solution.

There was still snow on the ground and I discovered otter tracks traveling up the hill where the water was coming from. Strategically, I placed a camera capturing part of the shoreline and opening at the head of the lake. Otter will usually travel through an area on

scraped against my camera on the way by. After the beavers hauled several trees and tree parts into the opening they worked day and night harvesting until they were completely gone.

On occasion, I captured a lynx going by and some fisher meandering through making this spot

What's In Your Woods

by Bud Utecht, Dedham, ME This was a rarity capturing a lot of beaver activity in a single location.

With game cameras capturing a series of pictures, I am able to carefully study

This was a rarity capturing a lot of beaver activity in a single location.

With game cameras capturing a series of pictures, I am able to carefully study the behavior understanding what incredible creatures these mammals truly are.

This busy beaver took time out for a nighttime photo op. (Photo by Bud Utecht) As soon as the 2020 a regular basis so I figured catch phrase was derived this will be perfect. Well as this guy was on board. far as otter are concerned it Social distancing is right was not perfect. The camup my alley. Taking to the era captured only one otter woods, I found I could go over a few months and was days without the risk of certainly not what I expectfinding any Coronavirus ed. I did however hit the or any other virus for that jackpot for beaver. Shortly matter. At the expense of after I placed the camera, shielding my social skills the long toothed harvesters and hygiene, I have spent moved in. Day and night many days discovering they cut and hauled wood new areas and interesting to the lake and processed spots to place cameras. the commodity right in One such spot was front of the camera. I got at the very end of a lake pictures of them dragging where a stream flowed in. trees where the branches

The Sporting Journal is the gift that Keeps on giving!

a little more interesting.

As the weather warmed, ducks arrived. With little open water, the area is ideal for migrating ducks to wait out the winter. Black ducks, wood ducks, common mergansers, and hooded mergansers made appearances adding to the strain of these AA batteries.

I’ve mentioned before my cameras are out all year, nonetheless some spots are not conducive to getting wildlife certain times of year. The animals travel to areas for a purpose and will be gone once the mission is complete. As the lake opens up the creatures will disperse from this particular spot and the cameras, once again, will go quiet.

the behavior understanding what incredible creatures these mammals truly are.

A life that some may see as

boring and repetitive. The efforts of the beavers, are in many cases, a starting point for all the other wildlife we are in search of.

Bud Utecht is a Register Maine Guide, avid wildlife enthusiast, Browning trail camera dealer, and trail camera consultant.

His trail cameras are strategically placed throughout the Maine Woods. Feel free to email Bud for trail camera tips or to discuss what’s in your woods. bud@whatsinyourwoods. com

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HELP US FIND

The elusive Northwoods Sporting Journal’s moose Marty.

He has wandered into the northwoods.

Find Marty somewhere in the Northwoods Sporting Journal (Hint: he will be located in one of our ads) Send us the page number he’s on and you could be a WINNER! Win a FREE Northwoods Sporting Journal Marty Hat. We will draw one winner from all correct entries submitted each month. We will announce the winner in the next issue.

Shown actual size

PLEASE MAIL THIS FORM TO: Northwoods Sporting Journal P.O. Box 195, West Enfield, ME 04493

Name

Warren R. Wilcox

(Marty was found on pg 9)

Address City

Marty

State

Phone I found Marty on page

Zip

Entries must be postmarked by 7/13/20 to be eligible for this issue.

Page 18 Northwoods Sporting Journal

Outdoor Sporting Library

by Jeremiah Wood, Ashland, ME

Few outdoor pursuits are as involved as river trips, and few are equally exhausting and rewarding. The river trip, be it a summer long expedition or a day float just outside of town, embodies the adventure once experienced by the early pioneers.

In North America’s youth, river runners were commonly referred to as ‘voyageurs’. The name came from the French Canadians, who dominated the fur trade and transported furs on the major rivers that served as highways for commerce and opened up the continent.

The life of the voyageur was dramatized by many as one of adventure

and prestige, but in reality it was probably more hard work than anything. These men played a critical role in getting goods to market, though, and their knowledge of the rivers and how to run them in big boats and canoes was extremely valuable.

Charlie Wolf was what you might call a modern day voyageur. Fascinated by the river runners of the old days, Wolf spent his summers re-tracing many of their footsteps and canoe paths throughout Canada and Alaska. He was a friendly man, always stopping to talk with people he met along the river.

Charlie’s good- natured demeanor, love for conver-

99 Days on the Yukon

sation and his signature canoe paddle, with a human eye painted on one side to ‘watch for rocks under water’ earned Wolf legendary status among those in the areas he traveled.

The military brought Charlie to Alaska, which he made his home for decades.

During ten years of retirement, Charlie spent his winters trapping in the bush. He bought a cabin and trap line from the legendary Ed Owens up the Colleen River, traveling there by canoe each fall to reach the cabin from Fort Yukon, and returning

The sense of adventure and a need to travel rivers found him spending almost every bit of leave time he could scrape together on river trips. After he retired, of course, there was much more time to be a voyageur.

Retirement meant Charlie could take longer trips, often spanning the entire summer.

downriver the following spring. After Charlie had enough of trapping, the area was taken up by Bob Harte, who trapped there for decades and eventually starred in the Discovery Channel show “The Last Alaskans”.

Long after retirement from both the military and the trap line, an aging Char-

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lie Wolf kept traveling rivers with the enthusiasm and energy of a kid. During one trip in the early 1970’s, he made a unique exception to his standard practice of traveling alone, and took on a partner for the summer. Young Tom McGuire, long on free time

The military brought Charlie to Alaska, which he made his home for decades. The sense of adventure and a need to travel rivers found him spending almost every bit of leave time he could scrape together on river trips.

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and short on prospects, convinced Charlie to have him along for his planned trip down the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.

“99 Days on the Yukon”, written by Tom McGuire in 1977, documents his trip with Charlie Wolf in a 17 foot canoe from the headwaters of the Yukon River to the ocean. The book provides valuable documentation of the rivers, their people and villages. It gives the reader an up close and personal view of Charlie Wolf the voyageur and character, and it follows the journey Tom experiences as he tries to learn from and live with an experienced old hand in Alaska’s wilderness, one of the most beautiful places in the world.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020

Fishing (Cont. from pg 12) men cherish; being present and aware of nature all around us. It fills our souls. It’s the friends that you can spend hours with, never talking but enjoying their company. That is what I am hoping July brings for all of us. I look forward to those bluebird skies, great fishing trips and friends to reconnect with.

Until then, let me recommend a couple of books. To get you ready for fishing season: “The Contest” by James Hurley.

It’s a quick read and may have you comparing your favorite fly to those being used in the book. For folks like Dale Thomas, that are eagerly awaiting hunting season, “How to Bag the Biggest Buck of Your Life”

by Larry Benoit will have you ready for those crisp November mornings and the excitement of cutting that fresh track! Enjoy!

Erin is a member of the OWAA and the New England Outdoor Writers Association. She is a senior writer for Drury Outdoors’ DeerCast and is the President and co-Founder of the non-profit group Women of the Maine Outdoors.

You can read about Erin’s adventures and contact her at www.andastrongcupofcoffee.com

News

Town, Maine, is a full-time artist and part-time teacher.

He holds a BFA in Painting (Cont. from pg 13) and has been painting in Michael Vermette as the oil, watercolor, and pastel Allagash Wilderness Wa- for over 45 years. He has terway (AWW) Visiting won numerous awards, and Artist for 2020. DACF his paintings are in private initiated its AWW Visiting collections globally.

Artist Program to celebrate Vermette will spend the long-standing tradi- two weeks immersed in the tion artists capturing the Allagash beauty at the Wabeauty and solitude of the terway’s Lock Dam Cabin.

Allagash.

During his stay, he will Vermette, based in Old hold an open studio ses-

Page 19

sion and a public program.

His goal is to explore the Maine wilderness and paint it in plein air. In painting the bold and spectacular Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Vermette intends to capture imagery that would imprint itself on the Maine consciousness.

“We received worldclass applications,” stated Amanda Beal, DACF Commissioner. “The quantity and breadth made judging a joy, and it was a privilege to be introduced to the work of so many talented people.”

“The response to our call for artists was truly amazing,” commented Matt LaRoche, AWW Superintendent. “We received 130 applications, many from Maine, from across the US and as far away as India!”

The artist selection process included a team of DACF judges reviewing each of the applications.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 20

Aroostook Woods & Water

July 2020

Of Turkeys and Spey Rods a Highlander standing in the river Dee doesn’t hurt either. I may chuck all my Orvis stuff for tweeds and a briar…

It’s a fascinating discipline to me. New, but not new. I understand the principles behind the intended outcome, but putting those all together and booming out 100ft. casts is something else entirely.

There’s a lot to learn here, and perhaps that’s what I like about it. It’s a Byzantine labyrinth of weird terms and phrases, virtually a new language. They talk about ‘anchor points’ a lot. Coming from decades of bowhunting I thought “Aha! Something I know!” …until you realize that their idea of an anchor point and yours have nothing to do with how you big water and a great read. pedist along. Looking like hold your line hand against your face. They do mention stance quite a bit so again, back to the anchor narrative for another helping of self-inflicted cognitive dissonance.

I spent a lot of time Breakfast ~ Lunch ~ Dinner reading up on rods. And, 350 Main Street Presque Isle, ME 04769 like the rods we’re used to, there is a staggering array of choices to wade through.

It was like starting all over again; the terminology was above my pay grade, the learning curve went straight up. Spey, trout spey, are you planning on fishing skandi, Skagit, or trad? The more you read, the more you realize (Rods cont. pg 21)

we’ve been faced with, I love to wander down state, federal, and spou- to the Aroostook River,

by Mike Maynard, sal, I’ve been looking for wade out and try to sling Perham, ME something new and a little big buggers or articulated Turkey season was a culture up here, not yet. closer to home to occupy streamer patterns, but dobust here, for me that is. However, that may change my evenings. I’ve been ing so with a one handed Perhaps you were luckier. when tales of 25lb County reading a lot of stuff by rod is limiting on a river The introduction of the birds being taken (I say Steven Bird, noted author that size. Also, a couple of turkey to northern Maine that like I’ve done it) drifts With a two handed rod, and a was welcomed by many south to more active turkey consistent casting stroke, I should be and decried by a few. Some regions. Until that uptick in able to increase my distance think that our deer herd, turkey seekers occurs, it’s struggling to maintain its just a couple of us wansignificantly without bringing an existence at the fringes of dering all over the back of orthopedist along. Looking like a their outer marker doesn’t beyond looking for them Highlander standing in the river Dee need another species to most of the time unsuccessdoesn’t hurt either. I may chuck all my compete for the meager fully. Still, any excuse to Orvis stuff for tweeds and a briar… food resources available. walk around the woods, no So far I think everybody matter the time of year, is and spey casting guru. He shoulder surgeries make is playing nice and no one welcomed. Walking home has a wonderfully informa- the evening outing a relaspecies is out competing with a 20 pounder slung tive website called The Soft tively short one at times. the other. As every Aroos- over my shoulder would Hackle Journal (soft-hack- With a two handed rod, and took County hunter knows, just be icing on the cake. lejournal.blogspot.com). a consistent casting stroke, shooting either one up here So with no turkey to It’s full of great content, fly I should be able to increase can be an exercise in futil- show for my efforts, and all patterns, and it’s simply a my distance significantly ity. We don’t have a turkey the coronavirus restrictions different outlook on fishing without bringing an ortho-

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020

Rods

(Cont. from pg 20) you’ve got a lot more reading to do.

Lines? Good Lord, this is probably the most confusing part of the whole thing for me. Backing lines, running lines, integrated lines, shooting heads, sink tips, MOW tips, graduated grains per inch... Sensory overload came quickly and I was forced to seek professional help from good people who have gone before me.

I’m still lost in the

wilderness, but I’ve got a general direction in mind now. So far I’ve settled on a rod. It’s a 12’ 6” 6wt. two handed rod made by Ross called the Ross Reach. It’s no longer in production but the reviews were all favorable and the price was right. I had a Okuma Integrity 10/11 lying around that hasn’t seen the striper surf in quite a while, so I pulled all the line off and respooled with what I thought was going to be the perfect choice for a running line: 25lb. braided line. I would then attach this to

a OPST Commando head, a T-8 sink tip, and immediately go forth and slay dragons.

The dragons are safe.

I never realized just how slippery this braid stuff is. You folks out there using it with conventional gear are laughing at me, I can tell. And while it may shoot like crazy through the guides, there’s no way I am EVER going to be able to strip that stuff back in with cold frozen fingers.

Back to the drawing board I went. I took the braid off and respooled with an old,

smaller diameter floating fly line; they tell me that it will flatten the learning curve, but my distance will suffer. At this point in the festivities, all I’m looking for is time on the water so I can start really making mistakes. I’ll let you know how I make out.

Mike Maynard is a part time farmer, grandfather of several, and an incorrigible water-logged stream rat. He lives in the woods of Perham, Maine and can be reached at: perhamtrout@gmail.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 22

Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff

by Denny Corriveau, Kennebunkport, ME

You may be accustomed to enjoying outdoor recipes during the colder months, but summer is one of the best times to enjoy your fish and game.

The warmer months lend themselves to enjoying new ways to approach dishes.

Take the grill, for example. A hot outdoor grill will provide a nice sear on your meat that can help you produce incredible flavor, when combined with the right treatments.

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July 2020

Summer Outdoor Flavors

diversity in the direction I can take with my outdoor food.

If I am fishing and do well with something like crappie, I can easily envision a drizzle of olive oil over my fish fillets and then some of my blackening seasoning; placing them on a hot griddle and once the fish is cooked and the flavor takes hold, placing the cooked fish on a grilled hoagie roll that I lathered with a lemon or roasted hatch chile mayo. I’d then top it with lettuce and fresh tomato for a tasty Summer Po’ Boy sandwich. Add a yummy side of coleslaw and there’s a great way to enjoy a fresh catch!

For those who enjoy fishing the coastal waters, imagine bringing home a nice striper and taking a

fillet (skin removed) and slicing a fish steak from it. Place it on a plate and drizzle a light amount of oil on it, followed by some WildCheff Cinnamon Chile Rub. Place onto a hot grill in a 10” cast iron flat pan.

of vanilla and sweetened coconut – yielding some delicious coastal tacos.

I really enjoy my game in the warm months as well.

If you have some deer, bear, or moose steaks hanging around in your freezer,

For those who enjoy fishing the coastal waters, imagine bringing home a nice striper and taking a fillet (skin removed) and slicing a fish steak from it. Place it on a plate and drizzle a light amount of oil on it, followed by some WildCheff Cinnamon Chile Rub. Cook, while flipping it once until the fish is done.

Remove from the grill.

Warm some tortillas on the grill to lightly brown and heat through. Serve the fish on the tortillas, and top with coleslaw that you infuse with a small amount

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thaw them out. Trim them of any fat or sinew, and then drizzle them with olive oil, followed by a good rub or steak seasoning.

Grill them, leaving them pink in the middle, and enjoy them with some campfire potatoes.

What are campfire potatoes you ask? Take Maine potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise, then make half-moon slices. Place them into a large bowl with diced onions and peppers.

Drizzle olive oil over them and add your favorite seasoning.

Place the mixture over the center of foil that you have laid on the table, which are large enough to make into foil packets. Wrap the foil so you can place the packets on the grill prior to cooking the game steaks. They are ready when you can insert a steak knife through them easily.

If you have duck or goose breasts available, remove the skin from the breasts. For large breasts, slice medallion steaks from the breast for ducks you should be fine leaving the (Flavors cont. pg 27)

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Stealthy Does It!

Fly fishing requires a certain amount of finesse to do effectively, and helping people understand this reality can be a chore. While guiding recently, I found myself observing a sport as he worked a really fishy run I placed him on a few minutes earlier. As time passed and he didn’t con-

Wade in slow motion! I like to tell my sports to think about a time when they were sneaking back into their homes as teenagers and didn’t want to wake their parents. Stealth is key! A fast and clumsy wader can ruin a pool before they even make their first cast, so play it smart and be aware of your surroundings. nect with any fish, I did what any guide does and started breaking down the scene that was unfolding in front of me. It was during

Page 23

Ramblings From T8-R9

this quick evaluation that I realized that my sport’s void in the fish-catching department likely had more to do with how he was fishing, and less to do with what he was fishing. A common misconception for

improve your chances of hooking up with the fish

by Benjamin Rioux, of a lifetime – or any fish Millinocket Lake at all.

Wade in slow motion! roundings. Move your feet over fish can clear a pool I like to tell my sports to slowly, step over obstacles just as quickly as a clumsy think about a time when instead of kicking them wader. I often watch my they were sneaking back aside, and do your best to new clients as they false not stir up the dirt, mud cast five, seven, or even and water. On bright sunny ten times before finally days, avoid approaching letting their fly land on the from an angle where you surface. They do it because cast a shadow across the they don’t know any better, pool. Identify the most and every false cast is an likely place fish are hold- attempt to correct someing, and do well to avoid thing that didn’t feel right wading into those areas. during the previous one.

All too often I set someone The reality here is that the up to fish a stretch of river fly typically doesn’t go any just to see them take a few further after the tenth false steps forward after every cast than it would have cast until they are standing after the second or third. right where they should be Instead of distance, more fishing. Crouch low, plant often than not each addiyour feet, and do your best tional false cast introduces to move as little as pos- slack, which leads to “wind sible. Fish are very keyed knots,” water slaps, and in on their surroundings, eventually a frustrated anCory Coward with her first fly fishing catch. and being more mindful of gler. I try to tell my people (Photo by Ben Rioux) this as you wade will pay to limit themselves to between two and four false new fly anglers is that the into their homes as teen- big dividends in the end.

Watch those false casts, especially on sunny right fly and the fanciest agers and didn’t want to casts!

Beginners like to days. When executed corgear all but ensures a suc- wake their parents. Stealth cessful day on the water, is key! A fast and clumsy false cast, and under al- rectly, that range should be but that couldn’t be further wader can ruin a pool be- most any circumstances sufficient in allowing you from the truth. Below are a fore they even make their false casting too much (Stealthy cont. pg 26) few tips and tricks you can first cast, so play it smart try while on the water to and be aware of your sur-

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020

Question Of The Month July 2020

Where Do You Go in Summer to See Moose?

Among its other distinctions, the Maine wilderness is home to more moose per square mile than any other state in the lower 48. The state’s moose population is estimated to be between 52,000 and 72,000. Summertime is prime time for tourists and residents alike, who take great delight in watching

animal.

According to Paul Strong in his book Wild Moose Country, “Moose have several cycles of activity over the course of the day. Moose are typically inactive during darkness.

They become active at first light, then are relatively inactive for several hours before another peak of ac-

those looking for moose should look to water as that’s where they’ll be in the summer months.

Brad Richard District Game Warden Grand Lake Stream REGION D Route 27 from Eustis to Coburn Gore. Route 16 from Eustis to Rangeley.

Route 16 from Rangeley

the Region that could have moose in them in July and August.

Doug Kane, Region E state wildlife biologist REGION F Baxter State Park has several ponds and locations. Francis Dunn Wildlife Management Area (WMA) also known as

Grand Lake Seboeis. Best bet is to get into a paddle boat anywhere quiet in the morning or evening and go for a good paddle. Seems like just about every time I get into a kayak or canoe I see a moose.

Shawn Haskell, Region G state wildlife biologist Moose viewing tips

Of course, each WMA has its own unique terrain and habitat, but there are common denominators: bogs and dead waters are always a good bet, as well as small ponds with lily pads and other aquatic vegetation. Time of day is also key when shopping around for a look at Maine’s largest and most majestic wild animal. a cow moose and her calf, or a big bull, chewing on aquatic vegetation in a bog or dead water. Cameras click and binoculars are grabbed out of day packs.

Watching a Maine moose closeup or from afar is always a thrill for kids and old folks alike.

Where is the best place to spot a summering moose in Maine?

The Northwoods Sporting Journal put that question to Maine’s state wildlife biologists, who look after critters like moose in their respective Wildlife Management Areas. Below is a summary of the suggestions from these biologists on where to go to increase your odds of spotting a Maine moose.

Of course, each WMA has its own unique terrain and habitat, but there are common denominators: bogs and dead waters are always a good bet, as well as small ponds with lily pads and other aquatic vegetation.

Time of day is also key when shopping around for a look at Maine’s largest and most majestic wild

tivity. Most moose are bedded during the hottest part of the afternoon. Moose feed in the late afternoon and may feed again just before dark.”

Most of the moose hot spots listed below can be located using a DeLorme Gazetteer or a topographical map.

REGION A No response REGION B The Rockland Bog in Rockland seems to hold a few moose throughout the year. And then I am scratching my head for other good (moose sighting) locations in mid-coast Maine. Send them north.

Keel Kemper, Region B state wildlife biologist REGION C Some good areas are the Third and Fourth Machias Lake areas, Amazon road near Grand Lake Stream through to route 6 in Topsfield, Studmill road from Princeton to the Machias River. The other good area would be Waite, Lambert Lake along the St. Croix River. These are all industrial forests and

to Wilson’s Mills. Better closer to Rangeley.

