Ice-Smelt- Fishing on Narraguagus River at Cotton's Shore Cherryfield, Me. Late Jan. 2013

It is high tide on the Narraguagus River January 26, 2013. To ice fish the river one had to be on the ice bank of the river at least and hour before high tide. I was too late to leave "Cotton's Shore" for the ice huts. I took some photographs and would return hours later when the tide began to ebb. Returning,I parked my car again on the icy shoulder of route 1. It was really cold walking to the parking area near the marsh's edge. I could see that the ice between me and the huts was breaking up. I  was intimidated  about walking out to the huts. 

I was drawn to this ole Chevy truck. Parked next to it was Larry Martin's red pick up. I love old trucks and this one seemed to be in good condition. I wondered who owned it. Time would tell. Walking around to keep warmer, I took additional pictures of the marsh area. Here are a couple of them.

To me the marsh and river have a "wild" quality . I was attracted to this particular scene because of the way "nature" had carved -forged-the ice into something beautiful. The temperature was near zero and there was a light breeze. I had to keep moving to keep warm.

A stream feeds this marsh. It flows under route 1 in Cherryfield and drains Cotton's land to the North. In this view you see the stream flowing toward the river.

By now I'm getting pretty cold so I hiked back again to my car parked on the shoulder of Route 1.One of my favorite places to shop and get warm is Bayside Market in Milbridge not more than 3 or 4 miles west of Cotton's Shore. I stayed at the grocery about two hours or so  then headed back to the river again.

Later when I returned from Bay Side Market, and in the distance walking away from the huts on the river I could see some one who waved to me. He walked up to his truck, the old 1948 Chevy. After a short mutual introduction, he volunteered to walk me out to the huts because he knew I was intimidated by the ice breaking up between us and the huts. Out on the river his hut looked like a dome space ship to me. You remember me about four years ago I took a picture of you ice fishing space ship? .He remembered. Thus I met Rick Santerre from Cherryfield for the first time. 

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There was activity going on on the river. West (not shown in this scene) had just cut ice blocks from the river with his chain saw the blocks would be used to help hold down the huts from movement and seal out the flow of cold winds. Pretty neat idea in my way of thinking. Right to left Larry Martin, Rico Fickett, and John Bull.

Here is a view of three smelt fishing huts.

Unknown to me as I changed cameras, the smelters were preparing to leave the river. The batteries died from the cold in my Nikon. Now it was my galaxy S3 turn to be exposed to the cold temps. It was hurry up to do any more picture taking.
Rico Fickett posed for this shot. He is from Cherryfiled.

Larry Martin stands next to his fishing hut. Thanks to Larry who helped me arrive on the river .There is one more photo to add. I want to thank you for looking and listening to my stories.

We walked back to his truck. "Can I bum a ride back to the main road Larry", I asked. I got into his truck and was able to click this up close picture of him driving over the marsh with my galaxy S3. Just one more thing. Larry has been fishing the river since he was a kid. And before he let me out at route 1, he said he was going to  give some of his smelt ketch to the men who helped him learn the skill of smelt fishing on the Narraguagus River.  I had a good day of adventure and fun on the Narraguagus River.