I recently did a movie review for Carter Davidson, “East by North East“. While watching the 70-minute DVD, there are several breaks throughout the movie where Maine humorist, Joe Perham, is heard spinning a fishing yarn of some sort. He tells a fairly quick hitting one which is one of my favorites. It goes something like this.

A feller went bass fishing over on Moose Pond. He was having a good time – how good might be a bit subjective but he suddenly realizes he’s out of bait and isn’t sure what to do.

Looking around, he spots a snake not but a few paces from where he’s standing and observes a frog hanging partly out of the snakes mouth. Reacting quickly, perhaps in much the same way he would react toward anything, he reaches behind him and yanks out a flask of whiskey and abruptly pours a shot down the throat of the snake hoping it would give up the frog.

Sure enough! The snake relinquished the frog and slithered away. The old feller used the frog as bait and wouldn’t you know it, caught a 4 1/2 pound bass with it. But his frog was now gone.

Wondering, the feller looked back over his shoulder and somewhat to his surprise the snake was back. This time with two frogs in its mouth.

Tom Remington

Photo by Al Remington

Tom Remington

Do you need a license to fish this way? Does catch and release work better using this technique?

Tom Remington

As I was heading out the door late yesterday afternoon, my good friend Kevin from Congressman Don Young’s office sent me the below email. Congressman Young, from Alaska, is the ranking republican member of the House Committee on Natural Resources. I couldn’t help but have a laugh…….for more reasons than one.

Dear Colleague,

Is this Speaker Pelosi’s “commonsense plan” for reducing Americans’ energy costs?

NO! to ANWR’s 30 year, 1 million barrel per day supply of American oil

NO! to 2 Trillion Barrels of American oil shale

NO! to more clean burning natural gas

NO! to Clean Coal.

NO! to more energy exploration in the 85% of OCS off-limits to energy development

NO! to more energy exploration in the Intermountain West

NO! to more Nuclear Power

NO! to more Hydropower Energy

NO! to expediting alternative energy development

NO! to any form of energy that will provide meaningful relief from record high energy prices

NO! to 90% of the energy that fuels America’s economy

NO!! IS NOT AN ENERGY PLAN

Tom Remington

This is exclusive breaking news!!!

I just received word from Ron Fournier and Gary Inman, outdoor enthusiasts of questionable integrity, burdened with knowledge of the wilds and at times way too much time on their hands. It seems that in their search efforts to locate spring in Maine and bestow it on the rest of the residents of that fine state, they have yet to locate one solitary Mud Runt.

Mud Runts are as important to Maine life as Punxatawny Phil is to Pennsylvania and the rest of America to know when spring is coming. While Ron and Gary are Maine’s leading experts on Mud Runts (arguable), knowing perhaps the very few locations of Mud Runt habitat, it appears that the snow is so deep and hard that even the Mud Runt, with the “alligator-type” teeth, has yet to be able to gnaw its way through the ice and snow.

What this actually means for the residents of Maine is unclear. This is the first time in Ron and Gary’s life they have experienced this kind of natural phenomenon and they appear deeply concerned. There are unconfirmed rumors that back in 1906 the Mud Runts never appeared before July 1 and perhaps not coincidentally all male fishermen grew long beards overnight, had a strong craving for earthworms and couldn’t stop of nervous twitch closely mimicking a cast and retrieve motion.

Stay tuned for continuous updates and we will bring you news of the first sighting of the Albany Mud Runt. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy the rare photograph taken last spring. Ron reports that when this picture was taken, it was the absolute first time the Mud Runt came out of winter hiding.

Tom Remington

Tom Remington