Maine Saltwater Fishing Reports

7 Reasons Why I'm Having A Blast Tying Flies This Winter

It's a stunningly gorgeous March morning here in Phippsburg, with fresh, fluffy snow in the trees undisturbed by any breeze and a brilliantly bright blue sky. It's the kind of morning where you (or at least I) feel like I can get anything and everything done on my list even though rational analysis says otherwise. Doing dishes this morning (yeah, we often leave 'em 'till the a.m. - no kids to judge us) I was struck by how much fun I've been having tying flies this winter. I've been cranking out patterns for albie season on the Cape and North Carolina and restocking boxes for striper charters and NEED to get busy on bonefish and permit patterns for my Soul Fly Lodge group in April. Moving from plates to cast iron pans I contemplated why I've been enjoying this winter's tying so much and here's what I came up with...

1.  I've been making the effort to get together with friends to tie and just loving it. Some outings are more productive than others in terms of quantity of flies produced (and volume of delicious beer consumed) but it is always energizing and I love picking up ideas from others. Thanks Matt Bickford of Maine Striper Adventures for getting us together on a regular basis. Who knew about using channel lead to weight flies? Brilliant Ben Whalley! (Helps to turn over the hook but distributes the weight along length of the shank but not top of the shank - getting a different sinking motion and eliminates the drawbacks that come with lead eyes). Not only am I tying up a hand-full of your Best Bet Fly patterns but I'm incorporating channel lead into some bonefish flies that will eliminate the need for the bead chain eyes when going all stealth-mode. Conversations with these guys about striper conservation, promoting more involvement in advocacy, and of course the usual fish-talk is thought provoking and motivating, so thanks also to Rich Pschirrer of Up 'n At Em! Guide Service, Patrick Rudman of Old Maine Outfitters, Josh Geib of I Just Catch a Shitload of Fish, and Todd Bickford - the quietest and best angler of the group. Come on Craig Uecker - make that schedule work so we can learn more about tube flies!

2.  I've been committed to keeping a (mostly) clean and neat tying station. In the boat I'm a stickler for everything having a place and everything in its place but my tying table is too often a victim of the double whammy of entropy and tier's-ADHD. At it's worse, the chaos extends to the side table, and the floor behind my chair, and the tops of my storage bins. I have no doubts that I'll fall prey to this blight once the guiding season starts up again but for now I'm (usually) being diligent and disciplined in cleaning shit up and only having materials out for the specific pattern I'm tying.

3.  I'm also doing better at maintaining a production tying approach and this helps immensely with the effort to stay organized. More importantly, I tie better flies when I repeat same pattern right down to size of hook and type of flash over and over again. Being pleased with the results keeps me motivated. Repetition breeds efficiency. Full fly boxes gives me peace. It soooo easy for me to craft one fly and then think "what if I added this material...?" and pretty soon I'm six flies deep and each one is different. I've been prioritizing needs over wants, proven patterns over the ever tempting great experiments and loving the satisfaction that can come from discipline in tying.

4.  Eldredge Brothers Fly Shop resumed in-person tying classes and while I wasn't smart enough to sign up for some awesome offerings, I was really pleased to return to teach another albie fly session. I love the process of translating the action of tying a fly into written and oral instruction notes. It forces me to consider every movement and step. It helps me reexamine the habits I've developed around a particular pattern and I often end up simplifying materials or application resulting in a better fly. The act of writing down notes, steps, observations is also a huge help, which leads me to reason #5.

5.  I started keeping a bound notebook next to my tying table a couple of years ago and sometimes I have the discipline to make notes on what I'm doing, learning and wondering. I organize it by pattern and even if I don't refer back to it, the act of writing out my observations helps cement them in my brain. I wish my sketches were aesthetically pleasing, even just to me, but they aren't. And never will be. But they help.

