What Ice Will Hold

Last Day of February

Is this really the last day of February, I thought it was April! Parts of Maine were hit with 91 mph winds and Jackman and mountains I hear got like 40 inches of snow. Guess what, I shut the horse tank heaters off (200 gallon heaters). Temperature in the 40's, rain and mud season. No more snow, gets get the boats ready for some spring fishing. Mike retrieved his ice shack, which blew down lake, but ice conditions are poor around the shore. The middle pack is fair and usable, but the cut holes act like drains with this rain and have become huge. So be careful. On my spring list is a Scott Hudson Bay Canoe in case anyone wants to know.

Bears and Cabin Fever Reliever

Well Dr. Krause has been here and gone, doing some filming with the biologist that study bear. There are three study areas for black bear in Maine, one in Bradford, Beddington and Ashland. Each study area has several adult females that have radio collars placed on them. They are caught in live traps and tagged. This time of year the biologists use planes to locate the denning bears signal then snowshoe to the den. At which point they crawl in with mom in the den. The cubs are weighed, measured and general health is charted. This allows for a long term progress report to be conducted on the size and health of our bears in Maine. The good Doc is undertaking a video project that will be used in education and research. As we all know the weather this week was poor. But several still and videos were taken.

A great place to visit is the Cabin Fever Reliever held at the Brewer Auditorium this weekend. Ready for this....its FREE. A mini sportsman show designed mostly for kids, with archery and fly tying. If your out stop by

Parks Pond Ride In

Parks Ride In
Wow what a great day, weather wise, hard to believe it is February. Today was the great ride in at gramps on Parks Pond. Actually it was a chem free celebration for a close friend. The event included all the food you could eat, pies, trash can turkey, chilli, chop suey, rolls, cakes, deserts, juice, coffee and so much more. What a time it was, all that heard were invited. The lake saw a dozen or more sleds, atv’s and even a dirt bike. Kids had a blast being towed and fishing. Traps covered the lake, yet only one fish was taken. Story, there were more stories than one could shake a stick at today. Not only did family attend, neighbors and friends from roads away stopped by to have a bite and say hi. Mikes ice house was the talk of the lake. Mike purchased a great little camper, not very big, but with table that makes into a bed, a bed, frig, stove, gas lights and closet. The thing is weighs very little. Dennis put his skills to work and an old set of skis had a basket welded on them in which the tires fit. You tow the camper or shack to your favorite hole, jack it up and drop the tire into the basket on the skis. Connect it to the sled and off you go, it tows wicked easy. In todays case of no snow, we just hooked it to the four wheeler and out we went. Needless to say I finding me an old camper, no more struggling with the heavy shacks, frozen skis and such and heck its already insulated and can be used year round. Today was one of the best events I have seen in a long time. On the flip side, according to the news, the Sabago Derby was canceled because of poor ice conditions, with a number of cars, sleds and atv’s visiting the water. It is also reported that a warden and his atv went in. No one was injured and at least one day of the event was held. At the time of this writing, the temperature has dropped and it is snowing. Snow is expected all week off and on, but since temperatures during the day will be forty, I am not sure we expect much snow.

Wind Swept Alligator

Wind Swept Alligator
Zach and I headed to Alligator for a few hours of fishing today. Conditions to the landing were good, road getting a little soft. There were nine vehicle of various sorts. The lake is glare ice and the wind was like whipping straight down the lake at us, like at forty knots or so. There are four shacks on the ice today. As we started out, first the hat went, then the cover to the trap box, then the ATV was blown down lake. Seriously it was blowing. As usual the coves on the east shore have no ice and the rock point coming out of the landing is open. We checked on the old homestead and then traveled north toward Turtle Rock, where we set our traps. The wind was so bad you had to hold the traps or they would be blown away. The shore was great, we layed back in t shirts, on ice was like -20 or so. Soon we saw a couple walking or attempting to walk. I thought it was Chris and Rachel, so we went out to meet them. It was a guy name John and girl name Heather coming out to check on friends. They were walking…one step forward, two back. I carry slip on cleats which I gave to them and off they went. Fishing was slow, with only two flags. As we picked up to leave late in day, we saw John and Heather walking, so we gave them a ride back to landing. It was a real nice day, but the wind was just plain raw. Talked with a few other groups on the ice and none reported getting any fish today. As a side note, our bait guy is running low, price is now $5 a doz for shiners and $1 a smelt. I am thinking I can get a lot of salmon at shop and save for the cost of just bait. But where is the fun in that! The other part of the crew headed to Hopkins and reported no fish and just a few fishing. The old man did manage to flip his ATV backwards on himself. The cause, just being a MOMO. Sunday gang is heading back to Parks for perch.

