Welcome to Fly Fishing
Visit Maine, USA! Lots To do!
Search
Fly Fishing


Fly Fishing Navigation
Home
Submit Your Fish Tale
Archived Fish Tales
Fly Fishing Forum
My Account/LOGIN
Contact Flies And Fins

Flies & Fins Social Web
AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Google del.icio.us Yahoo! MyWeb StumbleUpon Furl Blinklist Spurl Magnolia Simpy Blogmarks Startaid Netvouz Facebook Shadows

Flies And Fins Feed
 Syndicate or Subscribe

Fish Tale Archives
Fish Tale Archives

Fly Fishing Videos & Tunes
Fly Fishing Videos

Fly Fishing Music

Flies And Fins Member Info
Welcome, Anonymous!
Nickname
Password
Security Code: Security Code
Type Security Code:
(Register)
Membership:
Overall: 3836

Flyfishermen Online:
Visitors: 43
Members: 2
Total: 45

Online Now:
01: Marcel_Karssies
02: Rinus

Random Fish Tales
·False Albacore & Bonito: Hard Tail Camaraderie
·Florida Tarpon: In Search Of The Silver King
·Bermuda To Bozeman: Two Weeks I'll never Forget
·Steelhead On April Fool's Day: The Joke Was On Me
·Atlantic Salmon Fly Fishing (Quebec): First Day, First Fish
·Kentucky: Holy COW The Caddis Are Hatching
·Argentina: Wild Trout, Big Flies, Good Friends & Great Wine
·Steelhead Fly Fishing: An Addicts Quest For Chrome
·Yampa River Colorado: Cloud of Tricos And A Sweet Rainbow
·Ausable River: Wet Times But Good Times
·Big Rivers and Big Fish: Chasing Pacific Steelhead Inland
·The Biggest One I Ever Hooked!
·Bahamas Bonefishing: This Place Is Magical!
·Brown Trout Today Steelhead Tomorrow: Salmon River
·Florida: Proud For The Peacocks
·Steelhead: Tough To Slow Them Down

 
Fresh Water Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
Posted by jeremy on April 25, 2008

AddThis Social Bookmark Button  Save to del.icio.us 


Maine Salmon Fly fishing, for me, represents a series of fleeting opportunities. In my lifetime, there are a finite number of spring salmon runs, hendrickson hatches, fall steelhead runs, albie runs, herring runs, bluefin tuna runs, hex hatches and so on and so forth. From a global perspective, there are so many opportunities and destinations that I would love to, but probably never will get to experience. My home state of Maine offers so many opportunities that I will probably never get a chance to experience. With 35,000 miles of rivers and streams it is simply not possible to be everywhere at the same time. Maine’s winters can be long and it is no wonder that when the ice goes out on Maine’s 5,000 or so lakes; it is cause for celebration. Seriously, “ice-out” in Maine is a big event and folks even have bets on exactly what day the ice will go out on a lake. Ice-out for me, as a fly fisherman, offers a fly fishing experience that I really enjoy and try to take advantage of every year. During the winter when the ice is on the lake, the big Salmon cruise just below the surface in all different water depths. During the summer, the big lake run salmon tend to hang out in deep waters of the lake. So, ice-out offers a fleeting and somewhat transitional period of time where the water is cold enough and the smelt are in the rivers and close to shore and the salmon are right there with them. It is a different kind of experience, but one

that I have truly come to enjoy and I try my best to take advantage of the little opportunities that arise. So, the ice was out, it was 5pm and another work day came to an end. I hopped in my car and drove to the lake. I arrived and there was still a fair amount of sun in the sky. I rigged up my fly rod with a sinking line and a white bunny strip smelt type fly pattern. The water was very cold and little ice chunks still hanging around, as portions of the lake were still frozen. I was not too optimistic but started to make a few casts anyway. After a very long and cold and snowy winter in Maine; it felt great to be outside. I made a cast as far as I could into the lake and let the line sink. I slowly stripped back the streamer fly and just when I was losing hope, fish on! I landed and released my first lake run salmon of the year, and the smelt run is not even in full swing yet. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come and the first of many great fly fishing experiences in Maine this year. This fish and this experience taught me that not all fly fishing experiences have to be big long excursions. Even if I can just get out after work and take a few casts with my work clothes still on; it is better than watching TV or sitting on the couch and definitely better than not fishing at all that day.