6.  I've been working to learn more about the materials I'm using, or should be using, and how to make the most of them. I'm much more knowledgeable about UV cured resins thanks to my class prep for Eldredge Brothers. I'm working hard to illuminate 1 to 2 seconds at 12 inches, then pausing 10 seconds, then illuminating 1 to 2 seconds at 6 inches and pausing before zapping it up close for the final cure. It does make a difference in completeness of cure and limiting heat build up, both of which make for a more durable fly and serve to limit material distortions. I've been geeking out on hook design and manufacturing. So many choices. There are endless possible variations of any proven pattern but sorting through the merits and drawbacks to substituting craft fur or arctic fox or finn racoon has lead me back to infatuation with coyote fur.

7.  I've been diving back into a couple of tying books that are as relevant and exciting as they day they arrived. Bob Popovic's Fleye Design is the bible and encyclopedia. Drew Chicone's Feather Brain, along with some of his species specific titles, is the perfect compliment. I've been watching videos too. What an incredible resource YouTube can be. If you haven't availed yourself of Gunnar Brammer's instructional gems lately, do it now. I've also made time for some awesome online events. Masters of the Fly is hosting Jason Taylor this Sunday evening at 8:00. If you fish for stripers or pike or musky you want to sign up for this session. Same is true for two more upcoming online demos and conversations. On March 12 Blane Chocklett will help you up your Game Changer game via an awesome set of seminars hosted by The Articulate Fly. Ben Whalley is in the virtual house April 4 with South Shore Fly Casters. Get registered now.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm far from completing my winter tying tasks. I'm not at the point of waking up in a panic at 2:17 am, but I am feeling the urgency brought on by longer days. I hope you're finding fulfillment in your tying. 

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

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

 

Striped Bass Fishing Update - Mid June 2021

Foggy morning, early start, white bucktail deceiver

It's been a busy start to the 2021 Maine striped bass charter season for me. I've finally got a day to catch up on boat maintenance, some tackle upgrades, and maybe even cutting the lawn that is out of control. I'd characterize late May fishing in the Kennebec as encouraging and first week of June as disappointing. It just seemed to take a while for enough stripers to move into our waters to produce consistent fishing. We'd get waves of bass but patterning the fish was a real challenge for me. That changed this past week. It finally feels like June should, like we remember, like we think about in January, and while I'm thankful to grab an extra hour of sleep and get some items crossed off my ever-expanding to-do list, it's killing me not to be on the water this morning. 

I've been horrible at updating fishing reports, photos from charters, random thoughts on fly tackle or news on boat improvements. Just wicked busy...so here's a quick brain dump of fishing thoughts that haven't evaporated from my consciousness:

The Minn Kota trolling motor is a gamechanger. Total gamechanger. I've been fishing with one for something like 15 years and we finally seem to be seeing an exponential growth in the number of saltwater anglers with a trolling motor mounted on the bow. I've helped quite a few other guides understand the value of this fishing tool and been unabashed in my absolute confidence that they would find the investment in a trolling motor well worth the cost. Ask 10 saltwater guides their go-to jig, favorite braided line, or most trusted crab fly pattern  and you'll get a wide range of answers and some really diverse opinions. Ask that same group if the significant initial cost to add a trolling motor to their boat was worthwhile and I'll bet a bottle of really good tequila that 10 out of 10 will say "Absolutely"! If you're thinking about adding one to your boat but not yet convinced, come to the Maine Boatbuilders Show at Portland Yacht Services July 23-25. I'll be running in-water demos. I'll put the remote in your hands and teach you how to use it and very quickly, you will know. 

Trolling motors can change how we fish a section of good bottom structure, a defined edge, an island shoreline. Here in the Kennebec River we've had a tradition drifting over or along the area we want to fish, allowing multiple boats to access the same area. One jamoke dropping anchor screws it up for all. Those of us who use trolling motors need to think about how we do so in spots where etiquette has always been to share that water. This is a very different norm than what we expect fishing a flat. It deserves far more attention than I'm going to give it today, so if you read this post and have input, send it my way.

