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Saturday, April 16, 2005
Ice-Out Trout
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||
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Charlie Winslow remembers when the camps were few and far between on Togus Pond in Augusta. He also remembers when the hits came one after another at ice-out. On Thursday, the fishing was slower, but that didn't stop him. Winslow, along with a pair of mallards, three loons and a raft of sea gulls, seemed to be the only ones that knew about ice-out on Togus last week. The fish certainly didn't. Five hours of trolling and only one brook trout proved that. "Oh, it's just a good time to be out here, nice and peaceful," said Winslow, of Augusta, over the soft hum of his 8-horsepower Mariner outboard on Thursday. Togus Pond has brook trout, brown trout, white and yellow perch, smelt, and both large- and smallmouth bass in it. The pond was stocked last year with 800 brook trout between 8 and 16 inches long, and 520 brown trout, including 20 that were 18-20 inches long, according to the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Stocking report. In the five mid-day hours Winslow spent on the pond Thursday, no one else was fishing -- from shore or by boat. A freshening northeast breeze and ice-cold water might have been enough to keep some off the pond, but not Winslow. Retirement had a part in it too -- but only a small part. Winslow, 59, a former Augusta police officer, has fished every day but one since the ice went out. "Back when I was working, I'd have my wife call in and ask that I come home when the ice went out. The guys knew, oh yeah, they knew. Charlie's out fishing." FISHERMAN'S TRICKS Winslow motored his 14-foot aluminum boat at a steady clip around the camp-speckled west shore of Togus Pond, trolling his favorite Rapala fishing lures on a sinking fly line. He prefers a long 12-pound test leader of nearly 30 feet, and ties his lures on with a loop knot, for better action. Winslow has plenty of fisherman's tricks -- some that he'd allow printed in the paper, and plenty that he wouldn't. A quick glance at his tackle box revealed one of his favorite tricks: he dots all his Rapalas with red permanent marker. "Makes it look like they've been hit and are bleeding a little," he said. Does it work? "Oh, I think so. You've got to do something nobody else does. These fish have seen everything." So has he. Over the 47 years that Winslow has fished Togus Pond, he's developed an almost photographic memory of every underwater bump, log and rock wall. He trolls tight to the shore, tracing a route along the many coves, points and rock bars in the pond. A close inspection of his prop showed only a couple of minor knicks. "There's lots of rocks in here," he said. "You don't always see them, but the prop will find them." His first run through the cove near the south end of the lake turned up no fish. "Sometimes it takes a few passes to wake them up," he said. The wind wasn't ideal. It was coming from the north. "South wind is best, northwest is second. If we catch anything today on a north wind, we'll be doing well," he said. That kind of knowledge doesn't come from books. It comes from fishing. And lots of it. On the third pass through the cove, near a rocky point of land, one of the old Shakespeare fiberglass rods bent double. "There's one, there's one!" yelled Winslow. Three headshakes, a short run and lots of reeling later, a brook trout of about 15 inches came to the boat. It was Winslow's first fish of the season. ICE-OUT COMING FAST Ice-out in Maine is slowly creeping northward. Sebago Lake Lodge in Windham reported that the ice was black and saturated on Sebago, but that many smaller ponds in the area had seen ice-out. They expected ice-out by early next week, depending on the weather. In central Maine, Local Game Warden Kevin Anderson reported open water on Tyler Pond, Cobbossee Lake, Upper and Lower Narrows Ponds, Maranacook, Parker and Annabessacook, among others. China and Lake St. George were also reported ice-free. The Belgrades are close, and likely to go out this weekend or early next week, according to Nicki's Bait and Tackle. The Rangeley Lake Sport Shop reported two feet of white ice on Rangeley, and anticipated ice-out during the second week of May. The Indian Hill Trading Post in Greenville reported plenty of ice on Moosehead Lake, and expected ice-out in two weeks or so. Big Lake, in Washington County was partly open as of Friday and expected to go out this weekend, according to the Pine Tree Store in Grand Lake Stream. West Grand Lake is predicted to be open by the end of next week. SIGNS OF SPRING It wasn't just the ice-out that said spring on Togus Pond Thursday morning. The camp road that leads along the west shore of the pond was soft as wet clay, with deep ruts around every bend. Buds were burning bright red on the tips of maple tree branches. A pair of loons hollered in the distance. But a closer look revealed the truth. Summer camps still had shades tightly drawn. One house had a flush toilet in the front lawn. Docks left in over the winter were partly submerged. A sheet of ice floated lazily across the north end of the pond, and the water was cold. So was the breeze. As Winslow trolled around the pond, it seemed he knew almost everyone there. Beside the road on the south end, trucks would drive by and honk. Winslow would wave. He could call out the names of nearly every camp owner on the pond. All day, he watched the loons. He follows them because, he says, they're often feeding on smelt. Where there's smelt, there's likely trout. They're not always helpful, though. "Those loons conspire against me. They'll come right beside the boat when I'm perch fishing and drive the fish right out," he said with a chuckle. The bald eagles, like one he saw soaring high above on Thursday, follow him too. He's even had a goose chase him all the way around the pond. Over next few hours, Winslow had just two more hits -- just enough to keep him going. Both fish got off. It didn't bother him though. "I'll be back out tomorrow," he said. And probably the next day, too. Dave Sherwood 621-5648 dsherwood@centralmaine.com |
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