Costa Rica, Here We Come

Hey everyone,

First, in case I have raised undue worry, Gayle is only in danger of losing her hearing in the affected side. This would be Gayle's left side.

Yesterday we met with surgeon #2 and since Gayle still has just about normal hearing this guy suggested a different procedure in case he can save Gayle's hearing. Its complicated stuff but the bottom line is we would be in good hands with either surgeon. We have decided to go with surgeon #2 because he seemed highly qualified and suggested that there is a small chance of Gayle retaining some hearing in the affected ear.

Right now surgery is scheduled for February 16 which is the absolute soonest this guy can work on Gayle.

Tomorrow we head for Costa Rica. Pretty darn excited. If I get anything good to post and a wireless signal I will post again in the next few days. Our first day of fishing is Sunday so hopefully I will have something to show or tell Sunday night.

fish are in my future

Tonight, my wife, my dear friend Ralph, and I met with a potential brain surgeon for my wife's Acoustic Nueroma. The doctor raised no red flags with any of us and was pateint and took the time to educate us all, so even if the surgeon tomorrow is lame we feel good about moving forward. No word yet on when surgery might be, hearing loss is basically a given, but Gayle has a real good chance of avoiding other side effects from surgery.

Also, tonight my girl's basketball team lost a close game to Georges Valley, a rival school, located a couple peninsula's down east of us. My heart goes out to my players and their coaches. I know they are bummed but I hear from good sources that there was no lack of effort. We will play this team again at Georges Valley on January 25th. We will have to beat them on their court and I think we will.

A piece of fishing news related to Gayle's. We are going fishing on Sunday. Today, the doctor encouraged us to go on our vacation to celebrate my 40th birthday. We leave for San Jose, Costa Rica on Friday, after Christmas with Gayle's family. On Saturday we head to Manuel Antonio or right outside of the national park. Finally, on Sunday my wife and I will go inshore fishing with a guy named Jeffrey Zapata in his panga. Hopefully we will have some luck down there and I can post a picture or two. In any case, it will be wonderful just to have the opportunity to travel.

A Super High Tide, I Become the Girl's Varsity Basketball Coach, and MY Wife Develops an Acoustic Neuroma

Well, right now Southport Island is getting pummeled with a Northeaster. No school today. Winds are going to be over 30 knots, its snowing and word is there are two cars off the road on Southport alone. I am home alone and have been since last Thursday. Obviously I should use this time to clean the house but I feel the need to get some information out so here we go. By the way, I am going to save the most important stuff until the end.

Starting with the most benign piece of this post, the coast of Maine experienced some super high tides during the full moon last week. Those of you familiar with this view will note that the water is up over the seawall and washing across the lawn. In the clip below my friend Jonne Trees of BRCTV took some video out at Ocean Point. The audio is terrible because of the wind but midway through, those of you familiar with Ocean Point, will be amazed at the water level. Cool stuff.

December 3 Full Moon High Tide, Ocean Point from Jonne Trees on Vimeo.

Well, since I last posted I was also given the honor of becoming the head coach of the Boothbay Region High School Girl's Varsity Basketball Team. I have always dreamed of being a head coach of a varsity team so it's more or less a dream come true. One gratifying thing about it was I was given the job based on my reputation as a teacher. I had always hoped my prowess as a teacher would be how I would ascend to this position instead of working my way up through the coaching ranks. I really did not want to coach AAU or volunteer my time. Unless I was going to be able to run the show, I would just rather be with my family.

I love my team. They are terrific girls and I am so proud to be their coach. We have about 19-21 kids and we field a Varsity and JV team. We are 1 - 1 and the JV's are 2-0. You can see our first game against Monmouth below. We were pretty nervous to begin the game but if you hang in there we start playing better and better. We lost to Lisbon last night, a talented team, from a larger school. They were also well coached. I can not wait till we play them again to see our progress.

One cool thing about this situation is my buddy Ralph Posner is going to report on our games for the Boothbay Register. I will try to post those articles here in case anyone is interested.

BRHS Girls Basketball from December 5th, Lady Seahawks vs. Monmouth Mustangs from Jonne Trees on Vimeo.