Why don't I buy more white bucktails when I find good ones? I was at Eldredge Brothers Fly Shop earlier in the spring pawing through bins of deer tails and stopped my search after finding 4 that I really liked. Foolish me. I certainly don't have a habit of buying too little fly tying material but somehow I perpetually underbuy white bucktail and hooks.

No matter your skill or experience tying saltwater flies, invest a little bit of your screen-time watching HMH Vices Pro Tier
Brammer's videos on Beginner Predator Flies. Really good stuff for people with all levels of experience. And another reminder (to both of us) that we can do so much with white bucktail, so buy more of 'em.

Big bait, big bass

We've got herring of all sizes in and around the Kennebec. From Bath on up river to Merrymeeting Bay I see more river herring that are either about 4 inches in length or adults. In the Lower River (my own distinction that is Bath down through Phippsburg, Georgetown and Popham) we have same sizes plus much smaller herring that may be either Atlantic herring (aka sea herring) or river herring. These dense schools of small, slender bait can produce some fussy striped bass as they key in on the little bait. I keep at least one rod rigged and in easy reach with an adult herring imitation - something big - like a 10' Fin-S-Fish or a Super Snax or big spook plug. When we see stripers chasing these hefty baits across the surface, I want someone to grab that rod and fire it forthwith into the melee.

We should all be thankful for the incredible success here in Maine restoring runs of river herring. Efforts by the Department of Marine Resources to both trap and truck spawning adults and to remove fish passage impediments make us the envy of every other state in the Northeast where alewives and blueback herring are in trouble. The possibility exists to significantly improve on what we currently see for river herring numbers with dam removal and/or improvement of fish passage at the 4 lowest dams on the Kennebec. There will be opportunity ahead for you to participate in the effort lead by the state and non-profit organizations to continue this work. Herring keep fish in this river all season long, so if you fish it, I hope you'll get involved in sustaining it.

Water clarity and temps are more like early July than mid-June. If you love to sightcast to shallow water striped bass, get out there now. It will be interesting to see if this drought continues how it influences our fishing in July and August. There's one flat in particular that has at times been incredibly productive mid-summer even when the water on it was 78 degrees. I stopped fishing it for a bit two years ago as we were having to spend a lot more time reviving fish. It's easy to convince ourselves that if they swim away they are fine, but that isn't always the case. 

I finally got down to Duxbury, MA to visit with Chris Aubut in his rod building workshop. We only had an hour to talk about rod design, component options, application of different blanks, and what I'm ordering from him next. I'm absolutely head over heels about the first Aubut Rod that I've just put into service and people who've fished it feel the same way. I'm in the process of putting together an order of 4 or 5 new rods for Fritz after he spent two days with the Aubut in hand and I'm in line for another spinning rod and a fly rod. More details on these to come...

Another big hit with my folks are the Scientific Angler Sonar Titan Triple Density lines. This is the next evolution of integrated sinking shooting lines that Jim Teeny popularized and a really advancement, not just a slight improvement. You feel like you're fly casting, not just slinging a string attached to a length of  chain. The new SA cardboard spools are pretty cool. What a smart way to cut down on a lot of often wasted plastic packaging. Save a few of the plastic spools you have for line swaps - they last a lifetime and a half - as I expect other line makers to follow suit with this switch.

Weather forecasting has come a long way in the time I've been running charterboats. I sometimes still listen to the NOAA weather radio while cleaning up the boat for nostalgia sake. The tools we have available to us on our phones are incredible. Still, accurate wind predictions on the ocean are very difficult and far less reliable than temperature, participation timing and amount, fog, thunderstorm warnings. I blew a call last week with a fly angler when I suggested we not go on an evening outing due to wind. It was honking at 2:00 pm, the forecast included wind overnight and the next morning, and it turned out to be one of those breathless evenings when you can see fish pushing water from a long distance away. Ugh.