Charles Hulsey, Region D state wildlife biologist REGION E 1.) This time of year moose really hit the wetlands near roads that have collected salt from the winter. Stretches of road that can be good include: Route 15/6 from Greenville to Jackman; Lilly Bay or Greenville Road on the east side of the lake from Lily Bay to Kokadjo..and of course the MDOT maintenance shed in Shirley on the west side of Route 15/6 is a very popular viewing spot.

2.) Some of our ponds that have aquatic plants can be great spots to see moose as well especially in July and August. Some examples would include: Second West Branch Pond (Shawtown Township), Tomhegan Pond (Soldiertown/West Middlesex Canal Grant), Kidney Pond (East Middlesex Canal Grant), Poland Pond (T7R14 WELS)....this is just a handful of many in

Sawtelle Deadwater (T6 R7 WELS). Suggest small boats and canoes. Other good spots include River Pond and Compass Pond on Golden Road (T2 R9 WELS). Also the entire Golden Road and associated road systems, as well as the Greater Katahdin Region and the Debsconneag Lakes have good water access for moose sightings.

Mark Caron, Region F state wildlife biologist REGION G I am not aware of the state developing any roadside moose viewing areas liker Vermont did in their Nulhegan Basin. In fact, we deliberately filled a roadside wallow at Soucy Hill on Route 11, although moose still frequent that area. The moose crossing signs are all placed where they are for a reason like the one on Route 161 by Madawaska Lake. Off the pavement, from there over to Van Buren on Sullivan Road or Beaver Brook Rd from Portage to Perham.

There’s a good mix of choppings and wetlands south of Oxbow and east of

from Lee Kantar, state moose research biologist: You can’t drive 60 mph down these roads and hope to see one at 1 p.m. on a sunny afternoon. Just around sunrise and before sunset remain the best times. Slow down looking in wet areas along the roads where there is muddy water and salt runoff is a good bet in June. Take any logging road in the area, then take another logging road by foot and look for moose sign (pellet groups/ browsing) and bring your binoculars. Moose viewing has to be looked at more like birding. That is slowing down, getting off the beaten track, looking for sign. Moose feed heavily in recent cuts but spend a lot of time bedding down in the shade chewing their cud. Early June tend to see bulls and lone cows in waterways, then as July goes in to August cows with calves at heel work wet areas pretty well as the calves begin the weaning process.

As much as moose use watering holes they still spend plenty of time in the woods.

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Locating Summer Bass

How is it when summertime bassin comes, those green-fish seemed to disappear, yet, professional bass anglers and guides have no trouble locating them...Or, do they? With that thought idling in my bassin’-brain, I decided to contact New Jersey Pro-

wisdom. Part 1: At home research. Part 2: On the water study. Part 3: Fine-tuning. Ike continued to dissect each individual section explaining the importance of reviewing previous information on your specific body of water, during the same seasonal patterns and

Troy Garrison lands a summer largemouth from the thick vegetation. fessional MLF Angler and then scanning either paper former Bassmaster Clas- maps or online maps locatsic Champion Mike ‘Ike’ ing similar areas.

Looking at me with Iaconelli.

As expected ‘Ike’ was a strange grin on his face excited to share his insight Ike repeated, “GUSP... and suggestions for locat- GUSP...GUSP”. Thinking ing summertime bass. He’s he was choking on a frog in master at keeping accurate his throat, I didn’t say one fishing logs, conducting word! Then with a chuckle historical research, and Iaconelli explained, “Gengathering information from eral Universal Seasonal the internet, fishing maga- Pattern...G.U.S.P.” Basizine articles, along with his cally four general categoown personal on the water ries; Winter, Spring, Sumfishing log and experience. mer and Fall.

With our concentraIaconelli syas, “It’s a three tion directed specifically part process”.

Thinking it was as towards locating bass dureasy as Rod-Reel-Bait I lis- ing the summer seasonal tened intently as the cham- pattern Ike revealed the pion bass angler shared his bass will be located in one

of three distinct areas... deeper water, thicker cover, or current areas. “The summer pattern period is typically marked by the warmest air and warmest water temperatures of the year.”

Deeper Water: Following the forage some bass will transition to deeper, cooler and more oxygenated water. Locating deeper cover and baitfish are key factors for summertime deep-water

Page 25

Best Bassin’

by Bill Decoteau, Hampden, MA mer areas. As you scan through each area utilize your electronics to locate underwater structure and cover, including baitfish and bass. (Especially in the Deeper Water areas.)

Keeping your eyes and ears open for any movement within the thick cover, birds feeding along the shoreline or diving

are usually where anglers will locate the ‘sweet spots’ or high percentage spots within each of the three distinct areas. Iaconelli’s arsenal of search baits includes Crankbaits (That dive deeper than the water depth), Big Jigs and heavy Texas rigged worms or creature baits and a heavy Carolina Rig (Excellent for deep water.).

Bass will be located in one of three Most importantly distinct areas...deeper water, thicker don’t forget to log the high cover, or current areas. percentage areas and sweet spots you find on the water success. within the deeper water into your GPS and paper Thicker Cover: Offers can quickly transform into maps, including your writshade and cools shallow a feeding frenzy for bass. ten log for future reference. water. Be it lily pads, float- However, your choice of God Bless and Best ing vegetation, downed baits for searching within Bassin’ trees or manmade such as each area also plays a madocks. Shade with secu- jor role in locating and rity coupled with ambush identifying the type of Billy “Hawkeye” points for forage keep these cover along the bottom.

Decoteau is an outdoor bass shallow.

MLF Pro Angler Mike journalist with a strong Current: Keeps the Iaconelli recommends an- passion for pursuing the water oxygenated and glers utilize baits that cover Black Bass. His activities cooler making comfort- water quickly, trigger bites, include; emceeing The able conditions during the but also are able to as- Bass University weekend summer transition. Find sist in learning what type educational seminar procover such as grass, veg- of bottom is within each grams, as well as emceeing etation, rocks, boulders, area (Rocks, gravel, sand, benefit tournaments such trees or bridges and the vegetation, shell beds, as Maine’s Annual May area becomes prime bass etc.). Iaconelli refers to Special Olympics Team real estate. Anglers need to these baits as transition Tournament, Fishing For realize current not only is lures, lures that telegraph Freedom, and working with provided by rivers, streams changes. These changes the USO. or submerged creek channels! Rain, wind and even boat traffic will provide moving water. This is when the wind-blown banks can become summer hot spots!

Armed with possible summer locations either logged on your sonars GPS or paper maps the on the water search begins by C.M.D. POWER SYSTEMS, INC. eliminating areas and conGenerator Sales, Service and Parts centrating only on those Office 207-848-7702 Exit 180, I-95 areas which identify within Fax 207-848-7705 42 Dave’s Way the three distinct sum- Hermon, ME 04401 email:bill@cmdpowersystems.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 26

Stealthy

ate enough energy in two or three false casts to deliver your fly to feeding fish?

(Cont. from pg 23) to load the rod and get that The answer lies with arguably the most important fly where it needs to be.

Keep your back cast part of any fly cast – the up! So how can you gener- back cast. If I had a dollar

for every time I shouted “keep your back cast up!” or “you’re drifting too far back” I would be a rich man. A nice, structured loop and a proper forward cast is created by a proper

back cast – you can’t have one without the other. It should all start with your fly in front of you, where you can use the friction generated by the water to begin your cast. That “pick-

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July 2020 up” of the line has to be done with enough energy to send that line straight behind you and on an even plane. From there, I like to describe the proper cast as a “speed up and stop.”

That rapid speed up helps you generate line speed, while the abrupt stop in both the backward and forward casts helps you load and unload the rod. I have found that it helps a great deal of people if they start off watching the fly line in the backwards cast so they can observe what is happening. If it falls to the water instead of straightening out on an even plane, you aren’t coming back fast enough or stopping abruptly enough. If it looks more like a rainbow, your rod tip is likely going to low in your back cast. You can think of the old adage of 10 & 2 when determining the proper stopping points for your rod tip, but as you grow comfortable, you’ll find that you can achieve an even plane with your fly line using a variety of angles. Speed up and stop, watch it unroll behind you, speed up and stop, watch it unroll in front of you. Over time you’ll develop timing and a feel for weight of the line, so watching it will become less necessary.

Combine these tips and techniques to become stealthier and fish your home waters more efficiently, and I guarantee you’ll spend less time spooking fish and more time catching them!

Ben is an avid fly fisherman, registered Maine Guide, and the Marketing director for Libby Sporting Camps. When he’s not exploring T8-R9 in search of new water, he can be reached at ben@libbycamps.com

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Flavors

North Maine Woods

(Cont. from pg 22) half breasts normal size.

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over them, and then season them with garlic and Tex/Mex spices. Add a small amount of balsamic and maple syrup and toss the meat so they are all coated well.

Place into a freezer gallon zip lock for an hour or two.

Grill your meat – leaving them pink inside and let them rest for a few minutes.

Sauté some sliced colored bell peppers and onion, and then make fajitas with the waterfowl sliced, and the cooked peppers and onions.

If you are fortunate enough to have some game loin in your freezer, consider making them into steak, or turkey tips; possibly kabobs for the grill. Add a lobster and you now have a surf and turf. A cold ale or glass of wine to pair up and you’ve got one of the most enjoyable meals you will find during the summer months.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 28

On The Prowl Justin Merrill, Cherryfield, ME

During July, August, and early September if you find a field laced with fruiting plants you very well could have found a coyote’s hangout. When the fruit is on, expect ‘Fruitful’ hunting. Just think of all the other wild animals that congregate in and around Mother Nature’s bait, which comprises blueberries, raspberries, wild strawberries, and black berries. What does this mean to a predator hunter?

You may already know the answer, but I will tell you this – a coyote being the opportunistic hunter/ scavenger that he is will have a limitless dinner menu lurking around areas with abundant fruit. All the more reason to dust off your rifle, get into predator hunting mode and pick the best fruiting field you can find, (without trespassing of course). Pattern the wind and thermals, choose a non-intrusive entry and

July 2020

Mother Nature’s Bait

park it. You do this with lots of patience and confidence you very well could see a coyote.

Like anything else you’ve earned in life by putting in the time, effort, and energy - coyote hunting is no different. Forget about that bass boat and your favorite baseball team long enough to stake out an ambush in a field that is bearing fruit. All that coyote, fox, bear, deer, and turkey scat spread out like fertilizer should be all the proof you need for a successful ambush. Where I live, their are blueberry fields scattered all over, and

these fields are like mother nature’s litter box as her birds and terrestrial mammals congregate in them, defecating inevitably. I just about step on, or see coyote scat, cram packed with berries, almost every three to five steps when strolling through a blueberry field. If you want proof just how effective hunting over mother nature’s fruitful bait really is – get a load of this: on one day while in a blueberry field I had two coyotes show up out in front of me. A second later another coyote showed and eventually a total of five coyotes were up to no

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good in that field. The very next week in the same field I nearly walked on a coyote eating berries among the tall grasses. I don’t know who was startled worse. On

Like anything else you’ve earned in life by putting in the time, effort, and energy coyote hunting is no different.

Forget about that bass boat and your favorite baseball team long enough to stake out an ambush in a field that is bearing fruit. another occasion I found where the five coyotes took a nap right in this blueberry field.

Gosh, by this time I really hope I’ve gotten your attention and you dropped the magazine, picked up your varmint rifle and ran off to the blueberry patch.

Even if you don’t get a crack at a coyote the first time, don’t get discouraged, keep at it and your efforts will soon pay off.

If nothing else, you should get to watch deer, turkey, many types of song birds (Bait cont. pg 31)

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July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Old Man’s Vision

to eating right, not shying away from physical toil and a life spent outdoors.

I don’t look forward to the day when my memories are the only thing I have left so every now and then when the mood fits, usually around a campfire somewhere under an ebony sky, and yes with a beer and cigar in hand, I do recall some of my best times with

Page 29

Muzzleloading Afield

by Al Raychard, Lyman, ME

don’t forget. Until you land your first six-pounder, then seven-pounder. I haven’t been back the Minipi for quite some time. Perhaps it’s changed and the massive brookies aren’t so common. I don’t really

that time and since I have never battled a more powerful and determined fish in freshwater. They are truly remarkable and the remoteness of the place and deep fjords typical of the region are just an added bonus.

That old man was right, I suppose, but I like to think he was also mistaken on one regard. Memories might be all we have left at some point down the road but the wonderful thing about them is they can be recalled at any time.

The old man knew what he was talking about.

The memory bank is always there for withdrawals when you need one.

Back in my twenties an elderly man once told me life is short and if we’re lucky enough to reach a ripe old age there is a tendency to look on your life and reminisce about the good times. Being so young and full of spit and vinegar I didn’t understand exactly what he meant. My life, and just as important my adventures as a hunter and angler, was just starting and as young folks often do I thought my youth and the blessing of an outdoor life would last forever. Little did I know, and much I had to learn.

Now that I am in my mid-60s and the road forward isn’t as far forward as it is to the rear I understand what that old man meant.

We are blessed with only so much time in this life.

Make the most of it because someday the memories of those good times outdoors might be the only thing you have left.

Fortunately I am in pretty good health. I take

no prescribed medications for high blood pressure or to keep cholesterol levels within acceptable margins, and although I like my cold beer in moderation and occasionally enjoy a fine cigar around a campfire the old ticker still works the way it is supposed to.

I’ve been fortunate, blessed with good genes from my parents who lived long lives, but I owe much of it

fly rod, gun or bow in hand.

When it comes to fly fishing I really enjoyed Alaska’s river-run rainbows but for awe-inspiring beauty nothing beats the magnificent brook trout in Labrador. I’ve made numerous trips to the Minipi region where five-pound squaretails on dry flies are nothing unusual, but when you hook into your first one, work it into your submerged hand, gently heft it from the water to release the fly and see it slither back to its tea-colored depths it is something you

know but I have my memories.

Just as memorable were my trips to far northern Labrador for Arctic char, before the region became a national park.

I had successfully fished a number of New Brunswick’s and Quebec’s fabled Atlantic salmon rivers and thought nothing could be of equal but then I hooked my first sea-run char! Up to

The same can be true of the tarpon in Costa Rica, the bonefish on the flats in the Bahamas, or the wild cutthroat trout in high altitude waters of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. Each are special, and memorable.

When it comes to hunting, nearly exclusively with a muzzleloader, the pronghorn and mule deer (Vision cont. pg 55)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 30

South Of the Kennebec

by Stu Bristol, Lyman, ME Where do you fish when the temperatures are in the high 80s and you don’t have a boat? Southern Maine is blessed with plenty of free shoreline access for saltwater anglers.

More and more tourists are bringing their fishing gear with them on vacation in hopes of connecting with trout, bass or saltwater fish such as striped bass, bluefish and mackerel.

The obvious place to begin on the saltwater side of angling are the breakwa-

How To Catch Stripers

wallboard mud bucket or stop by most variety stores and ask for pickle buckets.

Home improvement warehouses sell orange and gray

the fish most likely hooked will be a striped bass in the 5-25-pound range.

You’ll also need a couple dozen seaworms

ters such as Camp Ellis in Saco. This is not a secret fishing hole and most of the time you will have to stake out a spot a couple hours before the incoming tide but this wall of rocks that extends out into Saco Bay, alongside the Saco River is well worth the effort.

To fit in on this and other breakwaters, an angler needs to find a 5-gallon bucket, usually white in color and two if you can Camp Ellis breakwater – photo by Stu Bristol find them. Most anglers buckets, but they will make and they can be picked up at local tackle shops. The just wash out a 5-gallon you stick out as a tourist.

You can use fresh- most popular and easiest water bass rods but a 9 or to find is Saco Bay Tackle 10-foot or longer surf rod Company on Route 1 in will suit you better since Saco, across from Aqua-

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boggan Water Park. There is also a small bait shop in the parking lot at Camp Ellis. If you don’t have a surf rod you can also rent a rod at the same time.

For terminal tackle, by law, you’ll need 7/0 circle hooks if you plan to

You can use freshwater bass rods but a 9 or 10-foot or longer surf rod will suit you better since the fish most likely hooked will be a striped bass in the 5-25-pound range. fish natural baits such as mackerel chunks or clam necks, and you’ll need to construct what is called a “bottom-finding rig” to get your bait down in the current.

A bottom finder is nothing more than a swivel attached to a hollow tube that allows the weight attached to the swivel to slide on the line. Slip the sliding swivel rig on the line then tie another saltwater (50-80-pound test) swivel to the line. Most coastal tackle shops offer readybuilt sliders for pennies.

A pyramid-style sinker, usually 2 ounces will (Stripers cont. pg 31)

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Stripers (Cont. from pg 30) be clipped onto the sliding swivel and the snelled 7/0 circle hook will complete your rig. You can thread on a seaworm or hook a chunk of mackerel or clam and toss it out into the surf or current.

Fishing from the beach at night is becoming more popular in Maine.

Cape Cod angles have been crowding the beaches for years but now anglers are increasing in numbers along Old Orchard Beach, and Parson’s Beach in Kennebunk.

A number of angling access sites along both sides of the Saco River will be productive right now through the middle of September. The fish will move back upstream on the incoming tide, especially when high tide coincides with dusk.

This fits in well with the busy vacation schedule of tourists. You can lie on the beach or visit shops during the daytime and take the family out to dinner then go fishing for a few hours, if the tide is right. Please note that most beaches are closed to fishing from 9 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. Check local ordinances or check with tackle shops.

Most of the highway bridges make good angling spots, especially after dark.

Striped bass and bluefish both tend to stay in turbid, dark, fast-moving water and bridges offer such a habitat. For mackerel, you’ll need to get out onto the breakwater or stake a claim along any of the fishing piers on the coast.

What was the second bucket used for, you might ask? To sit on, of

Northwoods Sporting Journal course, and to use for carrying home your catch.

The empty bucket can nest inside the bucket with bait and gear and will balance out both arms on the way back to the cottage or car.

Anglers should be reminded that striped bass must be at least 28 inches and not more than 35 inches or the limit per angler is one fish per day Stu Bristol is a Master Maine Hunting, Fishing and Tidewater Guide, outdoor writer and custom game call maker. He operates Orion Guide Service out of southern Maine. His outdoor features have been published nationwide for more than 50 years. Stu was recently inducted into

the National Wild Turkey Hunting Hall of Fame. Visit his website at www.deadlyimpostergamecalls.com

Bait (Cont. from pg 28) and even fox while sitting undetected along the field’s edge.

When I stake out an ambush on coyote in my favorite blueberry and raspberry fields, I’m almost always greeted with a visit from whitetail deer, turkey, and the occasional fox. One time a fox caught me off guard bolting out of some tall weeds but didn’t go far. The fox stood still watching my every move.

I used my cell phones cam-

Page 31

era and snapped picture after picture all the while I was mouse squeaking with my lips and creeping ever so slowly closer to the fox for a close up picture. This fox would run off and my mouse squeaks would stop it dead in its tracks. The mouse squeaking would bring it back around to at least try to get down wind of me. The mere sight of me was apparently not enough to run it off completely. This experience in a blueberry field taught me a couple things. One: use mouse squeaking at my coyote ambush sites and two: possibly if a coyote catches my movement and is up wind of me so not to smell me, then maybe mouse squeaks will calm

its nerves, (like it did for the fox), long enough for me to get off a shot. The point I’m making here is predator hunting can be tons of fun and a learning experience.

If you are always trying to find ways to hunt, like I am, then ambushing coyotes in the summer and early fall months in fields loaded with fruit should be enough of an excuse to go hunting.

Justin has his Wildlife Biology degree from Unity College and is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association. He is the author of “Wild Maine Outdoors – Hunting Tactics, Tricks, and Secrets” and can be contacted at www.wildmaineoutdoors. com

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Page 32

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Moose Hunting: Tactics Vary

The Buck Hunter

by Hal Blood, Moose River, ME It seems like summer is just getting started and all of a sudden, the days are getting shorter again.

Such is life when you live in the north country. May’s weather this year was the craziest that I’ve ever seen since living in the Moose

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Keep in mind that the days of road riding to shoot a moose are long gone.

There are plenty of moose to hunt, you just have to be willing to get into the woods and go after them.

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buds on the trees, went to full on leaves in about four days! Once June arrived, it was back to seasonal temperatures again.

The heat and green-up was a big help to the moose and deer, as the nutrient rich food was everywhere and helped them get their

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Big Woods Bucks deer clinic attendees enjoying a day in the woods together. (Photo by Hal Blood) bodies back in shape after end up larger than usual. better woodsman. the long winter. A side My deer clinics were By the time you read benefit of getting their once again a great time this, some of you were bodies back in shape early, for all involved. I had lucky enough to draw a is that the doe’ and cow’s some great groups who moose tag. Congratulations get a boost before birthing were eager to learn how to all of you that did, and I time begins. The buck’s to scout and hunt in the hope you have a great hunt. and bull’s will grow their Big Woods. We roamed Keep in mind that the days antlers quicker and will the woods learning how of road riding to shoot a end up being bigger after to find signpost rubs and moose are long gone. Yes, a tough winter. I have seen how to unlock the key a few people will always more bulls along the roads to finding where the big get luck and see one from this year than the past few Woods buck’s travel about the road, but why would years and their antlers were through their territory. I you leave you hunt to abalready starting to palm out look forward to teaching stract luck. Moose have by early June. It will be other hunters to become not become more skittish over exciting to see if the antlers only better hunters but also the years and don’t hang around where there is any kind of activity. There are plenty of moose to hunt, you just have to be willing to get into the woods and go after them. This might involve packing them out, but the extra work will be well worth the reward. I recommend that you do some scouting, but don’t waste you time scouting in the summer. Moose move around and the bull you spotted in August might be five miles away but the time the season starts.

