Outdoors

Published
May 23, 2010

Freshwater Fishing: Southern area gets trout and bass, midcoast gets trash

Fishing is still hot, despite summer-like temps in many places, but it’s not all good news in fishing circles. An invasive introduction into an eastern Maine lake and a massive trash clean-up in central Maine had some state biologists slightly down last week. REGION A: SOUTHERN MAINE The good news out of southern Maine is […]
Published
May 23, 2010

Allen Afield: Surprising increase in bag limits has a moral

In late April, Tom Seymour, an outdoors writer from Waldo, pointed out to me that the state’s new Open Water & Ice Fishing Laws and Rules booklet said the inland daily bag limit on salmonids in general-law waters had risen from five fish in the aggregate to 10 to 13 trout and salmon, depending on […]
Published
May 23, 2010

Hunting: What’s ahead? Sizing up the facts, hazarding guesses

May is turkey season. It’s also baseball season. So much of what we do depends on the weather, and last-minute decisions must be made based on a prediction. When things go wrong, we invariably blame the weather forecaster, but in my experience they’re usually pretty darned accurate. (I think some people just like to complain.) […]
Published
May 19, 2010

State rule book wrong on free fishing days

Those fishing Memorial Day weekend without a license could be summonsed for breaking the law, despite the fact those two days are listed as "free fishing" days.
Published
May 16, 2010

Allen Afield:Consider road bikes, they’re fun and fast

The evening before I wrote this column, my intrepid companion, Jolie, said, “Wow, you look skinny tonight!” It was little wonder. That day, I had bicycled 62 hilly miles in celebration of May 1, the target date for the year’s first half-century ride. I had been training for the challenge since March 5. A full […]

Published
May 16, 2010

Ask an outdoorsman: Know yourself before buying a kayak

Q: What kind of kayak should I buy? A: That’s a good question because there are plenty of choices. Let’s narrow the field down a bit and assume you aren’t an adrenaline fiend who’s looking to ride rampaging rapids in a whitewater kayak. That leaves a lot of kayaks that can be paddled on ponds, […]
Published
May 16, 2010

Hunting: Knowing to keep quiet key in turkey hunting

The first chord is struck as you scrape a chalked paddle across the top of your box call, changing the pressure at the last to create a two-note kee-yawk not unlike the rusty door hinge of a ’62 Olds. From somewhere in the distance comes a primordial sound that stands the hair up on the […]
Published
May 16, 2010

Freshwater fishing: Smelt run complete, but Sebago still hot

While the salmon and togue fishing improves on Sebago Lake, it continues to go great guns Down East, according to yet another positive report by regional state biologists in the region. It nearly makes you question these guys … except that they’re out there fishing on their days off. REGION A: SOUTHERN MAINE The smelt […]
Published
May 16, 2010

Kid Tracks: The application that’s a perfect family adventure

Several years ago my family learned the game of geocaching with our GPS unit. These days we don’t need that unit to find hidden treasures. We can use the Geocache Navigator application on my mobile phone. It’s easy to use and simplifies things when I’m with the kids or trying to teach a friend how […]
Published
May 16, 2010

Birding: ‘Pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha!’

When you hear that song, you'll know the chestnut-sided warbler has returned.

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Outdoors