June 26

The boy and I decided to fish for Stripers today after my clients canceled and the US soccer team lost to Germany.  We caught lot's of fish, at first using jigs and then casting plastics.  It's the first time I can recall that the boy was able to cast for and catch a fish.  He is growing up. He caught two that way.

I have not fished the river in over a week but I had been getting good reports.  We caught fish both on the bottom and the top.  In the next few days the early morning out going tide should be good.  

Last weekend I fished the beach.  It was slow city.  Bait was everywhere and sitting comfortable by the shore and rocks.  You should see bait like that take evasive action every now and again but nothin was happening.  So we went just offshore and caught several cod and many other bottom species.  Chuck brought this keeper home.

The Mackerel have not been great.  Hopefully that situation improves.  The boy and I will make an effort on Saturday after my  morning trip to catch  Macs.    We shall see then.

June 16

         What a difference a week can make!  The fishing conditions in Boothbay Harbor have changed radically.  Last week the only signs of life were jellyfish of all colors and sizes.  Now, the jellys are still around but not nearly as omni present.  Instead, baby herring, known locally as Brit dot the water everywhere.  When the wind is down one easily spot these tiny baits dimpling the water, making it look like rain.  These tiny fish are also apparent on the finder mostly near the surface.
         Area fisherman breathed a huge of sigh of relief this week when the Mackerel showed up following the juvenile herring. My son and I caught all the Macs we needed to bait out lobster traps in 30 minutes on Saturday.   The Macs ranged in size from Tinker to Horse Mackerel.
         I have not used Macs yet on the Stripers. Special no bait no keeper regulations are still in place until July 1 in the Kennebec and Sheepscot Rivers.  Soon I will take a trip out around the special restricted zone to fish on the beach, giving bait a try.
         However, using artificials the bite has also improved in the Kennebec River. Below is a picture of  a father and sons team with their triple hook up.  

These fish were caught on the surface with a Spook lure and also subsurface with soft baits.   All lures during the special restriction season must have only one treble hook.  Remember that when fishing the surface, the best times are in low light and with low wind.  As a result, early morning and the evening are the best times.   

June 10

             The saltwater fishing, in the Kennebec/Boothbay Regions, has not changed much since my last report.  There are Striped Bass in the River in places with warmer water.  Most of the fish are smaller with just a few larger fish mixed in.  Several days ago we hooked up using soft plastics and a spook rig.  As you may know, the Kennebec is under special restrictions until July 1.  These special restrictions include no bait, one treble hook per lure, and no fish is allowed to be kept.
              Water temperatures are still very chilly.  In the morning, before the sun had a chance to do its thang, I recorded water temps in the upper 40s over the weekend.  I guess I should not be surprised.  Boothbay Harbor actually froze over this winter.  
              As a result, at the time of writing this, there are still no Mackeral in Boothbay Harbor.  I am sure they will come but their late arrival is driving some of us nuts. I want them to arrive so I can fill my freezer and bait my lobster traps.  
             My last day of school is next Monday so after that the fishing will take over my life.  I love my school job but I am looking forward to the different challenges presented by guiding.

June 1, 2014

          Boothbay Harbor is filled with jellyfish and little else.  Water Temps are still below 50 degrees in many places.  The Sheepscot had water temps of 45.  As a result, we are still waiting for Mackerel to arrive.  Ev and I fished several reliable Mac spots in good conditions and found nothing.
         However, in just a short time upriver near Bath, the Boy(Evan) caught our first Stripers of the year.

 Spread out, on several Mud flats, we found some Stripers enjoying some 57 degree water.  Ev caught his fish on plastic gummies he is learning to cast. We did not catch fish on every cast  but it was good enough.
           Overall it feels to me like the fishing is just a bit behind where it was last year.  I predict that coming next weekend I will be singing a different tune.

August 2

Let's start off by saying if you are coming to Maine this week for a vacation you should be pretty excited.  First, the weather is going to be tremendous.  Big beautiful blue days that are not too hot.  Seas will be down and this means the beaches and their reliable Striper bite will be accessible.  Further, the Striper fishing in the river remains strong.  Find the right ledge and you could soon have a double or triple hook up.  There are also Striper's on the Flats in Hockamock and Sagadahoc Bays.  Evan caught the beauty below in about 18" of water.

The Macs have been good for the most part.  Go out early in the morning with low wind and you can load right up.  But, if you head out later in the day looking for Mackeral you may have to work a bit harder at it.  You can still get them but it may take some doing. 

The Squid are in as well.  You can get them in town or at most docks in East Boothbay or Souhtport with a good strong light.  Bring all the jigs you have so you can try everything because they can be fussy.  

So, if you are coming to Maine this week you can expect some great weather and good inshore fishing.  My schedule at the moment for next week seems pretty open.  Give me a call if you are interested.

July 19

It's 3:20 am.  Outside, the air is still but every so often there are some heat flashes.  You know what I mean?  Kind of like lightning.

I am awake partly because the wonderful dinner my mom bought me last night does not agree with me.  But also, I am awake in search of easy Macking.  Yesterday, I had aboard some repeat clients.  They persevered with me through a two hour Mackerel Marathon.  What happened?  Why did it take so long to catch Mackerel?  Two Bluefish were caught near the Coast Guard Station in West Harbor and so the local theory goes that the Blues scattered the Macs. I believe it. This basically happened just about over night. The day before we crushed the Mackerel in 15 minutes.

Anyway, once stocked with live ones we headed across the Sheepsquat and into the Kennebec River.  I knew the spot I wanted to fish.  George Harris of Superfly Charters clued me in the day before during a two boat trip.  We had great success having fish interest on just about every drift and catching 6 fish with 4 in the cooler in a short time.

This brief fishing story is a good indication of how its going right now.  Stuff is happening.  I have been fishing mostly on the beach.  The seas have been calm and the bite regular out there.  I have also fished the lower end of the Kennebec with success as well.  We seem to have many fish from 33" and down.  We have caught larger but they are more sporadic.

I anticipate more Bluefish information in the next post.  My friend George said he had one shred a Sabiki rig but that's all I got.

The fishing is good right now.  I'm serious. Stuff is happening.

July 11

Twice this week I came upon birds that showed me to breaking fish.  Stripers.  What year is this? Not only do we have Schoolies in the Kennebec River  but we have larger fish setting up on some ledges  and also holding on the beaches.  We have variety!  So, Striper fishing has been good. Macs have been good. We have had some bluefish bite offs but they are random and unpredictable.

We have had some seriously fishy weather lately.  Foggy, cloudy, drizzle. Today, there was some serious bounce and it messed up my second trip.  Client got seasick and we had to move.  We were fishing on the beach.

Finally, the seal was back again today.  This time we rescued the fish and made sure it would swim away unharmed.  Below is a picture of the clients who rescued the seal.  They teamed up on it.  Then, in the next shot the Seal cozied up to us again and Hannah took a shot with it.