Maine Striper fishing with TIDE ChaserGUIDE SERVICE and Capt. George Harris, midcoast Maine's premier Fly & light tackle saltwater guide service. Serving the waters of Midcoast Maine from Casco Bay to Penobscot Bay Fishing for Striped Bass, Bluefish, Bluefin Tuna, & More. For more info on Maine saltwater fly & light tackle fishing
For Reservations Call The Maine Saltwater Fishing Hotline 207-691-0745
Maine Saltwater Fishing Reports Blog
Welcome to the Fish Blog & saltwater fishing reports page of TIDE CHASER GUIDE SERVICE & Capt. George Harris. We're looking forward to providing you with the most up to date inshore saltwater fishing reports on the Maine coast as the Maine Striper Fishingseason goes forward into 2019!!! You wont find any generic"cut & paste" reports or info here...Just pure fishing!!!
We operate our fishing TRIPS in the Mid-Coast region of Maine, from Casco Bay to Penobscot Bay. This area features an astonishing 1000 miles of jagged, pristine coastline. We focus our efforts on the broad reach of the lower Kennebec river estuary & the outer boundaries of Casco Bay...with its countless thousands of acres of untouched saltwater flats, gnarly tides that rip over rocky structure and an intricate maze of backcountry channels, It's a fly & light tackle fishermans nirvana. On any given day we can be found fishing sandy beaches, ocean front ledges, coastal tide marshes or shallow hard bottom flats. Wherever the fish are!!! Whether it's on the fly...pitching plugs or live lining frisky live baits we've got you covered check out our website for all of our trip offerings...and stay tuned for some new trips options for 2019
Welcome to Maine's #1 Striper Fishing Blog with Capt. George Harris Call 207-691-0745
Striped Bass Season Begins Thursday July 1st, 2010 On Maine's Kennebec River
The special catch & release, artificial lures only season ends this coming Thursday July 1st, 2010. Our catch rates should soar now that we'll be able to pitch lives in addition to flies & artificials
Reservations have been coming in steadily and we're already having a very busy season...Call us if you'd like to join us for a day or two this coming season. We offer multiple trips every day typically a morning trip and an afternoon evening blitz trips for those anglers who'd rather not be on the water at the crack o'dawn...If fly fishing isn't your thing...no worries we're well equipped for light tackle & live bait fishing too!!!
Maine Saltwater Fishing Report: The Fish Are Here So Get out And Fish
Wet conditions greeted us this morning as we left the dock in Bath, but it didn't dampen our spirits...nor did it dampen the spirits of the stripers we had set out to catch. We landed on fish at our first stop, just a few minutes of leaving the dock, a pair of 10 pounders crushed the soft plastic herring imitators we pitched into the boiling current. As the flooding tide filled the river we went to work on the rocky structure that has been holding most of the fish we've been catching. Sporadic surface blitzes popped up here & there and were enough to get every ones adrenaline flowing...however, most of our fish came off striped bass's favorite habitat, rocky structure. Late morning everyone had their fill of stripers and we headed for the dock fully satisfied with our efforts. Although it was wet out there this morning we were fully prepared for the conditions and everyone stayed warm and dry. I have severel sets of quality raingear aboard for guests that do not have their own...so don't let rainy weather keep you off the water...the fish don't care...they're already wet!!! Reservations have been coming in steadily and we're already having a very busy season...Call us if you'd like to join us for a day or two this coming season. We offer multiple trips every day typically a morning trip and an afternoon evening blitz trips for those anglers who'd rather not be on the water at the crack o'dawn...If fly fishing isn't your thing...no worries we're well equipped for light tackle & live bait fishing too!!!
Maine Saltwater Fishing For Striped Bass Is In Full Swing & Super Fly Charters Has It Dialed In!!!
