When it rains it pours....after weeks of no rain and extremely dry conditions, we have had 4 1/2 inches of rain as of early this morning. It has continued raining hard here in the mountains. However, it has done little to raise the level of my fishing grounds. The river on the other hand has filled up nicely. So much for low water conditions, but I don't think it will last for long if we don't get a continued blessing of water.

I attended the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) fundraiser in Lewiston this past weekend. What a wonderful evening and very well attended. The Maine chapter raised $400,000.00 this year, one of the largest of all the chapters and we don't have any Elk....yet. The foundation has protected seven million acres for wildlife habitat throughout the United States for big game management. The elk herds in Kentucky and Missouri are doing extremely well, with the Missouri herd calving 5 this year. Next month two dozen elk will be released in Virginia.

Several firearms were raffled away during the evening, and although I was not the recipient of any of them, I did win one raffle. It consisted of two new cleaning kits for long guns, a new padded gun case and the complete Scent-A-Way control kit. This will come in handy during my Montana big game hunt this fall. I was also the high bidder on a pair of HD video sun glasses, these will allow me to film my hunt as if through my own eyes.

As turkey season creeps up on us, not many Tom's have been seen in the fields, mostly in the woods, which makes it difficult to locate them. However, I did spot one the other day and have been watching closely to see if it is his hangout. Stayed tuned for more information in the western Maine mountains.

Jeff 

It is a beautiful morning here at Moose Look Lodge. We had a frost last night and the morning air is cool and crisp. I was lying in bed having my tea and catching up on the local news when I heard a familiar sound. I opened the window to confirm what I was hearing and ran down to the basement to get my turkey call. I tucked myself in the corner of the screened in porch and began my serenade and mister Tom answered back, to say he was excited wouldn't begin to describe it. His gobble sounded like a freight train. We continued our banter back and forth for about ten minutes when all of a sudden he came running into our back yard looking for me. He fanned his tail feathers and strutted around the garden showing off. His two female friends didn't look to impressed but boy was he trying his best to get me to join his harem. Finally, after about another ten minutes of giving me his best, he gave up and wandered off into the woods.

Our spring turkey season begins April 30 and runs until June 2nd. Two toms are allowed. This morning episode got my blood flowing as I expect it will be a great hunting season with the mild winter we had.

Stay tuned for more Spring news from Moose Look.

Jeff

April 16th and we continue to get unseasonably warm weather. Today temperatures are going to reach 86 degrees, at least 20 degrees above normal. As of this morning, Mooselookmeguntic lake in Rangeley is being fished however the Cupsuptic lake side is still iced in. It won't be for long. I have fished these lakes under similar circumstances with my friends Bob and Stan and we literally watched the ice go out in Cupsuptic every time we made a pass through from Mooselookmeguntic. Rangeley Lake is still iced in and can't be fished yet.

If you are wondering, at one time these were two lakes, but they became one when upper dam was built on the southeastern end of Mooselookmeguntic.

Mooselookmeguntic Lake receives water from several sources. The Cupsuptic River flows into Cupsuptic Lake, which is directly connected with the northern part of Mooselookmeguntic Lake. The Rangeley River and Kennebago River both flow into northeastern Mooselookmeguntic Lake. The lake is just a few miles from the Appalachian Trail.
The lake's waters flow out to the southeast, into Upper Richardson Lake. There is a dam between the two lakes called "Upper Dam". The dam raised the level of Mooselookmeguntic Lake about 14 feet, causing it to become joined to Cupsuptic Lake forming a reservoir. The two lakes had been separate before the dam was built.
Mooselookmeguntic Lake's maximum depth is 132 feet (40 m) and its surface area is 25.5 square miles (66 km²).^[1] It is the fourth largest lake in Maine. Mooselookmeguntic Lake's elevation is 1,467 feet (447 meters) above sea level.

This warm weather will bring water temperatures into the ideal range earlier this year. I like to see surface temperatures in the 50-55 degree range for surface trolling. As the surface temperatures warm up I normally go deeper with lead core fly line. I am not a fan of down riggers, however, I will admit, there have been times when I wish I was using them.

The next few weeks will bring ideal fishing to the Rangeley area. Stay tuned for more updates.

Jeff

What a difference a day makes. I had the good fortune to talk to two of my guide friends who were on the river yesterday. The water levels have dropped to levels usually not seen until June. The warm weather is creating a hatch and the fish are responding. Today the weather will be in the sixty's and Monday we are expecting, gulp....80's....this is unheard of for this time of year. The water temperatures are almost perfect for trout and Salmon. I will be checking the ice out conditions in Rangeley today and will report back to you tomorrow.

