The Mainiacs

[Swamp Girl]

Any other Mainiacs, i.e. Mainers, want to share their tales of glory and woe? I post so much at BR that you likely already know I'm mostly a bogger, i.e. I fish the bogs for bass. By bogs, I mean shallow bodies of water choked with weeds. If there aren't weeds on the surface, they're a couple feet down. They're also choked with bass and bigguns, but lawdy, they are hard to land for they're always within reach of weeds to free them. I live in mid-coast Maine and don't drive far to fish because bass abound here. I prefer largemouth, but catch smallmouth too as well as the ubiquitous pickerel. 

 

How 'bout you?

[Dwight Hottle]

Is a bogger anything like a booger or just mis-spelled?

[Swamp Girl]

3 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Is a bogger anything like a booger or just mis-spelled?

 

Exactly the same. Bogs are soggy, so boggers are soggy, and so are boogers. 

[MassBass]

I have a tale of woe of some great fish that got away, something huge, it was a legendary experience will not be forgotten. In a lake with Pike in central Maine

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, MassBass said:

I have a tale of woe of some great fish that got away, something huge, it was a legendary experience will not be forgotten. In a lake with Pike in central Maine

 

Oh, you tease! Please tell and tell it swell!

[guidoStow]

8 hours ago, MassBass said:

I have a tale of woe of some great fish that got away, something huge, it was a legendary experience will not be forgotten. In a lake with Pike in central Maine

The Pike that got away is a classic tale...

[Dwight Hottle]

On 9/22/2023 at 8:43 PM, guidoStow said:

The Pike that got away is a classic tale...

I have got a few of those stories. 

[Swamp Girl]

6 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I have got a few of those stories. 

 

I've got one too. I told it in a magazine, I'll find it and share it here, hoping you share one too. 

[MassBass]

 

Fair weather fishermen don’t catch fish. Overcast with a cold drizzle pushed by a slight wind; conditions were perfect. We motored out into the lake. Largemouth were biting, hitting topwater baits in shallow water, with a preference for spots that had a combination of stumps, weeds, and main lake proximity. We came up with an idea to troll up to the other end of the lake to find similar shallow habitat. I was trolling a floating rattlebait, which rides close to the surface, despite the depth being 15ft or more. Some average bass were caught on the troll, and then it hit. Like every story of a true giant, they first think their bait is snagged on the bottom. There's no way to snag this lure out here. I could feel the tail beat- it’s a fish! I knew it was a fish, but I could not bring it in. The captain motored over near it, with net in hand, it was something huge just staying on the bottom. With my fighting angle now right over the fish, I muscled it, and the 20lb test fluorocarbon leader broke like cheap floss. The mainline was lighter than that, but the leader had broke on a fray. Soon after a big mass of weeds floated to the surface. A giant pike, maybe, had taken the lure and buried into the weeds like an anchor. Suddenly the lake seemed bigger, we like mere humans upon a dark sea, where surely there be monsters below. As the cold front stalled we motored off into the calm. 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, MassBass said:

 

Fair weather fishermen don’t catch fish. Overcast with a cold drizzle pushed by a slight wind; conditions were perfect. We motored out into the lake. Largemouth were biting, hitting topwater baits in shallow water, with a preference for spots that had a combination of stumps, weeds, and main lake proximity. We came up with an idea to troll up to the other end of the lake to find similar shallow habitat. I was trolling a floating rattlebait, which rides close to the surface, despite the depth being 15ft or more. Some average bass were caught on the troll, and then it hit. Like every story of a true giant, they first think their bait is snagged on the bottom. There's no way to snag this lure out here. I could feel the tail beat- it’s a fish! I knew it was a fish, but I could not bring it in. The captain motored over near it, with net in hand, it was something huge just staying on the bottom. With my fighting angle now right over the fish, I muscled it, and the 20lb test fluorocarbon leader broke like cheap floss. The mainline was lighter than that, but the leader had broke on a fray. Soon after a big mass of weeds floated to the surface. A giant pike, maybe, had taken the lure and buried into the weeds like an anchor. Suddenly the lake seemed bigger, we like mere humans upon a dark sea, where surely there be monsters below. As the cold front stalled we motored off into the calm. 

 

 

 

Gorgeous storytelling. I got to be there thanks to your storytelling skill. Thanks!

[Kirtley Howe]

Great story telling. 

[jbmaine]

Been fishing Maine waters off and on for almost 70 years. I've seen some amazing things. I've told this story before, but with out a doubt it's one I think about even today.

 Quite a few years ago I was up in very northern Maine  fly fishing for trout . I was on a remote pond, in my canoe, early in the morning. The mist was heavy on the water keeping visibility to a few feet. I heard some noise in the bushes on shore, then a noise in the water. Ripples in the water started moving past me. I was thinking it was a beaver, and waited for the splash of it's tail when it saw me.

 However, as it got closer I could see it was a bull moose, swimming right at me. I just froze in place. When it saw me it snorted and changed course just enough. I can still see it's big eye staring at me as it swam past. I don't know why I did it, but as it swam past, I put my hand out and touched it's antler.

  I caught some real nice native brook trout that trip, but it's the moose I remember best.

[Swamp Girl]

3 minutes ago, jbmaine said:

I don't know why I did it, but as it swam past, I put my hand out and touched it's antler.

 

Holy moose, Batman! That's incredible.

[TnRiver46]

Used to be a member , I believe @Tatsu Dave, that fished a lot like you in Maine @ol'crickety. You might be able to find some of his old trip reports and photos 

[MassBass]

I want to make a more thorough write up if my recent time in the north country, and post some bass pics. There is a place somewhere between NH and Maine where the river runs brown with smallmouth.