Finally, my wife has been diagnosed with an Acoustic Neuroma, a benign tumor located in the ear/head. I have been in contact with a dear friend of mine from high school, Al Lozier, and he has been tremendous for us. We spoke at length last night and I can not tell you how much I appreciate his advice and counsel. Al is a brain surgeon out in Wisconsin and simply one of the most competent people I have ever known. He says my wife's tumor is challenging but treatable. She is going to live through this but it's no cakewalk either. Her tumor is in the large range. It is 3cm and snow cone shaped. She will most likely lose hearing in the affected ear. The worst case scenarios are ones arising from complications from the necessary surgery. Al did an Acoustic Neuroma surgery on Monday and it took him 10 hours. If the our surgeon is too aggressive trying to remove the tumor or he slips up or whatever Gayle could have permanent damage to her face like paralysis. So, we are now trying to work on getting the right doctor.

Well, that's probably more information then anyone wanted. I will try to get some fish stuff in here soon but I have a lot of non-fish stuff going on so bare with me.

Striper Fishing 2009 on the Coast of Maine

Fishing this past summer was up and down. We had great days and slow days. According to Barry Gibson on the Shark 6, "Only about 25% of the stripers that migrated north to Maine in 2006 and 2007 made it up here again this year."(Maine Sportsman, October) Barry offers this explanation,"Sand Eels... mushroomed on Stellwagen Bank and adjacent areas, providing a perfect forage for stripers... There was basically a solid wall of sand eels in the path of stripers migrating north, so the bass just stopped there."

Others have suggested the cold water and rain at the beginning of the summer as the reason for this year's decline in numbers. From stories I have heard about people fishing on Stellwagen and other places outside I am more inclined to believe Barry's explanation. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Striper fishing is illegal in places like Stellwagen because it is outside the 3 mile federal limit.

Here is another thing to consider when thinking about the numbers Barry is talking about. The Striper fishing in Southern Maine was excellent in many places for much of the summer. As a result, when you are talking about 25% of the previous years catch you know that the fishing in Northern Maine may have been even worse.

In the end, I am not ready to make any final guesses about why the fishing has been on the decline. 10 years ago the fishing was much better. We had tons of schoolies and fish could often be located by diving birds. The absence of schoolies is the most distrubing piece for charterboat captain. We are on the northern edge of the Striper migration pattern and I have heard NMFS officials say that its always the edges of a migration pattern that get hit first when there is a change. Hopefully, El Nino can reverse this pattern. 11 years ago we had an El Nino and terrific fishing followed. Also, the fishing 11 years ago began the third week in May because water temps had warmed quickly with the warmer temps. We shall see.

Columbus Day Weekend

Well, I can honestly report that I found no Macs between Burnt Island and Mouse Island today. Got out of work and my family was still in Portland so I decided to run the boat. Juju and I cruised around for a few minutes which felt great. Pretty chilly but still worth it.

I have not been Striper fishing in almost two weeks now. I have no reports from any captains but I would not be surprised to find that there are still some fish around. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and blowy so I don't want to bother but I would not mind going Sunday. We shall see.

Yesterday

I fished yesterday with my friend Adam Harkins. The Macs were a bit slow out by the tip of Southport but eventually we got plenty of them. The weather was brisk to say the least. We had a hard frost the night before and cruising was tough. Wind chill had to be well below freezing. Long after getting off the water both Adam and I still felt the chill.

We fished from the mouth of the Sasonoa to Morse Cove on the Kennebec. No luck at all. Checked in with several other charter boats and they all had the same lame report. Hopefully, it was just one of those days. But, I am afraid that this year's bite might be over. We shall see... I was scheduled today to take a couple of students out but it rained. Hopefully, we will go out tomorrow after school. If we do go, we will be fishing the incoming tide. Tomorrow might be the day I admit my season is all over.

A few weeks ago I had the chance to fish with my friend and fellow guide, Peter Fallon. Check out his blog entry of the trip. Getting experiences fishing with my fellow guides are priceless. Peter is a super hard working guide. He must be in much better shape from polling his new boat around. You can see his sweet ride below. Someday I want to own a flats boat too. My boat could be poled around but conditions would have to be perfect for it to work with my T-Top heavy boat.



