Deep sea fishing, though, is anything but calm. Imagine hooking and landing an 1100 pound marlin. It isn’t calm; it’s a thrilling, adrenaline-pumping adventure of man against fish. It makes sense, then, that you’re going to need equipment that can handle the fight. Included below are some key points on the right way to select a deep sea fishing reel.

The Reel Story
Understand that not all deep sea fish are 1100 pound marlins. There are many shapes and sizes of fish in the open water, so the reels come in many shapes and sizes. To purchase the right reel, it’s essential that you know what type of fish you want to catch.

In addition to the type of fish, you need to know its environment and feeding preference. For example, some fish feed in the surf. Others prefer to hunt for food on the bottom. Still others prefer to eat in shallow waters. To successfully fish for any of these fish, you’ll need a reel that fits the conditions. Choose the wrong reel, and the chance for adventure will rapidly become an experience in frustration.

Saltwater Reels
Reels are made from several different types of materials, including metals. Saltwater can and will corrode some metals until they completely fall apart. Your best bet for a saltwater deep sea fishing reel is one with a frame made from aluminum or stainless steel, which are rust and corrosion resistant. These reels are generally large and sturdy, can handle severe weather conditions and very large fish, such as the 1100 pound marlin mentioned above.

Not all saltwater fish weigh in at half a ton, however. Smaller fish include grouper and red snapper. With these fish, you’ll need a lighter reel and lighter fishing line.

Technique and Complexity
Factor in your skill level. If you’re a beginner, don’t buy a high-tech fishing reel with tons of features. You’ll spend more time figuring out how everything works than fishing. Start with a basic reel, and as you gain experience you can move up to the multi-featured reels.

You also need to match the reel to your preferred fishing technique. If you prefer medium speed trolling, a kite fishing reel will just catch you headaches. Likewise, a medium speed trolling reel will spell disaster for deep drop fishing. The last thing you want is to be out on the boat, hook the “big one” and discover your reel can’t handle the job.

Getting Information
You can get all kinds of information about deep sea fishing equipment from the Internet. Before you buy, though, visit your local fishing retailer. Try out some of the reels. Ask questions. Let the salesperson walk you through the features and point you in the right direction. Once you have the correct equipment, head to your favorite spot and enjoy the adventure of a lifetime.

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The Green Drakes aren’t a particularly easy hatch to fish.  The adult flies usually begin to emerge just as the sun drops below the tree line.  And the trout feeding activity usually peaks just when it’s getting too dark to see your fly on the water.  The most maddening thing is that one evening there will be a massive hatch with fish gorging themselves like pigs, and the next night, there will only be a few sporadic rises.   When you hit it right though, the Green Drake hatch can be an unforgettable experience.

Fishermen who live in Maine know that 2010 has been a very early season.  The ice went out earlier than ever before, the smelts and suckers spawned weeks ahead of schedule, and the Green Drakes are already hatching.  I saw rafts of empty nymphal shucks on one of the trout ponds that I fish on June 19 (2 weeks earlier than usual), and fished Drakes successfully a few days after that.  So if you are waiting for this year’s Green Drake hatch, wait no longer, it is happening NOW.

Please feel free to call or email me to discuss Green Drake fishing in Maine.

Kevin Tracewski, (Tracewski Fishing Adventures), info@fishguideme.com, (207) 827-3110

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Common Name: SPLAKE (from speckled trout and lake trout)

Other Names: WENDIGO

Scientific Name: Salvelinus namaycush X Salvelinus fontinalis

Origin: Hatchery Hybrid

Adult Size: In Maine, splake typically range in size from 10 to 18 inches. Splake grow at a faster rate than either of its parental species. They can attain lengths of 18 inches in just 2 years after stocking. Splake over 10 pounds have been caught.

Identification: Splake and brook trout have very similar coloration patterns, making it very difficult for the untrained eye to distinguish between the two species. Splake tend to have a slight fork in the tail, a trait passed down from its lake trout parent, while brook trout tend to have no fork or “square” tails.

Splake are a hybrid trout resulting from the cross of brook trout and lake trout.

Splake have been culturally produced since the 1870′s.

This hybrid trout is genetically stable and capable of reproducing. However, splake reproduction has never been documented outside of the hatchery environment.

Splake are commonly stocked across the northern United States and throughout Canada for the purpose of providing fishing opportunity.

In 1958, splake were stocked in Long Pond in T10 SD, Washington County. This was the first stocking in Maine. It was part of a comparative study between brook trout, rainbow trout, landlocked salmon, and splake.

In 1990, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife began a pilot program to determine if splake could provide acceptable fisheries in waters where stocked brook trout had failed.

This study determined:

• Splake grew at a faster rate than stocked brook trout.
• Splake survived to older ages than stocked brook trout.
• Splake fed on other fish species, such as white perch and yellow perch, that typically out-compete brook trout.