Another thing that most hunters don’t realize, (Tactics cont. pg 39)

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal Guns & Ammo:

What Do You Carry?

As I write this, we are still in the lock-down phase of this pandemic response.

Hopefully, by the time you read this, we will be closer to normal activities.

The reactions to the virus caused most of the Outdoor Shows, Hunter Education Classes and Sportsmen’s Dinners to be cancelled. I really miss the opportunities these events afford to interact with the sporting public. These face to face conversations have been replaced with lots of electronic interactions. Hunters and shooters still like to exchange stories and ideas.

I will make an observation, that I am sure many of you have also experienced.

People are much less polite online than when the conversation takes place face to face. There seems to be a tendency to attack anyone with an opposing view.

This is really too bad, because it stifles discussions of different opinions. That being said, I have fielded a number of questions from prospective bear hunters about what I carry. So, let’s discuss this question. In my situation as a bear guide, I am not hunting bear, I am tracking a wounded bear to recover it. Please remember, wounded bear = dangerous bear. In this situation, I need a firearm that can be handled easily in very thick, dark brush. I

also need a firearm that can end the fight very quickly.

It must have crushing, bone breaking power, but be compact enough to be responsive.

I have two “go to guns” for this purpose.

My first choice is a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan. It has a 2.5” barrel, a red ramp front sight, and it holds 6 rounds of .44 magnum ammo. It has an overall length of 7.62 inches and weighs 45 ozs.

It is very compact but has enough weight to handle magnum ammo. We need to understand this gun is not being used for target shooting or casual plinking.

I use a heavy loaded 305 gr. lead flat nose round from Buffalo Bore. It generates 1325 fps with 1189 ft lbs of bone crushing energy.

I also wear a light leather shooting glove so my inevitably sweaty palms can hang on to the mini nuclear explosion that will happen and still employ a second follow up shot.

The other gun I use has a good deal of history associated with it. In my younger days, I participated in a shooting sport that many of you are no doubt familiar with. It is called, “Cowboy Action Shooting”. I have a friend who is now retired from the Clark County Tennessee Sheriff’s Department. He

built original Winchester Model 97 pump shotguns recycled from police riot guns into competition shotguns for cowboy action shooting. Through a series of bargaining and trades, I became the proud owner of one of these gems. The gun is all original with the tiny smooth trigger, the grooved wooden forend, and the 16” smooth bore barrel.

It does, however, possess

Page 33

A Guide’s Perspective

by Tom Kelly, Orient, ME

ages perhaps. These are for a specific purpose. Close range fight stoppers. It is my hope that the number of wounded bears I need to crawl though brush after are few, however, it does happen. I try to educate my guests by discussing preferred shot placement and

of view before they make up their minds.

Come see us at the lake.

Tom is a Registered Maine Guide. He is the owner/operator of Shamrock Outfitters in Orient

In this situation, I need a firearm that can be handled easily in very thick, dark brush. I also need a firearm that can end the fight very quickly. It must have crushing, bone breaking power, but be compact enough to be responsive. a very slick, but reliable action. I have repurposed this little 12 gauge into a dangerous bear neutralizer.

I shoot 1 oz. Remington Slugger projectiles. These leave the barrel at 1680 fps and generate 2741 ft lbs of energy. These will flatten virtually anything alive at close range. Would these two guns be the best choice for hunting bear?

Probably not. The .44 or 12 gauge slug wound work fine, but in different pack-

double lung pass through shots. I try to encourage them to shoot stout round nose bullets from .30 cal rifles to help ensure pass throughs, but I still must be prepared.

If any of you are interested, please feel free to view our FB page to see some graphics to illustrate my points. There are also lots of other pics to view.

Please take a kid hunting and fishing and teach them to listen to everyone’s point

Maine with his wife Ellie.

He is a retired police officer as well as a retired manager from two major firearms manufacturers.

He is an NRA Certified Instructor as well as a Hunter Safety Instructor in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. You can reach Tom at Shamrock Outfitters (207) 694-2473. Please visit our Facebook Page: Shamrock Outfitters and Properties and come visit us on East Grand Lake.

TO VIEW ONLINE a complete selection of available Maine Outdoor art prints by watercolorist V.Paul Reynolds go to

www.artpal.com/vpaulr

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT!

At camp, this guy and his gundog - after a morning of chasing pa’tridge - found a comfy place to spend some time with their favorite read, the Northwoods Sporting Journal.

Where do you read your copy of the Sporting Journal? At camp, in the boat, at the ice shack? We’d love to see a photo of you with your copy of the Journal at an unusual place.

If we like it, we will publish it in the Journal. If we select your best shot for publication, we’ll send you an exclusive Sporting Journal hat created just for the occasion. Send your Jpeg photo and a short blurb to vpaulr@tds.net. www.sportingjournal.com Please include your contact information, too.

Page 34

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Maine Outdoor Adventure

After a full month of vigorous spawning, river smallmouth bass start to regain their energy and appetite by the end of June.

The river smallmouth bass spends its entire life fighting and swimming against current, building muscle

by Rich Yvon, Bradford, ME river basin, Saint Lawrence river system, and up into the Hudson Bay. For years man has propagated the species to new waters as an invasive fish. Unfortunately, Maine loses its native fish when these fish are illegally introduced. Let’s

July 2020

River Smallmouth Tactics

smallmouth being a very visual feeder, rely on these insects as a very important forage during the summer months. In my opinion, dry fly and top water fishing is some of the most exciting fishing to experience.

Dry fly tactics for smallmouth can be considered to be a very finesse way of fishing. I often fish a dry fly the same identical way of fishing top-water

solutely no drag and travels the exact same speed as the current. Younger bass are certainly more ambitious as they will chase the fly!

They will most times tolerate the drag and V that’s created when dragging the fly. These tactics can be applied using top water lures

Great colors include baby bass, green pumpkin and electric blue.

Whether fishing moving or still water, spinners and spoons have great success fishing lakes, ponds and rivers. When targeting faster moving water in hotter summer months,

The presentation of top water fly is the initial drop into the water. Once presented, leaving the fly still until the rings go away is sometimes all that’s needed to entice a fish to strike! with enormous strength.

Most smallmouth purists understand what sets these fish apart from their lake cousins. Lazy is not associated with these fighting fish.

Pound for pound, they are undoubtedly the toughest and most aggressive fighting fish we have in Maine.

The fish was introduced about 80-90 years ago as an invasive species into Maine waters. The smallmouth bass is native to the upper and middle Mississippi

keep them where they are and keep what’s left of our special native fish.

As July 1 rolls around, the rivers, lakes and ponds are in full swing with life feeding and foraging throughout Maine’s waters One of the most beautiful insects in Maine is the Damsel Fly. The Damsel, very much like the Dragon fly are members of the Odonata family of insects which are very active during daylight hours. The

spin fishing.

The presentation of top water fly is the initial drop into the water.

Once presented, leaving the fly still until the rings go away is sometimes all that’s needed to entice a fish to strike! Working water by subtle twitches and a pause will keep up an attractive presentation when fishing still or moving water. Moving water takes some added skill...

One must keep a drag free drift in order to imitate what happens in nature.

Older more wiser fish will most likely not chase a fly being dragged through the water. Older fish will be more enticed by a “dead drift”. A dead drift has ab-

The author with a summer smallie. as well. Some great modern top water lures that smallies love are Daddy Mac Bombs, Rapala’s Skitter Pop, and the 45, 90 and 110 series Whopper Plopper!

Worm fishing can lend itself to many techniques such as wacky rig, drop shot and Texas rig.

Depending on all the variables and water, certain techniques will work better than others. My personal favorite is a 4” wacky style rig for the Penobscot River.

the blue fox spinner is always productive. Bass tend to congregate in more oxygenated, cooler water especially on those summer dull drum days. Targeting faster water in early morning or late evening can be productive as fish stay cool when water temps rise. The classic Al’s Goldfish ¼ oz lure is an old favorite for being a very versatile lure and known for catching a variety of species including (Tactics cont. pg 41)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020

Against The Current

by Bob Romano, Rangeley, ME My wife and I first ventured to western Maine in the mid eighties. We spent the last week of that August at Bosebuck Mountain Camps. It rained the entire week. I mean

out, owned and managed the camps. His response to the poor fishing was to simply smile while in his best guide’s drawl he repeated that rusty, old adage, “That’s why they call

Page 35

The One That Got Away

Tom had said we might have a chance at fish. Accompanied by Buck, our black Lab, we pulled on our ponchos and headed into the maelstrom that continued to swirl down out of the surrounding hills.

Not long afterward, I stood with my back to the gale while flinging a large fly into the rain-streaked

stream’s shoreline. The expression on the big dog’s face matched my frustration at being out in the storm. Meanwhile, that bushy fly bounced up and

at Trish, hoping she was ready to call it a night. It was about then that the largest maw I had ever seen erupted through the dark and roily surface to grab

As I pulled back on the rod, Buck stood at attention. The big dog’s tail twitched with anticipation while Trish waded toward my side. The trout and I commenced a game of tug-of-war while Buck barked each time the fish came near. a steady downpour from the morning we stepped outside our little cabin until the evening before we drove back up the logging road that flanks the western shoreline of Aziscohos Lake. As you might expect, the fishing was off.

Back then, Master Maine Guide, Tom Ride-

it fishin’ and not catchin’” I must admit, I wanted to punch the guy square on the jaw, but since Tom had a good four inches and twenty pounds on me, I thought better of it.

On our last night at the camps, Trish convinced me to head over to an isolated piece of water where

wavelets. Earlier in the week, Tom had handed me the bushy pattern. I remembered him saying, “Meat and potatoes, bub, that’s what it takes up here.”

During the next hour, Trish took two small trout while Buck sat stoically between the two of us on a large boulder along the

It is trout like this that bring us back to Rangeley year after year! down on the wavelets that raced across the stream, the wind preventing it from remaining on the surface for more than a moment before once again blowing it up into the air.

It was getting hard to see, and I looked over

my fly out of the air.

As I pulled back on the rod, Buck stood at attention. The big dog’s tail twitched with anticipation while Trish waded toward my side. The trout and I commenced a game of tug(Away cont. pg 59)

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Page 36

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Cougars: Are They Here?

By V. Paul Reynolds The question persists.

More than 25 years ago, as editor of the official magazine for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W), the same question was addressed by me in an article that sought to dig deep and find credible answers.

At the time, despite a number of anecdotal cou-

and render a verdict.

As information officer for MDIF&W I was included in the effort to carefully study the photo of what was claimed to be a mountain lion standing on the banks of the Allagash Waterway. My recollection is that the Department borrowed a special forensics microscopic device from the Maine State Police.

like so many others who have reported to have seen the elusive cats, insisted, “I know what I saw. It sure as hell was not a fisher, it was a cat!”

Not a lot has changed in 25 years, at least not in terms of empirical evidence or the official positions of Maine and federal wildlife biologists when it comes to the presence of

gar-sighting reports from citizens, state and federal wildlife biologists and research people remained highly skeptical. On one occasion, a Maine Allagash Waterway visitor insisted that he had seen a cougar crossing the waterway.

The “witness” had taken what he claimed was solid evidence: a color 35 mm slide. Biologist and wildlife director Ken Elowe agreed to study the image carefully

Biologists used the device to really zoom in on the mysterious critter. The device also had an enhancement option that brought some induced clarity to the somewhat fuzzy photo.

The official verdict?

Not a lion, a fisher. My further recollection is that the well-intentioned fellow who saw his “cat” and took the photo was not pleased with the official determination, and left in a huff, and

mountain lions or cougars in Maine.

Two key players from the biologists ranks are Mark McCollough, the endangered species specialist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service in Orland and Nathan Webb, wildlife director for MDIF&W. Webb’s Department lists its cougar position in one short sentence on the MDF&W website: “No known cougar populations exist in

July 2020

Maine.”

Webb told me, “ We do get several reports every year, but most are not credible, or are lacking evidence. I was fortunate to participate in field research on cougars in western

been a longtime skeptic about a cougar population in Maine and played a role in the Federal de-listing of the sub-species of cougar in the Northeast, had this to say recently: “We get a few reports every year.

T h e most

Canada for quite a few years, so I have a particular interest in this species and the public reports that we receive. I am very confident that if a breeding population did exist, it would not take us long to detect it.”

McCollough, who has

“promising” was the animal filmed by ice anglers in northern Maine late last winter (about a year ago). The video and tracks were intriguing. Otherwise, in recent months I’ve received reports from Karen (Cougars cont. pg 37)

The official position of the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is straight-forward and unequivocal. It contends that any dispersing cougars actually in Maine, or those seen and confirmed in New Brunswick or Ontario, are not ancestors of Maine’s once-active cougar subspecies.

Katahdin

July 2020

Cougars

(Cont. from pg 36) Holmes, another writer for the NWSJ. Like many, they are 3rd hand accounts of someone seeing an alleged cougar. Not much to follow up on for concrete evidence.”

The official position of the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is straight-forward and unequivocal. It contends that any dispersing cougars actually in Maine, or those seen and confirmed in New Brunswick or Ontario, are not ancestors of Maine’s once-active cougar subspecies. The last confirmed mountain lion in Maine dates back to 1932. USFWS says, “Cougars in the East (today) are Florida panthers, released captives, or those dispersed from the West.

Is there a voice from the other side, anyone with credentials who takes issue with the official position of the wildlife biological community?

Enter Bill Betty from Rhode Island. Betty is a dedicated cougar man, an obsessed digger who has gathered tons of cougarsighting data from every conceivable source. Betty says, “So many documented sightings in Quebec, it calls into question

Northwoods Sporting Journal

the Black Hills dispersal theory, as well as the cougar extinction declaration.

Natural reproduction (of cougars) is taking place to a limited degree in the Northeast.”

In an excellent cougar article earlier this year

by Karen Holmes in the Quoddy Tides, Betty the cougar man is quoted as asserting that he “does not agree that the eastern subspecies is extinct.” Betty further contends that at least two New England states have confirmed that there is some natural reproduction of cougars.

He did not specify which states, though one may be Vermont, which seems to be keeping better sightings data than Maine.

Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Vermont, and New Hampshire have all confirmed the presence of cougar in the wilds. It appears that Maine, despite having numerous reported cougar sightings over the years, just doesn’t have a lot of solid evidence, as McCollough noted. However, in 1996 a cougar spotted in Cape Elizabeth, Maine was confirmed by lab tests to have been a bona fide cougar.

In the middle of all of this fascinating debate and heartfelt disagreement

about where the truth really lies, are those of us who are just curious. When it comes to these tawny wraiths that are known alternately as mountain lions, cougars, panthers, pumas and catamounts, are those of us unscientific but well-intentioned souls who earnestly believe, and some claim publicly, to have actually seen one of these big, long-tailed cats.

Bill Betty believes that in Maine cougars will hang close to the coast, where the big deer populations are. This seems to make sense. In fact, this winter Lubec has been abuzz with cougar stories, as chronicled by reporter Karen Holmes in the Quoddy Tides.

Lubec resident Chessie Gartmayer said in December that she saw crossing the Quoddy Farms Road in South Lubec “a cat as large as a German shepherd with a long tail, a tail almost as long as the huge body, hanging just off the ground and curving back up.” Others have seen a large cat and reported this on a Lubec Facebook page. These sightings were

by Rita Rahilly in 2018, Shanna Wheelock and Jody Grimes in 2017. Richard Mistler said he used a trail camera to photograph one in 2016.

The Lubec area has had other reported sightings before 2016. Michael Jenkins was driving home at night and had to abruptly stop his car to avoid hitting a large cat crossing the road. He said it was light brown and had a long body and tail and was larger than any cat he had ever seen. When he arrived home, he calmly told his wife, “I just saw a puma.” Sonia Bailey and other Lubec residents during the winter months of 2010‑2011 also said they saw a puma or cougar.

One witness found large tracks in the snow from an animal leaping along and measured the distance between the tracks as 17 feet.

In nearby Charlotte, Lyle and Arthur Furlong saw a very large dark-coated cat in 2011. Philip Farrell and two passengers from his car reported watching a very large long‑tailed cat crossing Route 1 in Pembroke.

The Northwoods Sporting Journal asked readers to share personal accounts of their Maine cougar sightings. Most of those we spoke with were experienced outdoors people who were adamant that what they saw was a big, long-tailed cat in broad daylight. These are credible individuals who

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have no reason to make this stuff up. Of course, there is no doubt that ther are many others who have had sightings, but are reluctant to share their experience for any number of reasons.

To answer our own headline: Yes, the large cats are here in Maine. It is the only logical conclusion.

Preponderance of personal testimonials confirms it.

Unanswered though are two questions: 1) How can they be so visible yet so elusive? And why do we not have a trail cam photo, a road kill, or some concrete, empirical evidence that will energize the professional wildlife scientists who remain skeptical and even seemingly nonchalant about one of Maine’s most fascinating wildlife questions?

See Cougar sightings pg 3 The author is editor of the “Northwoods Sporting Journal.” He is also a Maine guide and host of a weekly radio program — “Maine Outdoors” — heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on “The Voice of Maine News - Talk Network.” He has authored three books; online purchase information is available at www. maineoutdoorpublications. com. or at www.sportingjournal.com

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Page 37

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 38

July 2020

Paraloop Dry Flies

Fly Fishing

by Joe Bertolaccini, Orrington The latter part of June to the middle of July generally affords peak dry-fly action on many of Maine’s ponds and streams. Let’s take a look then at some non-traditional dry fly types that have “emerged” in recent years. Probably the first drastic change from

their outstanding volume, “Hatches.” in which they introduced the Comparadun dry fly (discussed in last year’s June column) that has split tails, tapered body, and an upright fan of deer hair that supports the fly on the water with no hackle.

afraid to trim the fibers from below the hook and give them a try.

The Paraloop Method, characterized by Ian Moutter in his book “Tying Flies the Paraloop Way.” describes another procedure for crafting dry flies. It basically involves winding a hackle horizontally around a double strand of floss that is held upright (vertical) by means of a gallows tool and pulled over a thorax

The Paraloop Method, characterized by Ian Moutter in his book “Tying Flies the Paraloop Way.” describes another procedure for crafting dry flies.

the traditionals occurred in the early 1970s when Doug Swisher and Carl Richards published their now classic “Selective Trout” in which they promoted no hackle flies with customary split tails, dubbed fur bodies and quill wings tied low along the sides of the body like pontoons to help keep the fly afloat. Several years later, Al Caucci and Bob Nastasi came out with

The common thread in both of these is that a dry fly without hackle can be more productive on selective fish, especially in still or slow moving water.

Their bodies and wings rest on the water surface and can show fish the entire shape of the natural mayfly.

If you’re on the water and all you have are traditionally hackled dry flies that aren’t working, don’t be

and tied down just behind the eye of the hook. With the hackle entirely above the hook, it is just another example of a fly that will remain entirely on the water surface. Following is my dressing for a Paraloop mayfly dun.

Hook - Size 10 to 18, Standard dry fly.

Thread – 6/0 or 8/0.

Tail – Hackle fibers.

Hackle post – 6# test

LINCOLN

The Paraloop dry fly is a remarkable floater. monofilament. (Holds up better than floss) Body – Floss or thread.

Hackle – Dry fly hackle.

Thorax – Dubbed fur.

Head – Thread.

Tying notes: After tying in the tail fibers, take about eight inches of 6# test monofilament, make a loop at one end and tie it in at the midpoint of the hook shank with the loop end extending about six inches or so past the eye of the hook. Bind down the butt end of the mono and add a body of floss or thread up to the mono hackle post.

At this point, raise the post to an upright position and secure with hackle pliers or gallows tool at the loop

end. Tie in the hackle and wind it horizontally up the post a distance about equal to ½ the hook length. Wind it back down and secure it around the hook shank.

Holding the post and hackle toward the hook bend, add dubbing for the thorax.

Take the loop end of the mono and pull the hackle over the thorax, binding it down and clipping it just behind the eye.

Finish off the head and add two coats of lacquer. If everything goes well, the hackle fibers should all be above the hook. If not, they can be teased up with your fingers. Coloration and hook size will vary depending upon which species of mayfly is to be imitated.

There you have it, another option for tying dries that will appear naturally on the water surface Joe has enjoyed fly fishing for over 65 years.

His book, Fundamentals of Fly Fishing, is now available. He can be reached at: brewerberts@aol.com

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July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

After the Beaver Poachers

The following story was published in the Maine Sportsman in September 1902.