One last piece of information. Ben Polk of Jabez Charters just texted. Evidently the bite is on big time off the coast of South Carolina. Polk boated 13 White Marlin while other boats reported catching in the 20s and one boat took 41 White Marlin. I can not imagine that bite. But, if you have time and the opportunity SC sounds really hot right now.

Fishing Deep

The fish above were caught in between 25' and 40' of water on the Kennebec River over this past weekend. The weather was real nice but breezy. The lower temps make cruising along in my open boat a bit chilly. The Macs have been ok but not nearly as abundant as I would like. We have been getting some real nice tinkers mixed in with larger Macs. Most of the bait has been caught around the Cucholds Lighthouse.

Got some custom made Rods from OC Polk. They proved to be perfect for the fishing we did. I am hoping that I can order some more of these rods for next season. I am hoping to buy all new gear for next year. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to let me know.

The picture below was taken yesterday from Damariscove Island. Mark Piccerelli is the guy you can see clearly. Later that day Mark grilled up some Striped Bass that was absolutely terrific. One of the finest fish eating experiences I have ever had.

So Sorry

So sorry for not posting last weekend. The fishing was ok but not great. I have heard through my fishing grapevine that things have improved substantially so I can not wait to get back out there tomorrow. Allegedly, the fish are pretty concentrated in the Kennebec River. I am going to try to muster a crew to leave after work tomorrow. My wife and family are headed to Falmouth for an overnight so Gayle's parents can take care of the kids while she takes the Praxis Exam. This means I am free to fish both Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

Anyway, one of these days I will post some more. I want to sum up the year in one of these posts and give my overall impressions of the fishing and the charter business. Below is a video many of you have seen before. I am reposting it here in a different format so my students at school can see it if they want to. Unfortunately, YouTube is blocked here at school among other sites that might help.

Lobstering on Friday Afternoon

Hey, check the weather in the video. Wow! My daughter, who is 6, did a bunch of the filming. Ben Polk has the gear on and you can also see his wife Marci, and Murt Marci's cousin-in-law. Gayle, Iz and Evan are also there. Juju was on the boat too and you can see Evan giving her a hug.

I have 6 fishing trips in the next 3 days. One of them is with my cousin, Matt Henry, up from Washington DC for only a day before he has to get back to basketball practice.

I have heard good things upriver and at the beach. I am looking forward to giving everything a try. I think tomorrow we will try upriver. Can't wait.

I will post again one of these days.

Getting the Traps Going Again

It is amazing and sad to me how quickly my hands repair themselves now that I am not fishing everyday. On Sunday, before starting school, I noticed I had two real good cases of Striper Thumb. Seemed like my hands were pretty boy hands by Monday afternoon with no signs of the summer's abuse. Striper Thumb, by the way, is what happens to your thumb when you grab many a Striper with your thumb to bring into the boat.

Anyway, last night I mustered a crew to get the lobster traps going again. We have been slack in fishing them for about a month. On board was Tim Harkins an his friend Carl and Ben Polk. Polk you might remember from last post captains the Jabez down in South Carolina, a 56 Core Sound/Jarret Bay. You can see a picture of that baby above. While its a pretty shi shi looking boat don't let that fool you about Ben. His father was a long time commercial fisherman and Ben has spent plenty of time working on the water in less fancy rigs both commercial fishing and charter fishing.

Anyway, before heading out I checked in with a Boothbay captain who has been fishing all week and he gave me the heads up that the Macs were still thick. So, we decided to catch our own bait for all ten traps. The seas were flat as the wind had only recently turned around to the Southwest. We caught near 125 Macs and it took us about 60 minutes. Ben got his gear on and stuffed the bait bags while I cruised us back to the traps. We caught 3 keeper lobsters, a Sculpin, an egged female which we notched and tossed, and a keeper Flounder. You can see Captain Ben cutting up the Flounder below.