A couple of my loves:

• an early start (has really paid dividends this week)
• foggy days
• the community of guides who work together in this watershed
• cold brew coffee at 10:00 am after a 2:15 am alarm
• my post-trip nap
• being organized and having a routine
• my Humminbird Mega Side Imaging
• anglers who actually practice their fly casting and my casting when I've been practicing
• the universal appreciation for the beauty of this setting from all of the people in my boat
• fishing in Maine in June

A couple of reminders to myself that may help you out:

• using my alarm to prompt moves to a particular location helps
• using my alarm to remind me to reapply sunscreen is critical
• turning my screen brightness down to 8 on my fishfinder/chartplotters uses a lot less voltage
• making more cold brew needs to be a daily task
• buy more white bucktails when I find good ones
• tell people to bring a water bottle in their pre-trip email to cut down on the plastics waste we generate
• plan a mid-season fishing trip for myself in 2022

Thanks to all of you who have come out with me already or have made plans to fish this season. It's really fulfilling for me to spend time with you on the water. 

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

 

 

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

Hello June, Hello Striper Season

Stripers are back in all of their usual Maine waters and June is the prime month to find surface feeds, hungry fish, and happy anglers. In what seemed like a May that confused itself for April (we only ate supper on the porch twice all month), the striped bass defied some logic and predictions, and filled into our chilly waters slightly ahead of "schedule". Of course our expectations have no bearing on their behavior, but many anglers were thrilled to find better May fishing in saltwater than expected.

Here in the Kennebec, the water has warmed rapidly, to the point where I am exploring the need to calibrate the temperature sensor on my sonar units. Alewife runs are down (as expected given draught that impacted spawning three years ago) but there is still so much bait in the water that the early waves of arriving striped bass don't have to work hard to find food. Yes, the water in the river is still very dirty despite the dry conditions, but these fish are incredibly tolerant of high turbidity, and muddy water shouldn't put you off. Ocean waters well away from the coastal rivers are much clearer, and under the right weather conditions, can afford some sightfishing opportunities.

Here are a couple of early season reminders that may help your fishing, even if they aren't new revelations:

1. There are a lot more stripers still making their way to Maine, so if you aren't finding fish...move. The ratio of bass to bait, stripers to unit area, are all improving daily but far from where they will be in a couple of weeks. Fish impatiently this time of year. Move around. Cover some water. Burn some fuel. Check your full list of shore spots.
2. Water temps do influence fish behavior but remember that every striped bass in Maine waters migrated through some really chilly water to get here. Coastal rivers are fish magnets this time of year and early season, flats that warm with the afternoon sun can be good places to target as the light gets lower, but don't write off the ocean spots you love to fish. Plenty of fish out there too.
3. Speaking of light...yeah, we're more likely to find mid-day surface blitzing fish in June than any other month, but we're more likely to find stripers feeding on top early morning or evening or even at night. These fish still prefer low light conditions. So should you.
4. Alewives and blueback herring are far from the only bait around, even in the Kennebec. Stripers that have travelled hundreds of miles to get here are hungry but they still get selective. Imitating big bait can pay dividends, tempting a fish much larger than the one you just caught, but bass of all sizes can get keyed into small bait and that axiom is true even in June.
5. See suggestion #1. Be an active angler. I've been on the water almost every day this past week and found feeding fish, but I've seen a lot more ocean with nothing going on. It's June. It's happening somewhere. Go find "there".

When it does all come together, rejoice. It's been a hell of a March, April, and May. That tug of the first striper of the season will make everything seem right with the world for a period of time. Treasure that fish, even if it is shorter than your foot, and give some consideration to changes in tackle and technique that can help improve the odds that one of us will catch that same striper again. Enjoy! You deserve it.

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

207-522-9900

[email protected]

Fishing A Floating Line For False Albacore

In this season of sipping albies, one of the most effective tools we've employed has been a floating fly line. Read articles about fly fishing for false albacore and you'll find recommendations to use an integrated sinking shooting head, mostly for the advantage of minimizing false casts to these fast moving fish. Check out an experienced albie angler's quiver and you're likely to find at least one rod rigged with an intermediate line (slow sinking), probably featuring a clear tip or fully clear line. There are lot's of instances when one of these two line choices makes the most sense, however, when the fish are cruising and "ram feeding" on micro bait, the ability to quickly pick up your cast and reposition your fly can be a game changer. 

