Newsletter

Now that November is here things have started to wind down for my guiding season. The weather is still pleasant and I am working on getting firewood in for the next two winters. I have it all cut up and have started to split and stack it. Hopefully I can get it all under cover before the snow piles up in the woodlot. I should be safe this week as we are forecast to have daytime temperatures in the 60's. Hmmmm maybe I should be going fishing and not working so hard on firewood! Hope that you are getting out and enjoying the fall as well!

The leaves are mostly gone in Northern Maine and the woods have taken on that russet color of late fall. Yesterday the frost did not melt off until nearly noon and I saw some ice in a puddle that was still there in the shade at two in the afternoon. I spent the last couple of weeks at Libby Camps guiding grouse hunters. I enjoy the fun with some great folks, good dog work and of course interesting wildlife sightings. I always like getting into remote country and walking around with the dogs.

As fall progresses the amount of color in the leaves changes almost daily and peak foliage is a fleeting moment at best. Over the last week the color has come steadily and we have gone from a red tree here and there to more than half of the trees in bright color. This picture (click here)was taken from the boat launch on Seven Tree pond in Union. A nearly perfect fall day with hardly a breath of wind and pleasant warm temperatures made it impossible to stay indoors and get any work done.

The seasons are changing noticeably now. We have a freeze warning for tonight so I need to cover the tomatoes and cucumbers to keep them going. From here on we need to enjoy every fully ripe tomato because before long we won't have them. I know you can buy tomatoes in the store all winter but there is really no comparison.

The weather has definitely changed now, the wind is blowing pretty strongly out of the northwest and the angle of the sun is getting low in the sky. I can tell because it gets hard to see down into the water making my job just a little more difficult. The sky is that crystal clear blue that we get in clear cool air. The crickets are chirping steadily in the warm afternoons and getting in the house at every opportunity. I guided some excellent fly anglers Saturday for bass; the fishing was great when we started but diminished as the wind came up and the barometer began to rise.

All of the signs of the impending change in season are here. The air has cleared and the humidity seems to be gone. Union Fair is underway and the traffic is at the annual peak in town. On the river the cardinal flowers have nearly gone by and the arrowhead is in full bloom. Over the last week the numbers of painted turtles sunning on almost every rock and log along the river has been nothing short of amazing as they take full advantage of the warm sunny weather. Here and there a maple has already given up the season and is now turning a brilliant red.

This has been a very busy summer but before I know it the goldenrod will be in full bloom and the first red maple leaf will show up on the shore of one of the ponds. I noticed cardinal flowers on the shore of Seven Tree Pond this week that tells me we are near the end of the summer and the transition to fall has started.

The middle of July has been humid and this week is marked by showers and thunderstorms. Fortunately we have not had the extreme heat that everyone else on on the Atlantic seaboard seems to be having and I have not had to cancel even one trip so far. An afternoon striper trip on Saturday ended just as the skies opened and Monday's early morning trip started as the showers ended. We had blue skies and warm temperatures by the time we left the water.

The first week of July offered us great summer weather, foggy mornings, sunny breezy afternoons and warm summer temperatures. I have run a lot of trips in the last ten days with a good variety. Family fishing trips, several striper trips and an afternoon nature exploration canoe trip thrown in for good measure.

The last few days have been cold, overcast and foggy with the occasional rain shower or stretch of drizzle. I have come home from my morning striper trip and started a fire in the woodstove to feel warm. In fact on my afternoon trip one afternoon I wore an insulated underwear top and was glad to have it on as the evening wore on. After a warm and dry month of May this is pretty hard to take, I'm sure that summer is here and the warm sunny days are not far off.

Striper Report!