I love the Flounder we get around here for eating. I was way more excited about the Flounder then the lobsters. As a kid I used catch Flounder all the time. Now, it is almost impossible to catch them. At least I have not been able to find any reliable holes. I am not sure what happened to the Flounder population here but one thing I know is back when the Flounder were thick people were still dumping their waste over the side. Since dumping your waste has become illegal the Flounder population seems to have dried up. This may be unrelated but maybe not.

Anyway, last night was a fun trip. One of the very best parts of my job is meeting new people like Ben who love to fish. I seriously have met some terrific people doing this job. This October I will be in a wedding for a terrific guy whom I met while taking him fishing. How cool is that?

Back to Being a Schlubby Librarian

I have not posted here in a week. Not sure why really. There has been plenty of good fishing to talk about. Skipped going out in hurricane Danny yesterday which was good. But, I have been quite busy to. I am back to being a school teacher tomorrow. I took one day last week and spent some time in school trying to prepare. I am not really as ready for students as I would like. Fortunately, my new assistant, Lauren Harkins, has also been in to school to help us get set up.

My last two trips have been with Captain Ben Polk pictured above. Ben captains a 56' boat down in South Carolina. He is getting married here in Boothbay tomorrow. I really enjoyed my time with Captain Ben and his crew. I would love to have a chance to fish with him down in South Carolina someday. He and his new in-laws went fishing on Friday and did real well. Today, his father and two best friends, also went out with me and did great. We caught double figures in fish both days and that is always good. You can see a picture of a double hook up we had below. Of course, the shot is from my cell phone and I had to get my finger in the picture too.

Waves

I pulled the boat out of the water on Friday after my trip for peace of mind. Hurricane Bill was coming and I had to take a few days off for a bachelor party and leave town. I have done a bit of work to it and hopefully Gayle and I will get it back in the water this afternoon. My next scheduled trip is Wednesday but because the weather looks so good tomorrow, I may try to convince long time client Chuck Stees to go.


Here is a link to some video of the waves made by the Hurricane. The video is shot out at Ocean Point by my friend Jonne Trees of our local public access station. The Hurricane hit Nova Scotia so points facing North East got hit the worst. Check this article from the New York Times about a death caused by a rogue wave up at Acadia National Park. The picture above was taken by the NYT in Cape Elizabeth Maine.

Now, I am on my way to the shower. Going in to school right now for the first time of the summer. Big Time Ouch. Just what I wanted to do with my day off.

Fish lessons

Every once in a while I get the chance to take someone who has never even touched a fishing rod. Yesterday, was just such an experience. Rita and her 70 year old mother, both originally from India, caught fish for the first time in their lives. These ladies had to be taught everything and in a four hour trip they learned how to catch Mackeral and Stripers. I chose a spot for Striper fishing that would make it as easy as possible. We fished in the Kennebec in just 2' of water. Rita and Tara used cut Mackerel to get their bites. Tara, the grandma, tangled with a Striper until she gave up and let her rod tip down. Too bad she could not keep her line tight because it would have been cool to see her land it. Rita caught hers at the end of our trip. When the fish was finally brought in, Rita was spent but extremely happy.

Today I had Dell Ludeman aboard. He also caught his first several fish in just 2' of water. The beauty pictured below was caught in 30' of water. This underlines how different and diverse Striper fishing can be.

Fishing Stuff

Saturday (8/15) was a great day. You can see just a few of the fish caught in the pictures above. I went out twice.

In the morning, I went out with a repeat client and his father-in-law. We had success fishing deep in the Kennebec. We worked it hard. The bait was difficult and we hit many spots but these guys really perservered and it more than paid off in the end.

In the afternoon, I went out with the mellow uncle and his niece and niece's boyfriend. We also had success fishing in just 2' of water. For everybody aboard it was their first time catching a Striper and was also their personal biggest fish caught.Water temps were 68/69 degrees which is hot for Stripers. Generally, I would rule out catching bigger Stripers in water that hot but in the picture below you can see a fish caught in the exact same spot with that hot water. Who knows? The more time I spend doing this, the less I think I know. One thing I know is that you can't beat catching these fish in shallow water with light gear.

