Jump to content

North of Portland (2019)

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

With all the weather reports predicting inclement weather, I decided to do today’s striped bass fishing on a segment of the New Meadows river that I had often visited in the past.

It is close to home and has a decent track record for producing hard fighting striped bass on a frequent basis. And it did it regardless of how nasty the weather got.

 

Unlike my last trip out, the yellow kayak is now sporting two newly updated rod holding stations that are helping me fish two rods while providing significant improvements for my whole catch and release routine. I launched my battered yellow kayak around 10:00 am this morning and fished approximately 3 hours of the dropping tide when I called it quits at 1:00 pm.

 

For my efforts I caught and released eighteen striped bass that simply refused to quit fighting me as I tried to bring them to the side of my kayak for release. All the fish that I caught and released today fell within the length of 20 to 28 inches. 

 

I can hardly wait to get my yellow kayak out on some of my fast and furious catch and release waters.

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/29/2019 at 5:11 PM, Crozzbow said:

I can hardly wait to get my yellow kayak out on some of my fast and furious catch and release waters.

For the SOL members who have been waiting patiently for another one of my updates to the  "North of Portland" posting, I apologize in that I have been some what distracted by a couple of significant medical issues that are keeping me off the water. I'm hoping some of those issues are rectified by the end of next week because I am going stir crazy and not being able to get out and fish during this time of year really sucks, 

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Crozzbow said:

For the SOL members who have been waiting patiently for another one of my updates to the  "North of Portland" posting, I apologize in that I have been some what distracted by a couple of significant medical issues that are keeping me off the water. I'm hoping some of those issues are rectified by the end of next week because I am going stir crazy and not being able to get out and fish during this time of year really sucks, 

Damn man sorry to hear about that Crozzbow, heal up soon and get back on the water my friend........we all miss your N.O.P. reports. Speedy recovery wishes comimg your way

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, OOB Fisherman said:

Damn man sorry to hear about that Crozzbow, heal up soon and get back on the water my friend........we all miss your N.O.P. reports. Speedy recovery wishes comimg your way

Hey OOB

Thanks for the good words. They do wonders for moral.

Another unforeseen moral booster came about this weekend when I started watching and interacting with several shore bound fishermen who were working their bait chucking magic on the Kennebec River. They were using chunks of mackerel to entice both striped bass and catfish/bullhead into almost non stop action. While most of the the striped bass measured in the mid twenties (length wise) the Kennebec did offer up a fat thirty seven inch striped bass on Saturday morning and a few good sized fish on Sunday morning.

Even though I wasn't doing any of the fishing/catching I was still enjoying myself. And, when I got home this afternoon and read your words about "healing up soon"  it reminded me that I'm going to need another refresher lesson on bait chucking (as well as navigating beaches at night). 

Any recommendations regarding a good instructor?

Crozzbow

 

 

 

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Crozzbow said:

Hey OOB

Thanks for the good words. They do wonders for moral.

Another unforeseen moral booster came about this weekend when I started watching and interacting with several shore bound fishermen who were working their bait chucking magic on the Kennebec River. They were using chunks of mackerel to entice both striped bass and catfish/bullhead into almost non stop action. While most of the the striped bass measured in the mid twenties (length wise) the Kennebec did offer up a fat thirty seven inch striped bass on Saturday morning and a few good sized fish on Sunday morning.

Even though I wasn't doing any of the fishing/catching I was still enjoying myself. And, when I got home this afternoon and read your words about "healing up soon"  it reminded me that I'm going to need another refresher lesson on bait chucking (as well as navigating beaches at night). 

Any recommendations regarding a good instructor?

Crozzbow

 

 

 

By hook or by crook, lifeguard tower or light of the moon, we WILL find our way off that beach. Let me know when the healing process allows you to sling a few ounces and we’ll see if we can put a few pounds on the board.....no rush on this end, I’ll be runnin and gunnin for

another 3 1/2 months any way. Until then, old friend......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 mins ago, OOB Fisherman said:

By hook or by crook, lifeguard tower or light of the moon, we WILL find our way off that beach. Let me know when the healing process allows you to sling a few ounces and we’ll see if we can put a few pounds on the board.....no rush on this end, I’ll be runnin and gunnin for

another 3 1/2 months any way. Until then, old friend......

