Mount Katahdin Panorama Photos

Over the Thanksgiving 2020 holiday I took a trip to Millinocket, Maine. On Friday, November 27th the weather cleared up enough to explore the Baxter State Park area and get some photographs of Mount Katahdin. The first stop was New England Outdoor Center on Millinocket Lake. I was able to walk down to their boat landing and get a few photos of the mountain. It was a beautiful view, even though the peak was still covered with a cloud.

Millinocket Lake and Mount Katahdin in Millinocket, Maine.

Same view with the 300 mm zoom lens.

Further up Golden Road was another spot that I found on Goggle Maps. The place was Abol Bridge near Abol Bridge Campground and Store. The bridge crossed the West Branch of the Penobscot River. Using the Google Maps street view feature I could tell that the bridge offered a clear view of the mountain and river.

An article in Game and Fish online from 2010 says, “The West Branch Penobscot is one of the Northeast’s finest salmon fisheries.” The article goes on to say,

“Focus on the section between Ripogenus Dam and Pemadumcook Lake,” advised Tim Obrey, a regional fisheries biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “It’s a unique section of river. I can’t think of any other place with a resident population of river salmon. This is not a population of fish that comes up from the lakes to spawn. These salmon winter in the lower areas of the river. As the water temperature starts to warm up they start migrating upstream.”

https://www.gameandfishmag.com/editorial/fishing_salmon-steelhead-fishing_mo_0510_02/241559

The West Branch sounds like a great place to return to during fishing season. Catching both salmon and trout sounds great to me!

Summer Salmon and Trout Fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee 2020

Going on a fishing charter locally in New Hampshire was one of the few things we could do this summer with all the COVID 19 travel restrictions. So, I was really happy to get two charter trips with Salmon Patrol Charters this year again on Lake Winnipesaukee.

We got to enjoy some beautiful sunrises in addition to catching some nice fish.

My Rainbow Trout at sunrise.

We had a beautiful sunrise on the August 16th trip. I caught a nice Rainbow trout just as the sun was coming up.

Johnny’s Salmon

Jack’s Salmon

Both Johnny and Jack landed some nice Salmon!

My first Lake Trout!

I landed the last fish of the trip. This was the first Lake Trout that I have ever caught! I was surprised to catch a Lake Trout since they are known as a deep water fish and we had the lines down around 30 feet.

The sunrise on our August 23rd trip was spectacular. We left the dock in a dense fog. It slowly cleared off revealing a beautiful sunrise.

Sunrise August 23, 2020

Sunrise August 23, 2020

I can’t wait until next season when we can go back and do it again!

Another Nice Brown Trout!

On April 28 Jack, Johnny, Bella (the dog) and myself spent the day at Higher Ground Pond in Wentworth, NH. I was lucky enough to catch another 22 inch trout, just like the one I caught while ice fishing back in January. It was a wonderful warm spring day, which was a relief after the cool temperatures for most of the month. Not only did we catch fish, we got to see a family of geese and enjoy a great day outside.

22 Inch Brown Trout

My Largest Trout (so far)

Saturday the 12th was my first chance to go ice fishing this season. Higher Ground Pond was high on the list of place to go since we had such good luck there during the summer and fall and it was now open for fishing year round.

A rainy Friday night had turned into a warm and foggy Saturday morning. This hills around the pond were shrouded in fog and cloud giving the place a surreal appearance. We discovered about 5 to 6 inches of solid ice with a layer of wet, slushy snow on top. We were not happy about the wet conditions but were happy the ice was thick enough to be safe.

Jack and I had one flag over the course of five hours, but it was a good strike. We arrived at the tip-up to see the reel spinning like crazy. Jack was kind enough to let me try and land the fish. I waited until the fish was on its second run and had turned direction before trying to hook it and haul it in. It turned out to be a 22 inch, 4 1/2 pound Brown Trout. This is the largest trout have ever caught in my life (so far). As luck would have it, I forgot my video camera at home and all I had was a low quality phone camera.

22 inch Brown Trout caught January 12th, 2013.

Fall trout fishing in the White Mountains

I don’t usually go trout fishing in the Fall but this year I had some free time so I gave it a try. I’m glad I did because the results paid off.

I went back to “Johnny’s Rock, which is our new favorite spot since we landed the big trout there back in June. The first trip was on Columbus Day. It was a mostly cloudy day with temperatures hovering around 50. There was also a stiff breeze whipping across the pond at times.

Trout catch Oct 8 2012

Despite the cool temperatures I was extremely happy with the stringer of trout for Columbus Day 2012.

I quickly made plans to return and take full advantage of the remainder of trout season.

19 inch trout caught October 9 2012

Tuesday started out with several snags and lost gear. I was there about an hour when something big took the bait. It turned out to be the 19 inch trout in the photograph above.

Catch on October 9 2012

I caught one other 13 inch trout for another day of great fishing in the White Mountains.

In the future I will make more effort to get out trout fishing in the Fall before the season closes on October 15th.

16 Inch Brown Trout

Caught a nice fat 16 inch brown trout at Higher Ground Pond in Wentworth, NH yesterday. I caught it on the first cast. How lucky is that? It jumped like a bass so I did not even know it was a trout until I got it close to shore.

Ice Fishing in Orford, NH

The weather for the weekend of February 18th and 19th looked promising with high temperatures in the mid 30’s. It turned out to be a little cooler than expected due to the wind but we were ready for that. It has been a strange winter with little snow and warmer temperatures. As a result the ice is bare (and slippery) unlike last year when there was heavy snow and slush on the ice.

On Saturday we went to Indian Pond in Orford, NH. We joined our friend Kurt and a few others and set up camp near their ice shanty. There was about sixteen inches of ice on the pond.

There is a nice view of Mt. Cube from Indian Pond. It was a great lunch even though cooking was a little challenging in the wind. I brought sirloin tips and hot dogs and Kurt brought some venison to share.

We decided to go to Upper Baker Pond in Orford, NH on Sunday. We had great luck there last year and I was looking forward to going back. Once again it was colder and windier on the pond than the Connecticut River Valley. We wisely decided to set up the shanty near the shore where there was better traction.

Johnny holds the first pickerel that we landed.

I land my first fish of the day. It was a nice pickerel that was about the same size as the one Jack caught earlier.

We even landed a few nice yellow perch. Johnny got a chance to practice pulling a fish out of the hole. He’s going to be a good fisherman when he gets older. Overall it was a fantastic day at Upper Baker Pond and a great weekend of ice fishing.