Winter seems to be dragging on #54

Has anybody other than me noticed that winter seems to be hanging around longer than normal this year? Have you wondered if we are going to skip spring this year and go right back into winter? I know, that is an awful thought and certainly spring is around the corner somewhere. However, someone forgot to tell that to Mother Nature, because the snow is still piled up in the woods and the ice is not yet out of the ponds and lakes. Last year at this time, I had already wet a line and as I recall had caught a few nice fish. This year it will be some time before that will happen. Realistically, I see it two ways. The first is that we continue to have cold off and on, with occasional snow squalls that hamper the reduction of snow and the season will be on hold. Or we can, and this is my vote, have a real warm-up that takes the snow away and dries the woods roads so we can get to where we need to be, on a pond with that fly out there just waiting for a nice brook trout to check it out.

Now, a sure sign of spring is the Presque Isle Fish and Game Club’s annual sportsman’s show held here in Presque Isle. You can usually count on that when it occurs, we should be close to fishing. This year’s show was held on April 5 and 6 and was very well attended by both vendors and interested sportsman. Once again the club did a fantastic job of preparing for it and the number and variety of vendors was excellent. One vendor did catch my eye and I spent a lot of time at their booth. Terry and his wife from T & T Company in Manchester, Maine had a wide variety of fly fishing gear including the IM-12 graphite rods. When I first saw them that Saturday, I looked at the construction and was quite impressed. Terry even put a reel on one and let my brother in laws try them outside in the parking lot. The result was a rod that cast the line extremely easy. They were able to shoot the fly line a long way and with a lot of ease. They were so impressed that Gary almost bought one right then and there. I did not really need another rod so I just took it all in and kept my eye on my other brother in law, Paul. Now, Paul is a studier.  He never buys anything until he has had sufficient time to think it through and do his research. So it was no surprise when he said he wanted to go home and work his questions out on the internet. Well, Saturday ended and by the end of the day Gary had decided that he really needed that rod, so he called Terry and made arrangements to pick it up the next day. TC and I kicked it around and decided that although we really did not need another rod, if we could get it for the right price we might buy one. Sunday came and we all went back to the show and Gary got his rod. I kept looking at them and finally Terry and I agreed on a price and TC and I bought one. I handed it to TC and paid Terry and that is when I found out that maybe that rod was not mine after all. TC had such a tight grip on it that there was no way I was getting it back. To make a long story short, that week, TC was in the yard with the rod, her reel and line attached casting it into the snowbank. As I watched, she was doing a nice job of getting her line out there and at the end, she was very happy with it and how the rod worked. I think I may have lost the battle of ownership that day. As for Paul, he continues to research it although he tells me he will be getting one. All in all, another great show and my hat is off to the club for an excellent job.

I would also like to mention that if you read my last column on the upcoming bear referendum, it is very worthwhile mentioning that the State of Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has once again shown that they are very capable of managing the animal population through their research and the decisions they make. They have just announced that the open season in Aroostook County on turkeys has been cancelled this year due to the winter weather and the effect it had on the birds. In doing so, they sent a clear message that they have the tools and ability to determine what is best for our animal population and will take necessary steps to maintain that population when they see the need.

I’d also like to thank all of you who wrote me about the little video I added in my last column. Credit goes to Patty and Gary Browning for sending that to TC and me. I can’t tell you how many times we have watched it and judging by some of the emails you sent me, it got a lot of playing time. Hopefully when I write my next column, we will be in the woods and the fish will be rising just like in the video. We can only hope!

Here We Go Again!  Blog #53

As I write this blog, it is snowing with a good chance that the weather is going to change to an icy mix. Most of the snow we have received has come over the last month and a half and now we have so much that it will take some time before it is all gone. If you were thinking that you were going to visit my web site and read some stories about TC and our fishing adventures, unfortunately, that is not the case. At this point we have far too much snow and the ice is so thick that it will be May before we can get into the woods. Unfortunately, it does not only affect TC and my fishing plans, but there is a real concern for the deer and moose. In speaking with the wardens, they tell me that the deer and moose have depleted their fat reserves and due to the amount of snow, they are not able to find food. This time of year, the snow should be down and they should be feeding. Not the case this year. I am told that this last snow fall will, potentially do a lot more damage to the population than the big snow we had a few years back, and that is very sad.

I also had a chance to talk with a Maine game warden about the upcoming bear referendum. As you may or may not know, a group intent on stopping our right to hunt bear has collected enough signatures to put a question on the ballot to stop baiting, hounding and trapping black bear. If you say we already voted this down a couple of years ago, why is it back? That is because they did not take no for an answer. They are willing to roll the dice again and try to get this through. With great certainty, if this passes, they will come back again with another attempt to stop some other form of hunting, and who knows, maybe they will attack fishing as well.  I have seen a number of ads they will be running and they will attempt to play on your sympathy in order to get your vote. Don’t be fooled. These people are not from Maine and the money they are using to bankroll this effort is from out of state groups.  I ask you, who has more information to determine what and how we should be doing things in our woods, our Maine biologists or folks who have never hunted or fished?  Let’s tell these folks once and for all that we don’t need them telling us what is best for Mainers. Let’s send them a message that we want to decide for ourselves how to control our animal population. Make sure when it is time to vote, that you vote to uphold our right to hunt and fish. If we don’t continue to maintain our right to hunt and fish, nuisance beer complaints will become a daily routine for our Inland fisheries and wildlife wardens. Let’s let the folks in our state determine the best way to control the population and not an out of state group.

Here are a few facts about our bear:

·      Since 2004, Maine’s bear population has increased and is estimated at more than 30,000 animals.

·      Hunting is the primary means of managing this thriving bear population.

·      Hunters who use still hunting or stalking techniques to harvest bears have less than a 3% success rate due to Maine’s dense forests.

·      On average, only 26% of hunters using bait and hounds and 20% using traps actually harvest a black bear.

·      Left unchecked, the bear population will increase and bear will eventually move into areas with higher human densities and conflicts will rise.

I thought you might enjoy this short video of some brown trout feeding. This video was taken by a fisherman in New Zealand. It is unbelievable and very peaceful. THINK SPRING!  Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/85147880

Bear facts taken from: Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Hunting and trapping laws, 2013-2014