Wa r d e n D u rg i n ’s home is at The Forks, and he tells of a most exciting adventure which he had with beaver poachers, catching one of the two he was after, only to lose

Forks, and were on a poaching expedition. After leaving the last place they left their team and struck across through the woods on foot toward Dead River. They penetrated some 18 miles into the woods to Stoney Brook. Durgin secured a man named Will Forsyth as an aid and went hunt-

At Jackman Warden Durgin was told that Vigue had been heard from across the line in Canada and that with great gusto he was relating to his friends his adventures with the game warden. He said that three times the warden came near killing him; that one of the bullets passed through his shirt sleeve and twinged his arm a bit. him while he sought his companion. Had they been caught, no mercy would have been shown them, and as Warden Durgin has the evidence of their dirty work in his possession, it would be well for them to seek fresh fields and pastures new.

One day, Mr. Durgin got word that two men had come down the old Quebec road through Sandy Bay, Moose River, Jackman, Parlin Pond and West

ing after them. When they reached the brook they got sight of the two men about 100 yards away. The men did not see them approaching and they got within 50 yards of them before the Canadians knew what was up. Then the poachers seemed to be enraged.

One of them had a rifle, but before he could use it, Durgin was upon him and wrenched the weapon from him. The other saw there was trouble ahead and in a

Tactics

beating on them. The October season is after the rut and the bulls are tired. With enough calling you can get a response but don’t expect a bull to come charging in.

They don’t want to fight unless they are the dominant bull in the area, and will more than likely sneak in down wind if they come at all. If they are around any clear-cuts this season, they will most likely be the cuts hidden in the out of the way places. Still hunting and spot and stalk works better this season. Bull call-

(Cont. from pg 32) there is a big difference in the way you should hunt each season. The September season is the beginning of the rut, and the weather hasn’t started to cool very much. This is the season when calling works the best as the bulls are anxious to find a receptive cow.

Moose will be in cool wet areas this season, not out in the clear-cuts with the sun

flash he made a break for the woods. Durgin didn’t want him to get away, and yet he didn’t quite dare to shoot to kill; but he did fire several shots at the fleeing Frenchman, as he zigzagged his way into the woods and out of sight.

The other captured man was brought to The Forks, where he was left in the custody of Forsyth, while Durgin started up the Quebec Road by team for the purpose of trailing the one who got away. His search unavailing, however, and he returned Sunday, to The Forks only to find that the other fellow had escaped from his keeper and had disappeared.

While at Stony Brook the warden secured conclusive evidence that the men were trapping beaver, for he found five skins and four traps in the possession of the men. One beaver was found in a trap.

The first man who got away is said to be John Vigue and the other one’s name is William Roderick.

Both live across the line just beyond American territory. The story is that both are brothers named Joseph

Page 39

Old Tales from the Maine Woods

by Steve Pinkham Quincy, MA

and William Roderick, but the latter claimed that the former went by the name of John Vigue.

At Jackman Warden Durgin was told that Vigue had been heard from across the line in Canada and that with great gusto he was relating to his friends his adventures with the game warden. He said that three times the warden came near killing him; that one of the bullets passed through his shirt sleeve and twinged his arm a bit. He also said he got over Jackman Bridge by a clever ruse. He got into a dry goods box and had it placed on a tote team

that was going through to Sandy Bay, and passed the people around the bridge in perfect safety, no one suspecting that in this box was an escaped poacher thriving to home to Canada.

There are three or four beaver dams at Stoney Brook and the Frenchman would have been well repaid for their risk, had not Warden Durgin caught on to their game so soon.

Steve is an avid hiker, paddler and historian, having collected over 25,000 Maine Woods articles to date.

ing is also more effective this season as the bull are starting to bachelor up for the winter.

Well, I’m sure the summer will be short as usual and before we know it, deer season will once again be upon us. Until next month, Good luck on the trail!

Hal is a Master Maine Guide and Author. He lives in Moose River Maine with his wife Deb, Hal can be contacted at hal@bigwoodsbucks.com

Visit: www.MaineGuides.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 40

The Allagash AWW Superintendent, Matt LaRoche, ME Steve Day who most recently was the ranger in the Umsaskis/Long Lake District of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW) has taken a promotion as the new Park Manager at Roque Bluffs State Park. Steve will be greatly missed on the waterway

on the AWW. Once Steve settled into his new area, he became well-liked by the other AWW staff, local Game Wardens, Forest Rangers and landowner representatives. One of his greatest assets was his friendliness.

He almost always offered

July 2020

A Good Man Moves On

while he was in the waterway. The other rangers would often ask him for help when they needed advice with a building project.

Wherever Steve went his camera was right beside him. He loved to photograph wildlife and he had ample opportunity to do that in the waterway. He has taken many of the photos that have been used in my Northwoods Sporting Journal column and two

over the years. The rangers often refer to the bridge as “Cindy’s bridge!”

When the water warmed and the fishing slowed on the main stem of the waterway, she could be found paddling around Umsaskis and Long Lake fishing the tributary brooks

I’m gluten free, when she knew I was coming she would usually cook me something special. Don’t we all like feeling special!

Our loss is Rogue Bluffs gain. I’m sure Steve will have that place looking great in no time. He recently sent me a picture

Once Steve settled into his new area, he became well-liked by the other AWW staff, local Game Wardens, Forest Rangers and landowner representatives. One of his greatest assets was his friendliness.

by our regular visitors, the other rangers and me.

Steve had a distinguished 36-year career with the Maine Forest Service before retiring as the District Ranger in Greenville. After his retirement, he came to work for me on the Penobscot River Corridor as the ranger on the Lower West Branch. After I was promoted to Superintendent of the AWW, I convinced Steve to come to work on the waterway.

I knew he had the skills, abilities, and personality that would serve him well

a cup of coffee or tea and a goodie to anyone in the conservation world that stopped by his camp. When you have been in this business for a while you get to learn where all the good pitstops are! A visit at the Umsaskis ranger station was more than a place to get a cup of coffee- it was good fellowship with a seasoned woodsman and friend.

O n e o f S t e v e ’s strengths was his carpentry skills, especially finish work. I put him in charge of many building projects

of his photos were used on the cover of this magazine.

There is a link to some of his wildlife photography at: www.maine.gov/allagash Steve’s wife Cindy is an avid angler and spent many hours fishing under the bridge where the American Realty Road crosses the AWW. She arose many early mornings to fish under the bridge and put fresh native brook trout on the menu for breakfast. Cindy became quite renowned for her fishing under the bridge and she caught several brookies over 20 inches

Ranger Steve Day at an impressive fireplace.

(Photo by Steve Day) for those tasty little brookies found behind many a beaver dam.

Those goodies that went with that cup of coffee that were offered to a passing ranger or warden were usually cooked by Cindy.

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of a morning sunrise looking out over the Atlantic Ocean and another of deer feeding on the lawn at the manager’s house. A new job brings with it new excitement, new challenges and an opportunity to make new friends. These are two very nice people that care about others and take pride in their work- they will fit in fine wherever they go.

My guess is that Steve and Cindy will be eating Lobster instead of trout this summer!

AWW Notes: The celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the AWW being designated a National Wild and Scenic River planned for July 25th has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

We are asking that (Man cont. pg 41)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020

Tactics

(Cont. from pg 34) the smallmouth bass.

Fishing for big fish versus small fish can be very different in the whereabouts of the fish you are chasing. Understanding the time of year’s fish behavior, the food source and environmental conditions will directly impact the fishing success. In guiding, it’s very important to

know what someone wants or expects when fishing. A question that’s often ask to a sport is...are you wanting to chase big fish? or average to small fish? The answer will directly affect where on the water the fish are targeted. For instance, the behavior of bigger fish can be observed in colliding currents or undercuts as current pushes food to them. Smaller fish can be found in numbers some-

times in the middle of the river, chasing and feeding on any opportunity given to them.

No matter how you like to fish, there are many styles and techniques that can help your particular way you enjoy fishing. The important thing is to get out and enjoy the outdoors and pass along the tradition of fishing to our younger generation. Have fun and tight lines!

Man (Cont. from pg 40) AWW visitors preregister for payment of camping fees by calling North Maine Woods at least 48 hours prior to arriving in the waterway. Call 207435-6213 Monday – Friday, from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm to preregister for the AWW and NM Woods. See this link for more informa-

Page 41 tion about preregistration: https://www.northmainewoods.org/self-registrations/aww-registrationinformation.html Matt LaRoche is Superintendent of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, a Registered Maine Guide and an avid outdoorsman.

He can be reached at 207695-2169 or at matt.laroche@maine.gov

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Page 42

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Northwoods The Eddy:Place of Respite Sketchbook on the bottom and propels ing for a just enough slack my lap. The roar of the rapby Mark McCollough, Hampden, ME

All the signs of danger were there – the plunging horizon, the throaty, far-off hiss of the river, and the twist in the midst of my gut that warned, You don’t belong here. The time for turning back was minutes ago.

July 2020

cally, the bow slices into the eddy and the canoe arcs a pirouette upstream into calm waters. When done right, eddying out comes with great reward. If not, there are disastrous results.

Both the canoe and I breathe a sigh of relief

the canoe forward. If done improperly, my canoe will turn out of the eddy, but is caught in the fast water, and I am turned downstream.

One step forward and two steps back. When done correctly, my canoe slices forward with the grace of a salmon. With a series of long measured strokes of the pole, my canoe ascends

to allow the fly to do a jaunty and natural dance for a split-second on the swirling currents. That’s all it takes.

Done poorly, the fly line catches in the cross current and the Hornberg or Adams sweeps an unnatural line skittering across the eddy.

The fish is forever spooked.

These moments of reverie snap back into fo-

ids fills my ears. My canoe paddle desperately seeks a firm and guiding purchase in the frothy water…

They say this is a time of strange and unusual dreams. This is mine. We shelter in place and hang suspended in this unfamiliar vortex. Time is distorted on this unfamiliar and uncharted river. Little

Now comes that terrifying leap of faith when I turn the bow of the canoe ever so slightly out of the eddy and into the raging current. I take a deep breath.

This northern river is not yet sated with springtime rapine. Caught in her grasp, my canoe accelerates ever faster toward the brink and into unscouted waters. Paddle hard! It looks like river right is the safest bet. I am close enough now to see the dancing froth beyond the threshold of the cataract.

The river roars a haughty laugh, and the acrid smell of fear and tannin-churned water drowns my lungs.

For a split-second the bow hangs on the edge. There is just one last heartbeat to straighten the canoe before it slides down the rushing chute and the bow plows into the icy spume. My canoe is buried in haystack after haystack of bonechilling water that cascade over the bow.

I need an eddy to bail and reconnoiter. A large boulder looms ahead with promising shelter behind.

It’s now or never… Muscle memory takes over. The ribs of the canoe cut into my knees. Lean far right into the current, plant the paddle upstream, and pull with all my might. Magi-

in the tranquil waters. A slight twist of the paddle here, cross brace there, push forward, then hang motionless, magically suspended in the midst of the maelstrom. Bone-chilling water sloshes back and forth between my feet and knees. But now I can briefly rest, bail water by the milk carton-full, and reconnoiter the next steps in my journey over my shoulder.

Eddies are a series of welcome steps that canoeist uses to ascent or descend rapids. Each river and each rapids are different. Ideally, one “reads” the rapids and charts a patch before tackling the whitewater. Sometimes it is safer to line or portage the canoe in unfamiliar waters.

Poling upstream is a unique challenge darting from one eddy to the next.

Standing in the canoe with feet firmly braced against ribs and calves glued to thwarts, I slowly work the canoe to the head of the eddy. At the magic moment, the bow inches out into the oncoming current.

My pole clatters to find firm purchase in the rocks

Along the whitewater maelstrom, there is always an eddy to find rest and safety. (Ilustration by Mark McCollough) the quick water and slides like an otter into the shelter of the next eddy.

I am not the only creatures that knows the wisdom of resting in an eddy.

Below my canoe I see the swirling fins of a trout effortlessly suspended in the placid waters behind the boulder. Here the trout and salmon rest in a respite from seething waters.

Gathering their strength, they feast on a mayfly or two before darting upriver into the frothing unknown.

Unlike me, they can’t see what’s next in their journey be it endless cataracts or possibly the frustration of an impassible falls.

Fly fishermen knows that trout lie here in an eddy, but they are frustratingly difficult to fish. If I cast accurately, I reap the reward of a taught line.

Load the line in overhead arcs then shoot the cast.

Tap the rod just a tad hop-

cus. I have the remainder of this rapid to run. From over my shoulder it looks like a rough ride. But from this safe harbor I make a map in my mind of how I will get through this. There’s a smooth granite boulder with shelter on river left, a calm behind the ledge in the center, and a white pine sweeper on river right. I can’t see ‘round the bend, but the horizon looks level with the promise of smooth water ahead.

Now comes that terrifying leap of faith when I turn the bow of the canoe ever so slightly out of the eddy and into the raging current. I take a deep breath. My heart pounds.

The bow catches the rushing current. I brace my paddle one last time in the solid water of the eddy as the canoe violently sweeps downriver and into confused waters. Froth leaps over the gunwales and into

is certain. The path forward is uncharted and full of unseen hazards. We’ve learned there are some chances worth taking, and others not. Meanwhile, the trout ripples its fins lazily in the current and the osprey tips its wings on whispers of breeze above as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

We have gazed into the maelstrom. We had time to catch quick glimpses of the future over our shoulder.

We chart the next leg of our journey through cascading waters and boulders. There are raging waters ahead, but are assured that there are eddies along the way.

And, at least to me, from here the horizon line looks promising…

Mark McCollough weathers the pandemic from his home in Hamden, Maine. He can be reached at markmccollough25@ gmail.com

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 43

The Puppy’s Fear Period

A few years ago, my wife and I were hosting socialization day for our litter of puppies. The puppies were six weeks old.

I was walking about the yard checking on all the pups and their new human friends. I came up to perhaps a 10 year old young lady with a puppy on her lap and she was badly scolding the puppy

pies. The Fear Period is generally felt to be seven to twelve weeks of age.

This is most likely the most important period in a puppy’s life. Everything a puppy learns during the Fear Period is permanent.

Harsh treatment is a no-no.

Neither adults nor children should be allowed to scare the puppy. Introduction to older dogs is okay if the

ance. That’s why I had to stop the young lady from yelling and thumping our puppy. That behavior by the young lady could have led to long-term psychological problems.

So, should have the young lady let the puppy continue to bite her?

No, correction at this age should be done through distraction. Simply distract the puppy from interest in biting your fingers. A

On Point

by Paul Fuller, Durham, N.H. ing the Fear Period? Establishing you as the leader, establishing patterns in the household, teaching a puppy their name, potty training if not already done by the breeder, crate training, whoa training, riding in the car and collar and leash training are all training activities for the young pup.

because it teaches the puppy to run in front of you.

However, keep the path or trail work to a minimum.

You want a bold puppy that eventually plows right through thick cover in search of bird scent.

Don’t rush to introduce your puppy to birds or the gunshot. Six months or older is early enough.

That saying springs from what is often referred to as the Fear Period for puppies.

The Fear Period is generally felt to be seven to twelve weeks of age. This is most likely the most important period in a puppy’s life. toy is a good substitute.

The same rule applies to chewing.

Has puppy found your wife’s best pair of high heel shoes?

The author’s wife with some new pups.

Don’t yell at the puppy….distract with for biting. She was repeat- older canine is receptive. edly yelling a sharp “no” If you have young- something that is okay to and thumping the puppy sters in the house, puppy chew.

A puppy usually goes on the head with a finger. play is good during the I asked her to stop yelling Fear Period. However, to its new home during the and thumping the puppy on harsh treatment from any Fear Period. Recognizing the head. Her response was member of the family is that puppy training should “but you have to stop them not good. Harsh treatment begin as soon as the puppy immediately from doing at an early age can easily arrives at their new home, bad things.” lead to shyness and avoid- what should be taught durThe above situation is confusing to many people.

There is an old saying: A puppy can do no wrong.

That saying springs from what is often referred to One Price Includes Everybody on Board as the Fear Period for pup-

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You might ask what about here or come? A recall command is very important, however, it should come after the “whoa” command. If you teach recall first, it will become dominant over whoa.

Another activity which should take place as soon as your new puppy arrives is daily walks outside. Start with short grass and then gradually work up to taller grass and a little brush. A hunting dog needs to feel comfortable outdoors and in different terrains. Early on, running on a path or trail is okay

Early in this article I wrote a puppy can do no wrong. Yes he/she can, but it’s the owner that can do wrong with correction.

Correction for a young puppy is always a positive experience for the puppy; creating a harsh or negative experience can produce a permanent negative behavioral trait.

Paul Fuller is host and producer of Bird Dogs Afield TV. Past episodes can be seen at www.birddogsafield.com. Contact Paul: paul@birddogsafield.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 44

Maine Tails

By Jonah Paris, Scarborough, ME The predawn smell of Portland’s Waterfront: a melding of crisp sea air, stale cigarettes, diesel, and salted herring. Dad would park his gray Volvo station wagon at the bottom of India Street and remove two spinning rods, a green tackle box, an L.L.Bean life jacket, and a five gal-

Under a mauve sky, father and son would make their way down the sidewalk, turning left at the “Whaling Wall” mural, and continuing down the Maine State Pier. Once at the end, a long trek for short legs, Dad would secure a lure to my line - either a chrome Kastmaster or diamond

July 2020

Mackerel and Pancakes

begin to succumb to the July heat. Masked by a veil of thick smoke and the roar of diesel horsepower, offshore draggers and tuna boats steamed past, on track to the distant grounds of Platts, Georges, and beyond. Pigeons paced nervously along the pier to the whining chorus of gulls overhead, both characters contributing to the brisk energy that holds a New England waterfront dur-

We kept only a few for bait and one or two to be bled, gutted, pepper-coated, and grilled. The rest of the mackerel (and any other species) were released. To take more than what we would use was not allowed - and neither was fussing over my constantly tangled

Mackerel, Scomber scombrus, was my introduction to fishing and helped to establish my earliest conception of the Sportsman’s Ethic. For those raised inland, I suspect the sunfish, bass, bullhead, perch, or perhaps even brook trout, played a similarly pro-

Amber rays would stream into the harbor from the islands to the East. The haze, hanging lazily over the surface, would begin to succumb to the July heat. Masked by a veil of thick smoke and the roar of diesel horsepower, offshore draggers and tuna boats steamed past, on track to the distant grounds of Platts, Georges, and beyond. lon bucket from the back.

My fishing rod, found and purchased by my mother, was a diamond amid the monotony of porcelain teacups, saucers, yellowed Time magazines, and stone garden ornaments at some neighborhood yard sale.

The rod proudly served a dual purpose in its early years - “perch rod” (to be rigged with a Mepps spinner, Rapala, or nightcrawler and bobber) for the lake, and “mackerel rod” for the bay.

jig. Or sometimes, if the schools were already thick in the harbor, Dad would tie on a Christmas Tree Rig, consisting of a chain of four or five hooks, each with a brightly colored surgical tube covering the shank. Looking back, I sincerely apologize to anyone who wandered too close to my cast.

Amber rays would stream into the harbor from the islands to the East.

The haze, hanging lazily over the surface, would

ing the early hours. Seals bobbed clumsily among the channel markers like greasy gray corks, and schools of juvenile herring flickered among the pilings below our feet. And, to the delight of a sandy-haired boy, the mackerel would bite.

Most mornings Dad and I would have had no problem filling our bucket with mackerel, along with the occasional harbor pollock, snapper blue, or sea smelt - but we never did.

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The author and a mackerel. Portland, ME. Circa 2000 found role. Whether we line.

The only force that pursued our finned quarry could interrupt me from with worm and bobber, hot my favorite summer pas- dog and split shot, fly, jig, times - catching frogs and spinner, or spoon - we cherturtles at the pond, digging ish those early adventures for worms under mom’s that grounded our angling tomato plants, and fishing roots, bolstered the outdoor - was a rumbling stomach. heritage, and ignited a lifeBut Dad had this part cov- long passion.

My summer mackerel ered too with a short ride down Commercial Street. fishing jaunts have evolved A pancake breakfast at to the pursuit of other speBecky’s Diner on Hobson’s cies: trout and salmon, Wharf religiously followed bass and pike, stripers and groundfish, and sharks and our mackerel excursions.

Like countless gen- tuna. My yard sale rod is erations of coastal Maine long gone, the victim to a youngsters before me - slammed car door. The frog from Kittery, to Harpswell, pond has dried up and mom to Rockland, to Vinalhav- no longer plants tomatoes. en, to Lubec, the Atlantic (Mackerel cont. pg 45)

July 2020

Mackerel (Cont. from pg 44) Portland’s Waterfront has lost much of its old soul to development. My once extensive Kastmaster collection is rusting away at the bottom of Casco Bay, and except for our annual winter trip to the Merrymeeting Bay smelt camps, Dad doesn’t fish much anymore.

But I made a promise to myself that I aim to keep.

