Maine Striper Fishing - Guide Report



6-12-2011
This past week we got a short glimpse of the quality of fishing that is at our door steps, with a few days of light southwesterly flow a few warm humid nights the fishing on Thursday the hottest day of the year so far brought the hottest  fishing I have seen in years!!!! The fish in the morning where pretty snappy and very willing to eat, the afternoon tide even in the bright hot sun provided some very good sight fishing conditions with willing fish tons of fun.. The amount of fish we saw swimming in big schools swimming near the inner island beaches was crazy, big fish swimming high in the water column,looked like  groups of tarpon swimming up a backcountry channel edge during the migration... Well they did not swim to Maines water for  exercise  they followed  the bait and it's here!!!! there is plenty of small juvenile sea herring spread out in the Casco Bay- Saco Bay Area, but the big fish are looking for the Blue Back Herring and they have found it in the Freeport to Portland area rivers in pretty good numbers and I'm sure that area spreads farther north and south just given a first hand report here.. So we have lots of fish, lots of bait and good tides, but one of the big links  is missing, stable weather!!!! The  past few days the temps have dropped 25 degrees and the wind is bouncing NW- NE putting a little hiccup in the fishing, we are still boating a few nice fish on each trip but working hard for each, weather wise we are looking to be a little bouncy next few days, the fish are going to want to eat again so stay after it and you will be rewarded... RELEASE UM QUICKLY!!!!!!!          
at 5:50 AM

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Flats fishing report for Striped Bass: Capt Eric Wallace


From Maine to Cape Cod Bay there are both big flats and small shoreline pockets that offer good skinny water fishing, and big tides that average 8 to 10 feet. The coast from Chatham, Massachusetts to Long Island, New York offers the same type of water but smaller tides, only 2 to 4 feet or so. Only Long Island has tide ranges up to 7 feet.

The bigger the tides the faster fishing conditions will change. In locations with a 2-foot tide a flat might be fishable for the entire day; a flat with a 10-foot tide will be most stable around low tide, sometimes for several hours. Once the strong flow begins be prepared to move with the flow so as not to get trapped by the rising water when wading.

An early incoming tide will be the most productive in many locations. Stripers feel more at ease and as the flats cover there is food like dead sand eels, clams and crabs that are easy targets for stripers. This is especially true where tides are biggest. However, a falling tide in places that trap baitfish along edges and inside basins and drainage gullies can be excellent, too. Small creekmouths attract fish on a falling tide and they move upstream into the creek in search of food as the tide rises. Some small creeks are crystal clear and will remind the trout angler of Western spring creeks. Generally, big-tides mean a short fishing window.

Sand eels are the best baitfish for northern flats because they burrow and remain in the sand on dry flats through low tide. As water returns, some baitfish die and lay on the bottom. A flat where you see dead sand eels at low tide could be a hotspot, so stick around. Crabs are numerous on all flats and both crabs and shrimp are abundant inside creeks and estuaries. I do very well with a sparse, white Deceiver, and an epoxy sand eel fly made with purple Fluorofibre over cream Fluorofibre with some flash. Tie these flies 3 to 5 inches long. The lady crab, or calico, is a very important food source in the shallows; a reddish Del Brown Crab Fly is a good match for these. Any light tan bonefish fly 1 1/2 to 2 inches long will match both the common shore and sand shrimp that live on the flats inside most estuaries. And lightly weighted 3- to 4-inch Clouser Minnows in tan-and-white or olive-and-white are also very popular.

Top times for sight fishing are from mid May through early July. Then you can depend on good sunlight and the lower water temperature brings hungry fish onto the flats and into the creeks to feed. Some of the colder water locations from northern Massachusetts to Maine can have good sight fishing into August. In September and early October big flats might hold fish at times but the light is not as good as in summer. The key to good daytime fishing is cool water and abundant food sources.

In the spring there are places when you can sight cast and catch large numbers of smaller stripers, but the real fun begins when casting to big stripers. You will earn each fish, and you will remember each one long after the memory of a 20-fish day has faded.













Copyright Coastal Fly Angler Maine Saltwater Fly fishing Guides and Reports With Capt Eric Wallace.