Up North Fishing Report 7/13/09
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July 13
Right now weather and water conditions are having quite an effect on both salt and freshwater fishing. Inland rivers are still quite high but because of the cool and wet spring, brooks that are dropping back to normal levels are producing some very good trout fishing. Stripers are still holding in the below head-of-tide dams which is very unusual for this time of year and there’s some big ones. And when the weather conditions allow, the groundfish and offshore tuna fishing has been incredible.
“Drift jigging with a lead-head bucktail jig or trolling the tide rips and ledges with that same weapon is a fun way to go,” according to Seth Legere at Kittery Trading Post’s Fishing Department.
“You’d never catch an old timer with a bucktail jig without a strip of white pork rind trailing from the hook, nor will you ever catch us without either pork rind or some kind of plastic soft bait hooked onto our jig. The curly tail, Sluggos or shad types of plastic baits also work well on bucktails but for tradition’s sake you may want to start with the pork rind.”
“Here’s how to do your drift jigging: Locate a ledge where the tide will sweep bait up and the stripers are apt to be waiting-in-hiding around the underwater structure. Usually there’s a flat of gravel or sand in front of those kinds of ledges so start your drift well down-tide of the ledge on the flats. Often, stripers will also lie along this kind of bottom and it’s not unusual to get hits right off the bat as you start your drift and before your boat reaches the ledges.”
“You don’t have to jig your lures violently. Actually, best jigging motion is more dropping our jig down to find bottom and then smoothly lifting it up and then repeating that motion. You’ve got to mend and tend your line to keep your jig as close to bottom as possible. When your boat approaches the shallower waters of the ledge, you need to wind in some line. It’s important to keep your jig as close to vertical under the boat as too much line-sweep with the tide will keep the jig too high off bottom.”
“The weight of the jig is probably more important than the color. Jigs should run from one ounce to six ounces, depending on the depth and the strength of the currents. White is a favorite color but there are days when yellow or chartreuse work well and a bit of red bucktail mixed in is usually good.”
“Don’t worry about hook setting! When a striper takes a swipe at your jig, it won’t be a subtle nibble. They will always hook themselves. Best rods to use are a bit stiff so that it will telegraph the feeling of bottom best and won’t bend too much when you are jigging. We like to use super-braided lines as their thinness helps us to use lighter jigs and also the no-stretch quality telegraphs the sensations much more distinctly.”
“Trolling bucktail jigs is work! You keep your boat into the current and work your jig constantly with a sweeping motion. Because of all the debris floating around in the Piscataqua and the Great Bay area and a lot of places that hide stripers, you can’t make a long trolling run as you’re going to pick up weed on the jig. You usually need to use a heavier jig when trolling but the same colors apply.”
“Casting bucktail jigs to feeding fish is too much fun! This is best done with spinning reel and rod and lighter jigs. If with heavier jigs, a conventional set-up works best. If you spot fish feeding, don’t run right up to the fish as your apt to spook them. Set up a drift that will take you within casting distance of the fish and make your casts towards the outside of the feeding school. Don’t let the jig drop too far. In fact, start to jig and retrieve immediately when the jig hits the water. If that doesn’t produce, try letting your jig drop a few feet. Use the countdown method to find just how many seconds you need to wait before retrieving and jigging.”
“Nowadays, with the huge amount of smallish stripers mixed in with the larger, keeper sized fish, it’s not a bad idea to remove the barb from the jig hook or simply just bend it flat with a pair of pliers. This has a couple of advantages. It sure makes it easy to release a fish with the least amount of harm. You don’t even have to bring it into the boat. The other advantage is that if during a striper blitz you or your fishing partner get too excited and happen to drive one of those dangerous jig hooks into your own flesh, that removal also is done a lot painlessly!”
Try some jig fishing. It saves time from having to gather live bait or the expense of purchasing any bait. And it also is a great way to learn the bottom of the different striper areas and this knowledge is primary to success with all the other striper fishing methods. Bucktail jigs are not just for schoolies! We’ve caught and seen fish caught that will run well over forty pounds (no, not inches!) on jigs,” Seth revealed.
MAINE:
Master Maine Guide Stu Bristol emailed us this report: “The Saco River is still way too high to fish and should be a wipeout all this week despite the good weather forecast. Was in the Bridgeton, Maine area for the past four days. Moose Pond anglers were catching some really nice largemouths in anticipation of last Sunday's Bass tournament. Didn't hear how the bass guys did at the end of the day but the weather was great for the tourney.”
