Maine Saltwater Fishing Reports

Fly Fishing Thoughts From An Evening Alone

With a forecast for for northeast winds at 15 knots with gusts to 25, plus 3/4 of an inch of rain, rescheduling my friday fly-only trip was an easy call. What to do with myself Thursday evening wasn't, until it was. It was finally cool enough to consider mowing what used to be our lawn and is now our hayfield. Gary the dog could really use some dedicated training time or even just an hour at the dog park. My fly tying desk qualifies for disaster-zone funding. The list goes on, but the striper fishing has been pretty fabulous and looking out at the river I could see the wind was dying and the tide was getting ready to turn. An honest assessment of priorities and needs had me changing into bug gear, digging another marrow bone out of the freezer for the pup, and heading for the ramp. I needed to fish. And I needed to fish a fly.

This wasn't a scouting mission, an opportunity to see what was going on in water I hadn't covered last couple days. Nor was it about just sticking some fish, as I sometimes have to do after dropping clients off. It was all about taking advantage of the perfect conditions to cast flies at waking fish in shallow water. Only. No blind casts to structure. No fishing under birds. No dredging edges as the water starts to move. Just waking fish. Period. 

I'm always looking for new insights, but last night my brain kept focusing on lessons already learned. Those reminders seem somehow different when your perspective changes from guide to angler. Not more significant or impactful, but like an additional layer in the fabric that builds understanding, proficiency, and habits. Here are some of my take-aways:

Catching waking striped bass on a fly can be hard. Really hard. So many elements need come together and do so at precisely the right instant to succeed. I get a lot of practice sighting fish and signs of fish, so am decent at doing so even in evening light under cloudy skies. I don't get a lot of time to practice my fly casting this point of the season, but I'm a reasonably proficient caster. And even with those advantages it can just be tough.

3 am solution to fussy fish

I'd run up to a flat that had been holding a lot of fish. I knew I was too early in the tide for what is usually peak feeding activity but I wanted to spend my two plus hours of remaining light in one spot, watching fish behavior change with the water flow, feeling out the evolution of movement, feeding, and degrees of success. The fish weren't showing well when I arrived but that quickly changed. Man were they tough. I was getting good shots, having fish follow, but just not getting eats. I was casting a 12 foot leader with 12 pound tippet and changing flies frequently to see if there was something that they really wanted. I started with a small fly (photo above) that had produced well in other settings that morning, because that's what we often do, but also because the bait has been small, the light was low, and I had confidence in it. It wasn't the ticket. Ok, so let's go big. Toss a meal out there. Something with wiggle and life. Yup. Same result. The hollow fleye (photo below) tied with an ostrich hurl tail and arctic fox head pushed a lot of water and is super sexy looking, to me only at that point is time. It was also more difficult to cast (and turn over) and at this point being able to reach out quite a ways was an advantage. Ok, next offering would be different, very different, so I went with a simple shrimp Clouser. And I caught a fish.

Super sexy ostrich-fox hollow fleyes

Well, I hooked a fish, played it for a bit, smiled and hooted a bit, and then the hook pulled out. No knot failure. I don't feel like I over-pressued it in my exuberance. No slack or line tangle to clear. Hook was sticky sharp when I got it back to the boat. Just pulled out. Uh-huh. If catching involves landing the fish, I just reinforced the lesson that this isn't an easy game. 

To be clear, the change to the shrimp wasn't the golden ticket. I could just barely discern that I had fish look at it without eating it, but I wasn't about to swap it out. What was clear was the challenge of detecting the strike when I couldn't see the fish eat the fly. The low light just didn't allow the visual feedback that tells you "SET THE HOOK!". With a fly that you strip fast, a fleeing baitfish imitation, the eats are aggressive. Not so with a shrimp that seeks cover by diving to the bottom. I missed a couple of fish that did their part to play my game. Hmmmm...stick with the subsurface fly or switch up again to see if a Gurgler gets a reaction? My stubbornness won out and I promptly caught (and even landed) a couple of nice stripers.

The eyeless Clouser doesn't sink so fast

I stayed with the shrimp and had a couple more great shots into big pods of stripers that were happily milling around...and got zero return. No swings and misses that I could tell. No hits on which I just didn't connect. Interesting. Light was getting lower. Tide was starting to move. I stripped my fly all the way in as I went to move up on more bass and what did I find? A weightless fly. I must have dinged the fly against the boat at some point and blew out the lead dumbell eyes. Ever had that happen to you before and taken a while to notice it? I think if I were guiding and not fishing I would have picked up on it sooner, but I wasn't. And didn't.

As I paused to rerig, the fish behavior changed noticeably. I started hearing and seeing much more aggressive slurps so I went with a scaled down version of the ostrich-foxy hollow fleye I'd fished earlier. I'd tied this specifically to cast better on an 8 weight floating line and lighter tippet and to be more user-friendly for anglers who aren't used to chucking big, bulky flies. First good shot it got attacked. And then the fish promptly came unglued. Trying to learn from my weightless shrimp experience, I checked the fly right away and found that the tip of the hook was just slightly bent over. I knew for sure that I hadn't pinged this fly against the hull or trolling motor but I hadn't checked the hook point before I tied it on. Yet again, something that I can't imagine doing when guiding that didn't occur to me when fishing. Dingus. 

Thankfully a little file work salvaged the fly and I started catching fish. All the way through to unhooking them and watching them swim away. The difference in their behavior and attitude compared to an hour earlier was stark. And it was fun. Really fun. I thought about changing flies after every hook-up, curious about the first pattern I'd tried and wondering what else they would chomp, but said screw it and just kept having fun, which after all is kind of the point.

Mouth full of feathers and fur

Here are a few additional reminders I received last night:

Fishing (and casting) a floating line is just more enjoyable. I'm still infatuated with the Scientific Anglers Grand Slam line. It casts well at short distances but shoots like a dream, handles a variety of fly sizes, and behaves well in much cooler water than you'd expect (59 degrees last night).

Even at 8:00 at night on a cloudy evening, fish are very attuned to overhead threats. It's impressive how well they detect a fly line in the air and are especially likely to freak out when schooled up in bigger pods. Even if the water erupts from the presence of your line either above them or hitting the water, get that fly moving, pronto. You're not likely to fool the biggest fish in the school but often someone can't resist reacting to it if it is moving in short order.

