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.

Fishing in the early morning seems best right now with the tides we have. Herring can be caught reliably in Boothbay Harbor right before sun up and Striped Bass can not resist a herring drifted through current. Afternoon fishing has been slow. The fresh water and cold temperatures are hopefully now a thing of the past so theoretically all fishing will improve. In the mean time, getting up early seems to pay off.

Tim and Susan C from Lewiston took home their limit of Striped Bass and released more Saturday morning, all fish in the slot. They also got to see a beautiful sunrise and be on the water before the 30knot gusts that blew up later in the day. I picked them up on the dock at Smuggler's Cove Hotel where they were staying at 5am. I know people don't want to wake up early on their vacation but its well worth it.

fishing report

Yesterday, I fished with Terry, Susan and Parker Buchanan from Pennsylvania. You can see Parker above with the only Striper we managed to boat. In between all the catfish we caught, we had only a few other chances at Mr. Striper. The Buchanan's were terrific sports and they endured some cold winds and rain. But, we were the only ones out there and we had a good time together. I really hope I get to fish with them again.
Today's trip canceled because of the weather and tomorrow's trip canceled because of health reasons. That brings my number of canceled trips to 8. Considering I do between 50 to 60 trips a year this is a big number. Hopefully the weather gets better. The streak of bad weather we have had is longer then any I remember. The fishing has been affected for sure. Hopefully in the next 10 days the rivers will empty of their fresh water and the fishing will improve. I will keep you posted.

fishing report

Over the weekend we found some good fish up river. This is surprising considering all the run off. On Saturday, Adam Harkins and I landed many fish all in the slot. On Sunday, Sam, Jane, and Ben Kaler with friend Dennis all caught fish.

The Mackeral, which have been prolific, are becoming scarce. Spent an hour or two with friends on Sunday afternoon and did not produce very much. This means I will begin early morning bait runs. to insure god fishing for my clients.

Anyway, Adam is pictured above. We caught all our fish this weekend in less then 3' of water.