Maine Saltwater Fishing Reports & Charters 7/9/15

Ben & Jon Lowe were back aboard again(see previous posts to read about Ben's exploits)

So after accomplishing our morning goal of hunting down some big ocean front stripers..Ben & I dropped his dad off at popham beach and ran up the river for some pretty amazing light tackle action..we scored hard fighting schoolie stripers on nearly every drift...from start to finish it was an incredible day...we even took an hour break from the stripers and went out to a ledge in 80' of water and put the catch & release boots to over 20 cod fish to 24" all on ultra light tackle!!!

Kennebec River Striper Fishing Report 7/8/15

Striped Bass are spread throughout the entire Kennebec...from Waterville to popham beach. The area around Bath that we operate has has been fishing very well. This morning we got out in front of the tide a little but once it started to drain we had great action on stripers to 30" topwater plugs & soft plastic baits got it done with easy as huge clouds of river herring were funneled to the hungry stripers. The action out along the beach has been good if we hit the tides right & if the surf conditions allow us to safely fish it. Mackerel are still very cooperative so it doesn't take much effort to gather a good supply. We 're looking forward to seeing how the rest of the summer develops...

Maine Striper Fishing Report July 6th 2015

WE ARE DIALED IN ON THE FISH HERE ON THE KENNEBEC!!!

Today's crew flat crushed the fish...many savage strikes and torqued over rods...many fish over the rail..started the morning casting jigs and poppers before changing gears to hit some big fish in skinny water

So far it's been a great start to the season here in the Kennebec and casco bay regions...thick schools of mackerel, sandeel, blueback herring have kept the striper action red hot..I'd be surprised if we don't start seeing schools of big bluefish showing up in the near future with all the bait we have spread out along our coastline.

Maine Striper Fishing Report July 1st, 2015

 I knew today was going to be a great day ..the first clue was that Lowe family was fishing with me...for over a decade these guys have charter my boat for multiple trips each summer and each time they step aboard my boat, I just know that something big is coming over the rail...430am Jon & Ben meet me on the boat and we head downriver...first stop...a shallow cove with good current ripping over some ledge...two topwater plugs sail outward from the boat and the guys begin working the lures back to the boat with a zig zag, walk the dog retrieve...neither lure would make it very far...several boils and slaps and both anglers were tight to the first 2 fish of the morning... This would continue for an hr before the current went slack....after a short discussion explaining my game plan and I swung the boat to the west and raced for the horizon faster than American Pharoah's run for glory...we made short work of loading the baitwell with a healthy supply of tinker Mack's...which we put to use by pitching them into the white water at the base of rock promontory....it only took a minute for the fish to find our frisky livies...and for the next two hours we had a steady stream of bent rods!!! 

We are in the fish...give us a call if you want to get in on this action

~Capt George Harris

Maine Saltwater Fishing Report Kennebec a River June 28th 2015

Striper Fishing continues to be strong along Maine's Kennebec river region. We've been on the water daily and have seen a bit of a shift in feeding behavior this past week...We are still seeing some good surface feeds but the bite has been better on rocky structure with good current flow. In many areas we've seen bass stacked up on these ledges to feed on the abundant river herring...some days we've had fast action...other days we've really had to slow down our presentations to get the stripers to eat..,having a wide variety of lead head jig weights has been critical also...sometimes it doesn't matter how many fish are below the boat if you're not getting your offering in front of them. 

Mackerel have been spotty so far but a little bit of chum in the water will bring them to the boat fairly quickly. July 1st end of the special regs season here on the Kennebec which adds a whole new dimension to the we target the bigger stripers in the river...I'd  also like to remind bait anglers to use proper in line circle hooks when fishing with baits...also for 2015 the regs for keeping striped bass have changed from 1 fish @ 20-26 inches to 1 fish @ greater than 28"...please remember take only what you plan to eat and let the rest swim...