We should all work on our ability to make a cast with no false casts. Just pick up and lay down. Get the fly back in the water. Now! I've worked to reduce my habit of making two false casts to a default of one false cast, but sometimes you get lots of second shots at close range where even a single false cast takes up too much time. I also noticed that lack of practice has me back to the default of releasing the line completely with my left hand when I deliver the fly. I have to think about letting the line shoot through my closed thumb and index finger to do so consistently. Getting any slack out of the line ASAP, sometime even before it hits the water, is a benefit in both shallow water sightcasting situations and when targeting fast moving fish like albies. While we're at it, (becoming more proficient casters) we should all strive to have a strong, quick and accurate backcast presentation. 

Speaking of fly/leader turn over...I can't recall the last time I used a knotless, tapered leader in a saltwater setting. I still recommend them for people getting started in fly fishing (any opportunity to simplify things is helpful) but tying your own leaders with stiffer butt material makes a difference in the wind, with bulky flies, when you really need a straight line connection with your fly the instant it touches down. I wish I had THE formula to share, but I'm still playing with configurations, materials, and even knots (the Westport Fly guys have me revisiting improved blood knots). 

Unless we have good sighting conditions or see the bulge of water behind our fly, we have no idea how many fish follow without eating. Yeah, we often cast to a lot of empty water but we also get lots of follows with no swirls, tugs, taps, or bumps. 

Our success has so much to do with the mood of the fish. Especially when chucking a fly. Given what I was seeing when I first arrived on the flat last night, I would have moved if I'd had clients in the boat and come back a bit later. The attitude change with tidal flow and dropping light was impossible to miss.

A little bit of elevation gain when sighting and casting pays dividends. I was in the LTB last night and standing up on the anchor locker in the bow. I'm working with a custom composite builder to design a small coffin box for the bow that will provide another option for getting higher off the deck. Even in a boat with admirably narrow and low gunnels, it should be a good tool. No need for a cushion on top of it, just good foot traction and maybe a metal rail for a brace/grab bar.

Clearing the fly line off the deck when you do set the hook presents a dilemma. Do you try to reel up slack to get the fish on the reel? I preach not doing so as I see a lot of fish lost during this maneuver. If the fish is big enough, it will clear the line. Better to focus on not giving it any slack. Slack is your enemy. Strip by hand until you don't have to do so. Again, this is easier to say as a guide and harder to follow as an angler, as evidenced by my own behavior last evening.

If you spend much time fly fishing by yourself and you don't yet have a remote controlled trolling motor, start saving for this tool. Today. Right now. Everyone who's used one ends up referring to it with the same term: Gamechanger. 

I violated my own pledge when it became too dark to pick out the waking fish and made a few blind casts to a spot on the flat that has that magical combination of structure, current, and depth change. I didn't even roll a bass, but it did remind me how much fun I've had over the years fishing in the dark. It's a different experience and holds so many memories of all-nighters with John Asseng in Boston Harbor or Tony Cox nestled in his sleeping bag in the Lund while we drifted up Sagadahoc Bay under the stars or wading around the edges of Back Cove while Sarah was cleaning up the bar at Amigo's. Building that library of memories is one important reason why we fish.

What a mess!

Ok, that's waaaay too much. Time to take advantage of a day off the water to attack the mess that is my fly tying table. 87% of the flies I've tied in the last month have been one and done between 2:45 and 4:15 am, which lends itself to leaving shit out and dealing with the chaos. Entropy takes its toll and I've reached my limit. 

Hope you get out to fish. Soon. It's been really good. And really fun.

Peter 

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

 

A Dynamic Environment - Striper Fishing Changes in The Kennebec River

Kennebec Striped Bass

The end of June and beginning of July marks a transition in fishing conditions in and around the Kennebec River. The frequent and wide-spread surface feeds of the early season taper off. You can still find striped bass busting on top, complete with diving birds, fleeing bait, and all that entertaining mayhem, but it's more limited or concentrated in location and often duration. There are stripers eating every available bait in all types of habitat right now, from big herring in the current to tiny shrimp on the sand flats. Some anglers shift their focus to bumping bottom structure with bait such at eels, live mackerel, or bloodworms or working same areas with jigs rigged with soft plastics and this approach accounts for a lot of the fish taken that fall into the legal slot limit. Others move out of the Kennebec and work the beaches and ledges from the Sheepscot to Small Point, tossing livies into the surf or working big plugs at night and some of the biggest fish taken every early July will come from these waters. For me, it's prime time for bigger fish on the flats. We usually have improved water clarity, more windless mornings when the fish wake in the shallows, but still-hungry stripers willing to chase down a Hollow Fleye in two feet of water or slurp a shrimp fly like one more peanut at a cocktail party. Usually. 

We were setting up for what was looking like a really good early July. June featured lots and lots of fish, feeding with abandon, and hoards of them to be found up in the shallows. Somedays those stripers forced you to change flies 12 times an hour and you never felt like you dialed them in but caught enough to feel good about yourself. Other days the "hero fly" sent you home on top of the world. There was a noticeable drop off in numbers of bass over 26 inches compared to a few years ago, but enough visible in the water or on social media that you knew you had a chance at a bigger fish every trip. One charter last week didn't produce a fish over 25 inches but we sure saw some and had every confidence that with the right opportunity, our crab fly would get hammered, based upon the reaction that it was getting from the fish that presented us with good shots. On Thursday, under bright sun, we had shot after shot after shot at fish up on sand and mud flats and working the edges of the same flats at low water and had some fun eats, but lot's of almosts. The numbers of fish we were seeing had me really excited about the charters I had lined up for the coming days. 7 out of the last 10 years, the biggest fish out of shallow water has come in the first 10 days of July, and while that might be shifted a little later for 2020, things were on track for a hell of a holiday week.

And then it changed. Between June 28 and July 1 we had a lot of rain, especially upriver in the Kennebec and Androscoggin watershed. Stations I checked reported between 5 and 7 inches of rainfall during that period. The river rose and eventually all of the muddy water arrived here in Bath and Phippsburg and Georgetown. We had an excellent bite the morning of July 4 in some cleaner water on the coming tide where stripers were hammering herring in strong current but then when we moved to work the flats with the rising tide, we were hampered by coffee-colored water everywhere. Not only did we have limited spots where we could have a chance at sighting fish, we weren't even bumping or spooking them as we prospected through the shallows. The Humminbird Mega Side Imaging sonar was confirming what our eyes were not seeing. I heard from a buddy of mine that his live mackerel were dying only a few miles upriver from the mouth of the Kennebec. On the incoming tide! That's a lot of freshwater.

