|
Tips for Great Maine Fishing
The first 3 articles were written by Steve Wilson as a primer
on
landlocked salmon
fishing. The next
2 articles were written by Steve Wilson and Ed
Mampreyan as primers on
lake trout fishing
. Both gentlemen are
longtime Rideout's guests who fish
East Grand Lake
several times a
year. The last article was
written by Bert Linscott on current summer bass fishing
techniques. Bert is one of our premier
bass fishing
guides.
There is a
great deal of valuable information in these
articles for the novice angler who
wants to catch these great fish. A list of the
articles follows:
Salmon Fishing:
1)
Salmon Fly-Fishing Basics
(Steve Wilson)
2)
Salmon Fly-Fishing Specifics
(Steve Wilson)
3)
Trolling Speed For Salmon Fishing
(Steve Wilson)
Lake Trout (Togue) Fishing:
4)
How to Catch Lake Trout on East Grand Lake
(Steve Wilson)
5)
Double Digit Lake Trout! Best Downrigging
Techniques (Ed Mampreyan)
Smallmouth Bass Fishing:
6) Summer Senko Fishing For Bass
(Bert Linscott)
1. Landlocked Salmon Fly-Fishing Basics
- By Steve Wilson
When trolling on top for
salmon, you can use fly or spinning gear. What
is important is to present the fly to the fish as
realistically as possible. This means using
light leaders or spinning line in the 4 to 8 pound
size with fluorocarbon a preferred material.
This enables the fly to track in the upright
position with natural swimming action in the boat
wake or lake chop. I recommend a leader of at
least 30 feet on flyline. Popular leader or
spinning line material comes from Maxima, Stren
Ultra Thin, and Seaguar. One tip to reduce
time in the boat changing flies is to pre-rig a
swivel with 3 feet of leader tied to another fly of
choice. That way, you only have to snap on the
pre-rigged section to a swivel fixed on your main
line, and go fishing. Keep changing your fly
until you find one that the fish go for.
Finally, remember to use dark flies on dark days and
light or bright flies on a bright day.
2. Landlocked Salmon Fly-Fishing Specifics
- By Steve Wilson
For many people, trolling for salmon with flies
can be a mystical experience. For others, like
veteran East Grand anglers Dan Raymond and Craig
Toensing, it is a way of life. Space does not permit
nor is it practical to write a primer on trolling
flies for landlocked salmon. The shelves of Barnes
and Noble are full of such books, and in some
respect, accounts for the mystic of fishing with a
fly. Some basic pointers should help you on your way
to successful salmon fishing trips armed with only
flies as bait.
Fly Rod: Use a 5 to 7 weight fly rod rigged
with a spool of Intermediate fly line and a spare
spool of fast sink line. Use the intermediate line
when the salmon are near the surface, the sinking
line when you “see” the fish at deeper depths on
your fish finder. Attach a 6-8# fluorocarbon leader
to the fly line with a nail knot; then add a short
flourocarbon leader of 4-6# connected with a surgeon
knot.
Spin Rod:
Use a 6-7 ft light rod rated at 4
to 12 lbs with a quality light weight spin reel
spooled with 6-8# mono. Tie a small ball bearing
swivel to the end of your 6-8 lb. mono, then add a
short 4ft section of fluorocarbon leader in 4 to 6 #
test with a surgeon knot.
Trolling Rod: Should you need to fish deep,
use a trolling rod with a large arbor reel that
holds 100 yds. of lead core line. Your long leader
needs to be 8# with a length of 25-50 ft, topped off
with the 4-6 lb fluorocarbon short end leader. Of
course, downriggers may also be used in lieu of the
trolling rod.
Fly Selection:
For trolling flies, I prefer
the tandem hook streamer fly with the front hook
turned down and the back hook turned up. The two
best fly sizes are #4 and #6. Remember the rule of
“bright flies on bright days, dark flies on dark
days” and you’ll be way ahead of the game. On dark
days the “9-3” and “Kennebago Smelt” come to mind
while the “AA Special”, “Scotties Delight”, and the
“East Grand Special” are good examples of light
flies. Knowing that smelt swim in the lake is the
basis for using smelt imitation flies, such as the
“Gray Ghost”, “Blue Gray Ghost”, “Crystal Smelt”,
and “Joe’s Smelt” to name a few. All of these flies
are available at the Tackle Shop at Rideout’s.
3. Trolling
Speed for Landlocked Salmon Fishing
- By Steve Wilson
A lot has been written about the best rods,
reels, lures, flies, and downriggers for catching
that elusive landlocked salmon. Most of us know the
axioms of “bright fly-bright day, dark fly-dark
day”, “fish on top in the Spring and Fall, go deep
in the Summer”, “calm water-slow day, choppy water
great day”, to name only a few. What you hear little
about is the importance of boat speed .
In my Dad’s lifetime he dragged wobblers, flies,
and smelts on the best salmon lakes and ponds that
Maine had to offer. Boy, could he catch salmon!