“I ran into an old friend, Joe Goldstein of Lynn, Massachusetts on Long Lake (Naples). He had some really nice salmon and brown trout. Joe noted the fishing has been really good. He has a seasonal camper on the lake and said that his spring fishing has been better than usual despite the wet weather.” (Record rainfall in June)
“Back home in southern Maine, the brook fishing has been really great despite the rain. Most of the runoff swept through quickly and the brooks are not high and fast the way the larger rivers are. Brown trout fishing is picking up in the smaller rivers such as the upper reaches of the Mousam in Kennebunk and the Stevens River in Wells/Ogunquit.”
“Bass fishing charters have been primarily very early morning until mid-morning due to the rise in water temperatures. Senkos in dark green and once the sun gets high, bright chartreuse fished without weight either hooked at the end or in the middle, wacky style.”
“I've found that most of the worms break in the middle, so I fashioned a wacky-band-tool out of a large plastic knitting needle (about 3/4 inch diameter). I cut surgical tubing in half-inch pieces and roll them onto the tool, insert the worm and roll the tube off to the middle of the worm. Insert the hook under the tube and the worm can be used for several fish without breaking.”
“Crappie angling has been unusually good in the smaller ponds. Wadleigh Pond in Lyman is by far the best, followed by Shaker Pond in Alfred. Again, early morning is prime although the fish will hold on underwater trees if there is surface cover such as lilies,” Stu ended.
Here’s Craig Bergeron’s report from Saco Bay Bait and tackle: “The sun is shining and it looks like the ten day forecast is promising. We had record rains the past couple of weeks but the rivers are pretty much back to their normal flow. Shore anglers fishing the saltwater Saco River reported slot-sized fish along the Camp Ellis jetty and also at Sandy Bottom off the Ferry Road.”
“Reel-repair expert Ashley Dame and crew got skunked a couple nights ago fishing the jetty. They fished with bloodworms, clams and mackerel with not a single nibble. One of our customers caught a beauty (striper) below the dam using a live eel. The fish was 43 inches and weighed over 30 pounds.”
“We usually don't see fish of that caliber this late in the season in the river, but the cool temps and rain have kept the water temps below normal. The big bass will hang around until the water warms a few more degree's and the river herring head out to sea.”
“The bluefish have been feeding at the mouth of the Saco and Scarborough River. These are feisty fish six to 10 pounds. Make sure you have some surface plugs and poppers rigged on steel leaders or heavy fluro to take advantage of these great fighters.”
“If you’re in search of mackerel I don't have any encouraging news; with the blues at our backdoor they are scattered and tough to find. Capt. Vince Minnutti of Big Fisherman Charters was able to catch a few using some chum and Sabiki rigs.
“The ground fishing has been excellent this past week on both Jeffrey's and Tantas Ledges. Pete and Pete aboard the Megamalmax loaded up on cod fishing Tantas last Saturday. Capt. Keith Hall and Jean Beleau aboard Primate cleaned house on Jeffrey's last Tuesday, catching plenty of cod and haddock with some large pollock and one wolfish. Poor Keith filleted fish for hours back at the dock in the pouring rain.”
“The offshore report looks good with many tuna being harpooned by commercial boats. The rod and reel fisherman are also catching a few trolled-fish using squid rigs (black with triple glow stinger or rainbow with black stinger) are the hot colors. The Sluggo trolling rig is also very popular. Pink and pearl is what's working. Troll them 4 to 7 knots, 30 to 100 yards behind the boat.”
“Steve Hansen tried tuna fishing on anchor Friday but the dogfish drove him crazy. Seawench fished beside him and said they had marked a few fish on the sounder. It's still early and many fish are still south of us. I talked with John Carlson (Carlson Offshore Tackle) in Massachusetts last week and he said there was fish everywhere. Many anglers were catching them on squid rigs and also drifting live menhaden. Stay tuned, the weather forecast looks good and I should have some promising info in next week’s report. Tight Lines, Craig.”
Captain Barry Gibson, former Editor of Saltwater Fisherman Magazine now puts his knowledge to work chartering for stripers and bluefish. Here’s this week’s report: “Fishing improved in the Boothbay area this past week, and charter boats and guides are finding legal-size ‘slot’ fish in the mouth of the Kennebec River, where schools of kayaks (blueback herring) provide abundant forage, especially on the falling tide.”