Striped bass are incredibly tolerant of turbid water and suspended sediment. Their gill structure allows them to patrol the surf zone with comfort in that area that deposits sand into the liner of your bathing suit. They can also rapidly adjust to changes in salinity by regulating osmotic transfer across cell walls (bring you back to senior year biology?) at a pace that is impressive. There are still plenty of striped bass in and around the River, but if you notice that things are "off" or different than the last time you were out a few days ago, you have my guess as to why.

The good news is that we've seen these changes in conditions plenty of times in past seasons (most often in June) and with some drier days, will be back at it on the flats with happy fish and good visibility. If you're planning to fish, go fish. There are stripers here to be caught and in some spots at certain tides it will be Game On! But have a change in game plan in your back pocket. If what usually produces for you isn't, mix it up. Try something or somewhere different. Every trip out is a chance to learn and the opportunities to do so are truly unlimited. 

Fish more,

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

Striper Fishing With A Fly - Kennebec Conditions Are Good, Not Great, But Getting Better

I started a post at 2:45 Wednesday morning that led with my disappointment that fishing wasn't fabulous, as my expectations for the Kennebec at the end of June and first week of July are extremely high. But then I remembered that I wanted to make Ottolenghi's Avocado Toast for our trip this morning and I needed to be at Frosty's by 4:00 am to meet Fritz for his inaugural Kennebec trip of 2019. I was going to write that striper fishing overall in the Kennebec is good, not great, but that fish over 30 inches weren't yet showing themselves (to us, of course) on the flats, and that the water is still stained from a ton of runoff and high releases upcountry, and that the fish just weren't consistently waking, or pushing water, under near perfect weather conditions. We've had good outings casting to breaking fish, but that just isn't quite the same as sightcasting, which had only been ok. Well, that all changed this morning. What an outing.

One day does not make a trend or pattern, but I am brimming with optimism tonight. After working moving water past structure from 4:30 to 6:00 with almost constant hook-ups, we found hoards of striped bass pushing water in wicked shallow water and they were cooperative. We also "jumped" a few much larger bass on a flooding mudflat and even though we didn't connect on their attempt to eat, we were buoyed. Water releases upriver are starting to trend towards more normal levels, forecast is good, and bigger stripers are filling in daily.

Here are a couple of quick suggestions for fly anglers:

1. Get on the water early. Earlier than that, even. 
2. Fish big herring flies in fast water around structure but go small on the flats once the sun is pretty bright on the water. If you're in feeding fish and are thinking "Jeezum, I should be hooking up more often", go even smaller.
3. There are groups of striped bass that are settling into a summer pattern, showing up on deeper ledges that are holding herring at particular stages of the tide. You'll see a collection of boats, most drifting bait, and gulls (not terns) overhead. You may find some active fish in the water column, even coming up to the surface at times. You can try to work the same water with a 400 to 500 grain integrated shooting head and big herring fly that sinks well. But that's not your only option. Work adjacent structure and shallows, especially if the light is reasonably low, even if it is a little before or after the "big bite" is going off. See suggestion #1 above.
4. Back to shallow water - f you're seeing fishing under bright sun follow then turn away from your fly, pull out the flash from your pattern or switch to a more muted color.
5. Most importantly, go fish. Just get out there. 

I have many more thoughts to share but I'm beat from a long string of early alarms and lots of sun and have more of both ahead of me. My next open date is Wednesday, July 10. Let me know if you'd like to get out on the water.

Remember, fish more.

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

207-522-9900

[email protected]

Fishing Is Funny

I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe the change in the fishing in the Kennebec River and keep coming up with conflicting thoughts. This week has been incredible and disappointing. I’ve noticed a distinct difference from last week, when there were lots of active feeds all over the River and we were all raving about the great fishing. Where I’ve been, that has changed and not for the better but on the flats, wow...and come on fish. We’re seeing a lot of bass from 18 inch micro stripers to 40 inch cow bass in water from 6 feet to 12 inches deep. A lot. Sometimes they are hungry and aggressive and cooperative. Sometimes they are incredibly fussy. Early mornings on the coming tide have been generally slow for bigger fish. They just haven’t been waking much and thus sightcasting to them is really tough. You get a swirl, and a short push of water, and often a refusal, then nada for a while. Late morning to early afternoon, under bright sun, the larger bass have been much more cooperative and accommodating. Funny, this fishing.

The morning tide has been weak and I am sure that makes a difference, not in our favor. If you’re planning a striper trip far in advance, you’d be well served to target dates when the tides are at or above normal. In the Kennebec, an 8 foot high tide (or less, as measured at Fort Popham) can be challenging. 

My general approach is to start the morning with a spun deer hair slider in a dark color if we’re fishing on a darker bottom flat up in the marshes. The fish are usually “up” in the water column, at least when we can target individual bass or pods. These flies push some water and often illicit vengeful strikes. Once we shift to more traditional “sightcasting” over light colored bottom flats, the trick is to figure out if the fish are looking up or down. If down, it is time for shrimp, crab, or something that combines attributes of both. If they are looking up, we switch to baitfish patterns, sometimes small sand eel imitations and other times larger hollow flyes. You can get some important clues from the way the stripers break the surface when they feed, but we also rely on what worked yesterday on that flat and then changing fly pattern after two refusals on really good shots.

Part of what makes fishing funny is the mix of predictable fish behavior and the ever-changing reaction, location, travel, feeding patterns, of these game fish. Use what you learned last time out, but don’t get stuck in a rut. Be ready to add a lot of tippet as you try fly after fly. While I believe presentation trumps all, getting to watch the reaction of bass after bass after bass leaves me with zero doubt that on some days finding the right fly is key.

As for hardware chucking (which by the way, I’m proud to admit to doing) the standouts in shallow water continue to be the Albie Snax from Fish Snax Lures, the Zipster spook from Lonely Angler, and the small RonZ’s. I’m sure that the Hogy Skinny’s would be well received along with other small plastics. Don’t ignore creature baits if you are fishing the green water rolling off ledges. That largemouth bait also takes big, big stripers in shallow water close to the ocean at times. I haven’t recently tied on any of the small buck tails that I tie up, but maybe we’ll test them tomorrow. 