At the end of our second trip, I spotted the Ella and Sadie cruising back into the Townsend Gut. Colin Yentsch and his two daughters had spent the day on Powderhorn Island in the Sheepscot River. Powderhorn is the perfect place to escape the heat because of its beach, beauty, and location on the coldest river around. Anyway, Colin had promised me some Tuna so we pulled up to the Ella and Sadie. Colin, went into his hold where he had some Tuna iced up in his fish box. He hooked my clients and myself up with Tuna steaks. Good times. Below you can see Ella and Sadie next to a Tuna which Colin was able to sell on his boat named after the girls.

Yesterday, I took a much needed day off. The weather was hot and we spent a bunch of time on the water.

Today, Mike pictured below came with a long time repeat customer, Bob. Bob from Houston has been taking me out 2 or 3 times a year since my first year. For Mike, a freshwater fisherman, this was his biggest fish of his life and his first Striper. Mike caught his fish in deep water. Over the next few days with this hot weather I expect to spend more time at the beach and fishing deep, looking for that cooler water.

Reports

Striper fishing has been up and down like a yo yo. Very hard to predict too. I have had terrific and slow trips on the same day and on consecutive days going to the same places. I have heard the same reports from other captains from Bath to Boothbay. Two more trips today and tomorrow I will take a day off so my wife can get some help with our kids and I can have a break from the water.

Tuna fishing is happening but the schoolies, footballs, little ones, etc, don't seem to be around yet. One Tuna Fisherman/Lobsterman I know reported Tuna up in close chasing something that looked like a Bally Hoo(how do you spell that?) right out of the water. He just watched the 400lb tunas helplessly as his bait was well below the surface.

In the picture above you can see one of Colin's Tuna's that was loaded into this truck immediately after returning to shore.

30" fish caught by my uncle Bill yesterday. Good times.

So beat

I am so beat. Getting up at 4am day after day and doing 2 trips a day has really worn me out. Friday and Saturday will be two more days spending all day out there doing double headers.

This week I have spent a lot of time with Tom Coyne and his family. In one of the pics here you can see Tom's brother Joe, his nephew Michael, and his son Thomas. Thomas is the blond bombshell(self-proclaimed) you can see in the back. I wanted to include this picture because these guys helped us get on the Macs quickly. According to Thomas, they caught 200 Macs in that row boat. I asked him if he was counting and he said he started counting at 150. I also thought this was one of the funnier looking Mackerel slaying operations I have ever seen. Funny, smunny, they were killing them.

You can also see John in this picture below sleeping on the ride back. John is definite charter boat or guide material. He's capable, affable, intense, and likes to learn about a variety of things. What a joy he was to have aboard. He was patient when the fishing was slow and quick to help out when help was needed. When he had a fish on, he clearly showed he knew how to bring in a fish.

The fishing today was slower than yesterday but still good. The weather has been beautiful and in the afternoon we were able to fish the beach with some success.

Colin Yentsch just got in from a 2 day Tuna jaunt which landed several fish but none big enough to sell. Still they had action and caught Bluefin Tuna which is no small feat.

Another Day another postponement

Had a great morning with the guys pictured here. Most of them were inexperienced fishermen but we caught our limit and then some.

The afternoon trip was called because of a line of thunderstorms coming through. At least we were able to postpone till tomorrow.

Several real busy days coming up which is good. The fishing seems to be improving across the region in that fish are starting to show in more places from the reports I have heard.

For you basketball fans out there. Here is a link to a Youtube Vid in which my cousin, Matt Henry speaks about a basketball camp he has just taken part in over in Montenegro. Matt is the director of basketball operations for the Georgetown Hoyas.

Isabella's First Fish and Some Fish Stuff

Yesterday, I had long time client Bob Gourley aboard and his friend Dick. We probably caught close to or more than 20 Stripers, all in the slot range except one that was too big. It was a blast. The weather was great as was the fishing.

My afternoon client today, Tom Coyne, told me that his party caught 14 Stripers aboard the Redhook yesterday down at Popham Beach. This is by far the best report I have heard out of there. I know the Redhook took two big fish there last week but I know the beach has been disappointing for most of this year and all of last.

