Ok, we call them marshes in Maine. However, they remind me of the Florida everglades. Mark Ward, is in the Northeast for the ORVIS Endorsed Guide 2004 Rendezvous. So, after attending the rendezvous on Cape Cod, we shot back up to Maine and decided to hit the marshlands for an evening of Striped Bass fishing. Unfortunately for Mark, the weather is unseasonably cold. It did not affect the fishing, we got into loads of fish. However, Mark could not acclimate himself to the 50 degree air temps and seemingly ice cold water. It is surely a different climatic environment than the blazing hot Flordia flats and everglades. So anyway, we showed up to the Marshes and hooked into a few small schoolies. I broke the ice with a small schoolie on a black clouser. Joe soon followed with a better sized schoolie on a brighter colored clouser. Mike, then suggested that we head to the flats. So, that’s what we did. Everybody was hooking up. It was so fun. The fly rods would litterally bend systematically down the shoreline as schools of striped bass passed by. Bruce has a fish, then mark, then Mike, then Erin, then Jeremy and then Joe. Mark was kind of surprised to see what Striped Bass fishing was all about. I did hear him keep mentioning how cold the water was, and I know what he must have been thinking. He was probably thinking, “What the heck am I doing fly fishing in this arctic water. Get me back to the heat that I know and love.” But we love it here and it was fun to show Mark what saltwater flyfishing in Maine is all about. We fish with 350 grain full sink wonderline and once Mark got acclimated to the heavy line he was into the fish. He had a few nice takes and finally got a fish to take his black clouser. Mark was amazed at the tide changes in Maine. It is amazing to witness the large tidal swings that affect the Maine shorelines. So, all in all, we had a great day. We met some great people at the ORVIS rendezvous, caught some fish in the marshes and caught some fish on the beach. Tomorrow we are taking Mark trout fishing. The kennebec will hopefully produce some nice trout fishing. So, we are really giving Mark the total and condensed Maine flyfishing experience. Stripers in the evening and trout in the morning.