Salmon Falls River and Milton Pond Smallmouth Bass

As I wrote last night, I didn't expect the fish to jump all over our offerings. I learned months ago that Salmon Falls River is trout stocked, so I expected a fairly heavily fished run. We found water deeply stained by pine needles, that black coffee look of tannic acid, and at first I couldn't help but feel we would get skunked. I've fished tannic Big Flatbrook a number of times, and though I've heard of smallmouth bass, I have never encountered one of them. But Matt hooked and caught an average stream bass pretty quickly, just before a heavy rain shower had us running for the car after we had made a fairly arduous effort at finding positions to cast just outside of Lebanon.

We drove on to find more access.

Salmon Falls River marks the New Hampshire/Maine border here in the south of the two states. It flows out of 271-acre Milton Pond. It's a small river difficult to wade with lots of big, slick rocks, but where you can access it on foot, you can manage. We saw some tubers and rafters, so for anyone who wants to try that approach, it could be the best choice. You could get a small canoe on it, but where you might have to get out, the rocks under foot could be a problem.

That first access we found is in the middle of town, whatever that half-Maine, half-New Hampshire town with U.S. Highway 202 running through it--like a side road up here--is named. Not a bridge access. There's marked parking and some seats made available by public money. A trail leads down. Just don't trespass on the property downstream a little. I was very careful about that. I'm not sure what some people in this rural state, which I greatly respect, might do.

The second access we found, at a bridge, has a very worn and beaten path, compared to the first access back in town. We had viewed the water from atop that bridge, and it looked too shallow. (Later we learned that was illusory, if because of the tannic stain. Water we thought a foot deep was at least three feet.) We followed the path downstream, and when Matt chose a spot, I continued to another. The bass photographed above struck my Senko as soon as it hit the surface.

Our regular readers know I have fly fishing for smallmouths in mind this summer. I spent over a hundred dollars on flies and gear for that. And Jim Holland at Shannon's Fly Shop in Califon kindly gave me three sculpin flies with helmet weights, a value of about $15.00, if I were to buy them online and pay shipping. He's caught South Branch Raritan smallmouths on these very flies. Thus far, none of the spots we fished allowed room even for roll casting. The only exception was a spot just downstream of where I caught my first bass, and third and fourth when we later retuned. There a deep hole seemed promising but yielded not a hit. My bass came from three, four feet at most. A little further down, people were swimming, and the trail ended.

From under the bridge, Matt cast upstream and a bass was on his Senko in a flash. He lost it, a pretty good fish. He said another bass trailed his. I resolved to retrieve my Senko meticulously, and soon caught my second.

Upstream a couple of miles, we found more bridge access. Matt had a big crawfish jig tied on. He had plumbed the depths of the hole near the swimmers. He caught another bass under the bridge. I missed a hit, and then missed another downstream. It was evident we could have waded further downstream, but not only was the river smaller here, and the bass probably likewise and fewer; we had only so much time. We had left after noon and needed to be back by five or six.

Matt felt very interested in finding Milton Pond access. Very little of it exists. But we did find some especially for the dam and below it. Both spots hold bass. You can tell that's so just by looking, if you're experienced. And a kayaker told me he caught nice smallmouths earlier both above and below. I felt there was too much sun on the water. but true to form, a smallmouth hit Matt's spinner in plain view below, though he missed the hit.

River bass impress me as more willing mid-day hitters.

Back when we fished the headwaters of Milton Pond, my former favorite Penn 430ssg finally gave out. The internal gear broke. So not only was I forced to fly fish; I found plenty of space to do it below the dam. I saw some sunfish took interest in a Haggerty's Hell Raiser, but though I gave them a good try, I didn't raise a single bass.

Matt caught the first.

 Matt played a bass from under the bridge.

Upper reach of Milton Pond where we found access but only one small largemouth that didn't hit.

