Bridgton, ME

I was reading a recent dispatch from the local fisheries biologist about some of the Sebago Lake area fishing going on and was remided what a memory-making activity fishing can be.

Young children are so impressionable and giving them a good fishing experience can provide them with wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.

Take a minute to read this recent report and see if it doesn't make you want to go find a young person, dig up a bunch of worms, and go try your luck at a nearby lake or stream.

From the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, June 4, 2008:

Southwestern Maine - Local anglers have reported some great trout and salmon fishing in southern Maine over Memorial Day week, and the cool nights should continue that trend for the foreseeable future.

An angler from Raymond reported a fantastic trip on Sebago Lake, where two fishermen each caught and harvested their limit of six lake trout. Although their primary target was togue, they also caught and released several salmon with a total of 19 salmonids boated!

My dad went out on Sebago on Memorial Day with my brother-in-law, nephew, and my niece's boyfriend and they landed three salmon and a laker. My 11-year-old nephew, Casey Brown, caught a 16-inch landlocked salmon and a 24-inch lake trout. He released the salmon, but proudly harvested the trout. My sister stuffed the togue and baked it for dinner, and my nephew proclaimed, "I'm providing dinner for the family tonight!"

Stream fishing for trout also has been good. I ran into my neighbor's son while shopping at Cabela's and he reported catching some brookies and browns on the Little River in Gorham. He released the browns hoping they would grow up to the 24-incher he landed there a few years back, but decided to keep the "put-and-take" brookies that wouldn't fair too well once the river warms up later in the summer. I was planning to take my 4-year-old son, Hunter, bass fishing over the weekend, but our plans were foiled by the weather. Saturday rained and it was blowing a gale on Sunday afternoon. A four year old, high winds and a canoe are not a good combination. Hunter was disappointed, so I took him down to the Presumpscot River below the Mallison Dam. We saw several fly fishermen, and two of them landed trout during the short time we were there. Hunter managed to get in a half-dozen or more casts in with his Scooby-Doo fishing rod before deciding that throwing rocks into river was way more fun! He had a great time, and I realized that I was probably going to have to invest in a rod that casts more than 6-10 feet if I ever want him to catch a fish and stop throwing rocks!

Smallmouth bass are spawning and largemouths will soon follow. It's a great time to get out there and bass fish. Male smallmouths are extremely aggressive when guarding their nest, and it is not uncommon to catch the same fish multiple times in a day. However, spawning can be a difficult time on these fish and I wouldn't recommend over fishing a particular individual. Besides there may be a bigger bass behind the next boulder, although less aggressive, largemouths will also be easier to target during their spawning season. Not only is the action good, but you combine that with sight fishing and quality sized adults - it's hard to beat! In my opinion it can be one of the best fishing times of the year, and I'm a trout fisherman at heart.

Late spring bass fishing is also a great way to introduce kids to fishing, since the action and catching can be almost nonstop. Get outdoors and enjoy. It's one of the best seasons for both trout and bass! - James Pellerin, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist, Gray .

My thanks to the Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for this report. You can check out an abundance of fishing opportunities at their website. Just click on this link.

At the risk of beating the drum once too often, I was reading the local daily, the Portland Press Herald, and on their editorial page they were making note of the recent downward slide in home prices. They seem to see the same silver lining I do. While the lower prices may be a source of consternation for sellers, they are also a source of great opportunity for buyers.

Much is made, the editorial says, about buyers trying to time the market - waiting for the moment the bottom is reached and then jumping in with both feet. As I have opined in a previous post, the editorial says market timing is sheer folly. The editorial ends with these words of wisdom:

"This is likely a good time to buy a home, even if the market hasn't bottomed out. Sure, maybe in six months you might say you wished you held out a little longer. But then again, maybe not."

To read the whole editorial click here.

If you think now is the time to start looking for a great Maine lakefront property try our Lakefront Locator. Finding just the right Maine lakefront home has never been easier.

For folks not familiar with Maine, searching for lakefront property can be somewhat frustrating. After obtaining search results buyers have pondered "where the heck are these properties and what is their relative position to each other? "

Until now, displaying your search results using Lakefront Locator meant listing your results in a variety of ways. You can list results by price, high to low or low to high. You can list results from oldest listings to newest or newest to oldest. All good options, but still not totally satisfying.