This September and October around the Cape and Islands, the majority of albies we found were in small groups and focused on tiny bait. They've often been out in deep water, working rips and other, more subtle structure, or even just featureless bottom with some kind of moving water. The fish cruise just below the surface, breaking the surface as they travel, often with open mouths sucking in the micro bait. If you've ever seen bluefin tuna ram feeding on krill, you know just what this looks like. The albies will circle briefly, what I refer to as "going around the rotary once or twice", before selecting their exit direction, and continuing on down the road. Being albies, they don't stay on the same course for very long even if their general direction of travel is constant for a period of time. This is effectively very different from a big pod of false albacore crashing bait and herding it down a beach or rocky shoreline or groups churning in a constant direction in open water. In those instances you have the opportunity to position the boat well ahead of the fish (usually up-current or up-wind or both) and wait for them to come to you. If you don't get a good shot or don't have a fish eat, you're likely to have an other opportunity momentarily. Plus you know that the majority of the albies in the school aren't showing on the surface and your fly is often inhaled by a fish not seen. Not so in this game. Everything is moving: fish, boat, water, position relative to wind and current. We still work for a position ahead of the fish and ideally with the wind in casting-favor, but the caster is likely to get one or two (maybe three) shots at the small school before you have to reposition the boat. Everyone strives to make their first cast count, but even the perfect presentation becomes futile when the small pack of funny fish alters course while your line is shooting out to it's intended destination. In this instance, being able to quickly pick up and re-present your fly can double (or triple) you chances to get your offering into a pretty limited strike zone.

The advantage of being able to quickly pick up a lengthy line has often been offset or outweighed by the time delay from cast initiation to fly presentation when using a floating line. So often in the fall, the wind is blowing, and the smaller diameter sinking lines offers less wind resistance. The trade-offs have fallen in favor of the shooting head line that sinks either quickly or slowly, but no more. The game changer is a "tropical" floating line that functions well in a temperate environment. I started fishing Scientific Angler's Amplitude Grand Slam line on the flats for striped bass this June and instantly fell in love with it. I had been fishing an all around floating line that was new as of late May and the difference in the way the Grand Slam line shoots was stunning. It's designed to excel at both long casts and quick, shorter shots on tropical flats and has a fairly stiff core, but, is also rated to perform well in warm water. SciAngler uses the following designations for fly lines: Hot, Warm, Cold. I suspected from past experimentation that a line rated for Hot climates would be a hot mess in Maine even in mid-summer. But what about this Warm rating? I was curious to see if I could find a line that "feels like" my favorite bonefish line in a setting where long casts do matter. A stiffer core that is less likely to tangle in the wind would really be a plus.

Whoa. This line was stunning from the first time I cast it. It boomed out there with minimal false casts, noticeably fewer than any other floating line I had in my bag. It made the "oh shit, fish!" cast, the one that we should practice more, where a shallow water target seems to appear next to the boat out of nowhere. It could handle a clunky crab pattern but was subtle enough to use in 18 inches of water on a clear flat on a windless day.

An added benefit that I hadn't anticipated was how comfortable some of my anglers were with a floating line but not a sinking one. These were good casters with lots of fishing experience, but just not familiar with how a 350 grain shooting head behaves. In the heat of the albie moment, they could react and feel confident with their casting ability, and that led to more hook ups.

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

Striper Thoughts

One of my goals for this off-season is to reread some of the books that helped me become a better saltwater fly angler and tyer. I've amassed quite a collection over the past 30 years. Throughout the '90's I could count on finding a couple of new titles under the Christmas tree. My wife and I used to spend more time wandering through bookstores whenever we travelled or needed an escape at family gatherings, and having a new fishing book in hand provided refuge when going fishing (again) wasn't possible or acceptable. In the boom days of northeast saltwater fly fishing - aka the striper recovery - before the internet was the oracle, there seemed to be a hot new title out every couple of months. Not only did these authors help me learn more about catching striped bass, but they helped fuel my passion for chasing this fish and becoming a more proficient angler.