Some hazy summer morning, I’ll call up Dad, dig into the old green tackle

Northwoods Sporting Journal box for some forgotten rig and a few rusty diamond jigs, and we’ll each make our way down to the “Portland Pier.” Maybe we’ll cast a line, or maybe we’ll just chat in the comfort of an old spot. … Will the bluefish show this season? Remember when we doubled up on 12 pounders under the BIW bridge in ‘07? Fluorescent orange Storm Big Macs were always the ticket, weren’t they? Should we plan to meet up at camp Labor Day Weekend for some trout fishing on the ponds? Did the backyard

does all drop twins again this spring? How are the grouse numbers behind the barn? Has the family of hares moved back into the swamp? Will this be the year we finally build the “Paris Smelt Shack?” … However, one thing remains certain. The pancake breakfast of twenty years ago will be replaced with a celebratory toast: “To the humble mackerel and what

Page 45

son outdoorsman, Jonah lives in Scarborough, ME Jonah Paris is pursu- with his girlfriend, Ashley, ing a master’s degree in and beagle, Aurora. Jonah Teaching from The Univer- can be reached at ​jonasity of Maine. A four-sea- heparis@gmail.com​ it began!”

Have a Safe & Happy 4th Of July!

Carroll’s Corner Dry Fly (or other tactics)

July is here and changes have come to some of the insect hatches that we typically see at given times of the season. The Hex hatches, perhaps the most exciting hatches of the entire year are gone now for much of Maine. Caddis hatches, which are probably my favorite, are still thriving. Many Caddis hatches will let you get by with the standard light brown Elk Hair Caddis. However, in the area of the Kennebec River, below Shawmut dam, just above Fairfield, there often is a terrific hatch of black, Tent-Wing Caddis flies. If you don’t match that hatch very closely, it will be a long evening.

The first common-sense rule about “matching the hatch” is to simply stop and look around. Take the time to see what is hatching, what color the adults insects are, and how big they are. Look to see if the fish are taking the emerging insect from the top of the water, or are they rolling just under the surface? My approach has always been that for every ten trout that you see sipping the adult insect at the surface, there are many times that many eating the nymphs and emergers as they make their way to the surface. If I am having trouble getting the fish on the surface to take my dry fly, I will change from a dry to the appropriate nymph and fish sub-surface. A bead-head nymph (a Prince is my favorite here) works well because the bead-head brings the nymph out of the surface film and down to where the fish are feeding. If I am not contacting fish that I see feeding on the surface, I’ll add a length of tippet, with a nymph at the end, and tie this tippet to the bend of the dry fly hook. This allows the dry fly to become what is called a strike indicator. You are drifting the dry and the nymph suspended below, with the current. The dry stops suddenly, meaning either that you’ve contacted bottom or a fish is on. Lift that rod tip gently! Fishing with nymphs in shallow, moving water can be frustrating because you are trying to get the nymph near the bottom without getting snagged. Here’s a tip that I love to use and is very easy to rig and fish. Before I add anything else to my tippet, I attach a split-shot of an appropriate size, right at the end of my tippet. Next, as far above the split-shot as I want my fly to be off the bottom, I tie in a simple dropper loop and add a piece of tippet ten or twelve inches long, with my nymph at the end. I fish this rig with a strike indicator, but guessing where the indicator needs to be positioned depends on water depth. The beauty of this rig is that once you made your cast, your indicator floats along and hopefully you’ll see it stop, indicating that a fish has eaten the nymph. However, if the indicator stopped because the split-shot is snagged on the bottom, just pull gently and either it comes loose or the split-shot slides off the end of the tippet. Just bring it in and add another split-shot at the end. I can promise you that you’ll lose far fewer nymphs using this set-up.

Last but not least, imagine that you are casting dry flies to fish that are feeding but you can’t get a rise. When this happens to me, I rarely make more than a dozen casts without a rise and then I change flies (Imagine that Lila says that I am impatient?). If this goes on long enough, I’ll open one of my fly boxes, and pick out a fly that I think would absolutely be the last fly that any self-respecting trout would eat. I’ll add the fly to my tippet and three or four times out of ten, I get a rise! My theory behind this is that by showing them something that is completely unlike what they are feeding on, the fact that it is entirely different gets me a rise, maybe out of curiosity?

Carroll M. Ware is a Master Maine Guide, holder of forty-eight world fly-fishing records and a two-time Maine Professional fly-casting champion.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 46

New Hampshire Outdoors

by Peter St. James, Warner, N.H. These days, there’s no way you can talk about the outdoors without including some reference to COVID-19. Just because you haven’t contracted it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t impacted us in one way or another. And, it sounds it will continue to be with us for some time. On a brighter note however, I understand that fishing license sales in the state have been increasing. That’s good because the Rooms and Meals taxes and Business Profits taxes have tanked. It’ll be a while before we find our way out this situation.

For years, we have encouraged folks to join us in the outdoors to enjoy what we experience everyday. Well, due in part to the

pandemic, they’re coming and some are woefully prepared to do so. Last month, two hikers had to be rescued in Franconia Notch.

They were descending a trail when they decided they couldn’t make it out by dark. Lacking a headlamp, they checked a mapping app on their cell phone and found that they were only about eight tenths of a mile from the highway if they went straight through the woods, off the trail.

But, they didn’t take into account that in those eight tenths of a mile the topography descended 2,500 feet! A few lessons to take away from this…ALWAYS bring gear that you may or may not use, understand that technology is not al-

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July 2020

Time for Doe Permit Lottery in NH

ways the be all-end all, and learn how to read a map.

Once again, permits for taking an additional antlerless deer in Wildlife Management Unit L, will be held via an online lottery. The application period will open on July

Fish and Game headquarters). There is not an option of buying one tag. Permits are sold on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last and you must have a current New Hampshire hunting or archery license to apply.

Dam the water flow was 300cfs with a water temperature of 45F. The Trophy Stretch was running at 155cfs with a temperature of 53F. A few miles south in Colebrook, the water temperature was 60F! A Beaded Hare’s Ear SH with

Once again, permits for taking an additional antlerless deer in Wildlife Management Unit L, will be held via an online lottery. The application period will open on July 8th at 9:00 a.m. and will be administered ONLINE ONLY at nhfishandgame.com. The application period will close on July 21st at midnight.

8th at 9:00 a.m. and will be administered ONLINE ONLY at nhfishandgame. com The application period will close on July 21st at midnight. On August 5th applicants will be randomly drawn and notified through email if they were or were not selected. There will 2,000 Unit L permits available. An antlerless deer may be taken during the entire Unit L season with this permit. You can use this permit during the archery, muzzleloader, or firearms seasons.

Unit M-Antlerless only permits will be available on July 22nd starting at 9:00 a.m.. Each permit comes with two deer tags; the cost is $36, plus a transaction fee ($3 online, $2 at

Speaking of permits, it looks like I managed to grab another elk tag in New Mexico for this fall. I was lucky because the prices for the tags have been going up because outfitters have been swooping in and paying landowners top dollar for them. Sadly, that’ll price some folks out of the hunting market.

I don’t ever want to see hunting and fishing become things that only people with money can pursue. But for some species and some locations, it seems like it’s already there.

Fishing in the Connecticut River in Pittsburg got off to a slow start this spring but started coming around in the past few weeks. Below Murphy

a #20 BWO nymph dropper resulted in a nice 2-2.5 pound Brown Trout.

With social distancing, masks, protests and general uncertainty, the woods and the water are great places for clarity. But, then I suppose it’s always been that way through history. We’re just the latest generation to figure that out.

Peter St. James, host of the award-winning NH Wake-Up Show on 107.7FM in Concord, is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association, Outdoor Writers Association of America and is a licensed NH Fishing Guide. Reach him at : stjames.peter@gmail.com

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Wet Weather Campfires

My friend and I weren’t hiking the Appalachian Trail that cold, wet day, but our activities had left us in the vicinity of one of the open shelters, so we decided to spend the night there. When we arrived we

found a hiker sitting on the platform eating something out of a plastic bag and looking cold and unhappy.

We greeted our companionfor-the-night, and then hurried around gathering what we needed to get a fire going to warm us and to prepare our evening meal.

As we touched a match to the freshly gathered birch bark and dry kindling the hiker looked in surprise at the bright blaze and remarked, “Do, you guys carry kerosene with you?”

Later that evening we learned that this fellow had been on the trail for almost four months in his trek from Georgia to Maine, and that this was only the third campfire he had enjoyed.

Building a campfire in dry weather is a cinch; anybody with a match or lighter can do it. The challenge comes when the woods are soaked and the rain continues. To enjoy the warmth and cheer of a good campfire on a cold rainy night requires a few basic tools that should be a part of every camper’s duffle. They are, a lighter and/or waterproof matches, a tarp to shelter you and the fire, a small saw to cut your wood to length, and a lightweight ax (not a hatchet)

for splitting. My favorite fire starter is birch bark, which can be found nearly everywhere in the Maine woods. It works wet or dry.

However, birches around campsites are nearly always stripped of available

bark, so I always have a small bag of it tucked away in my gear. I gather it occasionally in areas away from regular human use. Peeling off loose bark by hand does no harm to the tree. Do not use a knife, however.

There are a variety of commercially available fire starters which also work well and take up less space than the bulky birch bark. At the end of a cold, wet day of Allagash canoeing my party was pitching camp, preparing for a wet night. As we stretched my nylon tarp over the table and fireplace, one of my guests, who had done some camping on his own, said, “I guess we won’t have a fire tonight”. I said, “come with me”. We picked up my saw and ax and headed for the woods. In a few minutes we were back in camp with a couple of firs which were standing-dead a hun-

dred yards or so behind the campsite. Soon others in the party joined in and helped cut the four or five inch diameter trees into one foot lengths, and while they worked with the saw I took my ax and started splitting up the rain soaked pieces.

Inside, the wood was as dry as a bone and I soon had a pile of dry kindling varying from pencil size on up to an inch or so in thickness. The wet, outer pieces of wood

Page 47

Northwoods Voyager

by Gil Gilpatrick, Skowhegan, ME source of dry wood, especially for canoe campers, is driftwood. It can be picked up along the way and cut to length when the campsite for the night is reached.

Driftwood piles are most often found at river bends and the upstream end of islands. Here is one of the

you burn it. The same is true for the wet-weather camper and sitting there, warm and dry, enjoying the evening fire, there is the additional satisfaction of having met the challenge.

Gil Gilpatrick is a Master Maine Guide, and

Later that evening we learned that this fellow had been on the trail for almost four months in his trek from Georgia to Maine, and that this was only the third campfire he had enjoyed. Building a campfire in dry weather is a cinch; anybody with a match or lighter can do it. were set aside to use after we had a good blaze going.

By the time the fir trees were cut into foot-long pieces I had a blaze going and morale had improved 200%. From the comfort of our tarp-covered fire they relaxed and enjoyed the rain, knowing that they had a part in creating the tiny island of dry warmth.

In campsites that are used frequently dry wood is conspicuous by its absence.

The area will have been picked clean. However, there seems to be a point beyond which campers will not travel to find wood.

That point is about 100 yards and beyond that there is wood a-plenty. Just go a little farther than you think you should. Another good

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few places where dry hardwood can be found and it can be readily identified by its weight. Again, choose wood that is off the ground away from dampness, and like the standing dead trees, even wood that has been soaked with rain will be dry inside - just split it out.

An old saying by Mainers who heat their homes with wood is that wood warms you twice; first while you cut and handle it and second when

is the first living recipient of the Legendary Maine Guide award. He is a life member of the Maine Professional Guides Association, a founding member of the Maine Wilderness Guides Organization, and served as a member of the Advisory Board for the Licensing of Guides from 1996 to 2010. He is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and is the author of a number of books.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 48

THE BACK SHELF

From the files of the Northwoods Sporting Journal The best hunting and fishing columns going back 25 years

by Gifford M. Stevens Simmering, I handed the rod over to the onearmed man. “Go ahead, old codger,” I said to myself, “show me something.”

T h e n u m b e r t w e l v e WhiteWulff fluttered in the air and settled as milk down on the center riffle of Landing Pool. Grandfather’s amber Edwards’ Quadrate was poised.

Three feet of mended drift brought the expected result, an explosion of foam and a distended tear-shaped eddy. Again the fish had struck. Grandfather reeled in, exhaling.

“Well, that’s it for today. He strikes once.. .doesn’t really take the fly.

It’s a big fish, Gif, but I don’t think he’ll stay here much longer; everyday for

a week now he’s hit in the same lie a White Wulff.”

In 1957 I was thirteen, a barely weaned fly fisherman for three years. Under

The Phantom Salmon

couldn’t hook the fish and when the phantom would, as elusively as it appeared each day for a White Wulff, vanish like a ghost in a fog.

As we crossed the green single-spanned bridge over the Magalloway, I looked downstream at the Landing Pool. The river here was wide, maybe thirty yards and riffly. On the right bank from which we fished was the crib work where trucks would back up and loggers would chuck pulp into the river, a flotilla headed for the Brown Co. in Berlin, N. H. About twenty yards from

on a starless night to any spot on this river and he could tell you by its sound where you were and where the big fish would be.. yep, and he has no liking for outsiders, flat landers he calls them. Why once he came upon a New Jersey fisherman who was wading in the river. When the fisherman saw Bill’s guide patch he asked for directions to the Gravel Bank Pool. Bill told him the information would cost five dollars. The outsider thought the price was steep, but paid it nevertheless. “0.

K.,” the Jersey fisherman

glided out thirty feet. the fly flicking off water at the end of the nine foot tapered leader.

“Is that as far as you can cast, sonny?”

“Huh?” “You don’t know how to cast much; let me show you.”

Simmering, I handed the rod over to the onearmed man. “Go ahead, old codger,” I said to myself, “show me something.”

Four or five false casts later my fly hit the grass on the other side of the river.

Mr. Bryant’s casting was flawless. How he managed

“Well, besides being cantankerous, he knows these woods and waters better than anyone. You could take him blindfolded on a starless night to any spot on this river and he could tell you by its sound where you were and where the big fish would be.. yep, and he has no liking for outsiders, flat landers he calls them.

Grandfather’s tutelage I learned to cast as his father had taught him: “Think of a clock.. keep your arm tucked in.” As yet I had not caught a keeper salmon and my trout successes were ample but dollar lengthed.

So I wanted to try for what Gramp called the “phantom salmon,” but he wisely said I was not ready. I wondered, though, why he

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the crib a gigantic boulder punctuated the riffle creating a downstream V. The phantom resided twelve feet or so off the boulder towards the crib side of the river.

Then I noticed him.

He was a lean man with a walnut creased and colored face. He had a khaki Army shirt on, a felt crusher hat, and green woolen pants.

His right sleeve was pinned up, a phantom salute.

“Who’s that, Gramp?”

“That’s Bill Bryant, a famous Magalloway guide.”

“What happened to his arm?”

“Lost it, I think, in W. W. I. “What makes him famous?”

“Well, besides being cantankerous, he knows these woods and waters better than anyone. You could take him blindfolded

asked, “where’s the pool?”

Bill replied, “You’re standing in it.”

“Wasn’t the guy angry, Gramp?”

“Not for long; not after he found out it was Bill Bryant. Bill’s reputation always preceded him.”

The next week’s catch at the Landing Pool included two six inch trout and three large river fall fish.

The phantom was gone as far as we knew. Perhaps it had tired of tantalizing us.

I was fishing now in Gramp’s spot; I would not be challenged by the silvery leviathan. I had an observer, though. Up on the bridge looking down at me was Bill Bryant. He walked slowly, crossed the wire guardrail, descended the grassy slope, and sauntered up to my left side. I worked my seven and one-half foot L.L. Bean glass rod as well as I could. The H-C-H line

his chin, teeth, and arm to this day is a mystery to me.

It seemed the line, leader, and fly had such an aversion to his gruffness that by their own volition they left the rod as easy as a final exhalation.

“There, sonny, that’s how. Now, let me see your wet flies.”

I reeled in, tucked the rod under my arm, and pulled out a fleece wallet where I kept streamers and wets.

“Huh! You don’t have the right ones, but this number fourteen Professor might work if you’re up to casting twelve more feet to the fording rock.”

“What fording rock?”

“That one out there; the only one exposed hereabouts. We called it that before the bridge. Wagons could cross the river here safely when that was ex(Backshelf cont. pg 51)

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Best Books for New England Brookies What will July bring?

That is the big question as I write this the third week of May. Vermont now has the lowest coronavirus growth rate in the country. If that continues, state and federal

distance apart.

No matter if everything is open, COVID-19 will remain a threat to all, and especially those of us over 70 will need to remain vigilant.

of valuable information.

Although this is a Vermont column, we share a long border with New Hampshire and many of us hunt and fish in both states. Steve Angers’ new book, Fly Fishing New Hampshire’s Secret Waters, is an ode to wild brook trout. After reading it this winter, I came up with a

Page 49

Outdoors In Vermont

by Gary W. Moore, Bradford, VT for field exploration.

When it is hot and fishing is slow in the lakes and ponds, I head for the Connecticut, New England’s longest river. The big river offers excellent

and you will likely catch fish. Even on the hottest day there is apt to be a breeze on the big river that will make the heat tolerable.

Two friends in a canoe May I suggest three books that can lead or boat can still maintain the recommenced distancyou to good trout fishing and a chance ing if that is still necessary. to avoid crowds.

We will all need to be outlist of waters I will fish, fishing and a greater va- side enjoying nature and many of which I had never riety of species than any getting some exercise. other body of water in New thought of.

Syndicated columnist F l y F i s h i n g N e w Hampshire or Vermont.

Gary W. Moore is a life This great river is now Hampshire’s Secret Waters is published by The History very clean and provides long resident of Vermont Press, www.arcadiapub- many fishing opportuni- and a former Commisties from the strictly trout sioner of Fish and Game. lishing.com If you are lucky, you waters in the north to the He may be reached by emay find a copy of North- warm water fishery in the mail at gwmoore1946@ ern Cartographic’s Ver- south. Year after year the myfairpoint.net or at Box mont Trout Streams at a New Hampshire and Ver- 454, Bradford, VT 05033. used bookstore or via a mont annual records for His latest book, Four Seaweb search. Buy it if you several species of fish are sons in Vermont, can be purchased at local stores can. Published in 1985, it taken from the river.

The section of the or ordered online at www. is still a great resource and river that forms the bound- bondcliffbooks.com on one I use frequently.

Lyndonville angler Norman Paquette with I recommend that an- ary between Vermont and Amazon at www.amazon. nice brown trout taken from the Fifteen Mile glers in search of mountain New Hampshire is about com A signed copy can be Falls section of the Connecticut River. trout streams use Delo- 235 miles long and is the ordered by sending $17.95 (Photo by Jake Paquette) rme’s Vermont Atlas & segment I fish the most. to cover postage and hanlands will be open for recI have written many Gazetteer for the basic No matter how hot the day dling to the author at the reating but not all facilities. times about my love of research and then turn to is you can usually find cool above address.

Campgrounds, lodges and remote trout ponds and U.S.G.S. topographic maps comfort on the Connecticut copyright 2020 Gary W. Moore rental cottages will be tak- small mountain brooks. I ing guests but with some can’t think of a better way At long last, revived from the archives of the once-authoritative books on New limitations. What happens to get some exercise, stay England streamer flies and how to use them: Trolling Flies for Trout & with the pandemic in the safe and enjoy fishing.

Salmon, by Dick Stewart and Bob Leeman. next two months will have May I suggest three Trolling Flies for Trout and Salmon was first published in 1982 and again in a lot to do with what sports- books that can lead you 1992. There were 350 signed Limited Edition hardcover copies and several men will be able to do. to good trout fishing and thousand hard and soft cover copies sold out with the two printings. Many fly tyers view this book as an up-to-date version of new and available streamer fly One thing I am sure a chance to avoid crowds. patterns and crave to have it in their library. Used copies have been selling on AmazonBooks.com for the last few years with a price tag up to $300.00 for of is that we will be able Ve r m o n t T r o u t each copy! There are 125 pages with 32 color plates of more than 90 classic streamer flies and tying recipes from a Winnipesaukee Smelt to a Barney Google to fish even if we are re- Streams, A Fly Angler’s and a Rangeley Centennial. Leeman and Stewart also share with readers many quired to maintain physi- Guide to the Best by Bob tips and tactics for trolling streamer flies for trout and salmon throughout New England. cal distancing. Note I said Sherman and Peter Shea “This wonderful fishing book is the gospel when it comes to physical, not social. It is is my go to guide for Verstreamer flies and trolling tactics. A Classic! important that we have mont. Published by Wind - V. Paul Reynolds, Editor, Northwoods Sporting Journal $21.95 human contact even if it is Knot Publishing, www.

Send a check for $2 .95 SRVWDJH along with this ad, to: Bob by phone, email, zoom or windknotpublishing.com Leeman, 22 Alan-A-Dale Rd., Brewer, ME 04412. (Price covers shipping and handling). leaning on opposite sides divides the state in to waMaine Outdoor Publications of a pickup, keeping a safe tersheds and provides a lot

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 50

Vermont Ramblings

by Dennis Jensen, Vermont

Cruising along on my mountain bike, I often find my legs working and my mind wandering.

I have to finish bucking up those five huge ash trees that were dropped, back in 2019, right before

those plans.

But if it is memories that will have to keep me looking forward to the summer of 2021, then those will have to do. And those memories run deep for I have been vacationing in

July 2020

Gonna Miss Those Stripers

weighted down with two 10-foot surf rods, two medal rod holders, a backpack with gear and plenty of water and a little cooler to hold my bait.