In one study water, stocked brook trout rarely survived beyond age 1 and returns to the anglers were in the 2-8% range. In the same water, splake survived to age 4, providing fish in the 16-18 inch range. The estimated splake returns to anglers, during ice fishing only, were as high as 78%.

Nearly all of Maine’s hatchery fish including brook trout, landlocked salmon, lake trout, splake, and brown trout are stocked for the sole purpose of providing angling opportunity. These fish are stocked in waters where there is insufficient spawning habitat. Very few fish are stocked for the purpose of creating wild populations.

Maine currently has approximately 53 waters managed primarily for splake. Fourteen of these waters are in the General Management category, 29 are in the Quality Management category, and 10 are in the Trophy Management category. 

Splake are also stocked in conjunction with hatchery brook trout in some waters to provide an occasional larger fish.

In 2001, the ME DIF&W stocked just over 1.2 million fish. The total number of splake stocked was around 90,000 (7.5%).

This hybrid trout is not stocked in waters with significant wild brook trout fisheries. In one case, splake are stocked in a reclaimed pond in which brook trout have become self-sustaining. Splake are stocked in an effort to reduce the number of illegally introduced smelts. Since the introduction of smelts the population of brook trout has been declining.

This hybrid trout is easy to catch and provides excellent winter fishing opportunity. Over 90% of the total acreage of waters managed for splake is open to ice fishing.

In the winter, splake can be found in most any location. During the spring and fall, they can be caught with light tackle near the surface, even on flies. In the summer, they generally go deep, preferring water less that 60ºF.

Splake feed primarily on smelts, white perch, yellow perch, and minnows. They rarely feed on other coldwater gamefish.

This hatchery fish also provides expanded fall fishing opportunities in many lakes and ponds around the State.

The Maine State Record splake was caught in Basin Pond by Dan Paquette. It weighed 10 lbs. 3 oz. The world record splake was caught in Ontario and weighed 20 lbs. 11oz.

Most importantly, this hybrid trout is capable of creating quality fisheries in waters where other hatchery species have not been successful. This creates additional fishing opportunity for Maine anglers.

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Common Name: SMALLMOUTH BASS

Other Names: SMALLIE, SMALLMOUTH BLACK BASS, BLACK BASS, BROWN BASS, GREEN BASS

Scientific Name: Micropterus dolomieu

Origin: Introduced

Adult Size: Smallmouth bass commonly live 5-7 years, with a few individuals reaching ages from 10-20 years. Most bass waters grow some adults to weights of 2-3 pounds. In Maine, only a few exceed 4 pounds, and bass heavier than 5 pounds are rare. The state record smallmouth bass is 8 pounds.

Identification:  Bass are members of the sunfish family. The upper jaw of smallmouth bass does not extend beyond the back of the eye. The notch between the spiny and the soft-rayed section of the dorsal fin is not deep.

Before the Civil War, there were no bass in Maine.  Records show that bass were first stocked in Maine in 1869.

The smallmouth is not actually a bass.  It’s a member of the sunfish family but, along with the largemouth, is called a black bass.

June is the peak of the spawning season in Maine.

Spawning will usually take place when the temperature is between 59º F and 65º F.

An average of 8,000 eggs per pound of body weight is carried by the female.

Males build the nest and guard the eggs and young.

The young smallmouth is more solitary, preferring to feed alone, while the young largemouth apparently prefers to remain in schools for at least a part of the first summer.

Favorite foods are smaller fish and crayfish. 

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Common Name: CHAIN PICKEREL

Other Names: PICKEREL, CHAINSIDES, EASTERN PICKEREL

Scientific Name: Esox niger

Origin: Native

Adult Size: Most of the pickerel caught in Maine are age 3-5, at which time they range in length from 14-19 inches. Productive waters grow good numbers of 2-3 pound fish, along with occasional 4 pound fish. The state record, caught in 1992, weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces.

Identification: Pickerel are a member of the pike family. The fish is green with the sides prominently marked by yellow-green areas broken by dark, interconnecting lines resembling the links of a chain. The jaws are elongated containing large, sharp teeth; the large dorsal fin is located way back towards the caudal fin, which is forked.

Chain pickerel are generally distributed throughtout the eastern United States and southern and eastern Canada in quiet, weedy waters.

Chain pickerel represent one of the four most abundant warmwater game fish in Maine.

Chain pickerel are one of the first fishes to spawn after ice-out in the spring.

No nest is prepared, and the adhesive eggs drop to the bottom to cling to whatever they happen to fall upon.

Young pickerel hatch after an incubation period of one or two weeks, depending on the temperature.

The pickerel has earned a well-deserved reputation as predaceous and habitually feeds on other fish.

Adults lie in wait of their prey and capture it in one quick lunge.

Favorite foods of the pickerel are yellow perch, white perch, and minnows.   Pickerel are also known to feed on frogs, snakes, ducklings, mice and muskrats.