Tides here in midcoast Maine are improving. Fish whenever you can. Even if it doesn’t turn out to be the day that you will recall for years to come, you will learn more. Wear long pants, as the greenheads are just stating to show up. They aren’t out in force yet, but it will only be a matter of days. 

I’m booked rest of this week and headed back to the Vineyard for another long weekend of trips there but may have the 21st and 22nd open if you want to get out to chase striped bass here in Maine. 

Fish more,

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

[email protected]

207-522-9900

Should I Stay or Should I Go — Leaving Fish to Find Fish

After three incredible weeks fishing Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and surrounding waters it was wonderful to run down the Kennebec River yesterday morning just after 4:00 am with Fritz Folts, cruising past water loaded with flipping herring and then to be greeted by breaking fish and diving gulls at our first stop. There were individual bass chasing herring up onto a small mud flat and pods of stripers coming up in the middle of the channel and a few fish popping right tight to shore and plenty more revealing themselves on the sounder screen. You know when there are six herons in a span of shore 40 yards long fighting over the best fishing spot with herring gulls, black backs, turns and bald eagles diving from overhead there’s some bait in the area. The mission was to catch fish on the surface with the spook and we found success...but, we weren’t finding fish bigger than about 25 inches. After a short discussion, we made the decision to leave fish.

We could have taken the “quantity” approach, catching as many fish as possible and hoping that a few would end up being larger bass. We did spend a little time fishing adjacent structure instead of the small pods of busting bass, but that strategy wasn’t producing what we wanted. With zero wind and the sun still low in the sky and a southwest flow forecast for the day, conditions were ideal for fishing some shallow water, targeting waking fish. If you’re swallowing noseeums with bites of your Frosty’s donuts (they open at 4:00 am!), then you should be focused on shallow water fish.

We ran to a flat that often holds large stripers. As we were slowly working our way up into the middle of the cove, we could see fish pushing water ahead of us in a couple of different locations. We were about two and half hours into the dropping tide in two feet or so of water and the clock was against us. First pod to approach gave Fritz a perfect head on shot and he made the cast. The fish in the group immediately showed interest in the spook and as one tried to eat it I got a good look at how large it was. With great presence of mind, Fritz calmly twitched and paused the lure, like he was toying with the twenty sixth 18 inch schoolie of the morning. He played it perfectly, keepin these fish interested and competitive, but also giving them a chance to line themselves up for the eat. It’s not always easy for a larger fish in shallow water to grab a surface plug on the first try. Not far off the bow we both watched a big, white mouth open and inhale the zipster after another fish of similar size missed it. The hook stuck and the striper took off. After a well executed fight, Fritz lifted his rod to bring the leader to my hand. I realized that this fish would be a two-hander. Elated, we quickly snapped a few photos and Fritz returned the feisty bass to the water.

Some people swear by the adage of not leaving fish to find fish. We however, left for good reasons, and it payed off. Part of our decision making was based upon how we most wanted to fish, what would bring the greatest reward if we were successful, and the pretty ideal conditions for doing so. 

I hope you get a chance to enjoy this incredible fishery. If you want to get out on the water, send me an email ([email protected]) or give me a call at 207-522-9900. I do have a couple of openings coming up before my next trip south.

Fish more,

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

Prime Time for Flats Fishing Stripers in Maine

If you love to chase striped bass in shallow water, get out there NOW. This stretch of hot weather has not deterred the fish from moving up onto the sand and mud flats of Midcoast Maine. There will of course be times when the fish are more fussy, but for the most part, they have been very willing to oblige with an eat if you make a good presentation and offer them the right treat. We've had a lot of windless mornings, and the bass have been happy to show themselves with their tell tale V-wakes. Late morning through early afternoon, no wind allows us to see into their world and spot the fish cruising lighter colored bottom. I'm not seeing stripers over 30 inches yet, but have been getting reports of some bigger fish showing up in Southern Maine and around Portland.

I blew off cutting our overgrown lawn last evening to get out myself for a couple of hours either side of sunset, and I'm so thankful that I made the right decision. Between 6:30 and 7:30 I landed ten or more fish, all between 24 and 28 inches, out of two feet of water, in one of the most gorgeous places on the coast of Maine. I have another full day of teaching fly casting ahead of me and then have to get on a plane to Michigan for three days (this trip is killing me!) so I needed  a fix to sustain me through the coming week. I'll update with more details and suggestions from the Detroit airport.

Oh...and I received word (via Littleton, CO) that the bluefish were tearing up the pogies in Maquoit Bay yesterday.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

Strong Striper Fishing Continues on the Kennebec River Here in Maine

Let Me Help You Become A Better Striped Bass Angler

There are plenty of stripers in the Kennebec right now and they continue to eat well. We've had some really, really good trips and some outings that qualify as solid but not spectacular (in terms of catching). If you're thinking we've hit the "dog days of summer" in terms of striper fishing, hold off on that assumption. The warmer weather has provided us with some foggy mornings and still evenings; fishy conditions for sure.

There are stripers available to you, no matter how you like to fish. Is sight casting to big bass on a sandy flat what gets you out of bed well before dawn? Well the water is gin clear in and around the mouth of the river and the bass are roaming the shallows on almost all of the flats within 2 miles of Popham Beach. Prefer chucking a crease fly with your 9 weight rod? Get after them in the shallow water early and late in the day when the light is low and you can be rewarded. You a top water junky? Fish the strong moving water on the outgoing tide around ledges, edges, and other structure and you can watch the surface show that is so much fun. If drifting deeper structure is your game, a lot of the traditional summer hot spots closer to Bath, especially from BIW down to Lee Island, are loaded with herring and can produce fish after fish on every drift once you find the stripers.

At some point, we'll find the fish more fussy in the shallow water and less likely to smack a fly striped slowly in the surface film or hopped across the bottom, but if you can go now, do it. Remember that not every day is great. Even when the timing and strength of the tide seems to be perfect for the way you want to fish, there is variation in how cooperative the other party will be. If you have a trip that is underwhelming, don't jump to the conclusion that "the stripers aren't running" or "the water's too warm and the bass must have moved out of the River". Resolve to get up early again or slip out of work in time to launch for the last hours of daylight. If you can choose your days, a foggy or overcast morning or evening is ideal.

