Mud Trucks

Long before we had ATV's folks had the old jeep for hunting, trapping, fishing or just exploring. The roads were rough and untamed. Then came snow sleds and ATV's. There is much dicussion on the use of ATV's and damage they might cause. This all goes back to the operator. I have a lease site that in order to get to, I must cross private lands. The owner of my lease site doesn't allow ATV's, the private landowner I cross wants no trucks, just ATV. Each states just the opposite. ATV cause damge, ATV cause less damage than a truck. With the new ATV law one is almost better to invest in a nice registered off road jeep or toyota pickup truck. The terms used today are "muddin" and "rammin". There also seems to a swing by folks, mostly under the age of forty back toward mud trucks. I think this is mostly because ATV trails are very limited, cost more than a mud truck and can't be driven on the roads. I can buy a great mud truck for a lot less than the $8,000 it costs for a new ATV and I can use the truck on the farm to do chores like harrowing field, moving manure, towing the boat or canoe. Up north - Northern Maine Woods you can have a mud truck, but no ATV - whats the choice? I recently attended a DOC planning meeting on the Lower Penobscot Area to Machias - concerns were voiced about ATV's and damage. Within seconds a voice came forward about the people with mud trucks rammin. It seems that when we are younger we like to go forward and explore with our friends, mudin and getting stuck were part of the fun of life. Did it keep me off drugs and from drinking I don't know, but I am sure it helped. Kids will tell you (mostly boys/men) there isn't much to do and we put a lot of attention to NASCAR and Speedways or things with motors on them. So I guess mud trucks are here to stay. However damage to others property is not acceptable and folks with the toys need to understand that. That Maine way of thinking, that all that timber land belongs to the people is not correct - just look at gates and road fee's. Many owners will tell you gates are a result of litter on their lands, camp break ins and road damage. We need to police ourselves to insure these lands remain open and yes I own both an ATV and Mud Truck.

Pond v. Lake

One of the most common questions to the DEP or IFW biologist is what makes a Pond or Lake. Here are some comments from ME DEP/IFW - sunlight goes to the bottom of ponds; its the area or size; is it a kettle pond; truly some ponds are lakes and in Maine there is no Technical difference between the two. In fact some have the word lake before the name and some after.

In England they are called Lochs; out west everything is a lake, but in New England there is no standard.

Some thoughts across the country to decide - oh by the way no one I can find has a definition. Pond man or beaver made; lake made by creator; pond is filled by rain or stream - lake has stream and springs; its size; its depth; is the current in the body of water; its how clear it is; there is no standard; inlet v outlet; water temp on surface is difference than bottom; desolved oxygen at bottom; ph level; plants in the middle or a lot of alage; waves more than 12 inches; made by a glacier. These are just a few offered by biologists around the country. I say it should be depth, over 20 feet and greater than 10 acres is a lake. What do you think.

Hopkins Boat Launch

Just a word of thanks to the Hopkins Pond Camp owners. Thank you for letting the public put our boats in and be able to enjoy the waters of Hopkins. Its sad that the lot is not big enough for the state DOC to manage and the fact that the Town of Otis is taxing the Association for a building lot, when it is open to the general public and is not really buildable. I also encourage all users to leave a buck or two in the box to help pay for the taxes and maintenance of the launch. As always carry out what you bring in. Thanks again

Busy Pond - Beech Hill

It has been some time since I fished Beech Hill Pond, even tho it is in the so called back yard. But remember the state record togue was taken here years ago. So off we went. Since I bear hunt the area I was not surprised by the number of camps, large homes arund the pond. However the road traffic was high, the beech was packed, the landing was packed and the pond was full of water travelers from jet ski's to power boats to water skiers. We didn't even slow to a stop, instead we headed to Hopkins. The water had a chop to it, but that was ok as we knew the wind would shift and drop later in the day. Loons were out in force, about 6 looking for trout. A locals were working the party boats and as always waved. We saw a boat drifting with a family aboard and just as we dropped the down riggers they hollered our name. It was the Fickett Family out for a day of trout fishing. Nothing but sunfish yet. After talking a few mintues we hit the water, trolling 50 feet down and at 2.2 mph. Within 1/2 an hour we had landed two togue, one was a female with transmitter and was 23" long. The water calmed about 2 hours before dark and the fish continued to hold in 50 feet of water, but the loons seem to like our boat, as I noticed they followed us and not the kayakers or drift fisherman.