The Kennebec river is still filling in nicely with fresh, ocean bright Stripers. All of the usual June spots are fishing well....also some of the spots that I fish in late season are covered in fish...That's a great sign that we're in for a great season here in mid coast Maine. A lot of the local fishermen/guides that I've talked to recently have only been finding good numbers feeding fish during the lower light hours of the morning and evenings and while that might be true along certain stretches of habitat....it is definately not the rule for Striper fishing in general.Going back over the last couple of weeks we've been finding good numbers of Stripers feeding aggressively in bright sunlight during the mid day hours...we've been able to accomplish this by changing our tactics once the sun gets high in the sky. Don't get me wrong, I love chasing big stripers on the flats but that has it's time and place, after all..we're fishing for Striped Bass not Permit. Lately i've been abandoning the shy, easily spooked fish that are up in shallow water in favor of the better numbers of the heavy current deeper water fish that feed heavily on the thick schools of herring located over rocky structure. This type of fishing is still every bit as technical as fishing on the flats, it just presents a whole different set of challenges....anyone whom has ever fished deep water structure that is awash in a ripping current can testify to the challenges presented...proper boat handling is extremely important, as is understanding how upwellings, eddies and currents travel over and around rocky high relief bottom contours...some of this structure may only rise three feet off the surrounding bottom other ledges tower as high as a 7 story building!!! Many times there are acre sized blitzes taking place on this structure...however, most times they're just not taking place up on the surface...rather, they're taking place 20-30 feet below, where the vast majority of anglers will never even suspect it...more often than not these all out submarine blitzes are taking place during the broad daylight conditions that most anglers find unproductive...We've been fishing these daylight subsurface blitzes for years and have it dialed in. Yesterday was a perfect example of what i'm talking about....I had Ed & Steven Petrilli aboard for a fathers day guided striped bass marathon fishing trip...around mid day we had bright sun, a ripping incoming tide being pushed by a stiff SW 20-25 knot breeze....not what you'd consider ideal conditions for Striper fishing. Right?....Wrong!!! We were fishing classic fall blitz conditions during the 85 degree heat of summer...Welcome to Striped Bass fishing in Maine!!!
Flats Guide Capt. Eric Wallace reports that great things are happening on the sand flats of Casco Bay.
Oh yeah the Bluefish have started arriving in the Kennebec also...we haven't caught any yet but severel anglers arrived back at the dock in Bath with a cooler full of chunky blue dogs.
Call us if you'd like to join us for a day or two this coming season. We'll be happy help you plan your Maine vacation!!! If fly fishing isn't your thing...no worries we're well equipped for light tackle & live bait fishing too!!!
Maine Striped Bass Fishing Charters & Guided Trips
As we move quickly through June, we're really starting to see the Striper fishing light up in a big way...This morning we got a somewhat late start, leaving the dock in Bath at around 6:30am. The tide was pretty slack and just starting to turn so we headed off on the hunt... The fishing was pretty slow but I knew that as the tide gained strength the bite would turn on....and turn on it did!!! Once my anglers got into the rhythm of things and figured out some of the basics, they began to score fish, seemingly at will...The key to our success today was allowing our offerings to get down near the bottom and to work them slowly, bouncing them along gently with the current....slow & low was the rule today!!! The Fish were feeding heavily in the rips & current seams...most of the action was taking place subsurface as the sun was getting bright and high in the sky...occasionally a hungry striper would rise to the surface to blast a disoriented baitfish...We continued to be productive for a couple of hours during the peak force of the tide and eventually the bite tapered off and we headed to the dock fully satisfied after a terrific morning on the water.
Call us if you'd like to join us for a day or two this coming season. We'll be happy help you plan your Maine vacation!!! If fly fishing isn't your thing...no worries we're well equipped for light tackle & live bait fishing too!!!
