2018 Nov 2-9 Fishing in Arizona

We spent a week in Heber-Overgaard, Arizona and the weather was low 60's so we got another chance at fishing this year.  Most of the lakes and streams in this area are stocked with trout. I am not an expert at catching trout and I find it hard to spend so many hours fishing with so little to show for it. Frank caught 3 Tiger trout the first day and I only caught one rainbow trout.  We did however see several other trout chasing our lures and felt several "nips" on the lures so that kept us trying for a long time.
The Tiger trout is a hybrid of Brown trout and a Brook trout and this is the first time we have seen them. We have caught Splake trout in Maine. They are a cross between a Brook trout and a Lake trout.

Frank with his first Tiger Trout

Frank with his third Tiger trout

Esther with her Rainbow Trout

Close- up of Rainbow trout

We went back two more times to try our luck.

Esther Fishing at Willow Springs Lake

 I did catch one more trout,  I think it is a Tiger trout, but the pattern is not as dramatic as the ones Frank caught. Maybe because it was smaller.

Esther's second trout, maybe a Tiger trout

 I am not too comfortable holding trout.  I prefer holding a bass by the lip!

Esther holding second trout

2018 Sept 20 - 22 Fishing in Maine

We are coming to the end of our fishing season in Maine and lucked out with a beautiful warm day to go fishing.  We were the only boat out on this day and the fishing was pretty good. I was pleased with this nice sized pickerel and wanted to get a picture not knowing how many other good fish we would catch.

Esther with her pickerel

Then Frank caught the best bass we have seen in a long time.  A whopping 20" largemouth!

Frank with a huge 20" largemouth bass

 I couldn't match him that day, but the next day I caught my prize to end the year.  Mine was only 19" so he still beat me :-(

Esther with her 19" largemouth bass

2018 Aug 23 - 25 - Bear Spring Camps- Frank beat me!

Frank with his first nice Smallie

We headed off to one of our favorite fishing camps in Maine, Bear Spring Camps and got out on the water right after lunch.  The woman in the cabin next door warned us that fishing had been very slow the week she was here. We hoped we could prove her wrong and Frank got off to a good start by catching this nice smallmouth bass right away. Then it did get slow and it was another 3 hours until we got into some good action.

Frank with a second smallie

Esther with her only catch of the day, a small pike

Now things got really good for Frank!  He caught a decent pike.

Frank's first big pike

Then he caught the prize fish of the whole day -- a 29" Pike!!! We measured this one together, Frank wanted to make sure there were no mistakes like last year.

Frank with his 29" Pike

 He didn't stop there and ended the day with a nice largemouth bass.

Frank with a nice Largemouth bass

End of the day: Frank 5, Esther 1

Fishing was very slow the next 2 days.  The days were sunny and hot and the wind was too much so it made getting into spots almost impossible. We caught some smallies and largemouth bass but not very many and nothing very big. Frank caught a white perch and I caught a Crappie which is unusual so I took a picture of that fish.

Esther with a Crappie

Frank discovered trolling was a good way to catch since we could not navigate close enough to the reed beds we wanted to fish. That was how he caught his big Pike the first day so we trolled some more on the last day. It paid off and I caught a pickerel and a pike trolling with spinner baits.

Esther with a pickerel

Esther with another small pike

Late in the day I was ready to give up, but Frank wasn't.  He did give up fishing however, so he could better handle the boat in this tough wind.  He drove the boat back and forth close enough to the reeds for me to get multiple casts in.  I had a couple of strikes but I still hadn't landed a big one. My arms were ready to fall off and I decided to switch to a no. 5 Silver Mepps I saw in my tackle box.
First cast and Bam! I caught my big Pike of the weekend.

Esther with a 26" Pike

Mine was not as big as Frank's but I was happy to catch this one.  I owe it all to Frank who was so persistent and willing to give up fishing so I could have the chance!
End score for the weekend:
a tie in the number of fish caught,
but Frank's Pike was bigger and his generosity was the biggest!

