Maine Striped bass fishing

Maine Striper Fishing:

One of the few areas that held fish in the summers of 2007 and 2008 was Casco Bay. Like all of Maine, Casco Bay was loaded with big bait. The difference was we had fish to cast to as well. In 2008 you could count on two hands the number of fish that came to the boat under 20 inches, the story was learning how to feed bigger fish that were using the warmer flats to digest after having an all-night feed on adult menhaden. A stealthy approach and longer leaders became as important as the tide and lower sun angles.

I'm not going to talk about flies as these are the bread and butter and some secrets must be kept by the guy on the poling platform. Myself and Capt. John Ford spent hours working out some patterns that we feel changed our season!! As the bait anglers sent us photos of their big fish we where able to respond with 35-40 inch fly-caught photos of our anglers. I'm not going to kid you, it was work to find fish that would eat on a daily basis, but they were there, not too often showing themselves unless you found them first.

October: Cape Cod Sand Flats

After working hard all summer on well-fed fish in Maine, it sure was fun to have some easy fishing on Cape Cod. Getting down there at a perfect time for the sand-flats to turn on, good tides and nice weather made for a few 40-plus fish days in real skinny water. A light skiff or a sub 18 with a jack plate and a good poler is the only way to fish the sand of Pleasant Bay when tides are right for sight fishing. If you have not experienced this fishery it's a must. Feel free to give me a call anytime for more info on fishing Cape Cod 207-671-4330.

Maine Striper fishing reports May -June 2008

Large bait is moving into the rivers of Casco Bay, the Presumpscot,Royal, Cousins and New Meadows all have large bait runs of river herring and alewives. These big bait bring some big stripers, big flies and sink tips fished in the river channels over structure are the norm. If you are like many of the flats anglers I fish and would rather watch paint dry then fish a 375 gr sink tip all day. The estuaries and flats of Casco Bay come alive with smaller bait and active striper feeds, much early then most other area's on Maine's coast. With flats that are measured in miles warming the water, and moving the Bass onto them and out of the rivers in search of the Tidewater Silversides, Juvie Herring and large Grass shrimp hatch all add to the early season attractions of lower Casco Bay.

As we move deeper into June a New or full moon brings the worm hatches of Casco Bay. These hatches or worm swarms bring good size happy stripers onto the flats, and there here to eat! The right tide and sun angle this can be some of the most exciting shallow water fishing there is on the striper coast. Remember to check out my web blog for other reports and to give some feed back on the fishing your finding. www.mainestriperfishing.blogspot.com

Mid Summer (overview)

Plying the shallows on a sunny day is another game entirely. This is as close as you’ll get to bonefishing north of Biscayne Bay and a big bruiser-cruiser can be just as tough to fool as any double-digit downtown Islamorada bone. These fish are stalking the flats in search of crabs, baby flounders and sand shrimp and the ‘ole white and chartreuse Clouser Minnow approach usually doesn’t cut it. A stealthy approach, a long lead with a drab, nondescript fly “It could be a delicious crab or flounder or shrimp” pattern and the ability to read and feed the fish will result in a tight line. This isn’t a numbers game, and for my anglers this could be the pinnacle of the striper fishing experience, with every fish caught sight-casting worth ten taken on the blind.


Fall (overview)
There resaons why Saltwater Sportsman Magazine 2005-2007 has called Casco Bay the best bet for action packed striper fishing in the month of September. As the dog days of summer slide into autumn, striper fishing north of Cape Cod usually means three things: baby bunker blitzes, sight-casting the skinny or hunting for Momma with flies the size of your average Maine brook trout. Come mid-August it’s common to see large schools of stripers (and blues, and occasional bluefin tuna) pinning nervous mossy-brown balls of immature menhaden against the shoreline or up to the top offshore, wedged by a crowd of cormorants. Wildly wheeling terns and gulls add to the carnage to the point where the whole scene is so dense it’s more likely you’ll hook a bird than a bass. Small (two to four inch) wide-bodied streamers, as well as surface offerings Making September fishing in Maine one of the truly must do for the traveling saltwater fly angler





Feel free to call or email with any questions:
Capt Eric Wallace
207-671-4330
booktrips@coastalflyangler.com
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