Yesterday, I had Chris Oliver of Knight Marine Service ,located in Rockland, Maine, back aboard. Chris fishes with me several times each season in various locations and has been guided to his first stripers of the year going back the last 7-8 years aboard my boat...this year would be no different. This time out had a great day of fishing on Maine's Kennebec River. We were on the water by 4:00 am and as we left the south boat launch facility in Bath we were greeted by flat calm conditions and the last part of a ripping outbound tide. A short run from the dock and we spotted whirling gulls and bait fish being blasted by hungry Stripers...It didn't take but a few casts and we were tight to our first Striper of the morning, a fat 25 incher another pass by the ledge gave up a 27 incher then another & another as the action tapered off we decided to head off down river...the next stop produced a couple of fish that were holding deep in the current...off we go again. As we approach the next stop we see gulls dive bombing the surface of the water and the frantic splashes of herring trying to escape the hungry stripers that were herding them to the surface...This wasn't one of those classic all out 5 acres of busting fish blitz, but rather a mini blitz of maybe a couple dozen stripers having their way with a school of herring. I positioned the boat to slide past the edge of the busting fish and we cast into the the surface feed with our 350 grain lines and our fluffy white 4"-5" herring deceivers that were tied with just a hint of chartreuse angel hair on their flanks. long strips followed by a a short pause proved to be irresistible to the hungry stripers. As the tide turned we boated several more stripers before the fish went down...we continued to work this area for a while and the stripers continued to pop to the surface one fish at a time. It's very exciting to watch a stiper rise up underneath a herring that fluttered on the surface and blast it repeatedly as it tried to gulp it down... We kept at the fish during the incoming tide picking up one fish here and one fish there. Around noontime we headed upriver to the Kennebec tavern for a quick bite to eat before trying one last fish...Armed with a light spinning rod, it only took one cast with the deadly flat tire shad lure to find a fat 27"er a great way to end an even greater day on the water
Call us if you'd like to join us for a day or two this coming season. We'll be happy help you plan your Maine vacation!!! If fly fishing isn't your thing...no worries we're well equipped for light tackle & live bait fishing too!!!
Maine Striper Fly & Light tackle Fishing Heats Up In June
The fishing here in the mid coast region of Maine continues to improve on a daily basis...Striped Bass have invaded the kennebec river system in very good numbers. The other small tidal rivers that flow into casco bay, sheepscot bay, muscongus bay and penobscot bay should also be producing great fishing by mid june too. Yesterday we did a nearshore groundfishing trip and the action for codfish did not dissapoint. We boated over 60 cod with just 3 guys fishing. The Williamson speed jig with a white teaser above it proved to be killer...the jigs woud hit bottom and be nailed almost instantly by the Codfish. Most of the fish were in the lower 20" range but provide for alot of fun on the light gear were were bouncing jigs with...this is definately not the broomstick style of codfising that everyone is used to. We'll be on the Kennebec river tomorrow for a Striper trip so I'm sure i'll have some more good news to report from that region. On the St. George river the stripers have been lying in tight to sod banks and along the edges of the flats. With all of the bait that we have around locally we should have some truly epic fishing conditions when the striper migration reaches its full force in the next couple of weeks.
Call us if you'd like to join us for a day or two this coming season. We'll be happy help you plan your Maine vacation!!! If fly fishing isn't your thing...no worries we're well equipped for light tackle & live bait fishing too!!!
Super Fly Saltwater Fishing Charters With Registered Maine Guide Capt. George Harris
Well we're a week or so into our season here on the midcoast region of Maine and predictably we've had some mixed results. Striped Bass have been slowly migrating into the area...The fish have not settled into a pattern yet and certain tides have yielded better results...in the next week or so we'll see the bulk of the migration arrive and settle into their predictable summer feeding patterns on the flats...around the ledges...and in the rips... Thick schools of herring are clogging the rivers, giving the Stripers ample forage to gorge on. Mackerel have made an early appearance giving many anglers a light tackle species to enjoy...Offshore and nearshore the Cod bite is steady as usual...mostly on smaller sized fish with the occasional slammer coming over the rail. Bluefin Tuna have arrived on some of the offshore banks...we'll begin fishing for them in a few weeks. Reports from southern Maine have been mostly good...like the midcoast region the fish are not everywhere yet...the name of the game is location...location...location. If you can find a good school of fish you're going to have some great action. For the casual angler as well as the seasoned traveling angler, it usually pays big dividends to hire a local guide that's on the water 24/7...a little local knowledge can shorten the learning curve in a big way!!! Check out what a very frustrated local Kennebec river fishermen said after spending just 4hrs with me last season..."Captain George: The pictures are great, but the lesson and knowledge are immeasurable. You've changed my whole outlook on this great sport. What I've learned today will save me tons of money and so much frustration. I can't thank you enough" ,~ Ray Paradis
Call us if you'd like to join us for a day or two this coming season. We'll be happy help you plan your Maine vacation!!! If fly fishing isn't your thing...no worries we're well equipped for light tackle & live bait fishing too!!!
