Category: Uncategorized

It’s Hard to Say Goodbye

Saying goodbye to both the “Summertime in the Belgrades” and guiding/living here for 20 years is very difficult, but change is good for a human and this is going to be a huge change! While I’m looking forward to exploring the Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park area with my family and experiencing all its beauty, leaving such a wonderful place as the Belgrades is not easy. How do you say goodbye to your home? There’s so much to cherish here: the people, the lakes, the fishing, the hunting, the hiking … it’s a dreamland … its home. Personally I’ll miss the people most. When you do what I do, you make lifelong friends; people you care about even if you only see them once or twice a year. Guides find themselves looking forward to seeing their “sports” when they visit for vacation, and I’m going to miss all my friends very, very much.

Rather than being sad and melancholy, I’d rather say goodbye with a smile on my face and keep the memories that will forever be burned into my mental CD. The best part has been watching youngsters grow up from year to year and seeing them go from “duffer” fishermen to expert casters and fish catching machines! So many examples but one that really sticks into my mind is Andrew Volkers who comes up and stays at Whisperwood Lodge with his dad Russ. These guys are icons at Whisperwood and I’m privileged to be their friend. The first time Andrew and I fished together he was only 13 and just learning modern fishing methods. Now he’s a grown man and out-fishes just about everyone with precision casting and a knack for catching the big one. Fishing is in his blood and it’s been a joy watching him develop into an expert! We got to fish this past week for largemouth and some northern pike. The bite was really good, and he actually caught big largemouth, smallmouth, northern pike and pickerel all in the same day. That’s what the Belgrades offer to anglers, a smorgasbord of fish and a chance at a trophy around every turn. We caught some fish on live bait and some on spinner baits and swim baits too. Russ caught a big largemouth on a 6 inch Senko rigged Texas Style. During the heat of the summer, larger baits seem to work better for big fish. The largemouth don’t want to expend energy unless there’s a meal worth eating – you know the old saying … big bait = big fish.

A few years ago my friend and fellow Belgrader Dr. George Spann was retiring as President of Thomas College (my alma mater). George and I are friends and can talk candidly about any topic. When he was giving his goodbye speech at TC, just before they dedicated a building to him and his wife, George said goodbye but didn’t say thank you to any specific people. There were just too many to thank and the fear of leaving someone out is horrifying. I couldn’t agree more, so in my last article, I leave my friends with this personal thought:

Thank you all so much for making my time in Belgrades so special and memorable. The Belgrade Lakes are an amazing place that can change a person, make them understand how extraordinary their surroundings are. Loons, fish, deer and eagles are only part of the scene. Watching the pollen blow off the pines in the springtime or the lupine bloom in the fields is only part of the beauty. Thunderstorms rolling across the lake or two-foot blizzards are only part of the power. What I will never forget are the people who make the Lakes Region tick. You are the true beauty and I thank you so very much for all the memories. Please, everyone, take care of our lakes. They are so precious and special. I wish you all tight lines, big smiles and everlasting memories. Good Luck this week.

January is definitely one of my favorite months here in Maine.  Most New Englanders relish the change of seasons and each time of year  has its own special flavor and appeal.   To me January means changing from my boat to a snowmobile – still going fishing, just gotta wear a hat now.

As usual we’ll be focusing on the Belgrade Lakes Region; trying to track down some big northern pike!  But in the last few years the perch and crappie fishing has been excellent and our clients have experienced some great catches.  Jigging for perch is a blast and last year we caught quite a few bonus trout in the process.  While we still use permanent ice fishing shelters here and there, we’ve switched to portable shelters for the most part.  These allow us to be more mobile.  Using the newest fish finding technology has helped too! 

The scenery around here in the Belgrade’s is changing dramatically and the lakes are freezing over thanks to cold nights and no wind. We have a little bit of snow on the ground and folks are calling ahead for snowmobile rentals.  This year we’ve partnered up with North Country Rivers in Bingham to rent snowmobiles.  So if you want to go, give us a call and we’ll set it up!  Remember, school vacation weeks fill up way in advance, so if you want sleds for that week, it’s best to book early!

In addition to ice fishing we are running some wicked fun snowshoeing trips.  The trips are in two different places.  One is in Pleasant Ridge Plantation (about 45 minutes north of Belgrade) and the other is right here in the Kennebec Highlands.  I’m already looking forward to doing a night trip on Sunday, January 27 during the full moon!  We are going to have a blast!

Speaking of blasts, our winter hunting options are for snowshoe hares and coyotes.  Both of these hunts again take place in Pleasant Ridge and the Kennebec Highlands.  We’ll be busy the next few weeks building blinds and preparing for the coyote season.  These hunts run all winter long!

