The season is definitely getting closer

I just got back from an early morning cruise. At 4:30 am Boothbay Harbor was a quiet place. Smooth glassy water interrupted only by swirls, seals, birds, and me. There are tons of Jellyfish out there right now but they will be gone when the macs come in. I am hoping that Mackeral will arrive this year by Memorial weekend. We have good weather coming up and everything seems two weeks ahead of last year.

Early Macs means early traps so I will be getting the lobster gear together in the coming weeks too. I noticed this morning that there was quite a bit more lobster gear in the water now tight to shore so those guys must be thinking the same thing as I.

The other question on my mind is, when do I go over to the Kennebec River and give it a try for Stripers? There are basically a couple things that will influence when my first scouting mission will be. First, my calander is pretty crazy. Until a project at school comes to its conclusion on May 26th, I don't really have prayer of going. Also, my wife is going to a wedding in Cartagena, Columbia from May 28 to June 4. My mom is coming to help so there is a small chance of fishing then. My last day of school is June 15 so after that fishing will become my job. The second main factor that determines when my first trip is are the reports I hear. Some guides, like Peter Fallon and Gordon Gillies of Gillies and Fallon guide service, live on the Kennebec and they can scout the river as easy as I can cover Boothbay Harbor. People like that are terrific sources.

Gayle took the shot below last evening. She and I went to Five Islands for dinner while the kids were at the grandparents. We took the boat which meant a chilly but calm ride around Cape Newagen. If you have never had the pleasure of going to five islands by boat you should make an effort to give it a try. The place was empty which is unusual. Its one of the prettiest places around and it has a great Maine feel to it. Gayle had a fried haddock sandwich with Cilantro mayo and I had fried shrimp and we were both happy.

Garmin is Money

Some of you may remember that I had strange power issues with my Garmin 5212 last year. Well, about a month ago I called Garmin and explained my problem to them. Despite being a month over on my two year warranty, Garmin agreed to fix or replace my bottom machine/gps. I sent it in two weeks ago, and today, I received a brand new unit! You can see it above, pictured on our porch, with the screen sticker still on it. I can not say enough about this fine machine. It has terrific clear radar, a vivid fishfinder, and the gps is top notch. The best part is its intuitive touch screen interface. Now I am extremely impressed with Garmin's customer service too.

Progress

Yesterday, the boy had his first experience of the season on the boat. I figured he would not tolerate his life jacket or being stuck in such a small area, and, as always, he proved me wrong. All day long he kept urging me to put his life jacket on him to go on a boat ride. I think we went out on the boat twice and we had to drag him off each time.

Gayle took the kids to Falmouth today! Yeehaw. What a pleasure to be able to get stuff done. Did a bit of school work and then went down to the boat. Got the radio working and re-installed it in the overhead drybox. I also got the livewell running and secured. Tied up more gear too.

Then, I took Jonne Trees, Our local television station's master video guy, out to Burnt Island to scope camera shots for a student's film.

My electrician, Howie, dropped by too and took out my Garmin so I can send it back.
Anyway, it was a lovely day of progress and I am now looking forward to the family's return.

the ladies

Iz did a great job running the boat today. I felt comfortable leaving her in charge and she seemed to really enjoy having the wheel. It does help that there are few lobster buoys in the harbor to avoid right now.
The water temp was a chilly 43 degrees but the air temp over the next few days should help. The boat is running well and I can not wait for the fish to arrive in force. Over the next few weeks I hope to hear reports of Stripers beginning to show up in some of the rivers of Southern Maine. It would be lovely if we had warm water and fishable numbers by Memorial Day. Of course I won't be fishing over Memorial Day because Gayle is off to Cartagena, Columbia for a wedding.