“Anglers are jigging up kayaks on Sabiki rigs and then free-lining them for bass. Much of the upper Kennebec has been quiet, but a few slot fish are being taken here and there. Mackerel of all sizes are virtually everywhere along the shoreline and in the bays.”
“There are plenty of reports of tuna offshore on The Kettle and Sagadahoc Ledges, and local harpooner Brad Simmons got three nice ones early in the week. Bait fishermen have been frustrated by the dogfish, so many have turned to trolling squid bars and Sluggos. The ocean water is still off-color in most area due all the rain, but water temps are creeping upwards and anglers are optimistic.” Capt. Barry Gibson, Shark Six Charters, Boothbay Harbor; www.saltwatermaine.com
At Naples Bait on Long Lake in the Sebago Region, Dave Garcia reported that the brooks are dropping a lot faster than the rivers and are providing some very good brook trout fishing. “A father with two young sons fought off the mosquitoes and black flies but came in here with nine real quality brookies from nine to twelve inches.”
“Out on the lakes we’re finding that the bass, both large and smallmouths, are moving out on the humps. Carolina rigs with either lizards or tube baits are working well.”
“The salmon and brown trout are still hitting pretty well here on Long Lake and there’s still a pretty good flow of water under the bridge that is attracting fish. But over at Sebago the salmon seemed to have slowed-down but the togue (lake trout) are still world-class!”
“Ty (Dave’s son) and I will be pre-fishing a bass tourney this week on Wednesday. It’s being held on Little Sebago Lake on Sunday. Ty and I have taken first place in the first two events (USA Bass) this season and are trying to go three for three,” he laughed.
At Jordan’s Store in East Sebago, the “Sebago Sage”, Carroll Cutting reported that the lake trout fishing right now at Sebago Lake has been incredible.
“One of our most steady fishermen, Roger Bacon is out on the lake almost every day before sunrise and back in here around nine o’clock. This morning he caught ten lake trout and one small salmon. That’s typical of a Roger Bacon morning,” Cutting said.
“Yesterday my son Tom took his son Aston out on the lake for Aston’s first try at fishing there. In just about a half-hour Aston had reeled-in two lakers, one about four pounds and the other around two pounds. Tommy had let out eleven colors of leadcore line so it was quite a chore for Aston to bring those fish in! Tom didn’t keep him out on the lake much longer as Aston’s enthusiasm had started to wane a bit.”
Carroll said that he believes that although Moosehead Lake might have more togue (lake trout) than Sebago, they can’t compete with the Sebago Lake fish’s size, which averages much larger that those at Moosehead. But once in a while a huge togue is caught at Moosehead. Sewed-on bait, Flatfish, or Quickfish lures seem to be working best at Sebago.
At River’s Edge Sports at Oquossoc in the Rangeley Lakes Region, Ken had just got back from an early morning fishing trip out on Rangeley Lake. “We picked up four fish this morning in a couple of hours, one salmon and three trout. Not huge but nice fish. One hit a Gulp Minnow while the others liked DB Smelt in the pink pearl and orange with black zigzag color. Today the fish were down 35 feet but yesterday we caught two right on top.”
“Mooselookmeguntic Lake has been quite slow for the last ten days or more but Big Dodge Pond has been producing some great fishing. In three hours one group caught eleven brook trout between 12 and 19 inches, all on two-inch size red and white Daredevil spoons. Over at Quimby Pond there’s been sporadic hatches, especially when the sun comes out providing for some good fly fishing,” Ken ended.
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Captain Jamie Savage at Dover Marine’s Sport Shop sends this report: “Some bigger stripers are holding in the main channel of the Piscataqua. Reports of fish in the low forties (inches) taken on live pollock came in over the weekend. The mackerel schools are still hanging in up here but have become scarce further south since the water warmed up to mid-sixties last week, bringing the bluefish back inshore. Schoolie bass seem to be everywhere and still willing to smack Sluggos and swim-baits all day.”
“Groundfishing has been good since the weather cleared and we saw 15 to 25 pound pollock show with the warm water. 260-feet was the depth for big haddock (26”-32”) biting blue or white butterfly jigs. Just watch out for the clouds of spawning redfish. Once we start hitting reds we just move to the next waypoint,” Jamie advised.