[DanielG]

I had a boat with a standard electric motor on it a Southern Maine lake I live on. I'd just start from the dock and do a regular run along the edge trolling making a loop. About a half mile from home I caught a mid sized bass and when I pulled it in it flopped and caught the hook in my belly through my t-shirt. I couldn't get it out. That bass and I slow crawled at 2mph a half mile back home. He was flopping, hanging from my belly for awhile. That didn't feel very good. I'd look down at that big eye looking up at me and think... we'll make it buddy. Well he didn't. Dead by the time I arrived. I got some decent wire cutters and cut the hook. I've always done catch and release so he got an unceremonial burial. Felt kinda bad actually.

[guidoStow]

Another reason to use barbless single hooks! Hope your hook wound heals quickly!

[813basstard]

Maine.

I didn’t realize people still live there.

[Swamp Girl]

7 minutes ago, 813basstard said:

Maine.

I didn’t realize people still live there.

 

Only Mainiacs.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

2 hours ago, DanielG said:

I had a boat with a standard electric motor on it a Southern Maine lake I live on. I'd just start from the dock and do a regular run along the edge trolling making a loop. About a half mile from home I caught a mid sized bass and when I pulled it in it flopped and caught the hook in my belly through my t-shirt. I couldn't get it out. That bass and I slow crawled at 2mph a half mile back home. He was flopping, hanging from my belly for awhile. That didn't feel very good. I'd look down at that big eye looking up at me and think... we'll make it buddy. Well he didn't. Dead by the time I arrived. I got some decent wire cutters and cut the hook. I've always done catch and release so he got an unceremonial burial. Felt kinda bad actually.

Any ethically sound angler hates to seriously harm or kill a fish they otherwise wished to practice C 'N R on.......that bad feeling is you being a good human, don't beat yourself, it happens to every angler.     

1 hour ago, 813basstard said:

Maine.

I didn’t realize people still live there.

Just Katie and bunch of 20"+ slaunch donkies, and snow over half the year ?

[DanielG]

2 hours ago, 813basstard said:

Maine.

I didn’t realize people still live there.

Yup. I live at a lake. But half the people are snowbirds. They're leaving for Florida in a couple of weeks. I get the whole place to myself. Surrounded by trees and looking forward to some blizzards with a fire in the house. Nothing better. I think it's whatever you're used to that feels like home.

 

59 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 

Just Katie and bunch of 20"+ slaunch donkies, and snow over half the year ?

Actually we've been warming up a lot over the years. The gulf of Maine is the fastest warming body of water in the world. We've gained about 1-2 months of non-winter weather. Kinda depressing without as many or lackluster blizzards. Used to be about 60/40 winter/non winter. Now it's more like 75/25. Other bad news is that lobsters require cold water. They're migrating to Canada.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

9 minutes ago, DanielG said:

Yup. I live at a lake. But half the people are snowbirds. They're leaving for Florida in a couple of weeks. I get the whole place to myself. Surrounded by trees and looking forward to some blizzards with a fire in the house. Nothing better. I think it's whatever you're used to that feels like home.

 

Actually we've been warming up a lot over the years. The gulf of Maine is the fastest warming body of water in the world. We've gained about 1-2 months of non-winter weather. Kinda depressing without as many or lackluster blizzards. Used to be about 60/40 winter/non winter. Now it's more like 75/25. Other bad news is that lobsters require cold water. They're migrating to Canada.

Been in one blizzard in my life, it was an epic one here in Alabama.....about 24" of snow, it was the March blizzard of '93.......much of the South was affected.

 

It was fun as a kid, however I'd never want to experience that again.   I'm just not good at cold/snow.    

People up north who live in really cold locales are much tougher than us rednecks ?

[Swamp Girl]

6 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

People up north who live in really cold locales are much tougher than us rednecks ?

 

Nah. We wilt when it hits 80 degrees. 

 

16 minutes ago, DanielG said:

Actually we've been warming up a lot over the years. The gulf of Maine is the fastest warming body of water in the world. We've gained about 1-2 months of non-winter weather. Kinda depressing without as many or lackluster blizzards. Used to be about 60/40 winter/non winter. Now it's more like 75/25. Other bad news is that lobsters require cold water. They're migrating to Canada.

 

All true. I moved to coastal Maine for the moderate weather. I came from the Great Lakes region, where the winters are colder and the summers are hotter. The lobsters are going, but the striped bass are more numerous every year.

[DanielG]

19 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Been in one blizzard in my life, it was an epic one here in Alabama.....about 24" of snow, it was the March blizzard of '93.......much of the South was affected.

 

It was fun as a kid, however I'd never want to experience that again.   I'm just not good at cold/snow.    

People up north who live in really cold locales are much tougher than us rednecks ?

You're watching on the news about our blizzards and they make it look like we're shut in for a month with only wood stove to keep us going. In reality we're out after about 2 hrs and things are back to normal. WE on the other hand look at the news and they make it seem like entire states are destroyed by tornadoes and most of the country outside of our area is burning or flooded. It gets bad in some places but the news really tends to sensationalize things sometimes.

[Swamp Girl]

@DanielG, I had treble hooks driven into me three times in 2023. All three times, I used my hook cutters to free myself, after punching the hook out my skin so I could cut under the barb. The two in the thigh weren't hard, but the one in my finger was because I was down to a single hand to free myself.

 

I now unhook my fish by holding them over the water and wear gloves too. I also bought a clamp that I'll use one of these days. 

 

#slowtotrythenewfangledgeegaws