Waquoit Bay Albie Fishing

Been over two weeks now since I caught this beauty.  The fish above was the first Albie (False Albacore) I caught with Peter Fallon and his longtime fishing companion Fritz.  On this day, conditions, while not the kind of day where the fish were chewing holes in the boat, were pretty easy to take.  A hot September day with a cool and building breeze.  A stolen summer day.  We started early and by maybe 7 am I had already caught my first Albie.  Take me back to the dock, mission accomplished, I joked with Peter and Fritz.

And while that was a joke then,  now I think if they had brought me back I would not be as messed up as I am today.  Apparently, I now have Albie Fever.  However, as a guide, my fever is a bit more complicated than just wanting to catch another Albie.  Don't get me wrong, I would love to catch more Albies but most of the time my "fever" is about guiding for Albies and perhaps other species I have not tried in places I have not been. 

Catching/guiding for  stripers this weekend in Maine may help, but I caught/guided for Stripers last weekend and the weekend before and its not helping my Albie/fishing/guiding fever.

After Albie number one I was ok (unchanged), but somewhere well before I caught my 6th and final Albie of that day something in me snapped.

So what happened on this fateful day?  First, let's start with the boat and location. The boat was a 27' Southport with twin Yamaha 250s.  Wifi Network ✅  Auto Pilot ✅. Incredible gear like Stella Reels✅.  Yeti Cooler with gourmet munchies ✅.  My Kennebec River Mentor and Partner✅. Two guys who will get after the fish as fervently as I ✅. 

We took off from inside Waquoit Bay and spent most of the day not real far from here with some of the best fishing being on the ocean side of the pass. 

Sunrise that day was probably around 6:30 and we were certainly there at that time.  When we got to the pass there were about 8 other boats there.  Here, I was taught the way we were going to play this Albie game.  First, Fritz insisted that I take the front of the boat.  Very gracious and kind of him as the bow definitely ended up with more chances. Why?  Reminding me of stalking Tarpon in Florida on the flats, the vast majority of our Albie chances occurred when we saw the surfacing fish.  Albies, as I learned throughout the day, have several different behaviors in terms of surface action.  So, as the guy in the front of the boat, I was primarily looking for surface action within or close to casting distance.  Then, when the surfacing fish are within range I am left with two huge decisions.  Cast or wait to cast and then where to cast.  First, deciding when to cast is determined by where you are going to cast in order to lead the fish.  Think Tom Brady for a second.  Brady can throw short or throw long, but the throw must be perfect.  And so, not only does the Albie fisherman have to see the fish, the guy with the rod has to see in which direction the fish are heading and perfectly lead the fish. As a result,  every time you do catch one or get a bite you end up feeling like you just made a Tom Brady like cast.  Think how fun that must be.  And, just like Brady, there are factors that make lesser quarterbacks miss their spots.  Wind and choppy water, super long and precise casts, and the highly unpredictable nature of the fish make this kind of Albie fishing tough on beginners.

I ended up doing really well. Time folded and an 11 hour day on the water flew by.  In between bites, Peter and Fritz were the perfect fishing companions. While there were tons of laughs at all times these guys were always focused on the next fish.  Looking, searching, scanning, and thinking in order to cross paths and make chances. I ended up catching 6 Albies and had many more bites.

What else to tell you? If you want to try Albie fishing, I would call Peter Fallon and I would plan to make a date next September.   You can shoot Peter a text or call him at 207-522-9900.  Some of you have heard me talk about my client Chuck who has probably fished with me 50 to 60 times now.  Chuck is convinced and he is planning to leave Maine next fall to give Albies a shot. It's a no brainer.  Honestly, Peter has been after me for years to come down to the Cape and try Albies and now I feel stupid that I waited this long.   Kind of like some one who likes to travel who has never left the country.  Big world out there. 

