Maine Striper Fishing Reports



Sorry for the lack or reports this week, the fishing has been great and combining filming with Chris Paterson for there new project to be released in the fall, featuring sight fishing for striper here in Maine, Permit and Tarpon in Cuba, Japan Alaska, Montana and Tiger fishing in Tanzania,the new feature film is called "Connect" we got some really cool footage on the sand flats the past few days and look forward to seeing the finished product. Chris has been the lead guy at Warren Miller ski films for the past 19 years and worked on the block buster hit in 2010 Inception, this is there third film and a follow up to Drift and Rise   http://www.confluencefilms.tv/

We have had some outstanding guide trips this past week, even with the bouncy cool winds on Sunday we had clear sky  and some great tides for sight fishing the sand we found some great eats in skinny water, Bait wise we have it all sand eels little spike macs, big macs, juvie herring and bluebacks, but our best fish in the past 5 days was on a crab pattern sight casting.Overall the fishing has been very fun, and with any stable weather a very active bite. I am doing a early AM striper tomorrow and back to the carp flats in the evening for more of that mental beating that a few of us find additive and keeps us  coming back. Then most of this week will be in Casco Bay witch is fishing the best I have seen in the past five or more years... Open dates are getting pretty thin through mid Aug but a handful of good tide are open, I also have a few guides  working with me, so if you are looking to fly or light tackle fish for stripers here in Maine give us a call at 207-671-4330 
at 5:36 PM

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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.