Don Kleiner's blog

Yesterday morning when I got up there was a strong smell of smoke in the air, when I went out to give the dogs their morning exercise it was stronger. We spent the day driving our youngest son to the University of Rhode Island to start his summer job and you could smell it to well south of Portland.

This morning it is thick in the air limiting visibility and you can certainly smell it. Where could it be coming from? At first I assumed that it was a neighbor burning brush but after I realized the area covered I knew it had to be something much bigger.

After hearing very encouraging reports from southern Maine I was looking forward to the the coming striper season. A trip down onto the saltwater section of the Saint George River has me encouraged. First water clarity has not been this good for several springs now. There was good clean green seawater well above the Route 1 bridge in Thomaston. Water temperature was in the 60’s another very positive sign.

I usually don’t talk much about trout fishing. The best of the fishing is usually in late April and early May. Before there are visitors around to have me guide them. Many springs in the last several years have been wet keeping rivers high and not safe to wade. But this spring has been different; with low water levels, very pleasant temperatures and cooperative fish have all combined to have me guiding more trout fishing than normal this year.

I’ve been on Megunticook Lake in Camden twice this week with two different clients bass fishing. Fishing was a little slow on Monday; the fish preferred flies. I am a using secret pattern custom tied for me, very nice when it works. Bass are just starting to bed and I would guess that the spawn will start next week in earnest. From here on fishing only gets better!

This spring has been without a doubt one of the best we have experienced in a long time.. The river is not running at flood stage, it has been warm and pleasant most of the time, and the flowers are at least a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. The only down side is that we have had lots of wind, in fact today it is out of the northwest at easily 25 mph.

But no stripers yet. Captain George Harris of Superfly Charters and I make our early trips searching for fish together. Saves gas and makes for a much more enjoyable outing. Not to mention we each solve the same problem of catching fish for clients a little differently. So it is a gret chance to learn from each other. While there were no stripers to report this morning we were treated to the early season Saint George River wildlife show.

Mothers Day is our annual trip to the fish ladder in Damariscotta Mills to see the alewife run. For those of you that do not know alewives are a river herring that return to many of our local rivers to spawn each spring. They are about a foot long and silvery. It has been a Mother’s day tradition for us since the boys were born that includes a late lunch out, usually in Damariscotta.

Last winter and early this spring part of my role as the Executive Director of the Maine Professional Guides Association had me working on the fishing part of the Maine Office or Tourism website. Part of that effort has me working closely with Mac McKeever from LL Bean. Mac grew up in Camden and has a great love for smallmouth bass fishing.

Our oldest son Noah is in his senior year at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. The college requires every student to do a senior project and Noah’s includes visiting and photographing mountain ranges on both sides of the country. He has been to the Chic Chocs on the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, Mount Washington in New Hampshire (actually skied Tuckerman’s Ravine) and is now in the Tetons in Wyoming.

I had the good fortune to be able to fish with Argy and a couple of friends Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect warm with bright sunshine and a brilliant blue sky. I won’t waste a lot of words trying to describe it but post a couple of pictures instead.

The fishing by the way was very good for this early in the season. Needless to say it was a great time in the Maine Outdoors. Wish you were there!