Two weeks later I am still basically on cloud 9 from this fishing trip.  Below you can see a video that might actually be the moment that my life changed.  Check it out and I hope you all get a chance soon to catch some fish.

fishing report 6/22

       Today's fishing report tells the inshore fishing story in the region pretty well.  Our day began at 4:15am.  This particular client has been with me many many times and I know he loves fishing the early morning bite.  The game plan was to fish in Boothbay outside the restricted zones where we could fish with live bait before heading to the Kennebec River. 
       Macking in the Harbor was quick quick and no chumming was necessary.  So, after spending maybe 15 minutes getting Macs we started to Striper fish in and around the Boothbay Harbor Region.   We caught 3 fish 20-27" in 3 different spots before we decided to Nix the bait and head to the Kennebec. 
       In the river, we quickly found surface feeding fish.  We caught 4 more on the surface and 4 more on the bottom. After that bite seemed to die, the rest of the day was spent in one of my usual drifts fishing both the bottom and the top.  Which caught more is hard to say but in the end we boated another 15 Stripers ranging in size from about 20" to 27".

I also went out this week on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.  Both trips were excellent and the vast majority of the fish were caught on topwater.  The weather was calm and overcast which is,as you know, perfect.  The Wednesday morning trip boated approximately 50 Stripers and the Tuesday evening trip said they got around 30.  

So, clearly, things have changed since my last report.  I felt compelled today to write this blog post.  I did not want to leave anyone wondering whether or not its time to catch fish in the Kennebec Region.  It is time. 

Fishing Report 6/16

       

           Before my trip in the early morning(4:30 am) on Saturday I tried to Mackerel fish in Boothbay Harbor.  I covered some territory and spent about an hour and caught 2 Macs.  On Fathers Day my family humored me and went Mackerel fishing with me.  We spent another hour on Macs and caught 0.  I am sure there must be pockets of Macs in the Harbor but they seemed few and far in between.  

             At 7am on Saturday I took my clients over to the Kennebec River to fish for Stripers.  We had an incoming tide and special restrictions prohibiting the use of bait and lures with two treble hooks.   We had a really good time.  This trip was the clients' first guided experience and they were terrific and game for anything. The fish were caught pitching Albie Snax where Stripers lay in ambush positions.  Other Stripers were caught jigging the bottom.

             I would describe the Striper fishing in the Kennebec Region as meh. I spoke to a few other guides that day and they reported slow going.  It was a beautiful day and as all fisherman know those are sometimes not the fishiest days.  So hopefully the fishing will get better soon.  That said, I am optimistic about the upcoming outgoing tides I will get to fish midweek.   If you don't see a fishing report soon just feel free to reach out to me if you need information on the fishing. 

                               

December Fishing Report! Come on No One's That Good. Definitely not me.

      Well well well, the last thing you thought you'd read today would be a fishing update from Sweet Action Charters.  I get it.  The first Stripers won't be swimming upriver in the Kennebec until Late May and Mackerel won't hit the bay until water temperatures have begun to rise.
      I've been writing this fishing report over and over again in my head since late November.  Apparently, once in December I got so far as to title a blog post but got no further.  Hey, I'm on it now right?
      After I hung up the guide hat and picked up my teaching hat I still got to fish quite a bit as a weekend warrior.  In September when i got the chance I fished the Kennebec River with luke warm results.  We caught some fish but nothing of size.  All the while I knew that a few captains were doing much better fishing on the outside away from the Kennebec River
      I too experienced some good luck in Boothbay Harbor and was intrigued by the idea of fishing some of the outside areas around the mouth of the Kennebec. Finally, on Columbus day weekend, I was able to take a tankful of Macs over to the mouth of the Kennebec.  I have a few pics of the fish we caught which you can see below.  We ran out of bait as the bite was fierce. I caught the most fish and qucikly and you can see I was rubbing it in.

