Final Report

         Looks like I dropped the ball right there at the beginning of July in terms of keeping up regular fishing reports.  Oh well.  I wonder why I stopped then?  Striper Fishing has really remained strong all the way through the summer.  Aside from 1 or maybe 2 trips this summer we caught a lot of Stripers each time out also averaging almost 1 keeper a trip.  I went fishing this summer around 70  to 80 times including times with family and friends.
       One thing I really enjoyed about this summer was how many fish we caught on live mackerel and a hook with no weight.  On one hand, I love the idea of catching fish without bait, but on the other, I just love the feeling of that live Mac on your line being chased, harassed, bumped, picked up, dropped, and swallowed.  This year, the presence of smallish Mackerel and the addition of a Minn Kota Trolling Motor allowed us to fish Livies in current with ease.  I'm sure others will copy us but for now we are the only boat out there that I've seen using this technology(Spot Lock) with live bait in the Kennebec.  I know of other boats with the same Minn Kota motor as us, it's just that they are not coming from Boothbay, where its relatively easy to get live bait.  Nice right?
        Anyway,  I heard all summer how difficult getting the bait was. Many were even saying the Pogies drove them out.  Come on!  We did have a ton of Pogies(bunker, menhaden), which we like to snag and use for chum but the pogies are just a side show.  As far as I could tell Stripers never showed up under those Pogies.  I thought the Mackerel supply was pretty good. I have seen better and worse years.  The Macs being a small size was really effective. However, I did a lot of Macking by myself before clients to save time on trips to get people right into fish and not Macs.  Sometimes Macking took a while.  There were plenty of Macs in Boothbay Harbor but I always blacked out the livewell faster if I could fish out around the tip of Southport. 
         This Labor Day weekend I have decided to take it off.  I won't fish again until September 15 and 16 most likely.  My teaching job needs my attention right now.  It's just one of those years.  And once I'm out of the charter fishing for the season I'm out.  So, if you want to go fishing I can recommend a few guys who are still actively charter fishing.  If you are in Boothbay you can try Mainetain Charters and Ben Kaler or The BlackJack and Dan Stevens or Sea Raptor Charters and Craig Murray and Catch 22 and Russ Troy would also be a blast. If you are coming from up north and could meet in Bath you should try Peter Fallon.  All these guys are great people and are still actively chartering/fishing which is what you want when you hire someone.