I have not heard of the "local" schoolie or giant Bluefin Tuna action but the bite is on if you are willing to travel southwest.

The video below shows a family trip with my in-laws, wife and two kids. Iz catches her frist striper. Mimi did all the shooting, thanks Mimi. Anyway, I thought you would enjoy a video more than some pics.

Interesting Day

My day began today with my GPS firing up like it's supposed to. Hooray, I turned it off just to check it and it would not turn on. After fiddlemucking around for a bit we got back on. Adam, Gayle, Evan, Ruby, and I headed to Robinsons's Wharf to get bait for our traps. Adam and I saw Colin and that is when I took the picture in the previous Voicethread. Hugh Thompson, one of the coolest dudes around, directed us to the wharf barrel and we loaded up on herring. It took Adam and I 25 minutes to haul our ten traps. Adam is really freaking good. He does the whole show except run the boat and he is fast. Pretty strong guy, too. Occasionally, instead of my having to maneuver the boat, Adam will just chuck the trap like a shot put. Anyway, I have decided that I love lobstering again and I think having Adam enthusiastically carrying a big load of the work is a big part of it.

At the end of lobstering at approximately 8:30am I checked the on-board Doppler and there was a tiny bit of precip way up in NH/VT. It was a beautiful day and the Doppler supported that.


A few hours later at about 10, my mom took over to take care of our sleeping one year old. Gayle headed with me to my favorite herring spot to catch bait for my trip. We spent 90 minutes and caught 1 herring. Talk about frustration. The good news was my electronics were still working.

Dropped Gayle off and headed back out to scout out some Mackerel for my afternoon trip. I was fishing off Spruce Point when I noticed the clouds to my northwest. I checked my Doppler and I could see a line of storms either headed at us or just north of us. I began to head in to Kaler's to pick up the Calvo's, a family of 4 at 12:30. I noticed many of the other charter boats both sail and fishing headed out.

I met the Calvo's at 12:50. They were dressed for the beautiful sunny day that it was - shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops, etc. I showed them the Garmin (Still Working!) and explained to them my concerns. We agreed to go out to catch bait and stay close. We went back to Spruce Point and began to Mackerel fish. I got to know them and was having a pleasant time. But, the screen told me to head in and before we even caught a mackerel I was running full steam back into Boothbay Harbor. By the time we got to Harbor Island, you could feel the barometer drop and the wind change direction as the sky quickly blackened. We got into Kaler's, tied up, and got off the boat. The rain quickly started and lighting could be seen all around us including Spruce Point. Fishing with me is definitely not Deadliest Catch but sometimes it can be deadly enough. The Calvo's and I were giddy we got off the water when we did and I once gain want to thank my stepfather for buying me that Satellite weather receiver which worked all day.

By the way, the images above are of Boothbay but I did not take them today. Unfortunately, I was ill-prepared for documenting today's events.

The Ella and Sadie

A day of work with no clients

Today I spent the day cleaning the boat and trying to fix my Garmin. Dragged my pressure washer down to the dock and my wife and I worked hard at it. Later, Adam and I replaced all the fuses used by my Garmin 5212. I am still only receiving intermittent power. As luck would have it, my marine electronics guy, Howie, is on vacation this week. My worst fear is that the whole unit will have to be sent back and then a new one will have to be shipped. TO be continued.

Spoke with Colin today. He is back from spending a couple more days offshore. He got two more Giants out there. He is a fishy bastard. He reports that there are tons of sharks, tuna and whales from Platts to 3 Dorys. There is also a ton of ground fish.

Anyway, I got to go so I hope my grammar and spelling are not too bad.

Late one

I am beat. Having difficulties with my Garmin and they kept me on the boat until 9:30 tonight.
I am planning on working these electrical issues out tomorrow.

We managed a trip today and had a great time. Hannah and Keenan had a double hook up. Biggest fish either of them had ever caught. I hope they come back some day as they were such a pleasure to have aboard.

