This is going to be a controversial post for all of the trout snobs out there. It concerns the most recent addition to our Back Lake denizens of the deep: smallmouth and largemouth bass. Both species were illegally introduced to Back Lake at least twenty years ago, and at first it appeared to merely be a rumor of what had happened, but slowly we came to realize that there were indeed some of them residing, and flourishing, in Back Lake.
Hard to believe that we’re nearly in to August and that we’ve crossed the hump of the fishing season. Still, there are two and a half months of good fishing ahead and our weather over the next month or so may dictate what type of close we have to our season. While south of the notch has been extraordinarily wet in July, we have remained on the dry side in the north country – the Connecticut Lakes are low, and so is the river that flows out of them.
It’s difficult for some anglers to admit they need help when visiting a new area, or even advice on their fishing technique in general, but getting a qualified and professional fishing guide for a day or two can be money well spent.
That’s veteran TTL guest Richie Bernard on a drift down the Connecticut River with Chuck Degray of North Country Fly Shop & Guide Service yesterday. They had a good time, enjoying a beautiful day on the water and catching and releasing some fish too. Richie usually trolls lakes and ponds with flies, but he wanted to do something different yesterday and chose to cast flies on the river.
We all love catching trout, but we also need to be aware of how to release them, especially in this year of low, and sometimes warm, water. The state of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife recently issued a release on how to help release those trout and salmon we catch in the warmer summer months.
Read on, fellow anglers …
Happy Independence Day everyone – we hope that you’re enjoying it with family or friends and thinking about all of the reasons that the U.S. is a special place to be. With the hexagenia hatch on Back Lake all but a memory now, you would think that the fishing on our lake is in the doldrums … not so!