Sea Duck Scramble

Family Photo- Who tooted in the duck blind?

It's the season, and Duckman's jolly...

Aside of the mayhem and fallout left after a crazy move and getting my lobster gear up, I've managed to transition into my other career as a teacher while also managing a few moments here and there to reassemble my duck hunting arsenal.

Here's a few quick things that I have done to get ready for this upcoming season.

19" Carry-Lite Eiders ready to be added to the spread

1) Reviewed my license, purchased a federal duck stamp, and located my boat registration.

2) Inventoried my ammunition and discovered that no hunting last January equals quite a few boxes left over along with that extra case I always order.

3) Pulled out hunting clothing and gear for never ending organization & packing

4) Brought out the Duckforce, installed boat blind, and intend to touch up with paint.

17" Carry-Lite repaint project

5) Contacted a local airport to procure the mighty non-ethanol fuel.  Should be grabbing that this weekend.  I hope everybody looks forward to the increased price of food this winter especially with the drought.  Just keep shoving corn into my gas so that it can wreck everything I own in my foggy moisture forming water separating climate.

6) Decoys, decoys, decoys.  I have brought out some of my new 19" Carry-Lite Eiders while acknowledging that my current set is in desperate need of repair.  25 GHG surf scoters will be seeing more action along with some repainted non-shot 17" eiders that survived last season.  For fun, I attempted to count the total number of decoys I might have but lost count and quit around 167.  Only God knows exactly how many decoys I have (locally or elsewhere).

7) Opening day is October 1, but I won't be venturing out until the weekend.  The annual Duckpower shoot in central Maine will not include me, but will be having plenty of participants.  I'm just simply opting to save my personal day for another day or activity.  But I'll be sea duck hunting 4 days in a one week spread that will also include an appearance from the South Georgia rattlesnake, Trey Luckie who seems to be getting more excited with each passing day.

It's coming and I'm almost ready.

Have a great weekend,



The Downeast Duck Hunter

National Celiac Awareness Day

We have a lot to smile about, even though it's been a hard year we've made some great strides...

Although this post isn't about any early season geese or the upcoming Maine junior duck hunting day, it's worth mentioning that my life certainly has been changed by the advent of Celiac disease and how I have opted to live a productive life without regret.

A little over a year ago, I discovered that an autoimmune disease had begun to win a long war against someone who didn't even know about celiac sprue and gluten intolerance.  All I knew is that I was deathly sick and as I told my doctor, "I can not will my illness away".

For those that don't know, Celiac disease is when the body reacts abnormally to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and possibly oats. When someone with Celiac disease eats foods containing gluten, that person's immune system causes an inflammatory response in the small intestine, which damages the tissues and results in impaired ability to absorb nutrients from foods.  Since the body's own immune system causes the damage, Celiac disease is classified as an autoimmune disorder.  In other words, my body can't filter gluten so my body reacts.

Fortunately, my now great friend John had an inside angle concerning my ailments (far too many to scare the average person) and immediately ordered blood work.  I then began the waiting game self-diagnosing myself via the internet as having oral cancer, lyme disease, and IBS all in one.  Honestly, I called my life insurance agent just to make sure things were in order.

Then John called me about this celiac panel he had ordered and sure enough, my white blood cells were immensely high (4 times the high average) and I would be referred to a specialist for an endoscopy.

From the specialist I learned that 1) he saw no reason for the procedure simply because my numbers said it all and 2) that my doctor would certainly be a future asset for we had the same disease (inside angle from above).  From there, my wife and I chose a complete gluten free diet for me while our family overall would be as gluten low as possible.

Without going into detail about the early struggles, endless research, cooking successes & failures, and a continual effort to educate those who exist in my life about my genetic autoimmune disease; my life is great with my blood work at a fine standing.  Every once in a while I get zapped and deal with some temporary side effects, but I have beaten a disease simply by eliminating gluten, a protein found in wheat and wheat products.  For that, I'm a lucky man and look forward to better days ahead.

As National Celiac Awareness Day arrives on Thursday, September 13th, 2012, I have to dedicate this blog to those who have been a part of my ongoing efforts to live with celiac disease.  Here we go:

My loving wife Allison- you have been the everything and anything throughout this process, I'm certainly happy that the world is catching up to your understanding and knowledge of this disease.

Doc JDK- I owe it to you bro, even though you've moved back home there's no question that you've got a friend in life with me.  In my eyes, God dropped you in our community for a lot of good reasons and even though you trounced me this week in fantasy football you'll always have a place to stay if you visit.  It's been a pleasure to coach your daughter and get to know your great family.

My mom- she's been gone for almost 14 months now, but her death to cancer was certainly connected to celiac disease.  Her struggle could have been prevented, but her fight saved my life.  Now I can watch out for my daughters who may or may not acquire this disease.

My close friends and family- you eat where I can and do your best to accommodate my needs in a variety of ways.  Over time I've been able to feel like a dude with Celiac Disease not the freak who can't eat wheat.