Wishing you a very safe and fun-filled holiday season!

~ Mike G.

 

As you probably know, our beautiful Belgrade Lakes all come together and eventually flow into the mighty Kennebec River. The river is a true success story involving improved water quality, shoreline restoration and renewed fisheries. This week I had the luxury of playing on the river for 4 days in a row. What more can a guy ask for?

The flowage rate on the river is really excellent right now in the Waterville through Gardiner sections, making for safe and easy wading, kayaking and canoeing, along with fishing out of flat bottomed boats with smaller motors or jet engines. The introduction of jet style motors has revolutionized river fishing. The joy of the jet motor is the lack of a prop, so you don’t have to worry about busting your lower unit and propeller on the rocky bottom. For those of us who run motors with propellers, it’s always a good idea to bring a spare prop and a couple of extra shear pins just in case. At the very least, make sure you have a set of oars or an electric trolling motor as a backup.

The first day down the river was with a couple of good old boys from the Belgrade area. They are good friends who like to fly fish, and we were hoping to find some striped bass on this trip. The stripers run up the river starting in late May and hang out until the blue back herring leave and the water gets too warm. Unfortunately on this trip we didn’t contact any stripers, but the boys did manage a bunch of river smallmouth on streamer flies which is always a thrill. When you fish the Waterville – Sidney stretch, it’s best to leave a vehicle at the Sidney launch and trail the boat and anglers to Waterville. Then drift down and shuttle back up to get the boat trailer. It’s nearly impossible to motor a boat back up stream once you get past the mouth of the Messalonskee Stream near Thomas College.

The next evening the 14-foot PolarKraft Jon Boat was loaded up again, equipped with a 50 pound thrust trolling motor and a 6 h.p. outboard. For the next three days I floated the Sidney stretch of the river and experienced better fishing and a few striped bass as a bonus. The stripers were caught on top water Chug Bugs and WOW did they put up a fight. These fish were definitely fresh from the ocean and were extremely aggressive; however it’s pretty obvious that the major part of the striper run is over until the fall. The smallmouth fishing was definitely better too and my friend Chuck from New Jersey caught quite a few nice fish on small tubes and curly tailed grubs. He fell in love with the river and decided to go back the next day to try again! He kept commenting on how clean the water was and how beautiful the eagles were. We saw lots of eagles on his trip along with a few jumping sturgeon. If you’ve never seen Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus) leap out of the water it’s truly a sight to behold. No one really knows why they jump, but there are lots of opinions based on very little fact. The bottom line is, if you float the river this time of year, be prepared to catch a glimpse of a 3 to 8 foot long fish come rocketing up out of the water near your boat! Good luck.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my blog but that’s only because I’ve been fishing so much!  I know, tough life eh’? Well this winter has been a whooper that’s for sure and we’ve been very busy shoveling out cottages and working on ice shacks along with chasing flags.  This past week we got 2 snow storms but it didn’t slow us down.  We guided a great group of people on Tuesday and Thursday and then fished with family on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  My daughter Elena caught a GIANT black crappie that won her a new pack basket at the local derby.   The guys that rented the cottage on Snow Pond got into some good fishing too and landed a 20.20 lb pike that was over 40 inches!  There’s a good story behind that fish, so check our facebook page for that!

On Sunday I managed to get my snowmobile stuck in some serious slush!  Talk about a mess.  But, as usual we managed to get the thing out and make it back safe and sound.  I’d be fibbing if I didn’t admit that I was cold though.  But that’s ice fishing; sometimes you win and sometimes the conditions can beat you up.  Either way, it makes for great story!   Speaking of dealing with the conditions, THREE CHEERS for Lynn and his crew Paul, Robert, & Becka for fishing through some gusty winds last week.  Bottom line is everyone caught fish, we had too many laughs to count, ate really well and got a nice sun burn as a bonus.   That’s good livin’!!!!

 So now that March has arrived the  longer days will hopefully create some melting conditions and by the month’s end the streams should be running.  That will draw some of the bigger female pike into their staging and spawning grounds.  This is a great time of year to target big, pre-spawn pike.  The picture here is of my nephew Tyler.  he came to visit this weekend and caught his first every ice-pike.  Way to go kido! 

In addition to the pike fishing, it’s a great time of year to fish for brook trout and white perch.  The black crappie should also be staging and I can’t wait to get back into my favorite crappie hole for a few late afternoon/night-time jigging fests.  I just love jigging crappie!  Having the right jigs and electronics makes a huge difference.  

Hope you are enjoying this wonderful winter as much as we are!  Tomorrow we’re off to snowshoe the Kennebec Highlands on a geocashing adventure.  That should be fun!