2018 Aug 5 - A Fishing Tale

My all-time favorite lure

I have had some really good luck with this crawfish crankbait and I think this has to be my all time favorite lure now. I caught my largest trout on it (see 2016 May 15 -Splake Trout posting) and my largest smallmouth (See 2010 Fall - Wachusett Reservoir posting). But today I witnessed something I have never seen before.  I know this will sound like a tall tale and I do not have a picture to show you, but Frank is my witness.
We were fishing in the afternoon on this very hot day and fishing was kind of slow.  I was trying different lures but the fish just weren't biting.  So I wasn't in a big hurry with my casting and retrieving.  I threw my crawfish out and just paused a few seconds before reeling in.  As soon as I started reeling I immediately felt a fish tugging at my line, but something looked very odd with the action going on.  It wasn't until I got it close to the boat when I saw what was the matter.  I said to Frank, "You are not going to believe this!" as  I pulled my lure out of the water.  I had not 1, but 2  largemouth bass on the crankbait - one on each hook!!  I couldn't believe my eyes, this has never happened to me before.  I have to admit they were not very large, maybe 5-6 inches each.  But what are the odds?
Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, so I guess you will have to take my word (and Frank's!) that it really did happen.

2018 June 24 - Fishing from my Dock

3 lb largemouth bass

I was standing on my dock and I could see this large bass hanging around close to shore.  I threw a floating lure and tried a spinning lure but the fish wouldn't go for either.  I then decided to put on a really large rubber crawfish and I threw it close to the bass and that did it! He gobbled it immediately and I pulled the fish in.  As I was removing my lure I noticed this fish had already escaped another fisherman.  I could not see a hook or lure, but the poor fish had broken the fishing line and had about 4 feet of line coming out of its throat and into the water.  I cut the line as close as I could deep inside its throat so I hope the fish feels better for that.

2018 June 15-17 My brother Beat Me in Fishing!

As mentioned in an earlier post (1950's - My Fishing Partner), my brother George and I have always competed in everything growing up, especially fishing!  This weekend was no exception.




I was all smiles as I started off strong using my wacky worm and landed some good sized bass. Here is a nice Small mouth bass.

Frank and George were fishing spinners, and not having the success I was having.  So they switched to wacky worms and sure enough that shut down my luck and the wacky worm stopped working!


Next, George pulled a 3 hook gold/black colored Rapela out of his tackle box, threw that out, and brought it in with a slow retrieve. 

Bam!! George found the right lure and the right technique and starting pulling in one fish after another!

I wasn't worried at first, just glad that someone was catching a lot of fish. Besides, Rapelas are not my favorite lures anymore after 2 infamous hooking accidents in the past. 





But after awhile, I started to get concerned (see the look on my face and the smug and happy look on George's face)

Was my brother going to out fish me?






Now I was the one switching lures! I put on a light green/silver 2 hook Rapela.  But whether it  was the wrong color, the wrong size or my technique - it just didn't work.
And George kept pulling in more bass. Honestly, there are just too many photos to post here, but here is one of George's smallies.

George's luck continued the next day, on another pond. Same lure, same technique. Here he is with a 2-1/2 lb smallie.









 
After the weekend ended, I went to the store.

So all I can say now is "Game on George - can't wait until next year!"

2018 June 14 - Fishing with my brother George

It didn't take long for my brother to land the first of his largemouth bass on this fishing excursion.












He also caught an exceptionally large bluegill!

2018 June 11-12 Maine Fishing Vacation

Esther with a 23" pickerel

Esther with a 3-1/4 lb Largemouth Bass

We are spending a whole week in Maine this time and we are having company in a couple of days. I just had to get out and test the waters so we know where to find the fish.  Here are a couple of the best fish I caught these two days.

2018 May 19 - The Bass are Biting and so are the Black Flies!

First trip of the season and the fishing is pretty good. Our favorite lake is nice and quiet and we caught a few nice bass.  I had to wear my bug suit though because it is also black fly season.  The suit works great and I am happy to report I had more bites from the bass than the black fly bites!