2013 June 26 - Torsey Lake, Maine - Loon and Geese

We decided to try a new lake today, Torsey Lake in Kent's Hill, Maine.  We headed for an area someone had told us about that has a lot of tree stumps.  It was a difficult area to fish and was filled with lily pads which produced some bass but mostly weeds around our electric motor!

Esther with one of the largemouth bass from Torsey Lake

We left the lily pad area and fished along the shore as we headed back to the public landing. The fishing definitely picked up along that stretch and we must have caught at least 100 fish.

The highlight of this trip for me, was when we came upon a nesting Loon. We have only seen a loon nesting twice.  I zoomed in with my camera so as not to disturb her and got this shot.


Nesting Loon on Torsey Lake

We also saw a family of Geese swimming and walking along the shore. 

Canadian Geese



2013 June 15 - Fishing with my Brother-in-Law

Dick with a nice largemouth bass

We waited a whole year for this shot! I wasn't allowed in the boat this year with the camcorder -- my husband Frank was in charge and he got this shot.  Here is my brother-in-law, Dick holding his prize catch of this weekend, a huge largemouth that he caught using a wacky worm.  Dick had a great time fishing in Maine and said he caught more fish than he ever has in his whole life.  We hope he comes back to catch many more!

2013 June 6 - 3-1/4 lb Largemouth

Frank with a 3-1/4 lb. Largemouth Bass

We decided not to take so many fish pictures this year, but we couldn't resist when Frank caught this one which was a little bit bigger than we usually catch - 3-1/4 lb.  I don't know what is going on, but Frank seems to be outfishing me lately!

2013 May 31 - Sunny day on the lake

Esther with a nice pickerel

Great Blue Heron

The weekend after Memorial Day week was beautiful and sunny and we managed to get out and do some fishing on our favorite pond.  We see Great Blue Herons quite often looking to catch some fish too!

2013 Memorial Day Weekend in Maine

My niece Cait and her husband Steve joined us for Memorial Day weekend. The weather was cold and rainy much of the time but it didn't stop them from going out fishing.



My niece, Cait, looks like she is freezing but also happy with her
catch!


Her husband Steve with one of his largemouth bass.

Steve also won the smallest-fish-caught award!



The sun came out for awhile and Cait enjoyed catching this nice largemouth bass.

Steve really loves fishing!



Frank and I were fair weather fisherman this weekend and stayed in instead.  Cait and I worked on a puzzle during the worst of the weekend. It was tough, but we persisted until every last piece was in place!
 

The Loon puzzle that drove us crazy!



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