Right after killing the Stripers we hauled the boat and brought it to Newport Rhode Island. In Weekend Warrior fashion I trudged down to Rhode Island to keep my season going every other weekend or so until December.
         However, down in Narraganset Bay we ignored the Stripers, still around there until November, in favor of Tautog fishing.  Tuatog love crabs and structure.  So, with a bucket of crabs and some heavier rigs we found spots with rock piles and wrecks with the bottom finder in about 15'-50'.  Once you get on the spot you only need to wait about 10 seconds and if you don't have a bite you should reel up and check to see if you still have bait.  So, its real active fishing.

        Now its March, and I am excited to get out there see my people catch fish.  Those days are coming.  Every few days someone calls, texts, or emails about going fishing this Summer.  

        My boat is still in Rhode island and I was hoping to start my season early down there but I think house work is going to get in the way. That puts my season starting sometime shortly after Memorial Day.  For the past five years or so Memorial day has been just a few days too early for the return of the migrating Striped Bass.  However, by the first weekend in June schoolies can be had in the Kennebec River and usually found by just looking for birds.   Remember, with June fishing we are somewhat restricted by the special Kennebec Rules.   But, fishing in June is still really fun as Stripers are more likely to be up on the water's surface that time of year.  

             

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. 

Another Fishing Report? Come on. No one's that good.

  Since July 1 We have been using predominantly live Macs to target Stripers.  One reason? We have some smallish Mackerel that work really well.   Today, I jigged up some Herring while we were in the Kennebec River and proved those work too.  We are seeing fish up to 32" and are catching between 15 and 30 or more Stripers a trip at the moment.  I know there are bigger fish around and have solid intel of bigger ones on the beaches which we have yet to fish.

     Earlier in the week one could have caught a Striper simply by driving up and down the Kennebec River looking for birds.  During those trips, using light tackle gear, we amassed some really good numbers.  Since the high pressure has been in control, the birds have disappeared and we have made our hey floating livies catching fewer fish but catching bigger ones.  Fishing with a live mackerel has got to be one of the most fun ways to catch a fish. While its not stalking fish on the flats its pretty dang fun. 

     What else is there to tell you about the inshore bite here in the midcoast?  The Macks have been on and off. I have had my most consistent bite at the Cucholds but I have had slow moments out there too.  If you are using a boat to get the Macs and you put some time into an area without success don't be afraid to make a move.  There are pogies around too and a cool site has been local fisherman seining them in for lobster bait.  Also there are  acres of herring in the Kennebec River too.
      Maybe with all this bait we will get Bluefish this year.  We shall see.  I read they were in the St. George which is beyond us(as the Bluefish Migration goes) so you would think they would be around here too.  The on and off nature of the Mackerel also makes me believe there are some Bluefish around. 
      I still have holes in my calendar.  Give me a call if you want to go fishing. Its a blast right now. 

Fishing Report

      There seems to be Striped Bass all over the place.  For the first time in years it seems as though someone with shoreline access can find a few schoolies to play with just about anywhere along the Maine Coast.  In Boothbay Harbor, in early June at night, one would commonly find Squid slowly pulsing under any powerful dock light.  Now under those lights it's common to find Calamari-Eating-Stripers. 
      Still, while there are fish in Boothbay we are still choosing to head to the Kennebec River.  The moving water, structure, and amount of fish will likely out-produce the Boothbay Area even minus the run time.  Yesterday I took The Boy and his friend Noah fishing for 2 hours and that counts the run.  You can see a video of Noah describing the fishing below.  We are getting solid numbers for fish caught and our best in terms of size this year is 30" so far.  I am sure that will change in the next week as the bait prohibition eases in the Kennebec Watershed.

On a different note I took the family to see the Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Fireworks last night by boat.  I love fishing and watching these fireworks by boat is comparable.  I can not tell you how cool it is to get right underneath awesome exploding pyrotechnics.   Check out the video below to get a little of the flavor.  For the July 4th fireworks a longtime client has already hired me.  Hopefully, I will be able to get my family on someone else's boat.