At Suds-n-Soda Sports, Miles says that their All Summer Long Striper Tourney is starting to produce some big fish. “Right now we have striper legend John Twitchell leading with a fish of 50 inches that weighed 43.5 pounds. In second place is Mississippi angler Carl Geraci, who comes north each year to participate in the striper fishing here. His 30 pounder measured 45 inches. Rye’s Richie White is holding third place with a striper of 27.5 pounds that was 45.75 inches long.”
“We haven’t had much talk about bluefish but occasionally one is caught or lines are cut off by the blues and that has happened mostly around the mouth of the river. Flounder reports from Rye and Hampton area seem to be the most frequent.”
George Taylor at Taylor’s Trading Post in Madbury reports that even with the pond being a bit over its banks, a group of nearby campers has been taking daily limits of trout from nearby Barbados Pond. “It’s incredible for this time of year. All of the family members have had limits. And there are some real quality fish, mostly rainbows being caught.”
“Our bass fishing has slowed down a lot here on the Bellamy Reservoir as has the bass fishing in some of our other local ponds but the crappie fishing has really taken off with some plate-sized fish in the mix,” he ended.
Alan Nute at AJ’s Bait and Tackle in Meredith in the Lakes Region was not in today but from our previous conversations he said that the salmon fishing was really starting to get good as the top layer of water had warmed enough to put the fish down and the thermocline was setting up around 28 feet down.
“This concentrates the salmon and trout and makes is much easier to target them. We’ve had very good luck using both horizontal and/or vertical attractors on our downrigging cables. These are sets of spoons that are hooked directly to the downrigger ball. The vertical ones are strung from the ball up to the wire, while the horizontal ones are strung off the back of the ball. Using a line release close in to the attractors works well. The fish are drawn in close by the flash and action of the attractors and will take a fly, lure or sewed-on bait that is streaming behind and often a bit above the attractors.”
“Unlike a set of spoons such as Dave Davis spinners, you and the fish are not hindered by dragging around the heavy rig. When a fish hits the fly or lure the line release works and lets the fish take the line with no other weight attached – just you, the line and the fish to fight. These rigs have made controlled depth fishing much more productive when the fish are concentrated in the thermocline area.”
MASSACHUSETTS:
Well-known outdoor writer David Sartwell from the Salem area sent us this up to the minute report: “The cod and haddock fishing has been spectacular out deep. When we go out beyond 70 degrees 15 minutes and find the humps, we are getting 30-inch cod and 24-inch haddock in 216-300 feet of water.”
“There are some big tuna being taken off New Scantum and in the Cove and other spots. The Stellwagon fishermen are doing well with the football-sized tuna as well. We are also taking some big stripers as well, especially on eels at night. It is the best all-round fishing on Cape Ann in the thirty years I have lived here.”
At Surfland on Plum Island, both Kay and Martha had some great words about the striper fishing there. “We’ve had some different stuff going on. Right now there are thousands and thousands of small herring, two-and-a-half to three inches long that are right up on the beach with the stripers blasting them. It’s not a fish (striper) each cast but it has been pretty fast fishing. The people are either picking the bait up when washed ashore of snagging them and then casting them back out where the stripers are attacking the baitfish. Casting Sluggos, Hopkins jigs or topwater plugs are also getting strikes. And this is happening in more than one place along the beach. Most of the stripers are in the 24- to 28-inch range.”
“Early today we had a 23-pound striper brought in that took a big Mombo Minnow (5.5 inch) up on the flats at 4am”
“Flounder are being caught right off the beach as well as on some party boats that have been fishing not far off the beach. Bluefish are scarce-in one day and gone the next. And mackerel are also scarce.”
When we contacted Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett, we were told to try his cell phone. And sure enough, Pete answered while fishing for stripers with plenty of excitement going on. “We’ve got ‘em all over the place! Fish to 44 pounds. Right now we’re fishing Hull Gut with live and chunk pogies but earlier we were taking fish to 35 pounds on our honey mustard color Santini Tube-n-Worm Rigs.”
“The hot flounder spot right now is off the number eight can at Faun Bar. The bluefins, not really big ones but in the 70-pound range, are hitting like crazy out on Stellwagon. These fish are just too big to try to land with spinning gear. I had one on while using a 50 class conventional rig and he just killed me! One guy with us had nine hook-ups! Drifting live pogies, casting to feeding fish or trolling floating squid rigs and Sluggos – it’s all working on those tuna!”