Someone once said that “it would rain and he could
come along, drop a lure in a fresh puddle, and net a
24 inch salmon.” Now that’s a compliment! What was
his trick of the trade? Boat speed. Here’s what
worked for him and now works for me.
|
Lure/Bait |
Boat Speed Indication |
Speedometer Range |
|
Lip-hooked smelts |
Barely moving, little or no
wake |
0.5-1.0 mph |
|
Wobblers |
Moving right along, small to
moderate wake |
1.3-2.4 mph |
|
Streamer flies |
Moving at a good clip,
moderate to large wake |
2.0-3.5 mph |
While these have proven
to be the optimum speed ranges, varying your speed
can often times be productive. I once hooked a
salmon on a streamer fly with the boat on plane (20
mph) while moving from one location to another with
the lines out. Honest!
4. How to
Catch Lake Trout (Togue) on East Grand Lake
- By Steve Wilson
If it’s really big fish that
you’re looking for, then come to East Grand Lake and
fish for magnificent lake trout, commonly called
togue. Togue in the 3 to 5 pound range are quite
common, while double digit fish are frequently taken
each year. While togue are not acrobatic when
hooked, they are very strong fish that bull, shake,
and twist their way to the surface.
The key to catching togue is to
understand that these fish are bottom feeders.
Therefore, to be successful you must fish your bait
or lure on or in very close proximity to the bottom.
To fish at any other depth is pure speculation and
usually unproductive. You will need to weight your
line to find the bottom and stay on it with either
sinkers or downriggers. Leadcore line with a 25 ft
leader attached can be another effective means of
getting your bait or lure to the bottom in water up
to 50 feet deep.
Togue are lazy feeders; you must
troll very slow to increase your hookup success.
Many good togue fishermen drift fish in a light
wind, while others use small “kicker” motors to
better manage their boat speed. Still fishing is
another good technique. Chris Burnell, one of the
best togue fisherman that I’ve had the pleasure of
fishing with, uses a bow mounted electric troll
motor to achieve the slow boat speed necessary to be
successful.
Live smelts or shiners in the 6
inch size are the preferred baits, either trolled or
drifted on or very close to the bottom. Some anglers
have success by stepping on the bait to split it
open before hooking it up, thereby attracting fish
by scent and gore. Popular lures include the larger
Flatfish and Rapala plugs. I prefer to use spinning
gear with 10 lb test fluorocarbon leaders,
sinker-rigged with a large shiner on a #2 or 1/0
hook. Others use trolling spoons (Dave Davis type)
or cow bells (light flutter spoons) with a 2-3 ft.
leader, baited hook attached.
It is preferable to find large
bottom areas with a constant depth, enabling you to
be fishing on the bottom most of the time without
snagging up. Choice togue fishing locations on East
Grand include the 36 ft shelf behind Five Islands,
the water just west of Hayes’s Point, and the
deepest part of the lake located between Shipwreck
Point and Greenland Cove, with Greenland Cove at 110
ft a hot spot in the Summer.
These are beautiful fish that do
not see a lot of fishing pressure. While I tend to
lean more toward salmon fishing, I have reliable
friends who speak of 100-plus togue weekends at East
Grand Lake. Come give it a try. Imagine sliding your
net under a ten-pound lake trout!
5. Double Digit Lake Trout!
Summer's
Best
Downrigging Techniques - By Ed
Mampreyan (2008)
It’s
been over three decades since I first visited
Rideout’s. With my parents and siblings then, with
my own children now. Josh and Julia, twins, who,
like myself, have fallen in love with the great
north woods and the crystal clear water of East
Grand Lake. We arrive at Rideout’s every June, where
there are always good times, good people, and GREAT!
fishing. I primarily fish for salmon and Lake Trout,
a.k.a.- Togue.
This brief article is a basic
guide on how to catch double digit togue during the
summer. On average, I land 5 to 10 togue a day, (in
4 to 5 hours) ranging from 8 to 12 pounds, using
these techniques.
My choice location is Greenland
cove, the deepest area of East Grand. I favor it for
it’s depth, and, smooth, clean bottom. It makes for
a excellent trolling environment, yet, there are
more than enough dips, drops, and rocks to hold some
of East Grand’s biggest togue. A fish finder is a
plus, to see bottom contour, depth, pods of bait
fish, and togue. I use a 6 inch jointed perch
colored Rapala. Be sure to use floating, shallow
running lures, deep divers will run into the bottom
and foul up. It’s O.K. for the lure to occasionally
bump the bottom, this can stimulate togue to strike.
I coat my lures with gel scents. I use any that
specify for trout. I use 8 to 10 pound test Berkley
Trilene XT, LOW VIS GREEN, tied direct to the lure.
Attach the release clip directly to the ball. Set
your lure 30 to 40 feet back from the ball. Begin
trolling in 70 to 80 feet of water. Drop your ball
within 3 feet of the bottom. You must troll DEAD
SLOW! 0.5 MPH is good.