Love Duck Lake

God Love Duck Lake
Mike, Chris and Dillon were excited about the trip to Duck in search of a few salmon and maybe the rare trout held in its cold clear waters. The trip depends on the depth of snow each week and year. Without snow the truck can make it into the landing at shores edge. With snow it becomes more of a chore, anywhere from fourteen to twenty miles by snowsled, depending on what roads the paper company is plowing.
At 3a.m. the boys had the truck running, I was more for like six or so, but not them, they had to have traps in by sunrise. We arrive at the Old Man’s at four o’clock, just as he requested. This trip was his idea to begin with anyways. He was still in bed resting his eyes when we pulled in.
But he is headed, up the Alligator Road to the Stud Mill, then to the 32-00-00 road where we would park and unload the sleds. All was going as planned.
Sleds were unloaded and the tub was attached to the old man’s four stroke, long track, Bearcat. Dillon was to ride with the old man and Chris and Mike would share the other sled. Up the 32-00-00 (Duck Lake Rd) we went for a day of fishing. The trail or road was in great shape, hard packed and groomed. The old man really liked that four stroke and the way it rode with his two hundred and eighty pound frame. I called him one-eyed Willy, as the old man only had one eye, so he really had no vision. Hell most of the time we were looking around anyway. He scared the hell out of everyone. Before long the old man, who was leading, was really cruising on the straight always. I am leaning toward sixty mph in places, while towing the tub of gear and grub.
We have done this trip hundreds and hundreds of times over the last thirty years, every Friday night for close to thirty years. He knew the trail and road better than anyone. I think he even helped lay the base for the road back when it was a mud run. Cause every time we got stuck he would be the one fetching rocks to fill the holes.
As we came near the Red Rock, about the half waypoint, where the road goes down to Sabao and Nicatous Lake, there is always a YesMa in the trail. By now the old man was putting distance between the sleds.
As we rounded the corner it looked like a bomb went off. There was food everywhere, bait buckets in the woods and two poor Jiffy Augers in pieces; the tub was twisted around a Maple tree, but no old man. Pretty soon we see the headlights of his sled coming back down the trail.
There is pain and suffering to be explained, see the old man didn’t own anything but the food. Damage so far on this trip, six dozen smelts at $8 a dozen, two augers, traps, the tub and grub.
The old man was quick “dam pin let go on the tub”, he gruffed. Dillon chimed in as he picked up the parts of his Jiffy, “don’t think speed had anything to do with it, especially be air borne over the yesma, do ya”? The answer was quick and sharp from the old man “nope”.
We gathered our goods and repacked. Upon reaching the lake, it was nice to see an old friend at an icehouse who was kind enough to let us borrow his auger for a few holes.
This is a typical trip to Duck and Murphy’s Law is always with us. The old man’s brother, Joe, vowed many years ago never to go to Duck Lake again, it was just too costly.
Our trips involved countless flats, blown transmissions, shocks, trailers coming unhooked and passing us, motors falling off boats, transoms ripped off, lower units destroyed on rocks, atv’s and boats bounced off the trailers, close calls with loggin trucks, broken springs, motors and at least two front pumpkins while pushing mud. Not to mention the times we have been stuck or struck by lighting. God we love Duck Lake.

Moose Antler - Blind

Look at the picture very closely! Notice the antler, it is just a shovel the size of your hand and it is a blinder to the moose's eye. Three hunters were moose hunting when they came upon this moose laying in the road. The moose stagged into the woods where it fell and got lodged in between two rocks. The hunters thinking it was a cow, worked for hours to free the moose. When freed the moose ran into a tree. It was at this point they realized it was a "bull". The hunter with the permit promptly decided this was the size moose he was looking for and shot it. Upon inspection it was found that one shovel antler was into the eye of the moose and it was blind. The other was covering the other eye. This is a true story, we have video and pictures of freeing the moose with block and tackle before realizing it was a bull. The in any case would not have survived.