~Capt George Harris

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Maine Striper Fishing Casco Bay Report June 25th 2015

Reports of bigger stripers being caught on outer casco bay from Portland to Small Pt have been filtering in. This morning I had some clients who wanted to swing the bat for some bigger fish and I was happy to oblige...I love chasing big stripers in that clear emerald green water off eastern casco bay . Or first & only stop we gave us the fish we were looking for...while it was the only fish we caught in that spot...dozens of others were seen gorging on sandeels in that crystal clear water!!! We spent the rest of the tide back up in the Kennebec jigging the current seams for schoolie stripers and ended up with another double digit day...albeit we worked a little harder for them today

The bite is strong right now and no one is more dialed in on these Kennebec fish than us...give us a call if you'd like to experience one of the many types of trips that we offer

CAPT. GEORGE

Maine Striper Fishing Report June 23rd 2015

After a year of planning this trip with Texas fishing guide, Bob Maindelle, the day finally arrived. Bob met me on the dock and we untied the boat that I had loaded with a small arsenal of fly & light tackle gear. The tide really hadn't started to move yet so I ran to check on a back water spot that's been holding good numbers of fish...not surprising that the fish here weren't active with very little current flow so I fired up the engine and made a run down the Kennebec to find some moving water... It only took a few moments to find what we  were searching for, hungry stripers feeding on the surface...Bob grabbed a light spinning rod and immediately had stripers blowing up on his surface plug. For the next 4 hrs we had steady action with stripers to 29" and finished the morning with 18 stripers to the boat before being chased off the water by heavy rain and an approaching thunderstorm. Overall another great morning on the Kennebec with a great guy!!

As usual we are dialed in on the fish as we roll on toward July. Please give us a shout if you'd like to get in on the action!!

~Capt. George Harris

Maine Striper Fishing Report June 19th 2015

We have been continuing to find schoolie striped bass blitzing on blueback herring..outgoing tides have been very good in in the Kennebec.. Yesterday I led a group of fly fishermen down the Kennebec for a mid afternoon trip...bright sun, a tide that was just starting to move. Two things that usually don't bode well for fly fisherman..But this is June and the bass are plentiful and hungry. It only took a few casts with my Kennebec schoolie clouser half & half before the lines started to go tight! The rest of the draining tide my anglers were treated to spectacular surface feeding stripers....fast forward 8 hrs and I had longtime fly fishing client Bill Farland aboard for a morning session...an early morning start had the stripers cartwheeling through the thick schools of herring...over and over Bill's 

Gloomis NRX 8 weight was bent to the grip and he soon had double digit fish to the net for a quick release...as the tide slacked we worked our way down the river and picked away at schoolies that we're chasing bait through some of the shoreline eddies!!! 

Schools of mackerel and sandeel have shown up in eastern Casco Bay which means it's time to start searching those south facing beach front surf lines for big stripers. The great fishing will continue as more & more stripers continue to migrate in!!

Please contact us if you'd like more info on fishing the Kennebec river and Casco Bay

Capt George

Maine Striped Bass Fishing Reports and Charters

Kennebec River Striper Report June 12th 2015

The middle of June typically offers some pretty hot Striped bass action on Maine's  Kennebec river system and this year is no exception. Yesterday Nathan Gould,from Bath, met me at the dock for a late morning run down the river to catch a ripping outbound tide. The first stop didn't give us much but it's sure to light up with the next big push of migratory fish that make the sharp left hand turn into the Kennebec...the water column is top to bottom with bait!!! Next stop was show time but nothing compared to what we would run into later in the tide!!! The second stop featured large sand flat that drains off into a deeper channel with heavy current, this spot provided us with an hour or so of heavily feeding schoolie stripers...jigs and top water plugs got blasted on nearly every cast. The surprising part was that at this point it's noontime under a bright sun and the fish are still very active!!! Moving on, I ran the boat several miles upriver into one of the many tributaries of the Kennebec...what we found here was something straight out of national geographic... Diving gulls, osprey & eagles...and bank to bank blitzing stripers. We stuck it out in this little drainage for the better part of two hours...everything we threw at them was to their liking. Flies, jigs, plugs all got slammed over and over again. 3" clouser half & half's drew immediate strikes with the fly rod. crippled herring spoons worked quickly through the current was money as well...so far we are off to a great start here in the southern & midcoast Maine regions. The tributaries and mudflats around casco bay are showing good numbers of fish and everyone from fly anglers to plug casters to tube & worm trollers are enjoying the season. Also worth noting is the arrival of Striped Bass in some of the estuaries of Penobscot bay, an area that has been relatively barren of stripers for the last several seasons. Hopefully these watersheds continue to fill in with stripers for the next 6 weeks!!