If you want to know more about how to find striped bass on your own, you can accelerate your learning by hiring a guide. My favorite striper charters are ones where my anglers are curious about why we are fishing in a particular spot and why we passed up other water that looked so good. I'd love to share with you what I know about striped bass and help you become a better striper angler. Give me a call or send me an email if you're interested in a striped bass charter when you're here in Maine.

Fish more,

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

207-522-9900

[email protected]

More Fun on the Flats

The greenheads are out in force, which in addition to wearing long pants all day, means that the stripers should be up on the flats in good numbers. Some of the most consistant sight casting of the entire summer often happens right here in the first half of July. A stable, southwest flow coupled with high overhead sun makes me feel like I'm in Florida...sneaking around in two feet of water, changing flies to see what the fish want, kneeling on the bow of the boat to minimize profile, wiping sweat from around the eyes, mouth dry with excitement as 40 inch bass track the fly. It is all so much fun I can't stand it. I spend all day doing it and just want more. Three times this week the breeze started to wrinkle the surface of the water just as the light got bright enough to spot the fish, not just the wakes, fins and tails and then, it just died right off again. 11:00 AM and the water was unblemished. So lucky.

A cloudy or foggy morning right about now would go over well with me. The stripers are super fussy and a little fog would help the early morning bite. The timing of the tide has also been a bit funky. The fish aren't very active when the water isn't moving, even at 4:30 AM. The neap tides do slow everything down, keeping the bass up on the flats longer, giving us more time to try to figure them out.

The forecast through the weekend is good, although it looks like the breeze will kick up each morning and may not settle until right at sunset. The Kennebec is still brimming with bait of all kind. I've heard rumors of bluefish of Seguin and Small Point but haven't been able to confirm them with anyone who I know well. Hope you get a chance to get on the water and enjoy the amazing sight casting opportunity we have right here in Maine.

 

Capt. Peter Fallon

 

Skinny water game on

What a fun day. Started up on one of my all time favorite flats at first light. The stripers were amazingly fussy. They were grouped up into schools that were too large. Drop the fly just a little too close to the pack and vooooom, the entire group erupts and scoots. I much prefer chasing pods of four, six , ten fish, where there is enough competition to encourage eats but not this skittish behavior. I was surprised at how almost all of the bass on this flat were in schools of twenty, thirty, fifty fish. It was very demanding, very cool and very satisfying.

As the tide dropped out of this bay there was one pack of striped bass that packed themselves so tightly together and roamed making tight circles as they went. The sun was high enough that they looked like a large patch of weed on the bottom from a distance, just a black glob. They were exposing fins on the surface, swirling, cavorting but not eating.

I picked up Sarah at 10:30 and ran back to a spot were I had fished at the end of the dropping tide. There were waking fish for a while as late at 9:00 which was a treat. On this flat the water was still murkey enough that unless the fish were pushing water, there was little chance to see them until right on top of them. I did spook one huge fish. This striper was over 40 inches. It had broad shoulders and a huge light colored tail. Under bright sun a few of the fish started to pop bait right on the edge of the still ebbing current. It was a nice way to finish the morning.

Well, the real finish to the morning was running out past Reid State Park to Five Islands for lunch.

There was more from today that I'll share tomorrow but its late and the alarm is set for early.

Capt. Peter Fallon

 

Fishing Fourth of July Week

I'm curious to see what the striper fishing holds for us this week. The weather forecast is pretty favorable, with a steady south to southwest flow. After what's seemed like a month of always changing weather, some stability might help bring some consistency to the striper fishing here in midcoast Maine.

I'd love to see some foggy mornings buy us a bit more time before the light hits the shallow water. You've got to be up awfully early this time of year to fill the thermos, load the cooler, launch the boat, get the sports squared away and get to the first fishing spot before the sun is peaking over the tree tops. But the early alarm is worth it. The fish really do behave differently in that period of low light when you can see the wakes and swirls and get close to the bass before they scoot away from the boat or your cast.

The water in the Kennebec River is still dirty. If you've read any previous posts here, you know that's been a constant refrain this season. I'll stop right there.

The strong tides and full moon are a mixed blessing. We will have good water movement which helps when fishing around structure and the edges of the flats after the fish have moved out of the shallows but that period when the flats just start to fill in goes by so quickly. A spot that would often be worth poling for two hours will only keep us in place for half that time.

The other downside is the moon itself. I have logs that show some epic outings on the two days/nights either side of the full moon, but most entries are about disappointment. The striped bass can get funny and that doesn't equate to fun.

There will be a lot more boat traffic this week anywhere you hit the water or beach. Be mindful of others, expect the same in return but be prepared for everything. 

Capt. Peter Fallon

Mainestripers.com

Back on the Water

Finally. After a long winter and spring, I've been able to get out on the water recently. Hard to fathom that it is already the middle of July. Wow. Here are some notes from my past few days on the Kennebec.

There are fish around. In what amounts to a very limited sample size, my survey says a little better than last year but really quite similar. I did manage to get out twice in mid-June and had fabulous fishing, but that was a month ago and the stripers have changed their patterns to more typical summer behavior.

In speaking with a number of other captains, I hear some folks talk about finding more fish than this time last season and others talk about it being about the same in terms of numbers caught per charter. Everyone agrees that there are more "schoolies" around, striped bass ranging from 16 to 20 inches. There are also bigger fish around, 36 to 46 inches long, as there were last season.

The water is cooler than last summer. Our spring and early summer warm up in 2010 was historic. River temps at the end of May were almost 70 degrees near Bath. The lobsters crawled inshore well ahead of schedule. Absolutely unlike the prior year. I need to look at notes from past logs to judge water temps right now, but my gut tells me that the readings I found were much more "normal".

The water is murky, even out at Small Point. I haven't check river flow data upcountry, but they must still be releasing a lot of water. The visibility is ok under bright sun on the lighter bottomed flats, but as soon as the wind ruffles the surface or you get a little deeper the fish get much harder to spot.

There is no shortage of bait in and around the Kennebec. There are schools of herring up inside the river, mackerel just off the mouth in either direction, shrimp on the mudflats and along the marsh banks and a ton of very small bait on the sand flats. I haven't netted any of this "rain bait", so I can't tell exactly what it is, but a small, sparse Clouser will be a good imitation. I also found gulls diving on a number of upriver mudflats three days in a row, picking up worms off the surface, but saw no indication that the striped bass were focused in on the same meal.