Coyote Reduction Needed Fast

A Maine Coyote
Hunters looking for a challenge and true sport only need to look to winter coyote hunting in Maine. Without question the coyote is one crafty and smart animal. At this time of year the deer are having a hard time walking the crusty snow, but not the coyote - he is able to give chase until exhausting the deer. Think about the doe deer, in just a few years that one deer would produce over a 100 off spring, thousands over the years. So by saving one deer you can bounce the herd in your area. Spring is another time of killing but coyote, as the fawn drops, the coyote is hunting. Callers, camo, gun are all that is needed to improve our deer herd and save a few domestic pets at the same time. If would like some information on coyote hunting let me know, you can even night hunt coyotes. Fish and Game just released a 187 page report on the predation of our deer herd, which you can find at IFW web site.
The link is listed below

http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/surveys_reports/pdfs/deerpredationreport.pdf


AUGUSTA, Maine – Preliminary deer harvest numbers show a decrease of 14% from the 2008 harvest with an initial tally of 18,045 deer taken by hunters.

“To put this into perspective, we must consider that the 2008 and 2009 winters represent the most severe back-to-back winters since 1971-72,” according to IF&W Deer Biologist Lee Kantar.

Long winters with deep snows have a tremendous impact on the overwinter survival of deer. Both expected regional declines in deer abundance and adverse hunting conditions -- two weeks of poor hunting conditions during the firearms season -- played a role in the fall 2009 harvest decline. Decreases in the deer harvest from 2008 also were expected given the 16% decrease in any-deer permits for Maine’s hunters (reducing overall success rates). The reductions in any-deer permits for 2009were necessary to allow the deer herd to begin to recover.

Relative to adjacent provincial and state jurisdictions, the decline in Maine’s deer harvest was less in comparison to our Canadian neighbors in Quebec and New Brunswick whose deer harvests declined greater than 30% during the same time period, but was greater than the decline in New Hampshire’s deer harvest (decrease of approximately 5%).

For 2009, Department biologists projected a statewide harvest of approximately 19,289deer. The annual deer harvest projections by department biologists in the late spring result from an analysis of mortality and reproductive rates, harvest trends, and any deer permit allocations to meet Wildlife Management District (WMD) goals and objectives. Thus our initial number for statewide harvest was 6% less than projected.

Over the next few weeks, department biologists will complete a more detailed analysis of the 2009 harvest and will release the final deer harvest number and further details about how the harvest looked by season, WMD, sex and age.

Beaver Trapping

Ice conditions have improved somewhat for beaver trapping, but fur prices have not! Beaver trapping starts in November and runs into the following March. There is a high demand for trappers to remove problem beavers each year. In fact biologists encourage trapping as a way to open streams for trout management and to reduce spring flooding. Pricing this year however has caused a serious decline in the number of trappers. As of today prices range from $5-$20 per pelt, that is cured, fleshed, stretched and ready to sell, this not in the round. Early season found rain and very poor ice conditions, now with the season coming to a close conditions have improved.

Warm Day

Wow 43 degree's, yet they are saying snow. Hayward, Mike, Dillon, Manny and Amanda have reached the shores of Duck Lake. Me I've got the kids, who are in the process of building a large bonfire for this evening. Hopefully some skating on the pond will be in order. By the looks of the pallets it is not going to be a small fire.

Resting

A nice picture of a cub resting while the mother is being checked. Cub returned to mom without harm.

New Bear Sites

Well a month ago, one of the large paper companies that I lease sites from advised us that a new plan was under development. Under the previous plan, sites were leasted at the rate of $100 per site. Sites were spaced, between baiters of about a mile. The new plan released this week is to lease entire township to one operator. This solves jumped baits, spacing and other issues. The big problem is that you lost baits in one town and gained some in another. I did loose a township that I really like, but gained access to a very large new area, that can handle 10 sites, so I lost 4, but gained 10. I love to explore new area...can't wait. I might even have to sled the area to see what it looks like without leaves on the trees.

Thinking Snow

Well I just watched the weather forecast - 4-7 inches of snow. The gear is packed and we are ready to venture to Duck Lake at 4am. The plan is to go up the Alligator Rd to the Stud Mill, then to Deer Lake and sled 14 miles into Duck and be on the ice at 6 am or so....at least that is the plan.