Stay Salty My Friends, Capt. George 

Maine Striper Fishing Kennebec River Report June 8th 2015

This week, the Kennebec continued to fill in nicely with big schools of Striped Bass.   The area that I fish from merry meeting bay to the ocean is holding good numbers of fish and reports from upriver are very good as well. The beaches have not lit up but shallow mudflat areas and areas with heavy current and structure have been working very well. Key forage right now is river herring so we've been doing well with a variety of 3-6" baitfish imitators. For light tackle it's tough to beat a sluggo, fin-s fish or soft plastics like the strike king Shadalicious. We use the keep it simple approach and rig these soft plastics with 1/2-2 oz jig heads or we fish them off a Carolina rig to hit the deeper structure...This morning a bone colored jumpin minnow  topwater spook drew attention on almost every cast...but I think we could have caught them on a soda can...they were so lit up by the big tides & stormy weather!!! Metal jigs like crippled herring are deadly...and we always have at least one rod rigged with one AT ALL TIMES!!! by varying the retrieve we can fish water depths from 4' to 40' with ease. If you are a fly fisherman...this is no better time than the month of June to get your fix of slinging bugs to hungry bass. Again my approach is simple fluffy deciever or clouser half & half...white with a little olive topping... An 8,9 or 10wt rod with A 300-400 grain fly line or intermediate sink line ..this time of year, fancy leaders are not necessary as most of the time you are casting to aggressive fish.

Reports from eastern casco bay have been solid with the best action centering around estuaries and shallow mud flats & marshy areas. All in all we've had a pretty good start to June and within 2-3 weeks the exposed oceanfront beaches should start to produce good catches of big stripers. Mackerel reports have been sporadic but they are here and if you get out on their habitat and chum the water a bit you should be able to fill the livewell or  at least get enough for a session of chunk baiting your favorite spots

Our schedule is filling up but we still have some prime tides each month so get in touch ASAP if you would like to lock down the best tide

Stay Salty, Capt George

Maine Striper Fishing Report June, 6th 2015

The first week of June has brought us a nice run of Schoolie Stripers into the Kennebec watershed...the morning tides have been fishing great for fly and light tackle anglers. Working areas of heavy current and shallow structure, we've had great success working soft plastic swimbaits, on lead head jigs, through the current rips. Topwater plugs have drawn some explosive strikes at first light. 1/2-1 oz bucktail jigs have been killer as well.

Most of the stripers have been schoolies but there are some bigger fish to be had too. 

Maine Striper Fishing May, 2015 Kennebec Report

Well folks...it's been a long time since my last report (I'll blame the brutally long winter) But I'm happy to report that our season is now underway here on the Kennebec river system.

Ocean fresh migratory Striped Bass are trickling into the Kennebec estuary. Yesterday I found some aggressive fish feeding during the mid day outgoing tide.

I began my scouting trip by working the usual spots, throwing soft plastic swim baits, it didn't take long to confirm the presence of stripers!! The Kennebec is chock full of a variety of baits right now and is usually the case river herring is the prime forage. Soft plastics like slug-go, rubber swim shad, Bucktails or any variety of swimming should work well for the light tackle guys. Fly fishermen will do well with by keeping the flies basic...lefty deceiver, clouser minnow and other baitfish imitators. Good colors are olive over white,  chartreuse, black etc. locations are more important than color right now...areas with shallow mud flats are going to produce better as they are typically warmer than the surrounding deeper water...add in some good current flow and you should be able to find some stripers...in the next few weeks Maine waters should see a good run of fish show up in the usual spots. 

Also please remember to check the 2015  rule books as there are some regulations regarding Striped Bass & Cod

Have a great season everyone and we're looking forward to having many of you back on the water with us