The insect population is healthy. The salt marsh mosquitoes aren't on anyone's threatened list and in places the noseeums warrant a mask over nose and mouth. It's also greenhead time, so for the next couple of weeks, wearing long pants and socks will keep you from doing the dreaded dance and limit your vulgar outbursts to times when you blow a cast on the perfect opportunity. Just remember that on the predawn mornings when the bugs at the launch ramp are awful, you're more likely to find happy fish cruising just under the surface, swirling to sip shrimp and hopefully, your fly.

The area that we fish is gorgeous. Stunning. Spectacular. I think I do a good job of noticing what a beautiful place this is every time I'm out and I don't take it for granted...but after too long away from the water I found myself marveling at this scenery again and again.

My ski injury is still quite limiting and although I'm not yet able to guide clients I can connect you with a guide who will take great care of you. Gordon has some openings in his schedule. If he isn't available, I work with a number of experienced, talented captains all along the coast and can help you find the "right fit" for your fishing trip. Send me an email or give me a call and get out on the water.

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

www.MaineStripers.com

207-522-9900

Thought I'd share my reply to an angler's questions about finding striped bass around the Sheepscot River and Back River up around Edgecomb. He was wondering about general suggestion for where to target fish, how important it is to add a fishfinder to his 16 foot skiff and how to find out about salinity levels in the rivers.

Rich - I have a couple of suggestions for you that might help.

How do you like to fish? Favor the fly rod or chucking spinning gear or drifting bait? If you are most interested in catching stripers on the fly then right now I'd concentrate my efforts on the shallow coves that abound in your area. They are all mud bottom, so you won't have great "sighting conditions" most days in terms of seeing fish. You will see them, though usually very close to the boat making for a tough presentation, and that can help you learn their patterns. What you really want to watch for is signs of fish - v-wakes, swirls, nervous water, fins, pushes of water. If you see anything on the surface that doesn't fit the general pattern of wind or current, assume it is fish until you learn otherwise.

Get out early and late. You want to be on a flat just before you can make out these signs on the water or squinting in the settling darkness to discern that tell-tail sign of fish. Target overcast or foggy days when the wind is calm and your time frame for seeing fish signs will be extended later into the morning or start earlier in the evening.

For this type of work, a simple pole (think canoe type pole) would help you push that skiff around quietly. A stern mounted trolling motor would be a better investment than a fishfinder if you end up liking the shallow water game.

Low incoming tide around first or last light is an excellent time to learn new areas. Second choice would be two hours before high or an hour or so after high, again, during periods of low light. At low water work the edges of the flats in just enough water to float your skiff. At high water cruise the edges of the marsh banks, over flooded grass and right against the ledges.

There are a pile of flats all within a mile of the Route 1 bridge that can hold fish.

Don't worry about salinity. There are random acts of bluefish violence all the way up the Kennebec above Bath and there's a lot more fresh water over there. There are very few of them around right now anyway, so you will be targetting stripers for the time being.

The deeper, faster moving water fishing will pick up once the juvie alewives start moving down river in good numbers. I was on fish yesterday AM from 4 to 5:30 that would occasionally come to the surface to smack herring, but even in these instances we did better going down to hook these fish.

Good luck and have fun exploring. If it was ten years ago when you were slaying fish around the reversing falls, the game has changed significantly, at least in the way that I approach it. The "old spots" and "old techniques" still work, but if that is the only way you think about finding fish, you'll have too many fishless outing. You just might find that catching two chunky fish that you "see" in two feet of water, requiring good stalking skills and the perfect cast, can be wicked satisfying.

Capt. Peter Fallon

www.MaineStripers.com

Maine Striper Fishing: Reminders That "Catch And Release" Doesn't Always Succeed

Waiting for everyone to wake up and get going on this foggy morning I've been sending updates to friends on where we found tuna yesterday, what we saw for bait and birds and suggestions on tactics for today. Many of the bluefin were small fish, much smaller that the mediums that we found back in June on my last trip in Cape Cod Bay. Current regulations on tuna harvest will require release of most of the fish caught out there today. Successfully releasing a bluefin tuna after a brutal battle is always challenging and risky. With the smaller fish we have the option to keep it and a better chance to land it quickly. We really don't know much about survivability of these fish.

Striped bass are generally rugged fish. They often are ready to swim away as soon as we land them. A lot of us work to limit mortality in the bass that we catch by trying to land them promptly, crimping barbs, employing circle hooks, supporting the belly of a big fish and taking photos quickly. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we don't contribute to striped bass mortality when we release the fish that we catch.

My niece Claire and I spent time this morning looking at photos from my last bird hunting trip to North Dakota. Lot's of images of a happy but tired dog, sunsets, wheat stubble, abandoned school houses and of course...dead birds...in the mouth of the dog, on the tailgate of the truck, on top of my vest next to the 16 gauge, on the grill in the motel parking lot. For a nine year old from San Francisco, the fact that the birds are dead stands out.

Claire and I also quickly scrolled through a ton of summer photos that included umpteen shots of clients holding fish, stripers in the water, reviving another bass. There aren't any images of a fish on ice, or cleaning the fish at home or a striped bass on the grill. It is logical for her to assume that we don't kill any stripers. She is only nine. How often do we fall into the same trap?

Fishing is still a blood sport, even when we release everything that we catch. Some percentage of all of the fish that we hook, in any fishery, will perish. Our impact upon the fishery is greater than most of us usually acknowledge. One significant challenge for fisheries managers is to quantify catch and release mortality.  There is decent data from a number of studies done in freshwater ecosystems, more limited statistics in saltwater settings, but we know much more than we did twenty years ago. Here's a great, readable article that summarizes a number of release mortality studies. Limiting physical injury as a result of hooking and limiting physiological stress on the fish that we catch when we fight, handle and release them are the two variables over which we have the most control.

If you're interested in reading more, here's a report on studies done in Maryland on striped bass catch and release success and here's a general article with good suggestions and thoughts from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 

I had three recent disappointing experiences with nice stripers that we caught in the Kennebec River. We decided to tag a fish that was over the slot limit. I inserted the tag needle too low on the fishes back an nicked an artery or vein. The fish bled significantly, something I'd never experience in all of the stripers that I've tagged in Maine and Massachusetts. We quickly got the bass back into the water. The blood rapidly clotted at the tag entry site and the fish swam away with vigor. Three days later I entered Morse Cove at the end of a charter and found the same fish floating dead on the surface. I was pissed at myself the rest of the day and am still bothered by my mistake.

