2013 May - Start of the fishing season in Maine

We have started our trips to Maine and are happy to see the bass have started to bite. Here are a couple of the nice fish we caught. The weather is still a little cool, but we don't mind. We have the pond all to ourselves this time of year.

 

Esther with a nice largemouth bass

Frank's smiling because his bass is bigger!

2012 Nov 29 - Dominican Republic Mahi Mahi

Frank and I went on vacation to the Dominican Republic with my niece Caitlin and her husband Steve. We decided to go on a 1/2 day deep sea fishing trip. None of us had ever done this before so we didn't know what to expect as we watched the crew troll the bait across the top of  the water.  It was slow and an hour and a half had passed before the first mate Eli jumped up and grabbed one of the poles. He quickly turned to us and said "One of the ladies, please get into the chair!".  I didn't expect ladies to go first, so when my niece turned to me and said "You Go!", I  jumped at the chance and got into the chair for the hardest fight of my life.  The fight must have lasted 15 minutes and my arms were ready to fall off, but I couldn't give up.  At one point the fish jumped and that was when I saw how large it was.  Frank cheered me on and I finally got the fish close enough for Eli to gaff it. This is the biggest fish I have ever caught and I can't imagine I will ever do this again - it was so hard and I was just lucky the crew let "ladies go first" and my niece gave me the first shot.
Unfortunately, the crew didn't find any other fish that day except for 1 Red Snapper on the way in. The crew gave that strike to another person on the boat - so it was very disappointing for the rest of my family :-(

Esther with 50 lb Mahi Mahi

2012 Sept - Sunfish

We have continued to enjoy fishing in Maine this summer.  I can't post pictures of everything we catch, and I never thought I would post a picture of a sunfish, but I thought this was a particularly large one for me to catch -  9" 3/4 lb. sunfish.

Esther with a 9" 3/4 lb. sunfish

2012 Aug 5 - Fishing with my Brother-in-law

My sister Mary, her husband Dick, and daughter Aimee came up to Maine and spent the weekend with us. Dick hasn't fished in freshwater for years so we couldn't wait to show him how good the fishing is in Maine.  Unfortunately, it was August and hot out, so the fishing was not very good on the first day.  The next day, I went out with them to bring Dick some good luck.  We weren't out too long before Dick hooked into a nice bass.  It was a beauty - 2-1/2 lb largemouth!  I was  responsible for the camcorder (which I don't use very often), so in my haste to get his catch filmed, I messed up and didn't get a picture of his bass :-(

I did get pictures of a couple of his other fish that day, but not the big one!  Sorry Dick  - you will have to come back and try again next year.

Dick caught this pickerel

Dick with a small largemouth bass

2012 July 27 - Maine Loons

We decided to try fishing on Echo Lake. It was a sunny hot summer day and the fishing was terrible! We didn't catch anything but we did get to see a loon with a baby. It was the first time ever I have seen a mother loon with a baby.

Mother and baby loon

2012 July 26 -Trolling

As it gets warmer it gets harder to catch fish.  But I am having luck by trolling a rapala and here are a couple of the fish I have caught that way.

Esther with a good sized perch

Esther with a pickerel

2012 June 30 - Maine

The fishing had slowed down in the second half of June so we decided to go out fishing in the morning instead of late afternoon. It was a perfectly calm morning and we got out fishing by 8 a.m.  As we made our way to our fishing spot, we passed a group of ducks still sleeping on the rocks.

Female Mallard ducks sleeping

We were catching a few fish but nothing too noteworthy until we got to the backside of an island.  I was casting to lillypads and on one cast I got a strike immediately and as I reeled my line in, it felt very odd to me.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I pulled my rapala out of the water - I had caught 2 perch on the same lure with that cast, one on each  hook!

 

Esther with a double hook-up!

A short while later I saw a fish jump at a dragon fly near a lily pad, so I of course cast right to that spot.  The fish attacked the rapala and I caught a nice smallmouth bass.  But I was surprised to see, on the same cast, my rapala had also hooked a dragon fly!
I guess that is what I like about fishing, you never know what is going to happen.

I caught a smallmouth bass and a dragon fly on the same cast.