A headlamp led me along the beach and then to that spot where the little creek runs into Saco Bay. I was running a little late that night and, when I got to the creek, there was little cur-

Holding the rod in my hand, I step over and quickly lift the second rod from the holder with my left arm and set that hook. He fights back and it feels like this one might even be bigger. What to do? I place it back in the rod holder. I have this guy hooked so let’s focus on striper No. 2. the surgery on my left shoulder. The roof on the wood shed is leaking. That will have to be repaired sometime this month.

I also find myself daydreaming about outdoor stuff and the one thing that keeps popping into my head are summer stripers.

I’d love to say that I’ll be back in Maine in July and again in August, but it looks like this vicious virus has thrown a wrench into

Maine for 30 years and have fished along its coast for more than 25 of those years.

And, oh, the memories of those past days, or should I say those past nights because for some 20 years I almost fished exclusively during the hours of darkness.

I can recall the nights when, after checking the tides, I would set out, say, at a little past 1 a.m.,

rent for the tide was coming in. I stepped in, holding the rods high and began to make my way. But just as I approached the shore, the water took me nearly to above the shoulders and I prepared to drop the bait bucket but never let go of those two costly rods and reels.

Anyway, I finally made it to shore and, after climbing up the steep banks of sand, I collapsed,

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The author holds up a striper, caught at night, on a Maine coastal beach. exhausted. Maybe 10 minThe striper takes out utes later, I had both lines some line, my drag only baited with clams and out loose enough to let him and had settled in on the run a bit, and contemplate bait bucket as a rest for my a plan to start reeling him in tired butt. when something, off to my On many nights, there left, catches my attention: is sufficient light to clearly The other rod tip is going see the tips of both rods, hard, in the direction of one set off to my right, the Europe. other to my left. But on Holding the rod in this dark and calm night, I my hand, I step over and had to go with glow-lights, quickly lift the second rod affixed to the tips of both from the holder with my rods. So now, I shift my left arm and set that hook. eyes left, then right, look- He fights back and it feels ing for that tiny, blazing like this one might even be green blur that tells me a bigger. What to do? I place fish has taken the bait. it back in the rod holder. I We’re about 25 min- have this guy hooked so utes before high tide now let’s focus on striper No. 2. and still not a single hit.

Anyway, long story Then, maybe five minutes short, I fought the second later, the rod on my right is striper hard, brought him bouncing green in a furious in and took out the tape. way. I jump from the bait Yes, he is a legal keeper. bucket, pull the rod out of He will go on the grill later the rod holder and set the that day. I then reel in the hook. It is a good fish.

(Striper cont. pg 51)

July 2020

Backshelf (Cont. from pg 48) posed six or so inches. Now you want to cast a foot or two into the eddy behind the rock, lower the rod tip, and let the fly drift downstream. Don’t move the fly.

When it reaches the end of the drift, twitch it in slowly.

And be ready.”

Damn but I tried. Six casts and I was still short by two feet. This is it I thought. I can’t let a onearmed man show me up, and I’m not going to allow his sarcasm to beat me. My final cast was part skill and will. My body quivered with the line’s release, and the fly hit the water just where he told me it should.

But what about other instructions?

“Don’t move that fly!” he exhorted.

As the fly drifted below me, Gramp came into my line of sight some forty yards downstream.

“Now! Twitch the fly!”

What happened next I’ve replayed for years.

The water erupted at my fly’s location and simultaneously a jolt hit my wrist as the rod doubled. Gramp looked up at the sound of my yelling and the whining aluminum reel. The phantom salmon slashed downstream, porpoising twice.

Then the tippet broke.

“I told you so, sonny.

Too bad. That was a big fish, six or seven pounds.

Ah, well,” he said patting my back, “life’s lessons.”

Mr. Bryant walked up the hill, across the bridge to his car, and out of my life forever. I never saw him again, but he, my grandfather, and those other Magalloway guides whom I knew are now the phantoms who fish with me

Northwoods Sporting Journal and teach me the lessons learned on the Magalloway many years ago in the shadows of Aziscoos Mountain.

Gifford Stevens, a retired high school teacher and craftsman, is a resident of Bradley. His story is an entry in the Northwoods Sporting Journal canoe contest.

Striper (Cont. from pg 50) second bass and he too is a keeper but, of course, must go back home because of the one-fish daily limit.

I could be wrong but, over those 25 years of striper fishing on the grand Maine coast, mostly below

Old Orchard Beach and Saco, I think I only recall two or three occasions when I had fish on both lines.

So I have memories to hold on to, for the time being, until the day comes when I can again grab my gear, head out in the dark of night and go forth for the greatest game fish I have ever had the good fortune

Page 51 to pursue.

Dennis Jensen is the outdoor editor of the Rutland Herald and Barre Times Argus in Vermont, a freelance writer and a longtime member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association. He can be reached at d.jensen62@yahoo.com

Page 52

Green Mountain Report

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Vermont Master Angler Program

by Bradley Carleton, Charlotte, VT We are all adjusting to this crazy new lifestyle.

The pandemic – whether you accept it or not – has altered our daily reality like no other event since 9/11 or WWII. It has changed the entire social landscape.

Fortunately, it has still not touched the natural world.

It is that that will ultimately lead us to a greater appreciation of all things –

day on this rock - for tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters who did not live to see it – we are blessed.

And for me nothing is more meaningful than to share this wonderment with you, my readers. Let us never forget those we have lost and live each day to its fullest in their honor. For you my dear readers, I am eternally grateful that you

The Vermont Master Angler Program recognizes the achievements of anglers who catch trophy-sized fish from Vermont waters…

plants, animals, fresh air, sunshine and the smell of the lake waking up after a long winter’s nap. We may feel a newly invigorated sense of our place in the natural world. What some of us had begun to take for granted, we suddenly find ourselves deeply grateful.

There will never be anything more beautiful than a mountain brook trout on a fly or discovering a new patch of wild asparagus.

The sunsets will have new meaning and so will the sunrises. To have been granted another blessed

read my column and hope that when you feel that tug on the end of your line this summer, you take a moment to thank whatever it is you believe in and know that I share your fascination.

One change that has dramatically affected our appreciation of the traditional sports is the way that the VT F&W has modified its events to carry on with its mission. Witness: Electronic Deer Hearings were held on May 11 and 12 via Zoom video chats. Here is what was discussed: The

department urged members of the public to review information by going to https://vtfishandwildlife. com/deer-moose-hearings The event included a video presentation from Fish and Wildlife’s deer biologist Nick Fortin on the antlerless harvest and youth season recommendation as well as information that would normally be provided at the in-person public hearings. “The winter of 2020 was relatively easy for deer throughout Vermont,” said Fortin. “However, lingering effects of the more severe winter of 2019 will result in minimal population growth in most areas. Importantly, deer populations in several wildlife management units (WMUs) will continue to be above established population objectives and we are increasingly concerned about declining physical condition of deer in many areas.” “New deer hunting regulations that take effect this year will help to increase antlerless harvests in the areas where it is most needed. The total recommended permit allocation is the same as in 2019,

although the distribution of those permits is different, and more antlerless deer are expected to be harvested. The recommendation includes that antlerless

July 2020

“trophy sized” benchmarks for 33 eligible fish species. While these trophysized fish are a challenge to catch, they are attainable for anglers that develop

Pam Wooster of Burlington, Vermont with her grandson, Hunter. deer may be taken in the archery, youth and novice seasons statewide.”

The VT F&W has released the Vermont Master Angler Program 2019 Annual Report with 726 entries and 49 Master Angler Award recipients. The Vermont Master Angler Program recognizes the achievements of anglers who catch trophy-sized fish from Vermont waters and celebrates the clean water and healthy habitats that allow these fish to survive and grow to exceptional sizes. The Vermont Master Angler program is a lengthbased program that sets

the necessary knowledge and skills. Anglers catching a fish exceeding the minimum qualifying length in any of the 33 species categories receive a certificate commemorating their catch. Their names and catches are also included in the Vermont Master Angler Annual Report posted annually on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife website. Anglers demonstrating the skill necessary to catch multiple species that all exceed the minimum qualifying lengths in the same calendar year are recognized as “Vermont (Program cont. pg 53)

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Phenomenal Fishing

Fishing in the Moosehead Lake Region is an other world experience. Just ask anyone who lives here, or who’s fished here. There are thousands of acres of fresh, cold, remote water that feeds into Moosehead Lake. This

as never been seen before in recorded history. A tip of the hat has to be given to IF&W Regional Fisheries Biologist Tim Obrey and crew for that.

Finding a quiet stretch of water, in one of the most beautiful places in the

debate on every social media platform and on every news cycle imaginable.

This constant noise can’t be good for the human spirit. Turning it off, in the care of the great outdoors will no doubt give much needed balm.

Page 53

Kineo Currents

by Suzanne AuClair, Rockwood, ME salmon, is a jewel. The river is wide. The trees tall.

The water awe inspiring.

You’ll see some drift boats and a few people wading the river, especially up near the dam. It is one of the most known and used places, right off of Rt. 15

just isn’t normal! It’s a magic time on the lake for fishing. There or elsewhere, most of the time we’ve caught fish in just about any weather. There are many adventures to be had, and this summer they are there for the taking.

This constant noise can’t be good for the human spirit. Turning it off, in the care of the great outdoors will no doubt give much needed balm. on the west side of the lake On another note, between Greenville and while out fishing, you nevRockwood, but without er know what you’ll see in question, it is still a grand the still of a day. The other place to fish. morning a young bear, on There are many, many the move, crossed not far other places throughout from me. the region. Fly-fishing, or catch and release, isn’t Suzanne AuClair lives the only gig. I also like in Rockwood. She has been worm-fishing, catching a writing about the MoosehSquare tails for the frying pan. day’s limit off in a back ead Lake Region for 25 place somewhere and eat- years and produced “The So if you’re traveling ing them. The monster Origins, Formation & Hismakes it wild trout country, world, will be just the ticket and open air country. Once for soothing the frayed up, and only have a few brook trout coming out tory of Maine’s Inland Fisyou leave Greenville, you nerves permeating this days, even places close to of Moosehead Lake are heries Division.” She is an are off the beaten track, oddball summer. It will Greenville, like the East impressive to look at, but I award-winning member of and most anywhere, you only be mentioned once Outlet, a popular fly-fish- prefer the traditional catch the New England Outdoor will find a calm that you here in my column, be- ing place for landlocked of little brookies. The other Writers Assn. can’t find most anywhere cause I don’t want to add to else. Most of the ponds, the hysteria, but also never Lawrence’s streams, and rivers have before in history has a virus Lakeside Cabins ROCKWOOD/MOOSEHEAD trout. The secret is out pandemic itself gone tech & Guide Service now, too, about Mooseh- viral, pasted across a 24 ead Lake itself, where the hour-a-day, seven-days-atrout are phenomenal, such week tumble of constant

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July 2020

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 55

Candidates Hiding Behind Covid 19 As we barrel along toward one of the most important elections of our times, the Coronavirus has this nation in chaos. Our economy ran into a brick wall, over 13 percent of the population is now unemployed, and candidates running for office are arguing over who should wear a

single detail of the Coronavirus and appear to have little interest in educating voters on the candidates’ positions on issues.

We’ve got only about four months until the general election and, for example, I have no idea how Speaker Gideon or Joe Biden would vote on issues

mean for you and me?

Answer – there would no longer be a need to send our children and other loved ones into harm’s way in the Middle East to protect our oil interests. To understand the magnitude of that single issue, according to the BBC, about half-million people died in Iraq as a

In a few short months our entire nation is going to be under new leadership. Don’t be fooled by candidates who seek the shadows by hiding their positions on issues and riding the wave. Educate yourself and be an informed voter. mask and how many people should be allowed in the local Walmart.

That is not to downplay the effects of the virus, because, for anyone infected, the disease is real. Those realities should not be understated or dismissed – we should all be careful and take reasonable precautions.

Hiding in the shadow of the Coronavirus, however, is a Presidential election, a U.S. Senate race and an entire State Legislature up for re-election.

What has struck me is how some candidates seeking office are riding a wave of hate against their opponents that seems to escalate every day, and skating along the primrose path, whistling a rosy tune, waiting for election day.

The newspapers aren’t any help – they seem consumed with covering every

affecting hunting and firearm rights. Chellie Pingree might as well be listed as MIA (no disrespect to our military missing in action) – I haven’t even seen her engaged in any policy discussions, let alone offering any ideas to help Mainers.

In the next twelve months, it’s my sincere hope that scientists discover a vaccine and treatment for the virus, and the Coronavirus will quickly become a footnote in history. Until that day, however, my point is the candidates we elect this November will become the lawmakers who cast life-and-death votes, and their positions do matter.

For example, before the pandemic, President Trump – and yes, President Obama, and President Bush before him – set us on a path to energy independence. What does that

result of war-related causes in the eight years between 2003 (the year of the US led invasion), and 2011.

There are other very serious issues that have a profound impact on your future, like, healthcare, China, immigration, gun rights, poverty and racism.

In addition, it is likely the next President will choose at least one Supreme Court justice, possibly changing the balance of the Supreme Court and consequently, court precedent for a generation.

Has Joe Biden, Donald Trump or Sarah Gideon indicated what type of Supreme Court Justice each of them would support?

We know Senator Collin’s philosophy – and we also know she can’t support the President’s nominations without being criticized by the left.

As a sportsman or

Vision

Anticosti Island all have a place in my memory banks.

That old man was right, I suppose, but I like to think he was also mistaken on one regard. Memories might be all we have left at some point down the road but the wonderful thing about them is they

can be recalled at any time.

Just as important, we can make new ones each time we pick up a fly rod, fishing pole, firearm of some sort or bow.

I think it’s time for a cold one and cigar around a campfire while hoping you make yours.

(Cont. from pg 29) Montana, elk in Wyoming, moose in Newfoundland, caribou in Quebec and Labrador, black bears across Canada, Idaho and Alaska and here in Maine and the whitetails in Ohio and on

SAM News

by David Trahan, “Executive Director” woman, it matters! There are attempts by the Humane Society of the United States to ban lead bullets.

Mike Bloomberg is funneling tens of millions of dollars into pro-gun control candidates. The drumbeat to ban hunting, fishing and trapping on Maine public lands grows louder every day.

Lately, the only thing we hear from the candidates and some in the national press is made of mashed potatoes and spaghetti – both of which make good missiles in a constant food fight. Instead of debating issues, the candidates are just flinging muck at each other. This may be entertaining, but when it comes to life and our future, it means nothing.

The national press isn’t helping – while in the past they tried to hide their bias, now they openly slant the story with salacious headlines backed up by questionable sources.

This quote from the Columbia Journalism Review, on September 12, 2018, backs up my point:

“A majority of those who were surveyed said they had lost trust in the media in recent years, and more than 30 percent of those who identified themselves as being on the conservative end of the spectrum said they had not only lost faith in the media, but they expect that change to be permanent.”

In a few short months our entire nation is going to be under new leadership. Don’t be fooled by candidates who seek the shadows by hiding their positions on issues and riding the wave. Educate yourself and be an informed voter.

More importantly, demand that candidates share their ideas and solutions to problems facing this state and country. The day after election in November will be too late.

Join the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine at: sportsmansallianceofmaine.org David Trahan is Executive Director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Outdoors In Maine

by V. Paul Reynolds, Ellsworth, ME Fish psychology- why fish behave the way they do- holds fascination for just about every serious angler, but especially fly fishermen. Just when you think that you have the fish finally figured out, presto, the fly or lure that was working like a charm gets ignored by the same fish

to-get hierarchy. Eventually, this discussion gets you to the root question: why do fish bite a fly or a lure that may look marginally eatable, but gives off no oil or smell of protein.

Nobody really knows for sure the empirically correct answer to this question. Perhaps that’s why an-

Fish, according to the conventional speculation, bite for three reasons: 1) Anger 2) Curiosity 3) Spirit of play. that was slamming your offering minutes before.

But it is this very mystery and unpredictability that, for many anglers, is the essence of fishing. If every fish struck at every fly or lure you presented, the challenge and the thrill would be gone. Not unlike romance, seduction is only meaningful when a fish plays hard to get.

Salmon, and to a lesser extent trout, are at the top of my fish-that-play-hard-

glers (and outdoor writers) like to ponder this intriguing but mystical question.

Nobody has conducted a survey with salmon or trout, but controlled studies have been conducted in order to put some “scientific” focus on this venerable question mark.

Fish, according to the conventional speculation, bite for three reasons: 1) Anger 2) Curiosity 3) Spirit of play.

Sounds plausible.

Salmon Strikes: Go Figure

for hours. A change in the water temperature? Rising barome t e r ? Yo u can never be sure. It looked less nuanced than that.

Moreover, it seemed as though the fish had simply grown agitated by my fly constantly being Before and after. The hornberg did stripped by not even vaguely resemble its it’s fanning former self after about ten trout position got through with it. But I kept in the curfishing it and the voracious trout rent. Reason just kept hitting it! number one (Photos by V. Paul Reynolds) was in play: Casting in vain over a pod anger. of fresh-run Atlantic salmHere is an even bigon on the Upsalquitch Riv- ger mystery, though, that er in New Brunswick for an escapes explanation in Fish entire morning, I bore wit- Pyschology 101. Twice ness to reason number one, in my fishing career, once apparently. Suddenly, a fish on trout and once on landslammed my Rusty Rat, the locked salmon on moving same fly it had shrugged off water when the fishing

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was incredibly fast and furious, the voracious fish continued unrelentingly to smash artificials that had been chewed beyond recognition. One was a hornberg and one was a smelt streamer imitation.

There was nothing left of these flies, except maybe a hanging shred of hackle and some silver tinsel wrap skewed in an unnatural direction off the hook. I have witnesses! Anger? Curiosity? Spirit of Play?

Your guess is as good as mine.

The takeaway, however, may be that fly tiers are trying too hard, tying elaborate flies that please anglers more than fish. Not to take away anything from the fly-tying skills of a Bob Leeman, a Don Corey or a Ron McKusick, these gents create marvelous artificials at their respective vises.

Perhaps this explains why one of the most consistently successful fly fishermen I know, who buys all of his flies, gives each one a “haircut” with a pair of fingernail clippers before showing it to the fish.

Tight lines, yes. But sparse flies as well. It’s another counter-intuitive case of less is better.

The author is editor of the “Northwoods Sporting Journal.” He is also a Maine guide and host of a weekly radio program — “Maine Outdoors” — heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on “The Voice of Maine News - Talk Network.” He has authored three books; online purchase information is available at www. maineoutdoorpublications. com. or at www.sportingjournal.com

July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The River, Revisited

My daughter Emily learned how to swear on our many fishing trips we took when she was yet in diapers during her formative years in the outdoors.

To my defense, she had a speech delay, which didn’t worry me too much but enormously vexed her attentive and devoted mother, who got her speech therapy. The kid’s barely stopped yammering since.

At the time, though, I had become relaxed around her, as she never seemed to repeat anything I said, and had code words that weren’t connected to the things she was describing. At one point, for example, we thought we’d hit a major breakthrough in her speech development when her mother came

home from work, and as she pulled in the driveway in her red station wagon Emily exclaimed “There’s Mommy!”

That was cause for celebration, until while sitting by a restaurant window another red station wagon passed by, and Emily, look-

and the rod, and handing me the snarl, say only “Daddy—tangled!”

In that dangerous period of time, then, between her beginning to learn to say words and understand their meaning, I cleared out the guardhouse, threw open the gates, and lowered the

Page 57

Marsh Island Chronicles

by Matthew Dunlap, Old Town, ME one of the large commuter student parking lots. It’s a great place to take kids to fish, especially during the Witching Hour around sun-

Then, unexpectedly, Emily’s rod doubled over, the drag snarling. She had a smallie—a big one. As she reeled steadily in, her faced beamed with excitement. Then the fish jumped—once, twice! She shrieked, and started yelling— “Holy @#%! Holy @#%!” ing up from her meal, exclaimed again “There’s Mommy!” When I would take her fishing, about the most complete communication she would leverage was when she’d get her lure and line hopelessly wrapped around each other

drawbridge before snuffing out the candles and sleeping soundly in my castle.

It came to pass one day that we had a little time to kill, and I took her to that idyllic stretch along the Stillwater River that abuts the University of Maine by

set. I had equipped Emily with a nice fishing rod—no toys, please—and a singlehook worm on a bobber that she’d have a hard time losing. As we made our way along the river bank, her tally of sunfish and smallmouth bass grew fast

enough to keep her interest riveted.

Finally, we set up on the dock that had been donated by the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America when they had their conference there years before. For fishing on the Stillwater, it was prime real estate, and we were lucky to secure it as other families with young anglers staked their claims in the fading light.

Then, unexpectedly, Emily’s rod doubled over, the drag snarling. She had a smallie—a big one. As she reeled steadily in, her faced (River cont. pg 62)

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Page 58

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Another Trapping Season Begins…

The Fur Shed

by Blake Dougerty, Suffield, CT Well, its summertime in New England. As of this writing the country is, unfortunately in the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Only time will tell if things are back to normal by the time this issue is delivered to the mailboxes of our readers.

