Crepuscular Fishing and French Mountain Hiking
Like last year, this has been a cool, wet, and windy transition to summer, with some occasional, very hot days. The fishing has continued to be productive, especially early in the morning and late in the evening.
I love fishing these crepuscular periods when the lake is typically dead calm, and it is easy to spot fish feeding on or near the surface. Surface-feeding fish often indicate an insect hatch taking place with some fish (often trout or small bass) sucking the bugs off the surface, creating dimples. Often larger fish will be just below the smaller fish at the surface, eating the smaller fish or the nymphs (insect larvae) just below the surface waiting to emerge.
In our lakes, we also get schools of landlocked alewives disturbing the surface while spawning in relatively shallow (less than about 25 feet) coves. Often these schools are being chased by larger fish and you will see occasional large splashes, as a bass or brown trout picks off a spawning alewife. For this situation I like to keep one of my flyrods rigged with a White Zonker, a streamer that nicely mimics the landlocked alewives in the lake. It’s usually easy to catch several nice bass or white perch under these conditions. A spinning rod (I prefer an ultralight) rigged with almost anything silver, such as a small jerk bait (such as a Rapala), Mepps spinner, or Weeping Willow spoon is also quite effective. Recently, one of my former college roommates, Dr. Larry Hawley of Birmingham, Alabama visited for a few days. He caught several nice Long Pond smallies on a White Zonker fly.
By the time this article is published, the water temperatures will be over 70°F in the lakes and the bass will be in the shallows either sitting on their own beds or chasing the sunfish on theirs. It is a fun time for fly fishermen to catch a lot of fish on streamer flies or surface poppers, especially at dawn or dusk. Spinning gear also works well with surface lures, especially at dusk. It can be a great time to teach a youngster how to fish because the action is fast. A worm-baited hook and bobber off the dock is especially effective in getting kids “hooked” on fishing.
Recently, I stopped off for a quick hike at French Mountain after a rain event to check on the effectiveness of some of the erosion control work the 7 Lakes Stewardship Committee did recently. I met the VanSoest family from Mercer getting ready to hike with their young girls, ages 2 and 5. Originally from MI, Nate is a former AT through hiker who has been “taking his kids outside” since they were born. He and Stephanie are frequent hikers of 7 Lakes trails and their 5-year old described French Mountain has her “favorite go to hike.” Nate may look familiar to many as he is the bartender at the excellent 122 Corson Farm Restaurant in Mercer.
I also met a young family from Oakland getting ready to hike French Mountain with their 7-year-old son Braxton for the first time. Braxton was wearing a Batman T-shirt, and his dad, Montana, was wearing a Gotham City Police Chief T-shirt.
Mike Guarino, who is the Community Engagement Specialist for the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, still does a bit of guiding in the Belgrades. Now that he has a “real job,” Mike guides mostly on weekends, which this year means most of his trips have been on rainy days. One of his regular clients is 9-year-old Ash, who comes up from MA with his dad to visit his grandfather Paul for some spring fishing in Messalonskee Lake. Recently, Ash fought through rain and wind and some chilly temps and caught some nice crappie and pike.
Check the 7LA website and Facebook page for upcoming events. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the wealth of recreational opportunities this area offers. Do like they used to in “the good old days” and take a kid fishing, or on a hike, or paddling in a canoe. It’s how memories are made. Or take a parent, so they can become a kid again.
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