What We Do When We Get a Babysitter

Today Mimi and Papa came up from Falmouth to babysit and Gayle and I hit the water. After the grandparents showed up at 10:00am we found the Macs by Spruce Point. We trolled over them and jigged back until we had more than we needed.Bundled up and packing bait we headed upriver. We were soon stopped by the Coast Guard for a safety check. Rafted up with their Zodiak, the Coasties went through our gear and paperwork. Twenty minutes later we were on our way and 20 minutes after that we stopped in Bath for some lunch.After a cheese steak and meatball parm we got back on the river. Cloudy skies and northeast winds made for a dreary day. When we made it to the hot spot there were several other boats there already including my friend George Harris. Yesterday George won the Kennebec River Pro Am Fly Fishing Tournament. George's presence alone means fish. Gayle and I both caught several Striped Bass up to 30"and Gayle took several cool shots with my cell.
Sure hope these fish stay around. I have the fishing bug hard right now. Cannot catch enough. The weather is getting colder and I know my fishing days are numbered.

Uneventful, frigid, and beautiful ride home. Cut up a fish and back in time for the in-laws to go play golf if they want to brave the cold too.

September

I am ignorant. One spot in the Kennebec River has made me stupid. Maybe all that is a little harsh but its been about a month since I have become a weekend fisherman and during all that time, every single weekend day, I have fished the same spot. As a result, I really do not know first hand if there are fish anywhere else. The problem is, that from the reports I hear, and the lack of fish that I see, I am stuck in this one spot.

The good thing is we have caught a ton of fish every weekend. Most of the fish have been above the slot as they have been all year. We have not gotten fish out of the mid-30s but my pal George Harris boated this beauty in the same spot one super fishy morning.

Anyone following me on Facebook will know that many of these weekend fish have been wrestled away from seals. To be honest, I think the same two or three seals just hang out in the same spot. One is small and black and the other is big and kind of speckled. Anyway, that is probably crazy talk but taking your fish back from the seal is serious. Today, we relentlessly circled over the seal until he released the Striper he stole. We aggressively scooped the fish into the net, just ahead of the marauding seal and landed it safely inside the boat. Today's 34" survivor was then released somewhere downstream. Later, a serious Kennebec River fisherman came alongside and said,"You have the worst luck with seals this year." Dang.


The spikes have grown into Tinkers but they can be had right in the harbor. There is also a ton of tiny herring there too but harder to catch those little buggers. No point in trying anyway since the Macs are small and plentiful.

My boy Colin Yentsch caught his 18th and maybe more BFT today too. He was anchored up within sight of land down off the coast of southern Maine. He went down Saturday night after dinner. He needs to get into the spot at night to get bait under his lights. He can't fish at night, however, for the BFTs because the bluefish are so thick down there.

That's all for now. I guess the next big question is will there be something worth posting about in October?

August

I am entering a new part of my season. I am going from the time of the summer when I think I am ready for it to be over, to the part where I become nostalgic about fishing and chartering. This morning, as I waited for my clients, I sat swinging in a chair watching the light slowly creep into the horizon. Just twenty five minutes later, the sun still had not come up and we had completely blacked out my baitwell with Spikes. Spikes are Mackeral so small they are beyond Tinkers. Basically, the perfect bait. There are plenty of Herring around too but the Spikes make terrific baits in just about all situations. You can see what the Spikes look like on the finder when they are really thick.

As we cruised to the spots, sun coming up, wind down, I wondered do I have a great summer job or the greatest summer job?

We began on a mud flat in just two to three feet of water. The wind was down so we could all see Stripers swirling on bait in an area roughly three acres. The Stripers were rolling and eating crabs off the bottom. We took two fish, one keeper and one too big in the shallows.

When we lost water on the flat, just ten minutes cruise from there, we began fishing structure in the Kennebec. We had several double hookups and caught Stripers up to 31". The river seems to have turned back on and I am looking forward to a strong week.

Only two weeks left till school begins. I have some openings at the moment, but I expect to be busy right up till I go back to school on August 30th.