Last fall, in response to our annual survey of suggested enhancements, we received a number of requests to plot, or map, search results so that one can see where each listing is in relation to each other.

Mr. Lakefront is proud to announce our new display option. All the list options remain as before, but we are releasing a Map It function. Let's say that the results of your search number 12 homes between $300k and $400k. If you choose to map your results, each listing will appear as a pin on a map. Clicking on a particular pin will give you basic info such as address, price and size. Also, lake info and position on the lake can be selected. For detailed listing info click listing details for additional information. Go to Lakefront Locator and give it a try!!

PLEASE NOTE: For the next few months it might be advisable to list your results prior to mapping them. Older listings in the MLS still have no street addresses assigned to them so they can't be mapped. As older listings fall from the MLS they will be replaced with new listings that have addresses that can be mapped. For example in the example above where 12 homes are found between $300k and $400k only 9 pins might appear on the map meaning that 3 older listings have no street address assigned to them.

p.s. I was recently asked by a competitor why the team at Mr Lakefront continues to strive to make it easier for lakefront buyers to find property on-line. "Aren't you guys working yourself out of a job?" he inquired. My answer is, "absolutely not."

Making it difficult for lakefront buyers to find property doesn't increase our value. We believe that buyers need to know what's out there in order to make an educated buying decision. Our value to the lakefront buyer goes far beyond simply finding possible properties that meet a client's criteria.

When it comes time to look at property we believe buyers will take advantage of our expertise and contact us. Our participation in the buying process, although very valuable indeed, actually costs the buyer nothing since commission dollars are paid by the seller.

Strange, but true!

This post contributed by Tom Ferent / Mr. Lakefront

A couple of weeks ago we announced several upgrades to the search capabilities found on our website. Today we bring another fantastic feature.

Starting today, when you do a search for properties on our website, www.mrlakefront.net, once you get the search results, you will see a button on each individual listing that says "Map It". What this will do is actually show you the location on the lake of the listing you're looking at on a Google map. How cool is that?!

If the specific address is not provided to us, the button will say "Lake Map" and show you a Google map of the lake that the listing is located on. Over time you will see more and more "Map It" buttons with the specific location of the property on the lake and fewer and fewer "Lake Map" buttons with the just the lake itself. We know for many of you this has been a feature you have been waiting for and will love to use over and over.

So many times when we get inquiries about a lakefront property one of the first questions we get is, "Where is this on the lake?" and "Which way is the property facing?", or "Does this property get sunsets?" Well, while we're still happy to answer those questions, now you will be able to see for yourself.

To try this out, go to our Lakefront Locator, pick a property type and region, select a lake size, lake name, and/or town and price range, then, when you get your results, click on the "Map It" button and see where the property is located on the lake. It's that simple.

We still have more in store to help you find just the right property. Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted as developments occur.

The Maine winter has certainly been a long, snowy one. I'm wondering if you will still recognize this photo. It's a picture of the Shawnee Peak ski area on Pleasant Mountain in Bridgton with beautiful Moose Pond in the foreground.

Many of you who come to this area know this view well if you drive west along Rte. 302 from Bridgton to Fryeburg. I'm running this photo to remind us all that the predominant colors in this area will soon be green and blue - not white!

I'm also running it because I've found out that Shawnee Peak has received nearly 200 inches of snow this season - so much, in fact, that they are extending their season through this weekend. Wow, April skiing in Bridgton. Congrats to all you skiers out there!

For waterfront real estate buyers, however, these can be trying times - but I guarantee you things will look a whole lot different in a very few weeks. If you're skiing this weekend, put your eyes to good use as you take that chair lift up, then ski down Shawnee Peak. Look out at that gorgeous expanse of Moose Pond, stretching its full nine miles in length from north to south. Imagine owning a home down there somewhere. Imagine snow skiing in winter and water skiing in summer.

Now you're getting the idea.

How about getting a little more specific. How about imagining a recently renovated and updated, four season camp, with 110 feet of frontage on Moose Pond? Click that hotlink and see what I'm talking about. It's ready to show.

The operative words for this weekend are "Come Ski - then See!"