Tuna bite

Sunday

Another unwanted but much appreciated day off today. Yesterday, I had Ingrid and Nelson aboard from Philly. We had a great time and this was Ingrid's first time fishing.


Word is the ground fishing and tuna fishing is hot and heavy offshore. Many boats out there after them too. If anyone is interested in this experience give me call.

Got to go. Off to dinner across the island.

Doppler

Recently, my friend and fellow guide, Peter Fallon posted to his blog about going out in bad weather. Peter is a terrific writer and he vividly portrays a charter captain's concerns. Its a must read if you have the time. Peter also talks about having his wife read the Doppler radar from shore to get an update on the storm's path.

I, too, used to call home when the sky began to darken or I heard a warning over the VHF. Now, things are different. In the video below you can see clearly how my satellite-fed weather shows me exactly what we all can see if we have a computer in front of us. One nice thing about my electronics is how it also can zoom in and out easily, shows the storm's tracks, and any warnings, too.

Today was a day off. Not by choice. Tomorrow, I will be back at it.

Nice Tradition

One thing I love about going fishing here is the transition from the ocean to the river. Today we got bait in Boothbay Harbor and then brought the bait up river. I love the change in the scenery, wildlife, and water. Many charter fishermen spend their whole time in one or the other which is cool, but I like it when we get both the river and ocean.

Today, we further cemented a tradition in the Wright family. This is the second year we fished together and I can tell these guys are hooked. Last year we caught more big fish including a 39" by Jack who is now 11. However, the fishing was good today. Everyone caught lots of bait and we caught Stripers too including our limit of slot fish. They were a pleasure to have aboard.

Anyway, I have been getting tired of the obligatory dock shot so I brought something more then my cell phone. I made the video below and I apologize for my bad video skills.

The fishing the has been good the last few days. Today we caught fish in several places on the Kennebec River. The guys aboard Tom, Chris, John and Luke did a great job. They conquered the bait which is no easy task. All of them caught fish and released more.

Yesterday, My uncle Bill chartered me. He is literally my best customer, hiring me several times a season. He expects that I fish with him too which is nice because I actually get to catch a few. Dagny, (Bill's wife/My aunt) pictured below, almost always comes too but rarely fishes for the Stripers. Dag is content to catch lot's of bait and hang out and soak up the rays and the scenery. But, the action yesterday was pretty good too and it inspired Dag to get into the mix. Dagny was fishy and caught several.

Good Morning

We had another really good morning. We started early, which I always like, at 5am. We went in search of herring and we soon found them. As we were working on the bait, the fog rolled in. There were also showers to the west. This was a morning when my electronics were worth their weight in gold. At the same time we could check the doplar radar vie satellite feed, find the herring beneath us with the sonar, and monitor boat traffic nearby in the fog with the radar. I was actually psyched their was fog and weather because it kept boat traffic down on a Sunday.

We had an excellent morning again on the strength of the bait. There were others fishing around us both yesterday and today and I never saw them boat a fish. We, on the other hand, caught many. We took 4 home as you can see from the dock shot. The other picture of Sam and Jayson was a double header that was released.I have heard of some fish being caught in Boothbay Harbor, specifically Linekin Bay. I have seen precious few signs of fish here myself. The weather is gray, rainy, and cold again so I doubt it will get much better soon. So, for the meantime we will spend most of our time fishing west of us in the Kennebec and Sheepscot.

Early morning bite

Judge Roy and I headed out this morning at 6:15. I had already spent an hour and a half gathering herring for our trip. Roy caught this baby about 30 seconds into our first drift. We caught a bunch of fish and had a great time together. Just about every herring we used equaled a bite.

Another Rain out

Today we got some serious rain. Some parts of southern Maine got as much as 5". At least my trip was postponed and not canceled.

Here are a few fish pics from different charters I had this week. In one picture my uncle Bill holds up two herring pulled from a Striper's belly in two states of decomposition. Sorry about the picture quality. All photos were taken from my cell phone.

The best fishing has been early in the morning and on a dropping tide. Before today's rain the herring were thick in my spot so hopefully that continues. Today's day off was nice but I am anxious to get back on the water.