Fishing report

Ok, I am sorry about my blog neglect. My apologies. I have decided to try bullet points in the hopes it will inspire me to write stuff down more often. Problem is, I am kind of sore from all the banging around and a little beat too and this hurts my ambition.

Here you go:

1. Spike Macs 4" to 5" have invaded Boothbay
2. Herring can be jigged up regularly in the morning hours if you know where to go
   
3. Stripers are being caught on the ledges in the Kennebec in current
4. Stripers are also being caught on the flats in just a few feet of water
5. Bluefish have appeared inland way above the Bath bridge
   
6. Tuna are showing up, both giants and shorts some inside of Seguin

This place is fishy right now.

bait

On Thursday, Striper fishing in the Kennebec and Sheepscot rivers will truly open. Bait restrictions are lifted and anglers may keep one fish a day either 20" to 26" or over 40".

Tonight, I ventured out to assess the bait situation in the harbor. It was a very fishy calm evening. Light wind made it easy to see fish on the surface. Several times diving Osprey gave away the bait's position too. I found Mackeral but it seems quite obvious that the abundance of Macs we had a few weeks ago is, for the moment, a memory. However, this could turn around any day and I was able to catch Mackeral, it just wasn't the free for all you like to have.

There were herring availible for me as bait tonight as well. My fishfinder picks them up perfectly and I just drifted into them in the middle of the harbor. They were smaller herring then the ones I caught earlier this year. These baits are absolutely ideal.

The Latest Fishing Report

I would like to apologize. I have let Facebook make me lazy. For the past month I have neglected this blog and relied all updating of fans of Sweet Action Charters to Facebook. By so doing I have also neglected to share any real detail about fishing the mid coast. Lame.

The season is in full swing and the fishing has been good. More fish, in more places, in my opinion, then in some years. We have been most successful in the early morning on top water lures. The rest of the time we have had luck jigging or casting lead headed jigs with plastic bodies. Most of the fish caught this year have been slot fish(20 "-26") or above. While we have had lot's of success this year with artificial lures I will be excited when bait restrictions in the Kennebec are lifted on July 1.

Speaking of bait, there is a lot around. We have had terrific Mackeral catches and there looks to be a ton of herring around as well. I have heard tell of Bluefish and the Mackeral drying up in their path so Boothbay might be next.

Happy Father's Day to all the daddy Fish Whistlers!

The season is definitely getting closer

I just got back from an early morning cruise. At 4:30 am Boothbay Harbor was a quiet place. Smooth glassy water interrupted only by swirls, seals, birds, and me. There are tons of Jellyfish out there right now but they will be gone when the macs come in. I am hoping that Mackeral will arrive this year by Memorial weekend. We have good weather coming up and everything seems two weeks ahead of last year.

Early Macs means early traps so I will be getting the lobster gear together in the coming weeks too. I noticed this morning that there was quite a bit more lobster gear in the water now tight to shore so those guys must be thinking the same thing as I.

The other question on my mind is, when do I go over to the Kennebec River and give it a try for Stripers? There are basically a couple things that will influence when my first scouting mission will be. First, my calander is pretty crazy. Until a project at school comes to its conclusion on May 26th, I don't really have prayer of going. Also, my wife is going to a wedding in Cartagena, Columbia from May 28 to June 4. My mom is coming to help so there is a small chance of fishing then. My last day of school is June 15 so after that fishing will become my job. The second main factor that determines when my first trip is are the reports I hear. Some guides, like Peter Fallon and Gordon Gillies of Gillies and Fallon guide service, live on the Kennebec and they can scout the river as easy as I can cover Boothbay Harbor. People like that are terrific sources.

Gayle took the shot below last evening. She and I went to Five Islands for dinner while the kids were at the grandparents. We took the boat which meant a chilly but calm ride around Cape Newagen. If you have never had the pleasure of going to five islands by boat you should make an effort to give it a try. The place was empty which is unusual. Its one of the prettiest places around and it has a great Maine feel to it. Gayle had a fried haddock sandwich with Cilantro mayo and I had fried shrimp and we were both happy.