For me, The earliest part of Striper fishing season is not so much about the actual fishing as it is about studying the habitat and monitoring bait activity within the areas that I fish...The mission for today...cover lots of water...Mission accomplished!!!The morning started without much of a plan but after a few text messages and a dockside conference with my good friend Ray we sort of hatched a plan to try a run into one of my Merrymeeting bay early season honey holes...Hopping aboard Rays new weapon of a boat we Scooted a good distance up one of the many tributaries of the bay, we were on the lookout for striped bass chasing alewives...we didnt have much success with that venture as we were easily side tracked by a big school of carp that were feeding on the grass flats that lined the creek channel edges...It always amazes me to watch a school of carp, or any fish for that matter, actively feed in less than a foot of water...waking, rolling, slurping, smashing the the surface etc...they really are alot of fun and can be challenging even though many anglers consider them a trash fish...if you like shallow water sight fishing or just want to try something a little different from the norm, this is a good game for you to try...On this day, we were not properly geared to target Carp and we had bigger fish to fry...so we Moved on in the quest for Stripers. we made the decision to make the long run from Merrymeeting Bay to an undisclosed spot well west of the Kennebec that Ray had been exploring recently...As we neared the mouth of the Kennebec it was evident that there was alot of bait present...Curiosity got the better of us so we we slid in on the edge of an expansive flat and the amount of juvie herring we saw was jaw dropping, I'm talking national geographic type stuff...blitzing though the freakish schools of herring were ravenous mackeral...A few Stripers were also taking advantage of the buffet as well...the last stop on our journey was a pristine cove located on the eastern edge of Casco Bay...the Macks were there in force but after a full morning we decided we had seen enough for the day...Like a chain of dominos falling eastward the Striped Bass continue their march up the Maine coast...Southern Maine is seeing very good action, Casco bay is lighting up and in the coming days the Mighty Kennebec will also awaken...Stay tuned folks!!!
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Great report Captain and if not for a misplaced cell phone this 6 hour jaunt may not have occured. The carp sighting was really cool and I'm anxious to target those foragers with proper tackle just for the fun of it. The baitballs were tremendous, like Nat Geo as you described. Another great lesson learned from the Midcoast's premier guide. And that last comment about YOU buying ME lunch, well, we'll leave that Freudian slip at the mooring...lol...
ReplyDeleteThis is very impormative about salt-water fishing. Pretty nice presentation of facts.
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