Garden State Trout

Heading up to Seboomook and north area this coming week for yearly pa'tridge trip. First time that we are able to get some fishing in as well with booking the overlap of seasons! Brookies in the ponds and streams and hopefully some landlocked salmon in the West Branch Penobscot. Best week of the year!

Very jealous, for the fishing part!! Have a gr8 trip, take lots of pics...

Enjoy! My brother and I did a four day camping/brook trout fishing trip up there in about 2005-I remember it being somewhere about an hour's drive west of Presque Isle on some kind of massive timber concession. We went with a guide that had a camp set up and he cooked for us and drove us around to various streams and ponds. It was an awesome experience-we went in late August so flows were low, but we caught a lot of brook trout. As I remember, limits on keeping brook trout go down to zero sometime around now to protect the spawn. I think in August, they were like 2 per angler-we had a few catch and cook evenings that were delicious with fiddle head ferns.

Not a good partridge year unfortunately... bird count was VERY low. our cabin neighbors who have been coming here together in 1964 said it is one of the worst years they remember. Fishing was a little bit better, as we picked up a few keeper brookies and landlocked salmon for the frying pan. The foliage definitely did not disappoint how and we saw 10-12 moose, most of the bulls.

Awesome pictures! and you had some good eats

Looks like a great trip-similar to you, we didnt find any lunker brook trout up there but lots of pan sized fish from 8-11 inches.

Too bad it was a down cycle year for grouse. They are my favorite small game to pursue, hands down! At least the fish cooperated. Any woodcock?

Bamboo and brookies! Couldn't make out the writing, what rod were you fishing?

Looks like a great trip.

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:49 am

Too bad it was a down cycle year for grouse. They are my favorite small game to pursue, hands down! At least the fish cooperated. Any woodcock?

we saw two... the guys in the cabin next to us bagged a few, but they had pointers.

Drossi wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 26, 2021 11:24 am

Bamboo and brookies! Couldn't make out the writing, what rod were you fishing?

Looks like a great trip.

It's a Headwaters. MIC, but very nice. A buddy gifted it to me. 7 1/2' 4/5Wt.

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:33 pm

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:49 am

Too bad it was a down cycle year for grouse. They are my favorite small game to pursue, hands down! At least the fish cooperated. Any woodcock?

we saw two... the guys in the cabin next to us bagged a few, but they had pointers.

Just back from my upstate NY bow and small game trip. Lots of woodcock, but rabbits and grouse populations were fairly low for us. We flew grouse, but nobody got a good shot on one. I didn't get any shots at grouse myself, but went 3 for 3 on woodcock. The only bunny I saw ran right at a buddy who wasn't paying attention in that direction and down its hole, so no shots fired. Bucks were mainly on lockdown with early estrus does, so we only saw baldies each sit. That and rain and lots of it. Back in less than 3 weeks for rifle season.

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:35 pm

Drossi wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 26, 2021 11:24 am

Bamboo and brookies! Couldn't make out the writing, what rod were you fishing?

Looks like a great trip.

It's a Headwaters. MIC, but very nice. A buddy gifted it to me. 7 1/2' 4/5Wt.

I have an old Deschutes model that I got started with in bamboo. It's a good fishing rod, not a collectible. My son uses it more now than I do but I break it out in more hazardous conditions that I don't want to fish my other bamboo in.

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:33 am

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:33 pm

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:49 am

Too bad it was a down cycle year for grouse. They are my favorite small game to pursue, hands down! At least the fish cooperated. Any woodcock?

we saw two... the guys in the cabin next to us bagged a few, but they had pointers.

Just back from my upstate NY bow and small game trip. Lots of woodcock, but rabbits and grouse populations were fairly low for us. We flew grouse, but nobody got a good shot on one. I didn't get any shots at grouse myself, but went 3 for 3 on woodcock. The only bunny I saw ran right at a buddy who wasn't paying attention in that direction and down its hole, so no shots fired. Bucks were mainly on lockdown with early estrus does, so we only saw baldies each sit. That and rain and lots of it. Back in less than 3 weeks for rifle season.