The same day that I killed the fish in the process of tagging it, we had trouble reviving a fat 29 inch striper. There was nothing remarkably different about the fight - it didn't seem longer than usual, there where no seal attacks, the hook was in the upper mouth and easy to remove. This bass just wouldn't right itself while we were reviving it. We probably spent 15 minutes holding the fish along side the boat, working to get it strong enough to release. Eventually, it's mouth clamped down on my thumb and its tail swooshed as it turned away, but I can't say that I'm confidant that bass survived.

Only three days later we caught two fish that came to the boat missing chunks of their tails. Seals. We would see the gray shapes zooming after the bass as we desperately tried to yank the fish into the safety of the cockpit. We ended up leaving this spot that held plenty of stripers because we didn't want to continue to subject them to the predation of the seals.

I know that I'll be paying close attention to how we handle fish that we catch. I hope that as we contemplate and debate rules and regulation, management strategies and population studies, we recognize our contribution to mortality even if we practice 100% catch and release. I'm still going to chase the tuna and do my best to limit the number that I kill, but I'll do so wondering if I'm being hypocritical.

Capt. Peter Fallon

www.MaineStripers.com

Maine Striper Fishing: Way too long since last post

Maine striper charter season is in full swing here on the Kennebec River and Casco Bay. This is the time of year when we get lots of inquiries from folks looking "to go fishing today or tomorrow".  If you call or email us and we are booked, we'll work to set you up with another guide who will take great care of you and your kids, who is on the water all the time and who will work hard to put you onto fish.

I've been very busy the past couple of weeks. My wife talks to me via messages on Facebook, I spend quality time with the dog at 2:30 AM and I haven't been good about updating the fishing reports page.

The fishing really picked up about ten days ago. I'm struck by how little we really know about our fish, their habits and our reasons for success or failure to catch them. The increased activity coincided with much stronger tides. Many of us who are on the water every day remarked that we seemed to have more stripers around, not just more cooperative fish. Did they come down the Kennebec, pushed by warmer waters? Did they come in from offshore? Are these some of the bass that friends to our south were telling me about? Were they here the weeks prior but just not in the places where we were looking? Ask around and you'll hear lots of opinions but few statements that would survive rigorous peer review. Doesn't mean that they are wrong, just that we can't really judge validity.

The deep water ledges and holes continue to produce catches of nice sized stripers, even in water where the surface temps are approaching 79 degrees. There herring are holding the bass in place and on a number of days time of day has been less important that time of tide. Each spot tends to fish better on a particular phase of either the coming or going tide, but the only rules are the ones that we impose on ourselves. Make three to six good drifts and move if you aren't finding the fish. Don't count on marking them, but do pay attention to bait showing on your sonar.

I've had some excellent times on the flats and other times when the fish were there, en mass, but giving us the finger. They can be fussy, maddening and mysterious. They can be finicky and coaxed to eat by the perfect presentation. They can be aggressive and feeding with wild abandon. Put your time in and you will see all of the above.

I am confident that most of the time, we will be more successful when the light is low - early morning, in the fog, cloudy days, dusk. We can't see as well into the water, but we're more likely to find fish waking and swirling, especially in small groups as opposed to the single cruising fish that just don't eat as often.

Presentation does matter. A lot. Often times, a cast that is close to being on target amounts to nothing more than casting practice. When the fish are grouped up into pods of five to ten fish, meandering, slowly working the bottom, swirling on small bait we stand a much better chance of getting a bite. When the stripers are making tracks, swimming in straight lines at a good clip, the presentation has to be perfect to have a chance at an eat.

Stronger tides in the evening and a fairly weak tide in the morning has produced better action around dusk the past two days. Cause and effect....? Given the way I wrote that sentence, I seem to believe so, but my sample size is pretty small. I'd love to hear more reports from those of you who are fishing this week. Any correlation in your findings?

I'm fishing Cape Cod Bay the next three days. I'll try to post more thoughts that have been rattling around in my sleep deprived brain for the past two weeks so check back over the coming days.

Capt. Peter Fallon

www.MaineStripers.com

Maine Striper Fishing: Lining It All Up

A string of weak tides and bright days have made the striper fishing on the Kennebec and New Meadows challenging at times, but challenging can be fun when you spot that feeding bass, pole up on it, cast and watch him track the fly...or streak away in abject terror. When we've had conditions all line up right, we've enjoyed some excellent, technical fishing. Low light, no wind, moving water, happy fish leads to happy us.

We've had some outings when bright light mid-day with little breeze gave us great sightcasting conditions. As is always the case in shallow water striper fishing, some of the flats we poled held lots of cruising fish with little interest in eating while other spots held bass grubbing on the bottom or ganging up on very small baitfish and shrimp.

Tuesday morning we were underway just after 3:00 AM, excited about a little bit of cloud cover, running to a flat that has held a school of nice sized fish, counting our proverbial chickens. Yup. Tough morning. We just weren't finding the numbers of fish that we had been seeing in previous days. We were dedicated to catching stripers in the shallow water and we covered a lot of ground between 3:00 and 10:00. Our most exciting shots came at about 9:00 to large groups of bass, milling in tight circles, reminding us a bit of tarpon. These bigger groups (15 to 40 fish) are tough targets. It's so easy to spook one fish and have them all scoot. We landed two fish all morning, both just over the slot limit. Although we held higher hopes, we loved our good opportunities.

Our afternoon trip yesterday wasn't easy. The wind just wouldn't lay down. We worked a number of flats all over the place with few signs. We finally found a load of bass up on one mud flat that we're feeding well and willing to eat. The guys I had on the boat couldn't fish past 7:30 PM and stay married. Of course the fog rolled up the river right as well hauled out and by 7:39 the wind died and the water was glass. I could see fish swirling on the flats as I pulled into my driveway and yes, I was cursing.

The late incoming tide in the afternoon/evening has been a consistent producer in the deeper water where the herring are holding. Some of the guides focusing on strong currents around structure have also done well either very early in the morning or once the outgoing tide has picked up steam. Better (stronger) tides are in our near future. Just got a text about some very big stripers being caught off the northeast shore of Massachusetts. Talked to a friend two days ago who stalked a school of wow sized stripers along a beach south of Portland last weekend. Let's go get 'em.