Sounds like a plan. 

I'll be in touch.

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, so this weeks outing was a little different than usual. Instead of hitting one or more of my usual local striped bass haunts I accepted a generous offer from a long term friend of mine to spend a good part of the week resting and relaxing (R&R) at his lakeside cottage with him, and another friend, fishing for smallmouth bass, trout and white peach. 

 

I can't say the fishing was great at this particular north eastern  lake, but the beautiful scenery, good food, and cheerful companionship of good friends more than made up for it.  The R&R worked wonders in that I came home feeling much better than I did when I left. 

 

Now, If I can just convince the activity coordinator (wife) that an outing or two chasing striped bass in my kayak would provide a similar outcome as this week's R&R with the following exception: 

 

l will never again use a cellular phone to tell my activity coordinator that I left a new bag of bloodworms in the old, dirty, refrigerator that is located in our garage, especially  when the cellular reception at my location  is essentially non-existent.

 

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/29/2019 at 5:11 PM, Crozzbow said:

Unlike my last trip out, the yellow kayak is now sporting two newly updated rod holding stations that are helping me fish two rods while providing significant improvements for my whole catch and release routine. I launched my battered yellow kayak around 10:00 am this morning and fished approximately 3 hours of the dropping tide when I called it quits at 1:00 pm.  

 

I can hardly wait to get my yellow kayak out on some of my fast and furious catch and release waters.

Again, I'm back again.

 

This morning I finally got my yellow kayak out on the water to test my updated rod holding stations when fishing turns fast and furious. It took me the most of the night to decide which of my current fishing grounds were going to be used for that test. I thought I had it all figured out by midnight when I finally shut down for the night. However, I changed that decision three more times before I finally locked in the mornings launch point. 

 

I launched the kayak at approximately 9:30 am and was almost immediately into fish. 4 hours later, I had caught and released 42 striped bass. Not one of them measured less than 20 inches or exceeded a length of 30 inches.  Given that each on of those fish gave me a one heck of a fight all of the way to the kayak I believe I would not have been able to catch and release that many fish  in 4 hours without the new rod holding station mods. Especially when I was fishing with two rods at a time. The new rod holding station mods just helped to make my catch and release process a bit more efficient.

 

While I was catching these fish I noticed a few other things that were going on at the time. Everywhere I looked there were schools of pogies, calmly swimming aimlessly around, so close to the surface their fin were sticking out of the water. There were a lot of striped bass in the area (I know because I was picking them off one by one but, they didn't seem to be interested in the pogies. Another thing I saw looked as if the green crabs in the area had experienced a large die off which in turn was leaving a heck of a lot dead crabs over a large area of the water I had been fishing.

 

 

 

 

IMGP0001.JPG

I caught a lot of these.

IMGP0004.JPG

I caught a few of these.

IMGP0006.JPG

And I caught some of these.

I also caught a couple of larger fish but they refused to have their picture taken without having their Agent present.

 

Note: None of these fish spent more than a minute of two in the kayak before I put them overboard for resuscitation and release. 

 

Edited by Crozzbow

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Crozzbow said:

Again, I'm back again.

 

This morning I finally got my yellow kayak out on the water to test my updated rod holding stations when fishing turns fast and furious. It took me the most of the night to decide which of my current fishing grounds were going to be used for that test. I thought I had it all figured out by midnight when I finally shut down for the night. However, I changed that decision three more times before I finally locked in the mornings launch point. 

 

I launched the kayak at approximately 9:30 am and was almost immediately into fish. 4 hours later, I had caught and released 42 striped bass. Not one of them measured less than 20 inches or exceeded a length of 30 inches.  Given that each on of those fish gave me a one heck of a fight all of the way to the kayak I believe I would not have been able to catch and release that many fish  in 4 hours without the new rod holding station mods. Especially when I was fishing with two rods at a time. The new rod holding station mods just helped to make my catch and release process a bit more efficient.