Im going up to east side of Seneca Lake for rifle season. Ive got several friends that live around Burdett and Watkins Glen that have a lot of property.

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:10 pm

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:33 am

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:33 pm

we saw two... the guys in the cabin next to us bagged a few, but they had pointers.

Just back from my upstate NY bow and small game trip. Lots of woodcock, but rabbits and grouse populations were fairly low for us. We flew grouse, but nobody got a good shot on one. I didn't get any shots at grouse myself, but went 3 for 3 on woodcock. The only bunny I saw ran right at a buddy who wasn't paying attention in that direction and down its hole, so no shots fired. Bucks were mainly on lockdown with early estrus does, so we only saw baldies each sit. That and rain and lots of it. Back in less than 3 weeks for rifle season.

Im going up to east side of Seneca Lake for rifle season. Ive got several friends that live around Burdett and Watkins Glen that have a lot of property.

Nice. We have a 185 acre farm on one side of route 16 in New Lisbon/Garrattsville and a new 112 acre farm with standing corn, a trout stream, several ponds, and wetlands across the road. We will have 8 guys up for rifle season and we usually do very well up there.

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:53 pm

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:10 pm

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:33 am

Just back from my upstate NY bow and small game trip. Lots of woodcock, but rabbits and grouse populations were fairly low for us. We flew grouse, but nobody got a good shot on one. I didn't get any shots at grouse myself, but went 3 for 3 on woodcock. The only bunny I saw ran right at a buddy who wasn't paying attention in that direction and down its hole, so no shots fired. Bucks were mainly on lockdown with early estrus does, so we only saw baldies each sit. That and rain and lots of it. Back in less than 3 weeks for rifle season.

Im going up to east side of Seneca Lake for rifle season. Ive got several friends that live around Burdett and Watkins Glen that have a lot of property.

Nice. We have a 185 acre farm on one side of route 16 in New Lisbon/Garrattsville and a new 112 acre farm with standing corn, a trout stream, several ponds, and wetlands across the road. We will have 8 guys up for rifle season and we usually do very well up there.

How is the grouse habitat fairing upstate? Is the state trying to encourage new growth forest where they can?

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 02, 2021 10:05 am

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:53 pm

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:10 pm

Im going up to east side of Seneca Lake for rifle season. Ive got several friends that live around Burdett and Watkins Glen that have a lot of property.

Nice. We have a 185 acre farm on one side of route 16 in New Lisbon/Garrattsville and a new 112 acre farm with standing corn, a trout stream, several ponds, and wetlands across the road. We will have 8 guys up for rifle season and we usually do very well up there.

How is the grouse habitat fairing upstate? Is the state trying to encourage new growth forest where they can?

We have good to excellent grouse habitat on the two farms. Not sure how engaged the state is when it comes to habitat enhancement as I haven't worked with them, at least yet. The best grouse hunting I ever had was surrounding our old deer camp in Potter County, PA. Lots of early successional forest habitat meant plenty of grouse and woodcock.

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 02, 2021 11:24 am

Razorbacker wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 02, 2021 10:05 am

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:53 pm

Nice. We have a 185 acre farm on one side of route 16 in New Lisbon/Garrattsville and a new 112 acre farm with standing corn, a trout stream, several ponds, and wetlands across the road. We will have 8 guys up for rifle season and we usually do very well up there.

How is the grouse habitat fairing upstate? Is the state trying to encourage new growth forest where they can?

We have good to excellent grouse habitat on the two farms. Not sure how engaged the state is when it comes to habitat enhancement as I haven't worked with them, at least yet. The best grouse hunting I ever had was surrounding our old deer camp in Potter County, PA. Lots of early successional forest habitat meant plenty of grouse and woodcock.

my son-law's grandfather is hopefully reacquiring several hundred acres that he used to own in the Webster's Crossing area... I am crossing my fingers!