The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.

No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please Login/Create Account

Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by striper69 on April 25, 2008
nice salmon jeremy you always seem to get it done



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by jinxed247 on April 25, 2008 http://www.jumpcut.com/flyfishing247
Great job Jeremy! Quick question for ya...do they get bigger than that or is that about average? Great job again!



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by simpson on April 26, 2008
nice! nothing like ending your work day with a quick trip to the water. i've been doing the same at a small tidal river near my job.



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by Boz on April 27, 2008 http://www.maineriverguides.com
J-

This is the first "Maine" fish posted for the year...and a big Bastard at that. Congrats.
If that's any indication of the year ahead...It's gonna be another killer season.



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by jakeb on April 28, 2008
Sweet! I went down on sat. no such luck. The suckers have moved into the streams though.



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by Austin on April 28, 2008
awsome fish jeremy! i think it's impossible to not love the spring landlocks...they are some legendary fish for sure. i feel privileged to fish for them, because it is intresting to see how only a few states in the country have them!



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by tracker12 on April 28, 2008
jeremy
Do you still like that Orvis sling pack. Do you have a recommendation on a small chest pack?



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by Gander on April 29, 2008
Nice Fish Jeremy! I was out up here in NB on the Miramichi this past weekend fishing for black Salmon. Same sort of deal where everyone gets super stoked when the ice finially leaves the river and opens up a new season of fishing. Nice to be back on the water, with fish on the end of a line.



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by joey on April 29, 2008 http://www.fliesandfinseast.com
Nice fish jer, that is a beast. good to see a big fish like that made it through the winter ice fishing gauntlet. good luck this spring.



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by donjuanfour20 on May 02, 2008
jeremy, i couldn't agree with you more, man. its pretty hard to get out knowin' the old lady and the kids need tending to. but, when they are occupied, i cherish the opportunity to even get out for an hour of light. tight lines to you!



Re: Maine: Ice-Out Salmon, Seize The Day
by spector82 on May 06, 2008
Hey Jeremy, nice to meet you the other day,(Shawn==Steven Sparaco's friend) what a day of fishing that was huh?
I have to tell you that fish you landed in the kayak had to be one of the funniest fishing moments ever, this guy hooks a salmon in his stand up kayak, the damn thing is literally towing him around, so he aborts trying to land it from the small boat, puts the rod in his mouth and paddles to shore with a fish fighting on the other end!!! He makes it to shore and lands the fish,.... Totally classic, I wish you had a vid clip of that one! Steve and I were busting a gut watching the struggle! This guy IS extreme fishing! Hey the offer stands for that little spawning river in October( when you want to be there I assure you) Gonna be big,big salmon this fall, action should be hot! I'm taking 2nd week in October off for this fishing so get in touch with me and I'll get us into some monsters!


 
Fly Fishing Pictures







Summary: Flies and Fins contains fly fishing pictures, videos, tips, tactics, forums and articles related to salt water and fresh water fly fishing. The stories are comprised of fly fishing trips and vacations to travel destinations worldwide with fly fishing tips and tactics related to trout, steelhead, salmon, tarpon, permit, bonefish, tuna, striped bass, shark, sailfish, and other freshwater and saltwater fish species. Flies and Fins is an online fly fishing community comprised of fly fishermen of all different levels and all walks of life. Flies and Fins is a state of mind, a way of life; an opportunity for fly fishermen to use video, pictures, and the written word to share their fly fishing experiences and live vicariously through the experiences of other fly fishermen. Please browse our stories site map, corresponding fly fishing story archives, and forum site map.