My wife and I both like the feeling of having books around, although too many are stacked in plastic tubs in various storage spaces, and we clearly need to get better at culling them. I suppose we could investigate the possible reasons for our behavior, and the ideal of rereading would be but one motivation. As I sift through stacks and boxes and shelves, the titles that I have read a second and third time tend to either be collections of essays on bird hunting that have been my company on longer trips out West or How To titles on saltwater fly fishing and fly tying. I recognize that my desire to revisit the best books is driven in part by gaining more insight and understanding, becoming a better angler and guide. Lessons now are different than they were in my third summer of chasing stripers with a fly rod. I'm not so much looking for new explanations or introductions to unknown tactics but I do find that observations of others helps put order to experiences I've accrued, sharpen lessons learned, and highlight the questions that I am now trying to answer and the gaps in my understanding that deserve more of my attention.

Kennebec River Striped Bass Fishing Update - Breaking Fish Bonanza

After what I described as good early season trips all of last week, the striped bass fishing on the Kennebec River here in Phippsburg really lit up this week. We'd all been waiting and searching and watching for big pods of happy stripers busting bait on top and hadn't seen it in the river (although I did get credible reports from around Gardiner about surface feeds 10 days ago) until this Sunday. I was teaching a two-day fly fishing class but a good friend was on a good surface feed Sunday morning on the dropping tide. It's only gotten better since then. Much better.

Of course it is still fishing, and not always what we expect. I fished Tuesday with my dad and was disappointed by what we found. It was bright, and dry, and cold, and not fishy weather. We got a good early start and had great moving water but were only finding one fish here and one fish there. Eventually we located a good group of bass that we're happy to eat but it was a slower morning than I hoped. Don't get me wrong, it was great to fish together on a stunningly beautiful morning after a fun evening of the season's first lobster feed but I really wish he'd been able to stay one more day. We'd be hearing stories for years about the fabulous fishing.

I fished by myself on Wednesday. I was wide awake at 4:00 and tied flies for the first two hours of the morning with intensions to get after some desk tasks and house projects. There wasn't a hint of wind on the water and the cloud cover was perfect, so by 6:03 I was in scramble mode, hooking up the Maverick and grabbing some snacks to go. I needed to test out these small hollow fleye variations I'd been working on and I also wanted to try a new SciAngler Amplitude Anadro line that I'd bought for some other purposes. It didn't take me long to find birds working over stripers at the bottom of the out tide. I really, really love to fish shallow water for bass that are visible or pushing water, but after another long winter, I'll take fish going bananas on the surface. I had a blast.

I fished a bunch of different fly patterns, fly line and rod combinations, and connected lessons shared over the weekend with observations on the water. Here are some fly thoughts:

1. Detecting a hit and setting the hook are learned and practiced skills. Most beginner to intermediate fly anglers would be amazed to learn how many fish have eaten their fly that they never knew about. This early June striper fishery offers an incredible learning opportunity when the fish are on. Ok, a lot of times you could be asleep and hook a striper, but not alway. In perfect conditions it was fascinating to note hw many "takes" would easily be missed - especially when dead drifting a fly pattern with great life. Repetition builds competence. If you go to the driving range, you should be fishing here this week.
2. Dead drifting. An often overlooked approach in saltwater, especially around breaking fish. If you don't employ this technique very often, here's your prompt to try it. The day before I'd been coaching my dad to make much stronger, more dramatic strips with his herring pattern to elicit strikes from unseen fish. It was working. Wednesday morning, around fish keyed into very small bait, no strip was the ticket. Even with a floating line in reasonably deep water. So much fun. The local warden was fishing a popper on his fly rod over busting bass at the same time and he reported finding best success when he just twitched his fly and then let it sit. He had a great big smile on his face, talking about his morning outing.
3. Speaking of fun, I really liked the Scientific Angler Amplitude Smooth Anadro/Nymph line. I need to use it more to feel fully dialed in on best applications, but I ended the morning looking forward to using it more. Speaking of more fun, I was fishing it on a Sage X 9 foot 9 weight that I'd only used in heavy wind last fall chasing albies. I like casting and fishing this rod.
4. Connecting numbers 1 and 2 above, detecting the hit and dead drifting a fly, I was thinking about the number of casts that don't unroll perfectly, even on a windless day, and how often people aren't in touch with their fly. Retrieving with tip at hip level, rod pointed away from the fly, slack in the leader are all streamer sins in most instances. When the fly touches down, get the tip touching the water, pointed at the fly, and strip out any slack in the line-leader...then let it drift.
5. Fly size and shape matters most. I spent a lot of time answering questions over the weekend about fly patterns, how to choose what to fish, why they are designed as they are, where you start, when to change, and how to fish different types of flies. As I was testing a variety of patterns on Wednesday, it was a perfect reminder that size and shape matter most and that how the fly behaves in the water (inherent movement and as imparted by the angler) comes in at a close second. I loved being in a situation where you could readily discern what the fish preferred. Everything caught fish this morning, but at wildly different rates, and there we're clear common threads.

Thursday morning was more of the same, kind of old school, Kennebec June fishing, run 'till you see birds, stop, catch fish until they either move on or you decide to see where else the stripers are feeding hard. I got to spend the morning fishing with my great friend Rich Pschirrer and neither of us really noticed the rain we were having such a blast. Just got a text from Rich saying "Let's do more of that, anywhere, anytime." I agree. I'm game.

One parting suggestion - if you don't have a pair of these gloves for early season outings (or fall tuna runs, December decoy deployment, or mid-winter cash washing), head to your nearest commercial marine supply store, by two pair (your dad, friend, spouse, client, will appreciate it), and stick them in your boat or bag.

Fish more.

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service, LLC

mainestripers.com

207-522-9900

[email protected]

Fishing Charters For Striped Bass in Phippsburg, Maine And False Albacore on Cape Cod, MA

Saltwater Fly Fishing Charters For Striped Bass And False Albacore ~ Kennebec River, Phippsburg, ME And Cape Cod, MA

Thanks for visiting Maine Saltwater Fishing Reports. Here you'll find updates on shallow water striper fishing around Maine and beyond, updates on September and October false albacore fishing around Cape Cod and the Islands, insights into how I chase these fish, suggestions and techniques that may help you become a better angler, and recaps of recent charter trips. Scroll down for the the latest posts.

I specialize in shallow water sight casting to striped bass and chasing false albacore with fly and light tackle spinning gear. The only thing I love more than the challenge of hunting for these fish is sharing the elation that comes from playing this game. I guide a lot of experienced striped bass anglers who've never cast a fly or a top-water plug to a striper on a shallow flat that is pushing water like a redfish or bonefish. Watching the bass track the baitfish pattern or tail slap the spook and then (hopefully) eat your offering is incredibly satisfying and addicting.

I live in Phippsburg, ME on the banks of the Kennebec River, and guide full-time from May into November. Striper fishing in Maine starts in mid-May, with fish usually showing up just south of Portland before they start to fill into the Kennebec. To get a jump on the season I head south to Massachusetts to get onto bass before they arrive in Maine. I also plan a couple of weeks during May and June to target large stripers in Cape Cod Bay and around Martha's Vineyard. This is big water fishing and where I grew up and first started running charter boats. If I had to pick one week to fish the flats in midcoast Maine, it would fall in early July, depending upon the tides. Fortunately, our fishing holds up all summer and every year we have outstanding days when anglers to our south are lamenting the "dog days". By Labor Day I'm packing up to spend September and October fishing the south side of Cape Cod for False Albacore. 