Parks Pond

Wow what a day, back from Hopkins, had a hot turkey sandwich from the stripped bird of Sunday and now off to Parks Pond with the kids. Oops, just ran out of gas in both ATV's.

Deer Sheds

Well Lorin is out on the sled and traveling by snowshoe in search of Moose and Deer sheds. As you see the Moose and Deer drop or shed their antlers in January. Usually they drop one here and then a few days later another there, so finding a matched pair is hard, but not impossible in the winter yard. Getting to the shed before the rodents and other nawing wildlife is the trick. Sheds are very popular and can be a source of excerise, fresh air, hide and seek for kids, a skill game and then at the end of the day a source or revenue. See sheds are sellable! Yes there is a market for those new and old antlers. Ads can be found in several of Maine's outdoor news publications. Remember there are various pricing and markets, are the antlers green or dry? Do you have a matched pair? What is the score or size? Some large match pair of either moose or deer can command a large pay off, much more than $6 a pound.

I have noticed several snowmobile's parked on the trails, with the owners on snowshoes searching the thickets. Zach recently found a matched 6 point shed, in all places the drive way, as the deer are eating the cedars.

There are Deer

As most of you know this part of Penobscot County going into Hancock and Washington have very few deer. However in recent days I am driving them off my cedar hedge and mending fence, as they seem to enjoy being with the cows. Traveling Route 46, by Peggy's place, we counted 22 deer feeding on the grass in the pasture. On Route 9 in Amherst, just before the Union River there is a large large group of deer, by Tannery Loop Road. Last year there were a number of road kills as the deer travel Route 9. Locals have placed signs up to warn drivers - wonder, is anyone feeding the deer? Could this be the cause of the problem? In any case use caution on this stretch of road as close to fifty deer are working the area in search of? buds or grain

Hopkins

Mike and Veron headed to Hopkins Pond in Clifton/Amherst early this morning and were able to get the Toyota on the ice and across to their favorite fishing hole. They reported a few other fisherman. They fished hard tending their two traps, but only one flag and a slight line out - wind flag, as the bait was still going strong with no sign of wear or tear. Oh well what a beautiful day to be on the water, and a little snow squal gave a dusting or so. We would like to try smelts, but the cost per dozen does not allow that this year.

We are packing in hopes of a Duck attempt early in the morning.

I think I will check and see how O'Connor is doing down in Flordia on Saddlebag Lake. Then a call to Three Rivers Canoe to check pricing on that Scott Canoe - just a dream.

The Cat is Down

Well the four stoke Bear Cat is down and heading to Bangor for parts. It seems we got some ice in the front wheels, so when we took off, the power of the engine forced the system and snapped the wheel shaft. So LP heater to melt the ice from underneath, a few bolts later and we should be back in business.

Mike's New Truck

Without a doubt the best 4 wheel drive truck is a 85-89 Toyota pickup. You just can't kill these things. I have used these for years for guiding and my 85 plow truck does 10 driveways and 4 acres of pasture for the last 10 years. I am happy to report that Mike just found an 87 in great shape with metal rack body and head board for $600. All stickered and ready for the road. I love these trucks, if we could only find a few more.

Ice Fishing

It is now February 15 with light snow falling. Snowmobiling has slowed a bit as the rain created quite a melt. Temperatures are staying below freezing so trails with snow are hard packed and overall ice conditions are good. Fishing in the last few weeks has been at Alligator, Jellison, Hopkins, Parks, Half Mile, Georges and attempts at Middle Branch Bog. Hopkins, even with it two trap limit and special restrictions is very busy. The lack of snow has allowed drivable conditions to the landing and as of yesterday various vehicles were on the ice itself (I am not a big fan of allowing motor vehicles on the ice).

Fishing to say the least has been slow. With four people fishing yesterday at Hopkins, (9yr) Hunter was the only one to get a fish a 13" brook trout.

We were hoping for some perch at Parks, but with the entire family and close to thirty traps - two fish, one pickeral and one perch.

I am not sure if the weather has played a part in the slow fishing, but I am not hearing of any fast action. While two new records were set this year, that of a brook trout and another from brown trout. Activity is slow.

We have tried to save a few buck by trapping our own bait and this is working well.
Depending on the weather a trip to Duck is scheduled.