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July 13
Right now weather and water conditions are having quite an effect on both salt and freshwater fishing. Inland rivers are still quite high but because of the cool and wet spring, brooks that are dropping back to normal levels are producing some very good trout fishing. Stripers are still holding in the below head-of-tide dams which is very unusual for this time of year and there’s some big ones. And when the weather conditions allow, the groundfish and offshore tuna fishing has been incredible.
“Drift jigging with a lead-head bucktail jig or trolling the tide rips and ledges with that same weapon is a fun way to go,” according to Seth Legere at Kittery Trading Post’s Fishing Department.
“You’d never catch an old timer with a bucktail jig without a strip of white pork rind trailing from the hook, nor will you ever catch us without either pork rind or some kind of plastic soft bait hooked onto our jig. The curly tail, Sluggos or shad types of plastic baits also work well on bucktails but for tradition’s sake you may want to start with the pork rind.”
“Here’s how to do your drift jigging: Locate a ledge where the tide will sweep bait up and the stripers are apt to be waiting-in-hiding around the underwater structure. Usually there’s a flat of gravel or sand in front of those kinds of ledges so start your drift well down-tide of the ledge on the flats. Often, stripers will also lie along this kind of bottom and it’s not unusual to get hits right off the bat as you start your drift and before your boat reaches the ledges.”
“You don’t have to jig your lures violently. Actually, best jigging motion is more dropping our jig down to find bottom and then smoothly lifting it up and then repeating that motion. You’ve got to mend and tend your line to keep your jig as close to bottom as possible. When your boat approaches the shallower waters of the ledge, you need to wind in some line. It’s important to keep your jig as close to vertical under the boat as too much line-sweep with the tide will keep the jig too high off bottom.”
“The weight of the jig is probably more important than the color. Jigs should run from one ounce to six ounces, depending on the depth and the strength of the currents. White is a favorite color but there are days when yellow or chartreuse work well and a bit of red bucktail mixed in is usually good.”
“Don’t worry about hook setting! When a striper takes a swipe at your jig, it won’t be a subtle nibble. They will always hook themselves. Best rods to use are a bit stiff so that it will telegraph the feeling of bottom best and won’t bend too much when you are jigging. We like to use super-braided lines as their thinness helps us to use lighter jigs and also the no-stretch quality telegraphs the sensations much more distinctly.”
“Trolling bucktail jigs is work! You keep your boat into the current and work your jig constantly with a sweeping motion. Because of all the debris floating around in the Piscataqua and the Great Bay area and a lot of places that hide stripers, you can’t make a long trolling run as you’re going to pick up weed on the jig. You usually need to use a heavier jig when trolling but the same colors apply.”
“Casting bucktail jigs to feeding fish is too much fun! This is best done with spinning reel and rod and lighter jigs. If with heavier jigs, a conventional set-up works best. If you spot fish feeding, don’t run right up to the fish as your apt to spook them. Set up a drift that will take you within casting distance of the fish and make your casts towards the outside of the feeding school. Don’t let the jig drop too far. In fact, start to jig and retrieve immediately when the jig hits the water. If that doesn’t produce, try letting your jig drop a few feet. Use the countdown method to find just how many seconds you need to wait before retrieving and jigging.”
“Nowadays, with the huge amount of smallish stripers mixed in with the larger, keeper sized fish, it’s not a bad idea to remove the barb from the jig hook or simply just bend it flat with a pair of pliers. This has a couple of advantages. It sure makes it easy to release a fish with the least amount of harm. You don’t even have to bring it into the boat. The other advantage is that if during a striper blitz you or your fishing partner get too excited and happen to drive one of those dangerous jig hooks into your own flesh, that removal also is done a lot painlessly!”
Try some jig fishing. It saves time from having to gather live bait or the expense of purchasing any bait. And it also is a great way to learn the bottom of the different striper areas and this knowledge is primary to success with all the other striper fishing methods. Bucktail jigs are not just for schoolies! We’ve caught and seen fish caught that will run well over forty pounds (no, not inches!) on jigs,” Seth revealed.
MAINE:
Master Maine Guide Stu Bristol emailed us this report: “The Saco River is still way too high to fish and should be a wipeout all this week despite the good weather forecast. Was in the Bridgeton, Maine area for the past four days. Moose Pond anglers were catching some really nice largemouths in anticipation of last Sunday's Bass tournament. Didn't hear how the bass guys did at the end of the day but the weather was great for the tourney.”