If you're looking to improve your striper skills, or want to try to target them on the flats, or just become a better angler, I hope you'll read on and if you like what you find here, give me a call. Let's get out on the water together this season.

You can also see more frequent updates on Maine Saltwater Fishing Reports Facebook Page.

See the fish. Cast to the fish. Catch the fish.

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service

207-522-9900

[email protected]

Become A Better Fly Caster - Tips And Techniques To Improve Your Fly Fishing Skills - Keeping A Rod Strung Up

So you've decided that you want to become a better fly caster and you're looking for tips and techniques to improve your fly fishing skills. Right? You did click on the link to bring up this post. Ok, lets back up a bit. If you like to fly fish, you owe it to yourself to improve your fly casting skills. You'll have more fun on the water, you'll catch more fish, you might even find yourself fly fishing more often and it's a really enjoyable process that's rewarding on it's own.

I'm not a great fly caster. I'm a good fly caster who gets to work with some amazing fly casters. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to learn from the likes of Macauly Lord, Craig Ucker, Sam Flick, Dave Jacobson, and Rod McGarry. I've worked to become a better caster and to be able to demonstrate effectively the casting techniques that I'm trying to teach and here's the single most significant thing I've done to improve my own casting. Practice.

You know it would help your casting and it can be fun, so how do you practice more often? Keep a fly rod strung up and someplace visible.

If your fly rod is broken down and bundled neatly in it's sock, secured in it's tube, and tucked behind your waders and boots in a basement closet, how often are you going to go through all the steps of digging it out, putting it together, stringing it up, tying on a yarn fly, and making a few fly casts? Make it easy and accessible and you'll practice far more frequently.

You don't need water to make the basic fly casts (roll and spey casts are exceptions), just some open space with cut grass. I have room in my yard to practice and can even make short casts off my deck. If you don't have space in your yard, keep the rod in your car and stop at the soccer field you drive by every day or step outside at lunch time and cast for ten minutes in the park or on the lawn next to the building. Is there a golf course where you go for a walk? Or an open space where you let the dog run? Right now my driveway has a nice snowpack and is perfect for a few minutes of casting practice after work.

Ideally, you'll use a fly line that you won't fish if you are going to practice frequently. There's a good chance that you're fishing with a line that should be retired because it just doesn't shoot very well anymore, even after cleaning it. Do you have a reel or spare spool that has been on the shelf or in a vest for years without use? Perfect. If not, don't fret. Cast on the grass and then just clean your line before you fish it.

I have two rods that I keep strung up. One is an old Orvis 4 weight that I "caught" on the Moose River in 1995 dredging a nymph at the bottom of Attean Falls. That rod owes me nothing and I don't worry about it sitting outside for seven months of the year. The other set up is an Angler Outfit from L.L. Bean that is on sale right now for $75 for rod, reel, and line. During the guiding season I will grab a rod out of the Maverick, snip off the striper fly, tie on a piece of yarn, and wander around the yard for a few minutes making some casts just to work with an eight, nine, or ten weight for a bit.

If you have or get a rod that can serve this purpose, tack three nails into the side of your porch or shed and keep the rod handy and in sight but out of harm's way and ideally out of the sun. It helps to have the rod up off the ground. I can attest to the rod-shortening ability of a lawn mower that picks up a bunch of slack fly line nestled into the grass. I turned a nine foot, six weight into a four foot, eight weight before I could get the blades to stop spinning and that rod wasn't found and wasn't inexpensive.

Grab your cup of coffee in the morning, step outside to greet the day, and make a few fly casts before you get consumed. Come home from work, visit the beer fridge, make a considered selection, and head outside. The beer sits in the snowbank well while you double haul for a couple of revolutions. In five minutes, you'll make 100 fly casts. And your day will start or end a little brighter. 

Peter

Capt. Peter Fallon

Gillies & Fallon Guide Service

824 Main Rd

Phippsburg, ME 04562

(207) 522-9900

[email protected]