Sunday Morning

My trip today begins at 11:30. So, I woke at 5am to see if I could get some herring for use during the dropping tide. I caught 60 of these Striper delicacies before 6am. Guess it took about 35 minutes using a Sabiki Rig. Blueback Herring, as pictured, make great bait. These Bluebacks can grow to be 10 or 11" but the ones I was catching today were between 3 and 6".

When I got back to the dock I was pretty happy with myself and I realized my bait pump wasn't working. That burst my bubble. It was just a bad connection so fixing that didn't take but 20 minutes. Still, this reminded me that making a fishing trip run smoothly is unlikely and hard to do.

Looking ahead to next week, the only day with no clients is next Sunday. Half of the clients are repeats and I am excited to see some old friends. I have two trips that are just single men, and several that are fathers and their kids. Looking forward to every trip.

july 18- Another cancellation

My client postponed this morning. The good news here is he postponed and did not just outright cancel. This is the 10th such cancellation of the season.

I did not fish at all today other then pulling my lobster traps. Marty Weeks and Bailey are pictured below helping me out. Sorry about my finger.

July 17 2009

Today, I fished twice again. But, not with clients. The clients I had lined up for today never called. Too bad, it was a fishy day. Instead I decided to take freinds and family.

At 5am, Adam and Tim Harkins headed out with me into thick fog. We put a dent in the herring population and then cruised over to the Kennebec courtesy of the radar. Tim is pictured above with a few keepers. We caught fish today drifting over shallow water. We also caught some river herring while around Phippsburg. Adam had a curfew so we had to get back early.

After filleting fish and hanging around for a bit, Gayle, my step father Dick, and son Evan decided to head up river with the dead herring I had in the tank since the morning. We had some good action as the video will show. Evan is barely hanging in there in some of the footage and I am the worst camera man in the world but its still worth watching if you have high speed. Big storm is headed are way so tomorrow's trip is in doubt.

July 16

Fished with the Haskells today. It was a bit chilly and both were beat from flying from overseas and catching their limit of Striped Bass so they caught some naptime in the bow. Once again, drifting the herring was the magic today.

We had a real fishy day here today. Winds were light and skies overcast. We missed a bunch of storms too. I have no clients tomorrow, as of now, as the guy who I thought I would take has not called. So, if things don't change i will head out with a friend and has dad.

July 15- My anniversary

Fished twice today.

My morning began at 5am when I met Greg and Tristan Black from Camden, Maine and their friends Andy and Ivan. The Blacks have fished with me several times before. We had a beautiful morning with calm seas and blue skies. We started catching Stripers at the end of the outgoing tide. Then, it was the tiny herring that did the trick. Earlier in the morning we had spent some extra time getting these Striper delicacies and we used every one of them. In the end, the dead herring fished just as well as the live ones when drifted.

Tristan had to release the one above as it was just beyond Maine's slot limit. But, they caught their limit with one fish per person including me.

The afternoon trip featured a family from North Carolina. They caught their Stripers on a mud flat in 2 to 3 feet of water. They also caught a couple of Catfish. Tobacco,cattle, and chicken farmers by trade, this family was brand new to salt water fishing. Ashton, pictured below caught the biggest fish of her life with me today.

Didn't hear a thing today about Tuna. Spoke a bit with Captain Peter Fallon and he reports some Stripers in the Kennebec. Tomorrow, I am back at it with some repeat customers. Hopefully, I will keep taking pics with the cell phone and keep this blog going.

fishing report

Tommy managed to catch this baby in the afternoon right before we had to take off to beat the rain. Fishing in the morning continues to be best. I have Friday thru Sunday open right now in the early morning. I hope somebody calls. If not, I am going to have to drag some friends out. News from the fleet continues to be mixed. Several boats from Boothbay failed to boat a fish today and Peter Fallon reports the New Meadows to be slow too.

Anyway, there have been some reports of footballs(Schoolie Bluefin Tuna) at the mouth of the Sheepscot. I will keep you posted regarding these beauties.

Tomorrow I fish twice so if I am not too beat I will update this blog again.