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Common Name: BROWN TROUT 

Other Names: GERMAN BROWN TROUT, BROWNIE, LOCH LEVEN TROUT, SAIBLING

Scientific Name: Salmo trutta

Origin: Introduced

Adult Size: Normal size is 14-20 inches and 1-2 pounds. Browns occasionally reach 10 pounds.

Identification: Usually coloration is light brown or tawny with pronounced black spots on the back, sides and head. Spots are often surrounded with reddish halo, along with reddish spots on the sides. Color is highly variable and browns are occasionally confused with landlocked salmon.

Often referred to as Scotch sea-trout, sea-run brown trout, Loch Leven trout, and Swiss lake trout.

The typical brown trout is yellowish brown with large brown or black spots on its sides, back, and dorsal fin.

Brown trout are taken in Maine waters each year and commonly identified by fishermen as landlocked salmon because of silvery coloration and their close physical resemblance to the salmon.

One of the first introductions of brown trout in the United States was in Branch Lake, Ellsworth, Maine, in 1885.

Brown trout are able to withstand higher water temperatures that brook trout.

Brown trout spawn in Maine from October through February.

Males defend their chosen territories against the intrusion of rival males prior to the actual spawning act.

Young hatch out the following spring and normally spend the first two to three years of life in the parent stream feeding on insects and other minute animal life.

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Common Name: EASTERN BROOK TROUT

Other Names: SQUARETAIL, BROOKIE, SPECKLED TROUT

Scientific Name: Salvelinus fontinalis

Origin: Native

Adult Size: Size varies greatly, depending on water temperature, productivity, and food sources. The statewide average length of 3 year-old brook trout in Maine lakes is 13.3 inches. However, same age trout from different lakes range from 7.5 to 17.5 inches in length. Stream populations are typically slower growing than lake populations. Some high elevation trout populations mature and reproduce at lengths smaller than 6 inches.

Identification: Color is variable, depending on habitat. Brook trout can be distinguished from other members of the trout family by the dark, wavy, worm-like line on their back and the white leading edges of their fins, including the tail.

The brook trout is commonly called squaretail in Maine.

Brook trout are truly coldwater fish.  In Maine, they are never abundant in habitats that do not provide some water where temperatures are less than 60-65º F.

Brook trout are a relatively short-lived fish.   Age studies over a wide area of North America, including Maine, have demonstrated that brook trout more than three or four years of age are relatively rare.   Individuals as old as seven years are occasionally taken, but two and three year old fish make up the bulk of anglers’ catches.

Brook trout spawn in the fall from September into December.

Eggs hatch in 90 days at 40º F.  Length of the incubation period depends on water temperatures.

Trout fry feed primarily on immature stages of aquatic insects.

The brook trout takes bait or a fly readily and is quite easily caught, even by inexperienced fishermen.  This characteristic, combined with its high aesthetic value and food qualities, makes the species a fine one for intensive fish management purposes.

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With 32,000 miles of cold water streams, rivers and brooks, Maine has an abundant supply of brook trout. Brook trout can also be found in lakes. These cold-water fish thrive in waters that have high levels of oxygen and never go above 60-65 degrees. They spawn in the fall, usually when the water temperature is around 40 degrees. They feed on aquatic insects until they grow larger and begin feeding on smaller fishes. Brook trout are susceptible to other fishes, especially bass that will feed on just about anything. They can be caught with a fly rod or spinning rod, but you should first check your law book for any special regulations depending on the body of water you are fishing. There are also waters that are restricted to catch and release or fly fishing only. The open water fishing season begins on April 1 and can extend until November 1, depending on the body of water.

Maine Guides know where some of the best brook trout fishing in the state is and can easily take you to secret holes where you are likely to catch your limit. Guides also know which fly, lure or bait to use, depending on the water and the time of the season. Much of the excellent brook trout habitat is off the beaten trail, but any hiking done through alders and other vegetation will be well worth it.

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One of those trails is ITS 89. It spans from Eustis to Jackman, and has recently undergone major improvements, making it more scenic and safer. The major improvement is the construction of a new permanent steel bridge spanning 120 feet over Spencer Stream where it crosses the Dead River in Lower Enchanted Township, about 20 miles south of Jackman. You can now ride from the White Mountain National Park at the Maine-New Hampshire border all the way to Kathadin. There was also a major relocation of ITS 89 making gas, food and lodging only a half-hour jaunt away. The trail meanders through valleys, traverses snowfields and climbs mountains. Just about one-quarter of a mile from the new bridge are Grand Falls; a horseshoe shaped falls featuring a sixty-foot drop. It is definitely worth the stop. >From there, the trail goes through a saddle between Coburn and Johnson Mountains where the views are breathtaking.

Cathy Plaisted is the owner of Riverbluff Camps, located in Medford, off of ITS 83.

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