Now, if it were still winter many of us would be taking the opportunity to achieve social distancing by heading deep into the wilderness to trap during the regulated seasons.

However, there’s probably not a lot of trapping happening other than nuisance/ ADC work. What likely is happening is preparation for the upcoming season.

As trappers know when a season ends the next one begins. Equipment needs to be cleaned and tuned, supplies replenished, furs sold or sent off for tanning, existing

July 2020

permissions renewed and new permissions gained.

While I appreciate the few weeks following the close of a season to get caught up on some much needed

Riley, Gavin and myself are primarily land trappers. Now don’t get me wrong we enjoy some water trapping, but it’s the bark of a trapped coyote or growl of a caged bobcat that get us really excited! rest I often don’t stay idle very long.

Many of my weekends during the summer are spent balancing family life with season prep. I’m fortunate in that my children enjoy trapping as well so

the swagger. We drag this task out over several weekends because it’s very boring work. A couple dozen a weekend gets us to several dozen in about a month.

I’ve been painting my footholds the last few years.

It’s not that I don’t like the dying process it’s just that time usually gets away from me and its much quicker to blast a coat of Rust-oleum on my footholds in June and The author’s kids, Riley and Gavin, l e t t h e m like trapping air out for more work for dad. . a few months. I have noRiley, Gavin and ticed no difference in catch myself are primarily land rates between painted and trappers. Now don’t get dyed traps. Another added me wrong we enjoy some benefit of painted traps water trapping, but it’s the is visibility. If you use a bark of a trapped coyote paint color that is high visor growl of a caged bobcat ibility you can more easily that get us really excited! see if a trap has been set We start making cable off without a catch from stakes around May. While I a distance. Once all traps do most of the assembly the have been painted and are boys do help by crimping dry I replace and trap tags some of the ferrules with that may be missing or they are more than willing to help get things ready to the extent possible. I say to the extent possible because the help a 6 year old and 8 year old offers in preparing for an upcoming season often results in delays or

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damaged.

I try to give the UTV some fresh oil and a quick once over in July. If anything needs attention this is the time to address it versus while out on the line. I also fire up the snow machine to make sure its running.

We spend a lot of time making waxed dirt to keep our sets working during freeze thaw conditions.

We use the solar method so it’s long, hot work on 95 degree or hotter days in July or August. Last year we made 150 gallons. It took us a few weekends to get it all made.

The end of August brings us some conventions. Olson’s Trappers Weekend is scheduled August 13th-16th. This is a highly attended event in New England and is sure to be a great time. I really enjoy attending the NYSTA Convention in Herkimer, NY Labor Day weekend.

It serves as the official start of my trapping season even though the first traps won’t actually be set until the beginning of November.

I enjoy catching up with friends I only really see at the convention. I reached out to Frank Short at the MTA and confirmed The Annual Maine Trappers Association Rendezvous is scheduled for September 18th and 19th.

By September I like to have a good feeling that I’m about ready to roll when the season begins.

The reality is that I almost never feel that way. My fur shed is usually a disaster from the prior season so I spend most weekends in (Trapping cont. pg 59)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020

Trapping (Cont. from pg 58) September cleaning getting organized. I give the shed a good sweep, sharpen knives, stock up on nitrile gloves and make sure my tail tools are at the ready.

This is also the time I order and replace any supplies I may need for the next season. Not the upcoming season, the one following.

Sounds a little crazy to be thinking that far ahead but after preparing all summer I know what supplies and equipment are getting low or are in need of replacement. Many times I’ll need J-hooks, cable, cable cutters, lure & bait jars and ferrules.

Usually around early October I’m chomping at the bit to get out on the line and get some traps set.

I start putting equipment together to make life easier.

Sifter, hammer, driver and cable stakes all get bundled together. Lures and baits get separated by species and bundled. My bobcat trapping lure, baits and attractors all get put in one bucket and my canine baits and lures in a separate bucket. I make two copies of permission slips. One that I carry with me on my person and another I keep in the truck as backups.

We also make our own baits and lures. We choose to do our bait and lure making during the cooler weather to avoid flies and bees swarming and dive bombing us. That’s me swatting and flailing at insects. March/April and October/November remain my preferred months for this type of work.

Everyone’s routine and preseason prep is different. Do what works for

field for quick change outs.

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Page 59

Away (Cont. from pg 35)

of-war while Buck barked each time the fish came near. Trish had grabbed a flashlight from her pack, She wanted to hump back to our car to fetch the net I’d left in the trunk, but I said no, figuring it would all be over by the time she returned.

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Tom had ambled down the lane to say goodbye.

After I recounted the tale from the previous night, he replied, “It’s the ones that get away that bring us back.”

I guess he was right since Trish and I have been coming back for more than thirty-five years.

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Page 60

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Trail Rider

by Rod Fraser, Hyde Park, MA I recently learned about the comeback of the shad population in the Penobscot River and how shad fishing was becoming popular. Shad? When I was a kid growing up on this river, I never saw anyone catch a shad or even heard of anyone catching them. I spent time fishing

are making a comeback in the Penobscot, benefitting from the work done to restore the river to support Atlantic Salmon.

Of course, I knew about the river restoration projects. I read articles about the river bypass around the Howland Dam which allowed American

July 2020

Atlantic Salmon: Dying at Sea?

fish to swim freely past the dam for the first time in almost 200 years.

I did not know the work of the Atlantic Salmon Federation to help get many of the unnatural barriers removed and restore the river to its natural beauty. My friend, Tom Moffat, who works for the ASF, sent me some information and I wanted to learn more.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) is comprised of provincial Can-

toration Project, of which ASF is one, helped to ensure removal of the Veazie and Great Works dams and construct the 1,000-foot artificial river around the Howland dam. Since then, river herring numbers have exploded, American shad, sturgeon, and striped bass have returned, and wild At-

their health, and studying the effects of predators and human activity in order to be able to pinpoint the causes of decline and offer solutions.

The Atlantic Salmon is an endangered species and without the ongoing work of organizations like the ASF, it could become

Andy told me that the greatest threat to the Atlantic Salmon today is climate change. Climate change is resulting in shifting ocean conditions, which means more wild salmon than ever before are dying at sea. and hunting around Shad Pond, just downstream from Millinocket which is devoid of any shad today.

100 years ago, there were shad in the pond, which is part of the West Branch of the Penobscot River, and there were shad in the Penobscot River watershed. I recently learned that shad

shad, river herring, and Atlantic salmon to swim freely around the Howland dam to and from their historic spawning grounds. If you are unaware of this project, the bypass reconnected the Piscataquis River to the main Penobscot river and ultimately, the Gulf of Maine, allowing sea-run

ada and US state councils throughout Eastern North America, including 103 affiliated watershed groups.

ASF’s councils lead important projects, possess local knowledge, and are able to harness the power of volunteers. They focus on three key areas: Science, Advocacy, and Restoration.

The science of the life of a salmon is complex. By tracking Atlantic salmon at sea, monitoring their health, and studying the effects of predators and human activity, they will be able to pinpoint the causes of decline and offer solutions. Their Advocacy encourages people, communities, and governments to act positively for wild salmon.

In Maine, an example of their restoration work is the Penobscot River Restoration Project. Through negotiations with government agencies and hydroelectric companies, the partners in the Penobscot River Res-

The Atlantic Salmon is an endangered species and without the ongoing work of organizations like the ASF, it could become extinct. lantic salmon populations extinct. Learn more about are increasing. The Milford the ASF at https://www.

Dam on the Penobscot has asf.ca/. If you want to see a fish lift which also assists their good work continue, in allowing these sea-run join, as I did, and help fisheries to return to their contribute. I wish you all tight lines this summer! native habitat.

I spoke with Andy Next month, we will look Goode, the ASF Vice Presi- at the work of the ASF on dent for US programs about the Kennebec River!

Please email me at the work the ASF is doing. rjfraserjrusn@yahoo.com Removing dams and other unnatural barriers is not with any good riding stoonly benefitting the Atlan- ries. I would love to hear tic Salmon, but also other them. Have a great riding species like the shad, the destination? let me know, I alewife and herring. Andy might like to check it out! told me that the great- Ride safe, ride right! est threat to the Atlantic Rod Fraser is an avid Salmon today is climate change. Climate change is outdoorsman and twenty resulting in shifting ocean year Navy veteran. Origiconditions, which means nally from Maine and livmore wild salmon than ing in Massachusetts, Rod ever before are dying at has written extensively sea. The ASF and its part- about snowmobiling. visit ners are tracking Atlantic his website at www.snowsalmon at sea, monitoring mobileenthusiast.com.

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July 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Active Bass Need the Sun The hope is that the sun will shine, starting early and lasting through the day. That’s because in the early stages of the smallie spawn, light and heat mean everything. Wake up on a lowery, overcast, chilly morning, and you’re better off rigging up to troll for salmon or togue.

come out, which acts like a spotlight to the fly caster trying to identify spawning beds. The analogy to a pie plate is often used. As soon as one fish came off a nest to eat the popper, or bug, or ant that had been offered to it, the action was nonstop.

The sport looks back at the guide as if to say, “what

This year, there have been fewer than normal rainouts, but there were a couple. For those intrepid souls who like to venture into the bush for brook trout, this is the perfect time to do it. The term “half day brookies’ came from this method of rescuing a day from a total washout.

One morning this season, it all came down to one section of one stream, no more that twenty feet wide.

Page 61

The Singing Maine Guide

by Randy Spencer, Grand Lake Stream, ME to be the dark. Since there were two sports and so little room, they had to take turns. I cautioned the first sport to watch for a few minutes and see if he could see where fish were rising in roughly the same spot.

These would be feeding lanes, and he should aim

The bass spawn is a photo event, and a heat event. Sunlight, which produces a warmer water column in the shallows ignites the defensive activity that makes fishing during this period so exciting.

the casting. After a couple of drifts, sure enough, he played a ten-inch brookie right into his hands. He unbuttoned it, held it up for our approval, then released into the pool. Even in the rain on that gray/slate morning, nothing was more beautiful.

The two men, rescuing what was supposed to have been a smallmouth bass fishing day, landed ten brook trout between them.

They did this by resting the pool after each fish was landed. Sometimes, that’s the hardest thing to do– resting a pool–but it pays off. When we slogged our way out of there, everyone was happy. Wet, but happy.

Maybe tomorrow, the sun would shine.

We snuck up on it, and for them. It would all be when we did, we saw fish roll casting, since behind rising repeatedly. There us, there was nothing but a was a hatch going on, but wall of alders. We applied a it wasn’t immediately obvi- drop of floatant to his dark ous what it was. One of the Hendrickson, blew on it, sports took off his baseball and off he went.

When the sun heats the spawning bed, that’s cap and swiped it through He picked out a lane when the bass will strike your lure. the air, coming up with one. where a brookie kept showThose smallmouth bass happened?”

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 62

River (Cont. from pg 57) beamed with excitement.

Then the fish jumped— once, twice! She shrieked, and started yelling—“Holy @#%! Holy @#%!”

A couple of nearby parents turned slowly to

look, smiled, and looked away.

Later that week, her preschool director pulled her mother aside at the end of the day and mentioned that maybe we should have a little talk about Emily’s swearing ability.

I thought of that the other day, when, with

few options for Things to Do during the pandemic business closures, I asked my little daughter—with a complete vocabulary now—if she wanted to take a ride down to the river and fish for a while. She readily assented.

She’s in college now, a Dean’s List student with a

growing list of honors; and has begun talking about graduate school and beyond as she strides confidently into adulthood. I now appreciate much more all those little, precious moments in the outdoors.

We spent an hour or so before dinner casting and retrieving, casting and

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July 2020 retrieving. Unlike that infamous afternoon on the other side of Marsh Island, the shoreline in Old Town jealously protected the fish hidden in the dark, green eddies of the Penobscot River. When it was time for dinner, we packed up and headed home. Handing me her rod, she gave an impish grin, and said for old times’ sake—“Daddy—tangled!” and laughed. We didn’t catch anything, but don’t tell me we came home empty-handed.

Matt Dunlap is a sportsman from Old Town and is a periodic co-host on Maine Outdoors, heard statewide every Sunday night at 7:00 pm on WVOM 103.9 FM, WVQM 101.3 FM, and 1450 AM in Rockland. His daughter Emily is an avid sportsman and is a sophomore at the University of Maine studying music.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020

Anticosti: Fall Opening Unclear

All I can say is, “What a mess!” This Wuhan Covid-19 problem has hit virtually every aspect of our lives. As of this writing, there is no clear indication that hunting on Anticosti will be possible this season,

Skipping a season could have a devastating effect on both the tender economic and biologic aspects. Tourism is the life blood of the economy there. I dare say, it is close to 100%. at least for non-residents.

E a r l y o n , Sophie Trudeau, wife of Quebec’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was personally infected with the virus.

Naturally, that intensified Justin’s belief that a lock down is the answer. The United States / Canada

Anticosti

by Mark Cote, Rumford, ME

Katie is greeted by Harvey, the village buck.

Hunting is not allowed in Port Menier and the deer know it. border has been closed for economic and biologic months. We can only wait aspects. Tourism is the and see what will happen life blood of the economy there. I dare say, it is close by fall.

Being a resident on to 100%. There is some Anticosti is most likely logging, but there isn’t the safest place on earth much other opportunity to to be right now. The island make a living if you’re not sits in isolation from the working for the sporting world. There are less than industry. Guides, mainte300 year round residents nance people, grocery store that probably aren’t even clerks, hotel and restaurant employees, Sepaq office watching the daily news!

Skipping a season staff, etc. would all feel the could have a devastating effects.

There are two schools effect on both the tender

of thought on the hunting end of things. Would taking a year off help or hurt the deer population? Some say it could use a rebuilding year, others say it is so far over the carrying capacity of the land already and not taking any deer out of the herd will lead to even more winter kill and mass starvation. Of course, most opinions are from hunters based on the number they saw during their stay.

I have always been under the impression that harvesting ten percent of any species is healthy, but what do I know? I have hunted the island more than twenty five times. I have seen the best and the worst cycles and have always managed to fill my tags with decent deer. We can all speculate what the results

Soft Hackle Flies

This month’s fly pattern is several hundred years old (maybe older), and continues to catch fish every season. There isn’t a specific fly called the “Soft Hackle”; it’s a term used to describe a style of fly, like “streamer” or “dry fly”.

Take some time to learn this style; it’s simple and inexpensive. For the body you can use thread, floss or very fine yarn. There’s no tail, unless you want one, and hackle selection is very forgiving. Partridge feathers are a favorite. The colors are your choice; I’ll suggest a few color combinations that have proven themselves but you should try whatever colors you

Page 63

may be, but the proof will be in the pudding. Hopefully by the time the season begins, the world will have a better handle on the virus situation and our hunts will still be on the books.

I recently received an email that Sepaq is beginning to slowly open the parks throughout Quebec.

It is a good sign. Keep your fingers crossed!

For more information about a hunt on Anticosti, call my friends at the reservation desk at 1-600-4630863. Tell them Mark sent you! As always, I welcome your comments at AnticostiMark@gmail.com.

Mark Cote is a Registered Maine Guide from Rumford, Maine. He has been hunting on Anticosti for more than twenty years.

The Tyer’s Corner

by Hugh Kelly, Detroit, ME

have on hand.

The version I’ll describe is called the “Partridge and Green”. You can use green thread, green floss or green Uni-Stretch, like I did. The traditional recipe calls for bright green silk-they all work. I like

partridge, you may prefer to use Hungarian partridge.

Don’t over hackle this fly, use one to one and a half turns of hackle only. The thin hackle fibers wave and twitch in the current and that’s what makes the fly.

The soft hackled fly typifies to use the Uni-Stretch be- the word “sparse”. Keep it cause I don’t use a separate simple, sparse and light, thread; I can pull the Uni- with a variety of colors and Stretch tight and it holds you’ll catch fish. the hackle every bit as good as thread. Thin bodies are Recipe for Partridge popular. The hackle is a and Green partridge body feather. I Thread-Green floss or use a feather from a Maine Uni-Stretch

Hook-Size 8-16 wet fly hook Body-Same as thread Hackle-Maine partridge body feather For color combinations, try orange, yellow or claret bodies. Starling is a popular hackle to use; you can buy a starling skin at most fly shops for a few dollars. Try a soft hackled version of a Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear. I’ve had good results with a few turns of soft hen grizzly and a (Flies cont. pg 65)

Page 64

Malarkey Cabin Chronicles

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Ray Dillon, Keswick Ridge, N.B. The ground underfoot was wet and spongy from late snow melt and April showers that were encouraging green grasses and forbs to reach skyward after several months of snow cover and dormancy.

As I walked down the old skidding trail with a couple

ange Paintbrushes dotted the ground everywhere.

Willow bushes had swollen buds on their limbs and leaves could be seen pushing out from those bulging buds.

I was approaching our bait site now and in the distance I could hear the roar

Come Spring

July 2020

After a winter in hibernation or partial hibernation, bears need to eat lots of green plants and grasses to physic themselves and clean out their insides. After all, they haven’t urinated or defecated for several months so once they do come out of their winter sleep, they need to literally get everything moving again.

I emptied my pails

I needed to get up and go do my other bait sites before the subtle sounds and smells of the woodlands coaxed me off to sleep. That would not have been the first time I have curled up and slept soundly in the woods. of pails of fresh beef bones mixed with cooking oil and fryer grease, I scanned the surrounding area for bear scat or tracks but none were obvious.

There were lots of signs that spring had finally found its way to New Brunswick though. Clumps of green grasses were scattered about along with Pink and White Lady Slippers, tufts of Blue Violets and sprays of yellow and Or-

of the stream as it boiled and rushed toward a nearby lake and now I could see evidence of black bears in the area. Clumps of skunk Cabbage or “Bear Root” as some prefer to call it could be seen chewed off or torn out of the soil and as I approached the opening in the woods where my old five gallon bucket still wired solidly, slumped against a small tree, there were two black piles of bear scat.

of bait and scented down the area. It was a beautiful morning so I climbed into the ladder stand I had used for years in that area.

We had taken quite a few bear he and I had missed or screwed up on many more. I sat quietly and listened as woodpeckers tap-tapped on distant trees and songbirds sat in the tree tops chirping and singing to attract mates. Squirrels and chipmunks scampered about the bait site and in the underbrush feeding. Down over the sloping plateau below my bait site, the stream gurgled and gushed softly as it flowed toward the lake. What a pleasant

This cow moose is just one of many critters that the author has encountered when baiting his spring bear sites. spot to rest and enjoy the wilderness.

I needed to get up and go do my other bait sites before the subtle sounds and smells of the woodlands coaxed me off to sleep. That would not have been the first time I have curled up and slept soundly in the woods. As the sun climbed high into mid-

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day, its warmth and power could be felt heating the earth and drying up mud puddles and frost holes in the old logging road.

As I rounded a turn in the road, I interrupted a pair of Canada Geese out walking with eight young goslings in tow. They scattered to the road sides all rushing toward a big beaver pond that abutted the road just ahead.

I saw one hunkered down in the long grasses so I left my truck and walked over to the grasses and grabbed the bundle of down and developing feathers. Surprisingly the gosling didn’t struggle as I carried it to the beaver pond and released it to return to its family swimming across the pond. I stood there and watched and wondered (Spring cont. pg 65)

July 2020

Spring (Cont. from pg 64) about all the things I have experienced in the woods at various times of the year.

There have been many adventures.

Spending so much time in the woods baiting, scouting and planning hunts has been hard work at times but it has also been rewarding. I have witnessed deer, moose and bears fighting in autumn and mamas watching over their babies in spring time.

I have watched a couple of Otters scrambling up a snowy hillside only to

Northwoods Sporting Journal run and toboggan down the snow covered slope to plop into an icy brook.

When I think back through the years, I have seen just about every bird and animal New Brunswick’s wilderness has to offer and that includes the Eastern Cougar.

The innumerable varieties of flora and fauna our Eastern boreal forest has to offer is tremendous but the situations I have witnessed over the years makes me appreciate our environment even more.

I may have been born a country boy, but the good Lord has allowed me to see things that most city dwell-

ers will never see and it has been all for free.

So when I am guiding a hunter or a fisher and he complains that he didn’t see a thing all day long, I laugh and tell him to open his eyes… and give thanks!

Page 65

Flies (Cont. from pg 63)

very thinly dubbed body of muskrat fur. Try peacock herl for a body; that version never fails. Pheasant rump feathers for a long stranded soft hackle may be the Ray Dillon is an Out- best-kept secret out there; door writer, bestselling they’re cheap as well. book author, Professional Pheasant tail bodies with a Guide and owns/operates soft hackle are described in Malarkey Cabin Guiding print; they look like a soft Service in New Brunswick, hackled version of a pheasCanada. To book a trophy Big Game or Uplands Bird hunt with him, go to www.malarkeycabin.com phone 506-363-2839 or e-mail rdillon@rogers.com

ant tailed nymph. Don’t overlook this fly style, it’s been with us for centuries and it catches fish.