Watch the depth on the fish finder. Look for changes
on the bottom, like drops, holes, or humps - any of
these can potentially hold togue. Adjust downrigger
depth as necessary to keep your lure in the strike
zone. Example - At 70 feet (actual depth would be
approx. 73 feet) the bottom drops to 80 feet,
quickly drop your ball 7 feet to compensate. If the
bottom rises, bring the rig up accordingly, get the
idea? Good. If you haven‘t got a fish finder, use
this method: 1) lower your ball until it hits
bottom, 2) read the depth on the counter, 3) reel up
about 4 feet. This will keep you close to bottom,
but every so often, while trolling, lower the rig
until it bottoms, then, reel it in a couple of feet.
Be sure to check your lure more often for weeds when
using this method.
Togue lay in holes, behind humps, rocks, and, on
open bottom, waiting for an easy meal to swim within
close range. Unless togue are in an aggressive
feeding mode, they won’t expend the energy to chase
a rapidly moving bait, hence the slow trolling
speed. The action of the jointed lure, along with
the oily slick from the gel scent is irresistible to
the master of the depths, Mr. Togue. While trolling,
occasionally shift into neutral for a few seconds.
This sometimes entices finicky togue to strike.
In the latter part of the summer, when the water is
warmest, you can catch many mid-size togue, in the 4
to 6 pound class, right along with many beefy 3 to 6
pound salmon at depths from 40 to 70 feet, on
Mooselook Wobblers. These mid-size togue are
surprisingly aggressive and will hit a fast trolled
lure. In August 2007 I was landing both salmon and
togue trolling at speeds of up to 2.5 mph. For every
2 to 3 salmon, I was landing a hefty togue! The
action was non-stop!
Choice colors for Mooselooks are red/copper and
blue/silver. To add some extra zing to your wobbler,
increase it’s bend. You can also change the treble
hook to a red single hook, it increases strikes,
and, increases the survival rate of released fish.
6.
Summer
Senko Fishing For Bass - By Bert Linscott (2007)
Rideout’s guests often ask
me what is the single best method to catch summer
smallmouths. My number one choice is the Senko lure,
either the Gary Yamamoto Senko or the Yum Dinger, in
5” varieties. These life-like soft plastic worms are
the hottest lure in the bass world today. They look
alive when dropped into the water and actually stay
in a horizontal position while sinking. The ends of
a Senko also have a slight wobble making them
exhibit an unbelievably life-like action. Bass love
them.
During the summer months, in the early morning
and late evening, bass can be found almost anywhere
in the lake searching for crayfish, shiners or even
smelts. But as the sun rises and water visibility
increases, bass head for deeper water. In these
conditions, use Senkos and concentrate on drop offs,
shoals and points. The fish will be found in twenty
to forty feet of water often right on the bottom.
Also, in some cases the bass can be found suspended
at these same depths in 50 to 90 feet of water.
There are basically four different methods to
fish the Senko in deep water. The first method is
called Texas rigging. Use an offset hook at one end
of your worm. Cast it out as far as you can and let
it slowly sink to the bottom. You will need to feed
out a little line so the Senko drops vertically down
from the point where it hits the water. Your line
will go limp as it touches down. Watch your line
closely as many strikes come on the initial drop.
Once the Senko hits bottom raise the rod tip five or
six feet and let your lure drift slowly back down.
Work it this way until it is directly under the
boat. Have patience as it takes some time for the
worm to get to the bottom with it’s slow sinking
rate.
A second way to fish a Senko is “wacky” style. In
this case the bait is hooked in the mid-section, and
hooked in this fashion both ends flutter as it drops
to the bottom. Cast out away from the boat or drop
it directly over the side, straight down. Once the
lure hits bottom pull it upward and let it free fall
back to bottom. Shaking your rod tip vigorously will
also entice a strike.
A third method to fish a Senko is with the use of
weights. By using weights the Senko will get to the
strike zone much quicker. Use lead head jigs in 1/4,
5/16, or 5/8 ounce size, rigging the worm Texas
style. Work the bait slowly along the bottom in
likely locations. This is when strikes usually
occur. Set the hook immediately. Alternatively, when
fishing wacky style with weight, forego the jig head
and instead add a large split shot sinker two or
more feet above the lure and rig the worm with a
standard hook. Drop your bait over the side straight
to the bottom. After the split shot hits the bottom,
allow time for the Senko to sink all the way down
also.
Drop shooting is yet a final method for fishing
Senkos. Attach a sinker directly to the end of the
line. The hook is then tied above the sinker using a
palomar knot. The Senko can then be fished either
“wacky” or Texas style. Drop the rig over the side
of the boat. Once the sinker hits bottom, make sure
to give the Senko time to get to bottom also. By
bouncing the sinker off bottom you will impart a
jigging motion to your Senko often triggering a
strike. Note: Contact the lodge about the
availability of all of our great guides in 2008.
Top of Page
|
