Morning Folks

 I am heading down to work my cousins pasture puppy farm.  He has only 4 horses left on the farm.  We will be doing farm stuff like fixing fences and who knows what else lol.  Have a great rest of your week.  

Sonder

Warm Water Fishing 4.27.2024

On 4.27.2024 I set out to fish the upper Cuyahoga River. I would be swinging flies and not leaving the house until like 1430 after getting my tires for my Soob.

I could have wet waded today but was not really feeling like it. So, getting dressed at home I then loaded the Soob and headed west.

I got to the river and parked at a local softball field. Then I noticed all these young men and woman getting their photos taken. Some kind of high school celebration Ws going on locally and they where along the river like a pageant. Then here comes my ruff-looking bearded self-down to the river on the opposite side.  They stared at me I waved and said in my best West Virginia tone “howdy you going to stare I’m going to say howdy”. Many of them laughed and I said I will move out of your field of view if you want. They were all appreciative of the wader wearing freak of a bearded old man moving out of there line of sight.

I grabbed my custom Rainshadow IF1086-4 – 10’8” 4pc (6wt) rated for 275-375 grain weight window.  I slapped on a 375-grain max short 20’8” head Skagit along with it a “don’t laugh” 10’ salmon steelhead sinking leader 2”/sec. This is the same exact setup I used in Montana.  I used 3 feet of 8-pound test floro for tippet (the three feet was added so I am less likely to blow my anchor).

With in three swings there was the same rainbow I hooked and landed last time. I am calling this one Bart because the name Bert is already taken.  I brought my net this time in preparation for better handling of any fish I may have the luck of landing.

I looked down stream and saw a mother and young son fishing.  They were walking up the bank as I was leaving. She asked if I had any luck and I said some. I look at the young man he was not having fun. I noticed they where fishing bobbers and worms by looking at the rigs they had. 

I asked them if they had caught anything? They said no and the mom looked sadder than her son. I said stay here I will hook you up to better the odds. I had in my car not far away some of my bobber’s steelhead gear for whatever reason.  I rigged them up with some lead and a lighter leader section with ha barrel swivel.  I also had some smaller hooks, size 10’s.

After I re did their rigs, I said I will be right back one more thing.  The park had some rocks around a planter in which I was praying had some red worms underneath them.

I rolled three over and found my quarry, I went back to them and said put these on the hooks. I gave them some instructions on how to read this pool. The rainbows were all held in the slick between the two currents about 30 feet from the bank.  I told them you want to dance the bobber right down the middle and hold onto the rod.

The mother was greatly appreciative and tried to give me money and I told her no please just enjoy the time with your son.

I was almost back at the Subaru, and I could hear happy screaming coming from the bank. Lol

I would look up at the sky and it was starting to get grey to that deep what I call it electric blue color.  Well, a storm is coming, and I need to fish one more short section.

I got to the riverbank after I walked around a swampy section of the river. I noticed that there were a lot of plants blooming and it looks so beautiful as mother nature intended it to be.

I would hook a small but feisty smally that was preggo!  Yea she may have been bedding because I hooked her off a sand and gravel bar.

Then the next fish well her/she broke my heart. I did a half-a$$ cast near a sunken tree.  I was swinging right in front of it hoping to lure anything lurking in its shadows.

The second cast was better, and I gave it a downstream mend to send the fly screaming across the current.  When I did this it sent a pike hauling after my fly. He would hook himself with the fly being a tube fly on the swing. I went to put side pressure on the large hammer handle in the current and when I did it my rod rotated through the reel seat.

At that moment I thought what the hell and then he rolled and snapped my leader buy cutting it.  I was more upset at the fly rod and the moment and less at the fish.

The skies started to pour rain and it was time to head home.

 

 

 

Conditioning for vacation

The local weather patterns are starting to stabilize.  Today I did some hill road work. The hills where steep and different lengths.  The route was only 7 miles on some nice country roads.  

My goal today was only to work on my breathing and elevate my heart rate.  

My 2024 Return To Maine

I will be returning to Maine in 159 days for two weeks.  During this time, I will be seeing places I have never seen before. I will be taking a lot of photos like I did the last time I was there. I will also be doing a lot of fishing, one with the bug rod and the other with the eggbeater.  I wanted to show you folks where I will be taking some photos based upon your recommendations and if you have other suggestions, please let me know.  I will be up in Maine from Sept 21^st until October 5^th. 

This will be the latest trip in Maine I have ever done. I am limited to where I can take my vehicle because of the vertical clearance she has. Not to say I won’t chance it while practicing some common sense lol.  She is going to be replaced next year with another Soob that has higher vertical clearance. 

Because of extreme sensitivity and respect for the fishery and my friends I will not be talking about where I am fishing or accessing the areas I will be at.  For those who know you don’t need a map lol.

So, my first screen shot here is of the Height of Land area. I have found three vistas via Goggle Earth Pro and Google Maps.

Here are the coordinates for one of the vistas:  44°51'9.51"N  70°42'12.60"W. The second vista is here 44°49'22.77"N,  70°42'20.62"W and the third vista is here  44°50'18.75"N  70°42'37.02"W.

Here is one of the places I will be headed too Quill Hill located here: 45° 2'40.76"N  70°31'17.70"W

I will be also going to the site of the B-52 crash to pay my respects located here 45°31'40.40"N  69°26'5.10"W.

I won’t give details about where I will be in the following area, but for discussion we can call it Baxter State Park.  I will be up here in this area for three days. I will be float tubing a pond and fishing one other bodies of water up there that will remain nameless by me due to respect for all. I have rented a cabin that will be amazing to call home for the time I am up there.

I will be returning to base camp after this which is down coast and while I hope to fish with a few old friends and possibly new ones after a few days of that I will return to Acadia.

I will be rock crawling and scrambling for three days.  I will be taking a lot of photos of the seascape and going up to Cadillac Mountain. I will be using an eggbeater here because the majority of the shoreline will not allow you to overhead cast. The Pollock will be my main quarry here and trying for something larger with the larger rod rigged for deeper water around sunken structure.

The information I am only looking for is places to take photos and I do not want any fishy access information.  As you know enough about me by now, it’s all about adventure.

Needless to say, I am all tied up for Maine saltwater flies and freshwater flies are all done. I am leaving my bobbers at home. This will be a swinging trip and a still water tactics trip.

Wow I almost forgot so while headed up north and around the Rangeley area are there any good places to get a meal?  I do not require anything fancy but what I do want to experience is anywhere you would get that feeling of home. I am looking for any and all recommendations.

 Thank you,

Sonder

Solar Eclipse was a bust for me!

  lol I am glad I don’t make a living from taking photos! The cloud cover with my dark lense made it tough to get a good composition for any photo. The high cirrus clouds diffused the sunlight so well I should have had a 12 s stop for the shoot. If this had been a completely clear sky, then maybe it would have been better, but I will never know lol.  So, the totality shot was blown because I did not use my grey polarizer for the totality shot.  I am glad I did not wait my whole lifetime for this moment lol.