The companies that have tuned in- I have a crew and for every person like me there's millions of people who will dine with their Celiac friend.  After taking some leaps of faith and trying some restaurants, Bugaboo Creek, Texas Roadhouse, Finn's in Ellsworth, and Cracker Barrel have earned my trust.  There are so many brands now that list their items as GF now and companies such as Udi's and Glutino have made bread bearable again.  A special thank you goes out to Joseph James Brewing Company for giving me an awesome gluten free beer in a CAN!!! Click here

I look forward to the upcoming events that will fill this website such as duck & deer hunting, ice fishing, and all other comings & goings of life but I especially look forward to doing them in a far greater health.

Again, Thursday, September 13th is National Celiac Awareness Day.  Feel free to check out the website below for more information and don't hesitate to write me an email with questions or comments.

About Celiac Disease


Thanks and have a great day,

The Downeast Duck Hunter

Where has summer gone?

Sorry about falling of the face of the earth, but I haven't had internet for three weeks and I have accomplished no outdoor achievement whatsover.  Here's a quick update on what's up with the Duckman.

About a third of my traps are up and the majority are slated for return next week, I have fallen under one pound per trap average and at $1.70 a pound (up from $1.35 two weeks ago) I am not interested in racing against time, weather, and school at that price coupled with a diminishing catch.  I've had a good year in terms of volume, but monetarily I've certainly had a down year.

Moosabec Mayhem had the first annual fantasy football draft which includes two other fellow bloggers, Trey over at Brave Eagles Hunt with Antique Brownings and Kevin over at Ducks, Dogs, and Downriggers.  Along with us comes some of my very best friends:  Jab, Craig, Pistol, A.C., Purdy, JDK, and Mahoney.  This will certainly be worth a few posts during football season.

An ice fishing excursion was made official as Duckpower will return to Pleasant Lake in Island Falls, Maine during February vacation and hold over half the available cabins on the lake.  We will be staying at Birch Point Campground.

In less than two months, Trey Luckie will be venturing north from Georgia to participate in a three night, two day duck hunting trip that will include sea ducks and black ducks.  We planned this trip to accommodate both types and let's hope the weather will be decent.

And finally, it's been a long time and expensive venture but our family jumped across the road to the waterfront property into our finished home.  I can certainly suggest that my wife seems far more jovial than usual. 

Talk to you soon,

The Downeast Duck Hunter

Tunk Lake Salmon

 When Matty McDiesel launched me a text about fishing for lake trout and salmon at Tunk Lake last weekend, I felt compelled to attend for several reasons.  First being that we haven't done much together lately and secondly, I simply needed to do something different than catch a cheap lobster or move more things into the new house.  Opportunity was knocking and I felt good about our chances for a fish.


So off I went to paw through my moved fishing gear to find my trolling rods, tackle, downrigger, and anything else that would be necessary for our three hour tour.  We planned on meeting at 6 a.m. at the public landing.


You may only keep one salmon but all landlocked salmon between 16 and 20 inches must be released alive at once.  As for lake trout, one may keep six fish with a minimum length limit of 14 inches, only 1 can exceed 23 inches in length.

As always, Matt and I were both there a touch early.  Within minutes, the boat was launched and we we cautiously motored out of the rocky minefield out to the deeper part of the lake.  Our plans centered on circling the deep hole which drops to over 200 feet below the surface. 

Lead core and downriggers set, I nailed my first fish early.  A landlocked salmon just under 16 inches was landed using a white Mooselook with red dots dropped down to about 25 feet with the downrigger.  Shortly thereafter, Matty scored a small lake trout and lost a beauty before we succumbed to the heat.  When we started it was a pleasant 55 degrees and the sun within hours made it almost 85 degrees.  Nevertheless, a great morning with a great buddy.

A quick update, nothing more...

There is a purple ice fishing basket in Downeast Maine

The glut of the lobster season continues, first the lobstermen tie up to allow some lobsters to move and then many of the dealers can't move the large score of lobsters landed as a result of the extra long soak.  In a nutshell, I've caught a lot of lobsters and am currently selling them between $1.50 and $1.70 a pound plus the expected rebate (profit sharing) in December.  I'm busting my hump to pay off insurances, payments, and other things so that I can brace for the decreased revenues between my lobster fishing and my resignation from administrating an after school program.  Thank god I am 1) relatively debt free with my lobster boat paid for in 9 months and 2) almost have the house finished.  It will be interesting to see how our family fares on less income, but if there won't be any payments then I shouldn't have to come up with that money.  A lot of people are certainly feeling the pinch, including me but we are a gritty bunch Downeast and times will improve.

I hauled twice this week and may not be working again until Tuesday at a lower price, our cooperative is sitting on tens of thousands of pounds which may be moved Sunday.  Translation, things aren't moving and plenty more are just waiting in traps that are setting.  So what have I been doing?

We ordered a dumpster to gut two homes, installed final touches on the new house, and have been doing a variety of family things.  The most recent event was that I took my girls to get Lauren's new kayak and hit the camp at Indian Lake for some paddling, fishing, and swimming.  Here's some photos of the kayak and fishing.

So that's my world, busy but not on the ocean.  We'll see how things continue for the rest of the summer.  I'm supposed to be fishing landlocked salmon with Matt Diesel tomorrow, hopefully we'll nab a sunrise silver.

Do I smell a Trey Luckiesque project in the near future?