“I ran into an old friend, Joe Goldstein of Lynn, Massachusetts on Long Lake (Naples). He had some really nice salmon and brown trout. Joe noted the fishing has been really good. He has a seasonal camper on the lake and said that his spring fishing has been better than usual despite the wet weather.” (Record rainfall in June)
“Back home in southern Maine, the brook fishing has been really great despite the rain. Most of the runoff swept through quickly and the brooks are not high and fast the way the larger rivers are. Brown trout fishing is picking up in the smaller rivers such as the upper reaches of the Mousam in Kennebunk and the Stevens River in Wells/Ogunquit.”
“Bass fishing charters have been primarily very early morning until mid-morning due to the rise in water temperatures. Senkos in dark green and once the sun gets high, bright chartreuse fished without weight either hooked at the end or in the middle, wacky style.”
“I've found that most of the worms break in the middle, so I fashioned a wacky-band-tool out of a large plastic knitting needle (about 3/4 inch diameter). I cut surgical tubing in half-inch pieces and roll them onto the tool, insert the worm and roll the tube off to the middle of the worm. Insert the hook under the tube and the worm can be used for several fish without breaking.”
“Crappie angling has been unusually good in the smaller ponds. Wadleigh Pond in Lyman is by far the best, followed by Shaker Pond in Alfred. Again, early morning is prime although the fish will hold on underwater trees if there is surface cover such as lilies,” Stu ended.
Here’s Craig Bergeron’s report from Saco Bay Bait and tackle: “The sun is shining and it looks like the ten day forecast is promising. We had record rains the past couple of weeks but the rivers are pretty much back to their normal flow. Shore anglers fishing the saltwater Saco River reported slot-sized fish along the Camp Ellis jetty and also at Sandy Bottom off the Ferry Road.”
“Reel-repair expert Ashley Dame and crew got skunked a couple nights ago fishing the jetty. They fished with bloodworms, clams and mackerel with not a single nibble. One of our customers caught a beauty (striper) below the dam using a live eel. The fish was 43 inches and weighed over 30 pounds.”
“We usually don't see fish of that caliber this late in the season in the river, but the cool temps and rain have kept the water temps below normal. The big bass will hang around until the water warms a few more degree's and the river herring head out to sea.”
“The bluefish have been feeding at the mouth of the Saco and Scarborough River. These are feisty fish six to 10 pounds. Make sure you have some surface plugs and poppers rigged on steel leaders or heavy fluro to take advantage of these great fighters.”
“If you’re in search of mackerel I don't have any encouraging news; with the blues at our backdoor they are scattered and tough to find. Capt. Vince Minnutti of Big Fisherman Charters was able to catch a few using some chum and Sabiki rigs.
“The ground fishing has been excellent this past week on both Jeffrey's and Tantas Ledges. Pete and Pete aboard the Megamalmax loaded up on cod fishing Tantas last Saturday. Capt. Keith Hall and Jean Beleau aboard Primate cleaned house on Jeffrey's last Tuesday, catching plenty of cod and haddock with some large pollock and one wolfish. Poor Keith filleted fish for hours back at the dock in the pouring rain.”
“The offshore report looks good with many tuna being harpooned by commercial boats. The rod and reel fisherman are also catching a few trolled-fish using squid rigs (black with triple glow stinger or rainbow with black stinger) are the hot colors. The Sluggo trolling rig is also very popular. Pink and pearl is what's working. Troll them 4 to 7 knots, 30 to 100 yards behind the boat.”
“Steve Hansen tried tuna fishing on anchor Friday but the dogfish drove him crazy. Seawench fished beside him and said they had marked a few fish on the sounder. It's still early and many fish are still south of us. I talked with John Carlson (Carlson Offshore Tackle) in Massachusetts last week and he said there was fish everywhere. Many anglers were catching them on squid rigs and also drifting live menhaden. Stay tuned, the weather forecast looks good and I should have some promising info in next week’s report. Tight Lines, Craig.”
Captain Barry Gibson, former Editor of Saltwater Fisherman Magazine now puts his knowledge to work chartering for stripers and bluefish. Here’s this week’s report: “Fishing improved in the Boothbay area this past week, and charter boats and guides are finding legal-size ‘slot’ fish in the mouth of the Kennebec River, where schools of kayaks (blueback herring) provide abundant forage, especially on the falling tide.”