Capt. Peter Fallon

www.MaineStripers.com

Got to trade places with my angler two mornings ago - him on the poling platform and me on the bow. Fritz Folts put me onto this nice 35 inch fish. It ate a fly based on Tim Borski's Bonefish Slider. Very nice fight in three feet of water. Wicked fun. Thanks Fritz.

This stable weather pattern is good for coastal tourism and good for striper fishing. We've enjoyed some excellent flats fishing EARLY in the morning and again in the evening. I'm talking off the dock before 4 AM early. We've also found some fish willing to eat on the afternoon rising tide but we've also had some stretches where it's tough sledding for a couple of hours after the sun gets up over the trees or before the shadows get long in the afternoon.

Guys fishing live macs and herring over deeper structure are doing very well in the Kennebec right now. The stripers are keyed into the herring in the fast water and a variety of small stuff in the shallows. Get out your bonefish and permit fly boxes and go have fun.

Capt. Peter Fallon

www.MaineStripers.com

Sluggos on the ledges...Maine Striper Fishing Update

No trip yesterday and too nice to not to be on the water so my wife and I went exploring and relaxing in Casco Bay. We didn't fish hard. My next charter isn't until Tuesday and it is back in the Kennebec, so I've got Monday to work to find fish. We stopped at Holbrook's Lobster Wharf for lunch, anchored in the lee of Ragged Island to read the Sunday paper and swim and worked a number of the islands and outcroppings looking for stripers.

There are plenty of pollack off the ledges. With the mackerel much more scattered, the pollack are the easiest live bait to find right now. I didn't put a circle hook through any yesterday, but the swell rolling up onto the islands was too tempting to pass up so I spent some time tossing Sluggos into the whitewater.

I tend to start with a white 7 1/2 inch Sluggo rigged with a tru turn baitholder and a 5/0 60 or 90 jig hook. I'll wrap solder around the shank of the hook and sometimes add Lunker City insert weights towards the tail of the Sluggo. If I have two anglers fishing Sluggos, I'll mix up the color to see if something else will out-fish the white. I keep a supply of 7 1/2 inch white, black, alewife, Arkansas shiner and bubblegum colors on the boat. Lately I've been experimenting with limetruse and the new squid colors. I find myself using the 7 1/2 inch size in place of the 6's almost all of the time. I like the 9's when I'm targeting bigger fish as opposed to prospecting for fish.

Yesterday afternoon some of the fish hit just as the Sluggo started to sink into the green, foaming water. Others whacked it after letting it drop with no retrieve. All of the fish that I caught where tight to the ledges. There was enough of a breeze that I often couldn't see if the fish were following it off the rocks but not taking it. By 6:30 PM I was finding fish that would chase the Sluggo as I twitched it right across the surface of the water.

After a week of mostly fishing deep (1 oz or more jigs or 450 grain lines with a cement Clouser) it was nice to be back working visible structure and whitewater.

Quick Update

We got off to a good start this week with some fish over slot size eating large herring grocery flies and megamushies. There seemed to be a push of fresh juvie herring into the lower Kennebec at the end of last week. The surface blitzes have been decreasing since last Friday, but we are still occasionally finding busting stripers down around the mouth of the river.

At times these surface feeding fish have been fussy. One morning we spent an hour on a pod of schoolies, changing flies and presentations on every drift. We were picking up fish, but not at the rate we expected. I wondered if there was tiny bait mixed in with the 3 inch herring? Where's my mask and snorkel when I need it? The most consistent pattern was an variation of an Eldridge Brothers Guitar Minnow fished on a 400 grain line.

The most predictable fish activity that I've found has been on the evening incoming tide, while the bulk of the bigger fish have come towards the bottom of the dropping tide. There are still plenty of the small herring spread throughout the Kennebec. We also found fish puking up 1/2 inch diameter tan crabs and tiny orange shrimp. The water is clearing up nicely and the sight fishing on the flats and beaches should improve.

Week of July 4th

Here's a run down on Kennebec River saltwater fishing conditions this past week. The striper action has seemed more consistent and predictable, with the exception of Monday the 3rd. We experienced a significant change in weather between Sunday and Monday. I don't know if this put the fish off, but on Monday they seemed more spread out, less competitive and glued to structure. We are seeing more slot sized fish, but the bigger fish are still scarce.

We've been keying in on the schools of herring that are spread throughout the Kennebec watershed. In some locations, this important bass bait has been set up on the same structure for days. The bite is predictable and we love predictable. These brit herring are juvenile Atlantic Herring that have moved  inshore from the Gulf of Maine, feeding in fertile waters before returning to deeper offshore water in the fall. We've are seeing herring as small as two inches and as large as five inches. Herring and black back gulls, herrons and osprey can offer easy keys of where to fish, however, in the majority of the locations holding large schools of bass there may be no bird activity, no fleeing bait, no swirling stripers.

The striped bass have not been especially selective when they are feeding on the brit herring. At many times the fish are holding tight to the bottom, clustered around ledges, humps, bars and drop offs. Getting your fly or lure down to the fish is often the key to success, especially as the current slows and/or any surface action diminishes. Megamushies, grocery patterns, juvie herring, full dressed conomo specials and guitar minnows and other half and half flies have all fished well. Use a sinking line and pay attention to boat movement and current to get your fly to sink, sink, sink. Jig heads with soft plastics and Storm wild eye shad (5 and 6 inch) have been the workhorse lures, but I always have a couple of rods rigged with sluggos and rattle traps. Braided line is the way to go.

Out around the mouth of the rivers, the beaches and points there are lots of small sand eels and some schools of small, deeper bodied baitfish that I haven't yet identified. The mackerel have been spotty at the mouth of the Kennebec. The pollack are on the ledges and around the kelp beds. We've found some nice fish in the whitewater but we've also had some slow times prospecting for bigger bass.

We've also found smaller schoolies feeding on tiny, orange shrimp. At times stripers feeding on very small bait can get selective but these fish have hit every fly that we've thrown at them. As a general rule, the blitzing fish will hit throughout the water column. When the surface action diminishes for a few minutes, put down your floating line or popper and fish subsurface. Nothing beats catching big fish, but I'll admit that hammering the schoolies on a 5 weight rod is fun.

Capt. Peter Fallon
www.mainestripers.com