Two of my favorite things.....

...my girls and my gardens. I just love this pose of these two cheesy girls, standing out in front of my strawberry garden.

SeaDogs Baseball

This summer we only took in one baseball game at Hadlock Field. Normally we get to 3-5 Sea Dogs games a summer, but this year we only made it to one game. Too many other things went on this summer I guess.

A broken chain can't keep me down!

We took a trip to Acadia over Memorial Day weekend with our friends the Tippetts and the Gregoires. The trip was very enjoyable and something we hope to do again.

Part of our trip was a ride up Cadillac Mountain on our bikes (only Hal, Cami, Kenzie, Christopher and I dared the mountain). Well, as I just about reached the top, my chain broke. But there was no way that mountain was going to beat me. I ended up riding my bike pedal like a scooter and fishing summitting the hill.

Wow, I really must be Superman.....or something.

JTB

A Nice Catch

So I generally am a pacifist fisherman and only torture the fish I catch while fly fishing, leaving them tired and with a hole in their lip. But, at other times I decide that a fish needs to be put out of its misery and on to my grill. These two keepers were caught mid-July 2008. The fish on top is a Land Locked Atlantic Salmon, taken from the East Outlet of the Kennebeck River using a ~#16 Blue Dunn. The bottom fish is a nice Brookie taken from Ten-thousand Acre Pond using a ~#6 Hex. Being a Northern Utah native, the Hex mayfly pattern was new to me when I started fishing in Maine. This absurdly large pattern made me think my friends were nuts when they told me to use one. But after seeing the Hexagenia limbata mayfly, I now believe them. Anyway, both of these fish were just over 15" long, and some of the bigger fish I have caught here in Maine.

JTB

The Fisherman Thomas

So here is that slimy fish in the hand of Thomas the Mighty Fisherman!

Thomas' Big Fish

So here is the first of many fish stories.....and they are not necessarily listed in order. One thing we did this summer (2008) was go fishing (though not nearly enough!). Thomas had a small canoe trip with the Ward Scout Troop. We paddled about 3 miles up the Presumpscot River (from Shaw Park, past Covered Bridge, to the bottom of Dundee dam). It was a great little outing, and a decent simulation of what a bigger canoe trip would entail. We packed our overnight gear, food and fishing stuff, and off we went.

On the way upstream, we stopped a fished this little inlet and an older guy on the shore came over and started talking to us, and telling us what to use, and where to fish. Long story short, he gave us a few "Sluggos" and told us to fish the slow inlets for pikerel. Well, we fished and fished. Thomas had a big pickerl slam the lure and he fought it for a bit, but then it eventually got off. He also hooked two nice bass, but again was unable to land them.

Finally, on the way home the next day, we stopped in the same inlet and fished for a while. I finally said that we needed to get going so told Thomas to take one more cast and BAM, he caught this nice 20" pickerel. I was so happy for him, because he stuck with that Sluggo the whole time, wanting to catch a big fish......and he did it.