“Anglers are jigging up kayaks on Sabiki rigs and then free-lining them for bass. Much of the upper Kennebec has been quiet, but a few slot fish are being taken here and there. Mackerel of all sizes are virtually everywhere along the shoreline and in the bays.”
“There are plenty of reports of tuna offshore on The Kettle and Sagadahoc Ledges, and local harpooner Brad Simmons got three nice ones early in the week. Bait fishermen have been frustrated by the dogfish, so many have turned to trolling squid bars and Sluggos. The ocean water is still off-color in most area due all the rain, but water temps are creeping upwards and anglers are optimistic.” Capt. Barry Gibson, Shark Six Charters, Boothbay Harbor; www.saltwatermaine.com
At Naples Bait on Long Lake in the Sebago Region, Dave Garcia reported that the brooks are dropping a lot faster than the rivers and are providing some very good brook trout fishing. “A father with two young sons fought off the mosquitoes and black flies but came in here with nine real quality brookies from nine to twelve inches.”
“Out on the lakes we’re finding that the bass, both large and smallmouths, are moving out on the humps. Carolina rigs with either lizards or tube baits are working well.”
“The salmon and brown trout are still hitting pretty well here on Long Lake and there’s still a pretty good flow of water under the bridge that is attracting fish. But over at Sebago the salmon seemed to have slowed-down but the togue (lake trout) are still world-class!”
“Ty (Dave’s son) and I will be pre-fishing a bass tourney this week on Wednesday. It’s being held on Little Sebago Lake on Sunday. Ty and I have taken first place in the first two events (USA Bass) this season and are trying to go three for three,” he laughed.
At Jordan’s Store in East Sebago, the “Sebago Sage”, Carroll Cutting reported that the lake trout fishing right now at Sebago Lake has been incredible.
“One of our most steady fishermen, Roger Bacon is out on the lake almost every day before sunrise and back in here around nine o’clock. This morning he caught ten lake trout and one small salmon. That’s typical of a Roger Bacon morning,” Cutting said.
“Yesterday my son Tom took his son Aston out on the lake for Aston’s first try at fishing there. In just about a half-hour Aston had reeled-in two lakers, one about four pounds and the other around two pounds. Tommy had let out eleven colors of leadcore line so it was quite a chore for Aston to bring those fish in! Tom didn’t keep him out on the lake much longer as Aston’s enthusiasm had started to wane a bit.”
Carroll said that he believes that although Moosehead Lake might have more togue (lake trout) than Sebago, they can’t compete with the Sebago Lake fish’s size, which averages much larger that those at Moosehead. But once in a while a huge togue is caught at Moosehead. Sewed-on bait, Flatfish, or Quickfish lures seem to be working best at Sebago.
At River’s Edge Sports at Oquossoc in the Rangeley Lakes Region, Ken had just got back from an early morning fishing trip out on Rangeley Lake. “We picked up four fish this morning in a couple of hours, one salmon and three trout. Not huge but nice fish. One hit a Gulp Minnow while the others liked DB Smelt in the pink pearl and orange with black zigzag color. Today the fish were down 35 feet but yesterday we caught two right on top.”
“Mooselookmeguntic Lake has been quite slow for the last ten days or more but Big Dodge Pond has been producing some great fishing. In three hours one group caught eleven brook trout between 12 and 19 inches, all on two-inch size red and white Daredevil spoons. Over at Quimby Pond there’s been sporadic hatches, especially when the sun comes out providing for some good fly fishing,” Ken ended.
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Captain Jamie Savage at Dover Marine’s Sport Shop sends this report: “Some bigger stripers are holding in the main channel of the Piscataqua. Reports of fish in the low forties (inches) taken on live pollock came in over the weekend. The mackerel schools are still hanging in up here but have become scarce further south since the water warmed up to mid-sixties last week, bringing the bluefish back inshore. Schoolie bass seem to be everywhere and still willing to smack Sluggos and swim-baits all day.”
“Groundfishing has been good since the weather cleared and we saw 15 to 25 pound pollock show with the warm water. 260-feet was the depth for big haddock (26”-32”) biting blue or white butterfly jigs. Just watch out for the clouds of spawning redfish. Once we start hitting reds we just move to the next waypoint,” Jamie advised.