Milton Pond Dam

https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2014/08/mount-desert-island-smallmouth-bass.html

Maine

Arrived at my in-laws' at Lebanon, Maine, early this afternoon. Near New Hampshire border. Barb & Iain invited some friends over, and we were told about the Isinglass River for trout. I went online and found it's mostly an affair with stockers. I'm definitely interested in native brook trout, but not in driving an hour or more. Isinglass is only 20 minutes away, but we'll pass on any holdovers. Of course, trying to find spots during one evening of internet search won't be very fruitful, unless there happen to be some prominently visible nearby.

And to fit that bill, the Salmon Falls River is only about four miles away. By what I've gathered, it has some smallmouth bass.

Hope to find out tomorrow how many. Don't expect us to find many, though. My gut usually is right. And if we wait until Friday, I'll try to report Friday night.

Boston

I didn't lift it, I shot it. 

We're in Boston, after a five-hour ride that began with "Foreplay/Long Time," but thereafter involved almost three hours of listening to YES. Then we put an NPR podcast on.

Had dinner in town with Matt. Lot's to talk about.

Drop Shotting for Bass at Round Valley

Invited Mike Vandenberg along to try drop-shotting for bass from shore at Round Valley Reservoir. Upon arrival, I felt we might do best fishing to the right, further back in Ranger Cove. Stuff gets washed in there by the prevailing winds, and whether this is the reason, it's more fertile and weedy. But this was Mike's first time at the reservoir, and I wanted to make sure he got a wide view of its extent, so I led us around and to the left, along the rocky shores in the direction of the main launch, but distant from it. Besides, these rocky shores seemed more promising for smallmouth bass.

We used 1/4- and 1/2-ounce sinkers, setting three- and four-inch plastic worms anywhere from a foot to 2 1/2 feet from the sinker. Along this rocky shoreline I mention, we never got a hit, but we began to forget about the daily grind as we let the wide arena of surrounding open space pull us back to reality. We both work long hours and feel they're too long. For a moment, I felt soothed by the quiet sound of  water lapping against the rocks. It's way too easy to discount the likes as worthless trivia not worth reception, but then we might forget that every piece of existence partakes of its ultimate value.

I saw a ranger coming up the trail. Told Mike to make his fishing license conspicuous. The ranger said, "Keep your dog on leash."

"She is on leash," I said.

"Keep it in hand," he said, "So she doesn't run around."

Sadie's an old Lab who just sits beside us.

But the ranger also spoke of back in Ranger Cove as the best area to fish, which reminded me of my earlier feeling. Someone had caught a 15-inch largemouth, he said. We decided we would give it a try, after we tried further along our course where maybe a sharper drop existed, though what we found was shallower water.

I liked the way the water looked. We had got in my car and ridden further back in Lot 2, where I parked above a fairly steep embankment. I told Mike about the five-pound rainbow trout I once caught in December down below from where we presently got out to gather our gear. Here the water had a green tone, rather than the cold-looking rocky feel of where we had fished. It's not as if only largmouths would be present. My son once caught a smallmouth further back in the cove relative to where we were about to stand.

My first cast resulted in the little largemouth photographed. I also caught three rock bass and missed a couple of hits by winging the 1/2-ounce weight out as far as possible and placing each cast differently.

Mike is learning how to cast with a spinning rod, and he made marked improvement today. If I remember correctly, his ice fishing Lake Hopatcong with my son and I at near zero degrees a couple of years ago was the first fishing he's ever done.

Today, it was nice out there. If I can share the following thought, I'm reminded of something my academic advisor at Hampshire College told me a 1986 letter to me, while I took time off. I had let on that all my life, I've sought grand vision. He told me there's plenty to be said for the mundane, and I believe that if I didn't understand exactly what he meant, his words nevertheless cast meaning on the mundane that hadn't existed for me before. Or rather, as a recognition of the value. Daily reality is grand. Ground down by work duties, perhaps not, but just go cast a lure and take it slow.

You'll awaken to what you're missing out on.

