A large pool on the Kennebec River between Solon and North Anson produces magnificent Light-Cahill hatches each June, a large, cream mayfly tied on a size 12 or 14 hook. I lean toward the size 14 choice.
outdoors
HERB WILSON — FOR THE BIRDS: Difference in diet explains why grackles among 1st to show up
The wonderful spectacle of spring migration is coming to an end with the arrival of the last warblers, thrushes and cuckoos. As usual it’s been a delightful three months of arrivals and departures.
ALLEN AFIELD: Black-bass fishing peaks in next few weeks
Maine’s black-bass anglers find lots of action during most months from mid-spring to fall, but fishing peaks in the next five weeks, depending on latitude and elevation, as males defend spawning beds in the shallows.
ALLEN AFIELD: Some advice for buying your 1st bike
Many predictably ask for a compromise that works on pavement as well as on light-duty forest paths — the latter say gravel roads or trails minus big rocks, deep sand, long, steep drops, etc. That info narrows the choices.
OUTDOORS: Osprey numbers taking off again
This column continues the discussion of osprey biology from my last column. I wrote about the dependence of osprey on live fish for food. Ospreys are not picky about the fish they prey upon in either salt- or freshwater environments. As long as the fish are in shallow water or within 3 feet of the surface of deeper water, they are at risk from an attack from above by a feathered menace.
ALLEN AFIELD: What to do when no trout rise
Eight years ago on a Maine fly-fishing bulletin board, a young fly-fishing guide posted a comment that has stuck in my mind. He claimed that aquatic-insect hatches were so sporadic that he wondered why the events seemed important to people.
KEN ALLEN: Mayfly time starts now in lower Maine
“Hatch Guide for New England Streams” by Tom Ames, Jr. hit bookstores 13 years ago, and yes, that figure generates a predictable comment from folks like me — “How time flies.”
HERB WILSON: Graceful osprey remarkable raptor
For birders, one of the joys of April is the arrival of the ospreys. We’ll look at this remarkable raptor today and in the next column.
ALLEN AFIELD: Many ways to learn nature
Transcendentalism is alive and well in Maine, as many old Mainers have indicated when they tell me no one can learn from a book. These backwoods philosophers expostulate that experience teaches — not words on a page or screen — as if they have a corner on truth.
ALLEN AFIELD: Small brook brookie fishing starts now
This coming week in Maine’s bottom third, brooks with brook trout start producing decent to darned good fishing, unless nature conspires against my prediction with unseasonably frigid weather for the next several days. Even if action remains slow, though, trout brooks will surely pick up in late April or early May and continue into the first week or two of June.