 

While I was catching these fish I noticed a few other things that were going on at the time. Everywhere I looked there were schools of pogies, calmly swimming aimlessly around, so close to the surface their fin were sticking out of the water. There were a lot of striped bass in the area (I know because I was picking them off one by one but, they didn't seem to be interested in the pogies. Another thing I saw looked as if the green crabs in the area had experienced a large die off which in turn was leaving a heck of a lot dead crabs over a large area of the water I had been fishing.

 

 

 

 

IMGP0001.JPG

I caught a lot of these.

IMGP0004.JPG

I caught a few of these.

IMGP0006.JPG

And I caught some of these.

I also caught a couple of larger fish but they refused to have their picture taken without having their Agent present.

 

Note: None of these fish spent more than a minute of two in the kayak before I put them overboard for resuscitation and release. 

 

Nice fish. Did you get rid of your Viking? That was a sweet boat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 mins ago, Chiefy said:

Nope, the Viking is in the wings patiently waiting its turn.

 

The reason my yellow kayak has been getting all of the action so far this year is that I still haven't fully recovered from an arm injury I experienced this winter. As it stands now my arm will only tolerate two or three hours of hard kayak paddling before it wants to go home.  Whereas my yellow kayak is a Hobie with a foot driven propulsion system which has allowed me stay on the water longer.

Note:The above statements have been especially true with this years crop of bigger striped bass doing every thing they can to tear my arm off during our tug of war battles.

 

BTW:  I fully agree with your assessment of the Viking kayak being a sweet boat. 

 

Edited by Crozzbow

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 mins ago, Crozzbow said:

Nope, the Viking is in the wings patiently waiting its turn.

 

The reason my yellow kayak has been getting all of the action so far this year is that I still haven't fully recovered from an arm injury I experienced this winter. As it stands now my arm will only tolerate two or three hours of hard kayak paddling before it wants to go home.  Whereas my yellow kayak is a Hobie with a foot driven propulsion system which has allowed me stay on the water longer.

Note:The above statements have been especially true with this years crop of bigger striped bass doing every thing they can to tear my arm off during our tug of war battles.

 

BTW:  I fully agree with your assessment of the Viking kayak being a sweet boat. 

 

Gotcha. I almost pulled the trigger on that Profish reload and may yet. My glass boat finally arrived so it delayed that purchase. Ageed the fish this year definitely have more spring in their step.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, my day started when I dragged my sorry butt out of my rack at 4:00 am this morning. The primary intention for getting up that early was to allow myself enough time to get to the beach before sunrise and the beach walkers started doing their thing. I was hoping to entice a few striped bass into biting down on one of the newly tied clouser minnow flies that I received on father's day. 

 

Unfortunately the only thing, aside from one twenty inch striped bass, that was biting this morning was a large horde of Maine's native saltwater skeeters and they had me in their sights from the minute I drove into the parking lot. 

 

I toughed it out for a few hours but, as soon as I found out that the other fly fishermen on the beach weren't doing any better than me, I called it quits for the day. And, it probably goes without saying that a significant contingent of saltwater skeeters were still waiting in the parking lot to see me off. 

 

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Addendum to yesterday's posting:

Shortly after submitting that posting I received a call from one of my best critics  who thought I may have been a bit too whiny with regards to my skeeter complaints. After reading and re-reading my posting a dozen times or more, I still can  not fathom why my favorite critic could consider it as being whiny.

After all, I have nothing against Maine's native skeeters. I have spent most of my life in the outdoors growing up to respect them for the misery they can cause. The only thing I was trying to convey to my SOL audience was how exuberant these skeeters can get during the initial greetings and final departures of their outdoor guests. Sometimes the get so excited a great number of them will fly into their guest's vehicle, whenever the doors are open, just to go home with them.

Okay then, I refuse to accept that with regards to skeeters, my posting was too whiny. However, I will acknowledge that I may a been a bit PO'ed over not catching a striped bass or two on one of my new flies. This damn heat wave must be driving all striped bass off shore. Probably won't be able to catch another fish off the beach unti Labor Day .

While the prospect of catching fish isn’t the only reason I love being on the water, it is one of the best excuses I have for continuing to go there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to register here in order to participate.

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×
×
  • Create New...