Furthest we went along the rocky shoreline.

https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2017/03/round-valley-reservoirs-eels.html

Bald Eagles

Cool press release I got from Fish & Wildlife. Bald eagles are as free as the air we breathe, and they better be, if we are. But it's fascinating to take interest in our interactions with the recovering population. It doesn't make them any less wild. But it does mean we're part of the picture ourselves, and I would say, ultimately as wild as they are.

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/NJDEP/2019/08/01/file_attachments/1258650/eagle_program08-19.pdf 

Trolling for Pickerel

 Oliver's biggest bass--from anywhere--yet.

The thunderstorm came. During one of my breaks at work, Oliver & I texted about the river level coming up. Later last night, it was coming down as fast as it went up, but how could we tell if the water color would be good this morning? 

So, Plan B. Tilcon Lake. Oliver suggested saltwater before we decided for certain, but I hate going all the way over there, only to infer that no fish are in the surf. I guess some kingfish would be around--I guess--but I didn't feel them worth the drive.

We met at Brian's about 4:45, loaded the squareback. We were on the water at 6:00 sharp. Fog enclosed us. I soon caught a small bass on a Dalton Special up top. It was another very slow morning bite like last year with my son. I switched to a worm, lost a nice bass, caught another small one. Oliver teased sunfish with flies and a popper, hoping a bass would take. My worm rigged with an inset hook, I riled up a pickerel from a foot of water on top of an island among weeds. It took the hook deeply, having savaged that worm, but I released it in good shape. 

All told, I caught two more small bass on the worm. I very much enjoy worming, as if you don't know. A lake threatens to overwhelm me as too much water to cover by fishing that slowly, but by selecting every cast, it's a meditation and a sport. A sport because getting casts exactly right as I foresee them does tend to yield results. 

Oliver wormed too. And caught his biggest bass yet, about 19 inches.

But today's fast action came by trolling. The only plug that worked was the larger of two chrome-finished Storm Hot-N-Tot's. It dives about 15 feet. The shallower running version didn't draw any strikes, and we missed some on the bigger plug. I tried to get Oliver to take that plug away from me, as I hooked pickerel after pickerel, catching four, the largest 23 inches, losing another boatside, missing a couple of jolting strikes. Finally, he conceded. He caught one about 20 inches.

The biggest was the first caught, and my first thought, "Maybe trolling is the key to finding the big ones," played out. Another of mine was 21 inches, another 20 inches, and the other about average, 18 inches. Until today, all the pickerel we've caught here have been 17 inches, 18 at most.

We moved over bottom as deep as 30 feet and got whacked. I can't tell how deep vegetation goes, but the water is clear, and only 15 feet down or so, that chrome finish on the plug surely reflected sunlight. 

 The wooden Dalton Special was my favorite topwater plug. Then the Torpedo. Now the Pop-R. But I felt a desire to try the old Dalton this morning.

Oliver got some interest with his flies and bugs. 

 Wild Man with his biggest Tilcon pickerel yet.

https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-few-smallmouth-bass-unusual-catch.html

South Branch Raritan Flemington

Drove to the South Branch at Flemington to check and see if the flow is muddy. It's not. And so long as thunderstorms later today don't raise the level, Oliver Round and I are floating the river further north tomorrow. Water often gets released from Spruce Run Reservoir, raising the river level and muddying the water just enough to make fishing unproductive.

I brought a bucket with some leftover killies in it. I used some more than a week ago, when trying for fluke in the surf; the water they're surviving in is brine taken straight from the Atlantic. I thought I would have the change the water, but the fish are doing fine.

First cast to this long slow stretch behind a dam resulted in a little largemouth about nine inches long. I caught a longear sunfish, besides. I tried to access the river below the dam, but No Trespassing. Then I drove further above and found a nice hole below a rusted railroad trestle, but couldn't get a hit. I put a split shot on the line, too, after covering the area with a killie weightless.


https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2017/09/three-bridges-to-higginsville.html