Hugh Kelly has fly fished and tied his own flies for over 40 years. He and his family live in Detroit where he ties flies, drinks Moxie and plans fishing trips. He can be reached at hkellymaine@gmail.com and he writes a fly tying blog at puckerbrushflies. com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 66

Mass Wanderings

by David Willette, N. Adams, MA It was a typical Spring day for every turkey huntera little too chilly perhaps, maybe a little too breezy but Mandy Fachini Southworth isn’t your typical turkey hunter. Getting up at 3:30 she was determined to take full advantage of her first crack at turkeys, so she and her dad settled in for breakfast first. “All I could handle was a granola bar “ Mandy said, “Because of all the medicines that I take after my treatments, I really can’t eat anything else, and it was about 10 days since my last treatment. Mandy Southworth is afflicted with stage 3 breast cancer. “I got up that morning and told myself, I was going to be in control- I’m not letting cancer define me.”

The Fachini’s have a long history of hunting and fishing in this neck of the woods, and they typically hunt as a family. The day before, brother Dave found a flat place to hunt for Mandy

and her father. “The Fachini’c have always been mountain hunters, walking 4-5 miles a day, but I just couldn’t do that. My father has had two strokes, so he’s not well either, and nobody in the family

I began tying flies around 1963. Back then there weren’t the resources available to learn with like there are today. There where a few books covering basics; by today’s standards, materials were mostly natural furs, feathers and few flash items.

My first book was Universal Fly Tying Guide by Dick Stewart. The 48 pages covered the basics. It contained descent color photos of popular flies and clearly established basic tying techniques. Step by step photos show each basic step to tying

One Tough Turkey Hunter

the mucous in my throat.

After a few calls we started to hear some gobbles and my dad whispers to me, “get your gun up”. I look to my right and I see two black blobs about 50 yards out. The birds are staying on the treeline and they’re not giving me a good shot, plus they’re still a little too far out for the .410.

The birds feed for a little bit and they’re slowly working

“I got up that morning and told myself, I was going to be in control - I’m not letting cancer define me.” will let us hunt alone,” Mandy said.

“I had to speak with my oncologist to see if I could shoot a shotgun without damaging the tube that’s in my chest where they inject the chemo,” Mandy said.

“The doctor said that the 20 gauge was definitely out of the question, so I had to use my single shot .410, and that’s what my father used too. It’s just breaking daylight and we get to the spot and set up eight yards deep inside a hedgerow and we heard nothing. My dad had to do the calling because the medications breakdown

their way towards the decoy which is 20 yards away. The birds stop and feed for a bit, then they turned 90 degrees right to the decoy. My dad says, “shoot the rear one, it’s bigger”, but I had my bead on the first one. I still had to wait because there was some brush in the hedgerow that was in the way. Finally, the birds cleared and the 410 flattened the first bird at 17 yards.

Dad shot moments later. His bird flopped a little bit but it was dead within seconds.

There were hugs all around. I was too weak to carry the bird so dad took both. He didn’t

seem to mind.

“It’s been a rough year, and turkey hunting is my favorite. I’ve killed a few deer, but I really like turkey hunting, “Mandy said. “Every two weeks I have a chemo treatment. Twenty-four hours later I have a bone marrow injection and for 4-5 days after I’m so sore that I can’t even touch them and I can’t even sit up for 20 minutes.

Plus I don’t feel like eating but I know that I have to, so it’s not until 10 days after a chemo treatment that I feel

OK to do some hunting”.

So the next time that you’re in the woods and you’ve got the flu, a sore throat or your back is stiff, just remember Mandy and what she’s going through and maybe that will inspire you to go that extra mile. I can’t wait to see how she does next year when she’s recovered and she can use a 20 gauge.

a fishing fly.

With these basics, I began easily tying flies on my own. But I wanted more

offering free fly tying classes as did many sporting organizations. It was beginning easier and easier every year to find a learning venue to begin tying flies.

The internet now dominates the quest for instructional videos. Some are free

in full color, Fly Patterns of Umpqua Feather Merchants

by Randall Kaufmann, Flies for Saltwater by Dick Steward and Farrow Allen and their companion book, Flies for Atlantic Salmon, Fly Tying and Fishing for Panfish and Bass by Tom Keith, Peter

& Salmon.

As fly fishing interest exploded during the late 1970s and into late 1990s, enterprising fly shops, guides and fishing outfitters began filming television shows and CD’s focusing of fly tying.

Fishing conservation organizations began offering fly tying classes. The idea really caught on.

The center piece of tying fishing flies is the vise used to secure a hook in the meaningful manner to allowing attachment of materials to it. The Thomson AA vice was an early and functional tying vise which wasn’t expensive and still holds true today.

Newer vises began to hit the

Salt Corner

by Doug Jowett, Brunswick, ME

July 2020

(Photo submitted by David Willette)

Fly Tying Basics

The internet now dominates the quest for instructional videos. Some are free and others fee based. I never use the fee based internet resources. I’m a self professed tightwad. photos to use as examples to copy. The best source was fly fishing catalogs like L.L. Bean and Orvis.

During the following years, more very good books were published, videos were produced and some fly fishing businesses saw the wisdom of

David Willette is the author of the book, “Coyote Wars”. He can be contacted at coyote wars@gmail.com

and others fee based. I never use the fee based internet resources. I’m a self professed tightwad.

Some of the books published surfaced are: Dick Surette’s Trout and Salmon Fly Index which contains 140 classic fly patterns illustrated

Keane’s Guide To Fly Fishing, Fly Tyer Pattern Bible, Striped Bass Flies by David Klausmeyer, Saltwater Flies of the Northeast by Angelo Peluso and many more, including Northwoods Sporting Journal’s own Bob Leemans book Trolling Flies for Trout

(Basics cont. pg 67)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020

Basics (Cont. from pg 66) market, well designed, precision made and functional with specialty attachments.

Most vices used a “C” clamp to attach it to a bench or table followed by weighted pedestals. Next to become popular were rotary vices which allowed a hook to be turned on an axis as you tied the fly.

Tools are numerous. I always buy very good scissors. You will need one for rough cutting of course fur and a finer pair for trimming and cutting feathers. Somewhat complete tool kits are available with wood or leather cases for travel. One can tie flies on the living room table or have a permanent table with plenty of storage draws.

Roll top desks have always been popular for a man cave or she shed.

My first quest in tying flies was to save money.

Forget that thought. Over the years I have spent way more on materials, hooks, tools, vices, books, videos and other stuff to more than cover the cost of the flies I would have purchased. But it’s fun.

The first fish I caught on my own tied fly was a brook trout using a Mickey Fin streamer pattern while using a cheap cane rod, Medalist fly

reel and HDH floating fly line while fishing on the Mousam River in southern Maine close to the old “S” curve country store on Route 202 north of Springvale, my home town.

Captain Doug Jowett is a Master Maine Guide holding a USCG Captain’s License who charters striped bass anglers on the coast of Maine and Cape Cod. He has been writing outdoors columns and articles for over 35 years in regional and national publications including major outdoors magazines and has six books he has contributed to. He may be reached at: www.mainestripedbassfishing.com

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HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY Beautiful Bowlin Lodge & Cabins is a remote self-sufficient off grid property with gravity fed spring water, generators, telephone and internet on the shore of the East Branch of the Penobscot River. We are remotely situated in the unorganized territories of T4 & T5 R8, NW of Patten Maine. Currently operating as a Sporting Camp, Bowlin has a Lodge with a modern commercial kitchen, 13 cabins with private baths (7 with kitchens), and 14 outbuildings on 28 acres with 1462’ of river frontage. A separate 236 acres on a 1 mile gravel road along 6400’ of river frontage is included. Operating equipment, furnishings, sporting supplies and approved development plans convey with the sale. The East Branch of the Penobscot River has some of the finest fly fishing in Maine with naturally reproducing brook trout, salmon and small mouth bass. Hundreds of lakes, streams and ponds make up the watershed of the area with miles of old logging roads for wildlife and Moose watching, hiking, biking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, & hunting. Historic Bowlin is adjacent to thousands of acres of protected lands as your only neighbor. $3,500,000

Bosebuck Mountain Camps steeped with legendary sporting traditions established in the early 1900’s has been welcoming sportsmen, families, and corporate retreats for generations.

Located on Aziscohos Lake in the Magalloway River Region offering first class fishing for every type of angler. A renown fishery known by experienced anglers that return year after year. The lodge and cabins offer year-round access for the four seasons of sporting adventures. Boat rentals and guides are available. Fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, or just plain relaxing by the fire with a good book. Aziscohos Lake is a breathtaking long narrow body of water with islands and inlets sheltered by the mountains. Its name arrives from the Androscoggin Indians meaning “many little evergreens.” It is situated in the heart of 200,000 acres of forest, the four season lodge and cabins are within casting distance of the lake offering 12 rentals with a meal plan in the historical lodge. Unplug and recharge your batteries away from the real world, as no cell range and internet are part of the Bosebuck experience. Step back in time to enjoy what is important in life, nature, family, and friends…rediscover the “art of taking it easy!” It will become a treasured gift with cherished memories of Bosebuck Mountain Camps! $2,400,000

Legendary Long Lake Camps has been well established since its original construction around 1945. Many years of history, memories, and laughter have created this one of a kind sporting facility located in the Grand Lake Stream Region. Located on a private 40 acre peninsula surrounded entirely by woods and water this huge watershed includes Long Lake, Big Lake, Lewey Lake, West Grand Lake, Grand Lake Stream, the Grand Falls Flowage, and the St. Croix River. The property offers 12 meticulous native Maine cedar log cabins completely furnished offering housekeeping or the American Plan in the main lodge with formal dining room, sitting room, & library. The property includes a laundry for guests, office with a store, internet access, recreational hall lakeside, docks, experienced guides, shore lunches, boats, motors, etc. The owners has left no stone unturned when it comes to the quality performance and maintenance of the property. It has been lovingly restored into a top notch sporting camp facility. Come experience a healthier lifestyle from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, come home to Long Lake Camps in Downeast Maine. $1,499,000

DEB HENDERSON MAINE OUTDOOR PROPERTIES TEAM REALTY OF MAINE 207-852-7577 deb@maineoutdoorproperties.net www.maineoutdoorproperties.net www.landleader.com Steeped with history in the legendary sporting traditions, The Pines Lodge & Camps has served sportsman, families, & vacationers since 1884.

The lodge known as “The Norway House” with lodge rooms, five comfortable rustic cabins plus two island cabins, one on Big Island, the other on Chain Island in the Sysladobsis watershed. The main land parcel offers almost 8 acres with over 1600’ of lake frontage, while Big Island offers .59 acres with 170’ and Chain Island offers 1.72 acres with 890’ of lake frontage. The American Plan is offered on the mainland while the island cabins are housekeeping but certainly you can boat over for an evening meal, if you choose.

This Downeast watershed is renowned for miles of salmon and bass fishing, as well as endless paddling opportunities originating from the front dock. In Sysladobsis Lake and The Grand Lake Stream region salmon and bass abound. Brook Trout are also available to test even the most experienced fly fisherman. Currently open from May thru the end of September. Years of history and sporting traditions have welcomed guests such as Andrew Carnegie and Calvin Coolidge to savor the magic and serenity of “The Pines” on Sysladobsis Lake. $795,000

An authentic Maine Sporting Camp established in 1929 and ran as a boy’s camp until around 1937. Nicatous Lake Lodge & Cabins has been established to the present day with a handful of owners who cherish the historical Maine sporting traditions. The experience is dominated by Lake Nicatous and Nicatous Stream which are pristine wilderness waterways. Many customers today are the direct descendants of guests that came to the Lodge 70 years ago! Designed for those who truly appreciate the simple, meaningful things in life: the pleasure of a warm fire, the healing ability of cool, crystal clear water, and the joy of early morning light when the fish are biting! Off grid with round the clock use of electricity due to generated battery storage. Nicatous Lake Region is a vast protected wilderness area to remain forever wild.

Nicatous Lake Lodge & Cabins has been well maintained by current owners, the property can be run year round or seasonally. The lifestyle of owning Nicatous Lake Lodge & Cabins offers a haven from the outside world where one can be connected to a healthy natural environment offering endless adventures for your journey in life! $839,000

Breathtaking views of Mt. Katahdin and the East Grand Lake Region, the First Settlers Lodge offers a haven from the outside world with first class amenities. Acres of unspoiled countryside compliment the panoramic views of the mountain, lake, hills, and valleys. A place to reconnect with friends, family, and nature whether sitting by the fireside with a good book or out on a trail with hiking boots, snowshoes, cross country skis, ATV’s or snowmobiles. The four season lodge has something for everyone…reunions, retreats, celebrations, meetings, hunting, fishing, or the forgotten art of relaxing. Private baths, luxury accommodations, plus a bunk room that sleeps 9 for the group that wants to eat, play, and share stories of the day’s adventures together. Satellite TV, internet, and a full service restaurant from the commercial kitchen. The lodge is coming furnished except for the seller’s private furnishings. An inventory list is available upon request.

Experience the opportunity to work from home in a well maintained, move in ready property. First Settler’s Lodge would also make a great home for a large extended family. A place to renect with the important things in life, family, friends, nature, and a healthier lifestyle. $799,000

Northwoods Sporting Journal

July 2020 SELLERS LANE

REAL ESTATE

BUYERS ROAD

207-265-4000

259 Main Street, Kingfield, ME

www.csmrealestate.com

Enjoy Maine's Vacation-land!

HANCOCK POND

Embden, Maine.

Like to fish?

Classic log cabin right on the shore. 2 bdrm plus loft. 135 ft. on water.

1.5 acres. Furnished. $198,000.

janet@csmrealestate.com SUNRISE REALTY

P.O. Box 628 Main Street Machias, ME 04654 Office Tel. & Fax: (207) 255-3039 Email: anitaj@midmaine.com Website: www.sunlist.com Anita Johnson

EAST MACHIAS: 4.25 acre farm. Several useful outbuildings currently used to store farm equipment. Land is planted in a variety of vegetables & fruit trees.

Power available at roadside. Direct access to Sunrise Trail. 8 ft. fence surround the property. $28,500.00 EAST MACHIAS: Soil tested, driveway permit has been done. Would need to be renewed. Surveyed. Direct water access for good fishing, kayaking and canoeing from this river front parcel. $29,900.00

5 Lake Street, P.O. Box 66, Lincoln, ME 207-794-2460

Email: cwa@cwalakestreet.com

Burlington- Wellb u i l t c u te ca b i n tucked away in the woods with access to M a d a ga s ca l ’s gorgeous private sand beach. ATVing & snowmobiling and POSSIBLE OWNER FINANCING. Take a look today on W. Madagascal Pond Rd. $49,900

Grand Falls- This cabin was landed on this lot two years ago and ready to finish off and use. This 41 acre lot sits high on a hill with great views on Lord Brook Rd. ATV and snowsled from this location. Take a look. $79,000

Danforth- Only 25’ from the water ’s edge, family camp is log sided w/ a b e a u t i f u l k n o tt y pine interior. Large, detached 2 car garage offers parking or storage. Lakeside of cottage is all glass providing great views on Upper Hot Brook Lake. $135,000

Lincoln-3BR with 1 full bath downstairs and both a ¾ master bath and ½ bath upstairs. Paved drive, attached 2 car garage, enclosed porch, covered porch, and patio all overlooking 191’ frontage on Cold Stream Pond $299,000

Lee- Privately plowed, seaonal road. Electricity & nice frontage on a beautiful, clean Silver Lake. Two lots being sold, could potentially sell one lot & keep the other. The well is on lot 14 while the buildings & septic are on lot 15. $139,000

Grand Falls- End of road privacy with power & great fishing pond on Saponac Pond.

Cabin needs some luvin’ but its cute, and taxes are cheap.

Wonderful location that could be yours, on prime outdoor recreational area in Maine. $79,000

Lincoln-Wonderful private 1.16 to 5.36 acre lots, driveways installed, ability to boat to Caribou & Long Ponds, access to snowmobile & ATV trails, owner financing, frontage on Egg Pond, starting at $49,000 Winn-Amazing recreational area, 5+/- acre lot, building site nestled amongst pine trees, more land & frontage available, 370’+/- along the clear, clean Mattawamkeag River. $32,000 Lakeville-Easily accessible 13.1 acre lot, driveway, gravel pad & some clearing complete, extremely private lot, low taxes, just build a cabin to fish & boat on Upper Pug Lake. $49,000 T3R1-Private 1.9 acre lot, driveway, seasonal road, ATV & snowmobile trail access, other lakes close by, convenient to Lincoln’s amenities, owner financing, 228’ frontage on Bill Green Pond. $21,500

Page 69 SELLERS LANE

BUYERS ROAD

GATEWAY RECREATIONAL PROPERTIES Office 207-746-3398 gatwainn@midmaine.com www.medwaygateway.com P.O. Box 637 Medway, ME 04460 SNOWMOBILERS - CAMP LOTS AVAILABLE Along ITS-83 From Houlton to Presque Isle MATTANAWCOOK LAKE FRONT LOTS FOR SALE

ASHLAND: 10 Acres on Aroostook River. $14,000.

ASHLAND: 20 Acre, river frontage. $25,000.

GREENBUSH: 10 Acre camp lots, waterfrontage, large meadow, good views, hunting, fishing and snowmobiling. $25,000 - $42,000.

CARMEL: 25 Acres. $42,700.

TROY: Hunting camp with 30 acres $45,000.

CRYSTAL: 100 Acres large deer population and other wildlife. Will divide off a piece, perfect for your needs. Large brook on property. $49,900.

CAMPS LOTS AVAILABLE ON MATTASEUNK LAKE & MATTAWAMKEAG AREA WE OWN WHAT WE SELL! OWNER FINANCING AVAILABLE

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 70 SELLERS LANE

July 2020 SELLERS LANE

REAL ESTATE

BUYERS ROAD

BUYERS ROAD

Houlton Office 207-532-4500 Hermon Office 207-605-0556 Scot Walker, Broker

For all your recreational needs!

First Choice Real Estate Land, Cabins, Acreage, Waterfront and more.

www.mainelandbroker.com DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN INSTANTLY ACCESS CURRENT AND PAST DIGITAL ISSUES OF THE NORTHWOODS SPORTING JOURNAL? IT'S TRUE. SIMPLY GOOGLE:http://www.sportingjournal.com/digital-issues.

Stephanie Fields Beaulieu Designated Broker-Owner Cell: 207-551-5835 Fax: 207-472-3084

P.O. Box 616 Long Lake, NY 12847

518-265-9198

Adirondack Land For Sale "Build Your Dream Cabin and Explore this Pristine Mountain Wilderness"

www.adirondackmtland.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL Our Past. Your Future

P.O. Box 72 Houlton, Maine 1-800-341-1566 www.wardcedarloghomes.com

Cell: 207-551-5835

Fax: 207-472-3084

email: fieldsrealty@maine.rr.com 72 Fort Hill Street Fort Fairfield, ME 04742

(207) 696-4247

email: fieldsrealtyllc@gmail.com 72 Fort Hill Street Fort Fairfield, ME 04742

42 Duck Cove Road, Cross Lake TWP, ME. What a find!

Come claim your castle! This is the getaway you have been dreaming about. Lake house with loads of space, options galore! Use it yourself or Airbnb it, choices abound!

Meticulously maintained and beautifully landscaped with 100 feet of frontage on Cross Lake, you need this home! Beautiful sunporch on the lakeside and also a great deck! Across the street is a large two car detached garage with finished space above. This is your retreat from the chaos...Call or text today!

MLS#1454227 $159,900

Stephanie Fields Beaulieu Designated Broker-Owner

www.HearthAndHomeRealty.com 274 Main Street Madison, ME 04950

#3405-Anson; This 1300 sf ranch sits on a 2 acre corner lot. 3 bedrooms, 1 bath with a full basement, metal roof, vinyl siding and 1-car detached garage. Nice country location and easy access to snowmobile trails. $140,000

#6078 Starks; Has been lived in year round but would also make an excellent camp.

1 BR, 1 bath. 1 st floor bedroom and laundry hookup. Very private location and priced to sell. 2 acres. New price of $35,000

#3407-Moscow; 3BR, 1 bath home in a 4-season recreational area. 300' on Austin Stream.

Access ATV and snowmobile trails right from your own property.

Spacious garage and storage building for vehicles and all your toys. All this for only $95,000

#3406 Embden; 3BR farmhouse with 46 acres.

Rolling fields and some woods surrounding a guest camp and also brook frontage. Will make a great home for someone looking to farm or just a nice county home with lovely surroundings. $219,000

Overhead Door Company of Bangor

“The original since 1921”

Residential Sales, Service Parts for Residential, Commercial, Industrial 24-Hour Emergency Repair Reliability and so much more

Commercial

1-800-696-2235 56 Liberty Drive, Hermon www.overheaddoorofbangor.com

Judd Goodwin Well Co

"We Do It Right The First Time"

Complete Well & Pump

Installation, Service and Repair Residential • Commercial Camps • Cottages

P.O. Box 17 Greenville, ME 04441 Office: 207-695-695-3645 Cell: 207-280-0923 goodwinjudd@yahoo.com www.juddgoodwinwell.com Member Maine Groundwater Association

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