At Suds-n-Soda Sports, Miles says that their All Summer Long Striper Tourney is starting to produce some big fish. “Right now we have striper legend John Twitchell leading with a fish of 50 inches that weighed 43.5 pounds. In second place is Mississippi angler Carl Geraci, who comes north each year to participate in the striper fishing here. His 30 pounder measured 45 inches. Rye’s Richie White is holding third place with a striper of 27.5 pounds that was 45.75 inches long.”
“We haven’t had much talk about bluefish but occasionally one is caught or lines are cut off by the blues and that has happened mostly around the mouth of the river. Flounder reports from Rye and Hampton area seem to be the most frequent.”
George Taylor at Taylor’s Trading Post in Madbury reports that even with the pond being a bit over its banks, a group of nearby campers has been taking daily limits of trout from nearby Barbados Pond. “It’s incredible for this time of year. All of the family members have had limits. And there are some real quality fish, mostly rainbows being caught.”
“Our bass fishing has slowed down a lot here on the Bellamy Reservoir as has the bass fishing in some of our other local ponds but the crappie fishing has really taken off with some plate-sized fish in the mix,” he ended.
Alan Nute at AJ’s Bait and Tackle in Meredith in the Lakes Region was not in today but from our previous conversations he said that the salmon fishing was really starting to get good as the top layer of water had warmed enough to put the fish down and the thermocline was setting up around 28 feet down.
“This concentrates the salmon and trout and makes is much easier to target them. We’ve had very good luck using both horizontal and/or vertical attractors on our downrigging cables. These are sets of spoons that are hooked directly to the downrigger ball. The vertical ones are strung from the ball up to the wire, while the horizontal ones are strung off the back of the ball. Using a line release close in to the attractors works well. The fish are drawn in close by the flash and action of the attractors and will take a fly, lure or sewed-on bait that is streaming behind and often a bit above the attractors.”
“Unlike a set of spoons such as Dave Davis spinners, you and the fish are not hindered by dragging around the heavy rig. When a fish hits the fly or lure the line release works and lets the fish take the line with no other weight attached – just you, the line and the fish to fight. These rigs have made controlled depth fishing much more productive when the fish are concentrated in the thermocline area.”
MASSACHUSETTS:
Well-known outdoor writer David Sartwell from the Salem area sent us this up to the minute report: “The cod and haddock fishing has been spectacular out deep. When we go out beyond 70 degrees 15 minutes and find the humps, we are getting 30-inch cod and 24-inch haddock in 216-300 feet of water.”
“There are some big tuna being taken off New Scantum and in the Cove and other spots. The Stellwagon fishermen are doing well with the football-sized tuna as well. We are also taking some big stripers as well, especially on eels at night. It is the best all-round fishing on Cape Ann in the thirty years I have lived here.”
At Surfland on Plum Island, both Kay and Martha had some great words about the striper fishing there. “We’ve had some different stuff going on. Right now there are thousands and thousands of small herring, two-and-a-half to three inches long that are right up on the beach with the stripers blasting them. It’s not a fish (striper) each cast but it has been pretty fast fishing. The people are either picking the bait up when washed ashore of snagging them and then casting them back out where the stripers are attacking the baitfish. Casting Sluggos, Hopkins jigs or topwater plugs are also getting strikes. And this is happening in more than one place along the beach. Most of the stripers are in the 24- to 28-inch range.”
“Early today we had a 23-pound striper brought in that took a big Mombo Minnow (5.5 inch) up on the flats at 4am”
“Flounder are being caught right off the beach as well as on some party boats that have been fishing not far off the beach. Bluefish are scarce-in one day and gone the next. And mackerel are also scarce.”
When we contacted Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett, we were told to try his cell phone. And sure enough, Pete answered while fishing for stripers with plenty of excitement going on. “We’ve got ‘em all over the place! Fish to 44 pounds. Right now we’re fishing Hull Gut with live and chunk pogies but earlier we were taking fish to 35 pounds on our honey mustard color Santini Tube-n-Worm Rigs.”
“The hot flounder spot right now is off the number eight can at Faun Bar. The bluefins, not really big ones but in the 70-pound range, are hitting like crazy out on Stellwagon. These fish are just too big to try to land with spinning gear. I had one on while using a 50 class conventional rig and he just killed me! One guy with us had nine hook-ups! Drifting live pogies, casting to feeding fish or trolling floating squid rigs and Sluggos – it’s all working on those tuna!”