Tonight we will attend the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's fund raiser in Lewiston. This promises to be a fun night full of auctions and raffles. I will keep my fingers crossed hoping to win the elk hunt in Idaho.

More tomorrow.

Jeff

It has been very quiet here at Moose Look Lodge as the little snow we had melted and gave way to daffodils. Unfortunately, it is dangerously dry here in the Western Mountains. The above picture taken today is of one of my favorite land locked salmon and trout lakes. The water is still a couple of hundred feet from shore making it difficult to get a square stern canoe and motor in the water without risking limb. This pond is 110 feet deep and 106 acres in size. Usually by this time it is full, we will have to be patient.

On a brighter note, a fellow guide and friend Joanne tells me she is seeing fish but she can't get them to take a fly yet. The water levels in the river are still high even with the water shortage, it is very difficult to read all the different waterways this year due to the unusual weather. It is still early in the season and the fishing will get better soon.

We are looking to acquire a new boat this year, unfortunately we had a bad experience with a dealer in Windham who sold a Lund boat out from under us last night after I thought we had a deal. In any event, we are aggressively looking to purchase a well equipped Lund with a four stroke outboard to accommodate our guest in quiet comfort while trolling the big lakes.

So stay tuned for my next update on the fishing scene.

Jeff

Needless to say, the sapping has been quite slow here at Moose Look Lodge this year. The weather has not contributed to the flow of sap from our maple trees. We tapped 31 trees on February 14th, Valentines Day and only had two days that delivered a total of 22 gallons of sap over a three week period. This is not considered good. But we began to boil down the sap, like I said before, it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, so our 22 gallons should give us a tad over a half gallon of prime maple syrup. We boiled down the sap for two days and were down to the last couple of gallons of sap when I went into the house for a fresh cup of tea.....never leave your sap house when the boiling is down to the finish line....when I came out a few minutes later, smoke was billowing from the garage. I lost the whole batch of syrup, ruined the small pot I had transferred the sap to and wanted to sit on that black bucket and cry. But the smoke was so thick and smelled like burned candy that I couldn't hang around long and had to open all the doors to air it out. As my good friend Curtis, who saps every year from over 100 trees told me, "if you are sapping and never had a fire, you are not sapping....the good news is you didn't burn down your garage like most do..." That didn't make me feel that much better but I did get back into the process that afternoon after cleaning up the mess. The result two days later was our first half gallon of grade A dark amber syrup. To date we have made a half gallon of syrup, we don't know how much more we will get as the temperature here at Moose Look Lodge was 94 degrees yesterday, the first day of Spring, and may get higher today. Although the sap was still running from some of the trees, it has slowed down considerably. The weather is turning colder this weekend and night time temperatures should be below freezing, we hope that will bring the sap back for one more run.



There is never a dull moment here at Moose Look, unseasonable warm temperatures have melted the snow and brought the deer to the feeder. But don't think for a minute that old man winter isn't going to sneak back in for another run, it is still early in the spring and he doesn't give up easy.

Now is the time to begin planning your adventure in Maine and using a Professional Registered Maine Guide to make in memorable. Don't forget to call Joe and Liz at Lake Parlin Lodge and Cabins for a reservation at the finest cabins in Maine. You can visit their site at www.lakeparlinlodge.com.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Jeff and Lynn

Roar like a lion

March 1st roared in like a lion with 15 inches of fresh powder, making it the biggest storm this year. The skiing was the best we have had all season and Sunday River left the powder ungroomed for the skiers. The snowmobiler's  have been pounding the trails since Thursday. The ridding has been excellent all the way north. Joe Kruse,  President of the Jackman Snowmobiler's club and owner of Lake Parlin Lodge and Cabins, www.lakeparlinlodge.com, tells me that the trails have plenty of snow and are groomed daily. Friday was a beautiful day here in Hanover, so my brother in law Bob and I took off Friday and ran the trail from the Bear River Store at Newry corner to Andover. Along the way you pass the memorial for the KC-97 stratotanker refueling plane the crashed on Jonathan Smith Mountain on June 27th, 1960 taking the lives of all five service men on the aircraft. The debris field covers 5 acres.

Unfortunately, our sugaring project took a back seat to the weather as the sap stopped flowing. However, today I hear the pinging of the sap hitting the metal buckets which is seasonal music in the western mountains. I anticipate the sap will be flowing heavy towards the end of the week as the temperatures should be up in the 40's. Our flock of wild turkeys have found the deer feeder and we counted 20 gorging themselves early this morning. The spring gobbler season starts on April 2nd and is shaping up to be a very good one with the mild winter. Once again, it is a great time to visit the Western mountains of Maine.