North Of Portland - 2021 Edition

[JerryV]

1 hour ago, 7 Rivers said:

Got ya, I remember a pic when you used to post of you and some one else from P Beach. He was a heavy set guy, I thought he was from Searsport area. I am originally from above there, cant wait to get back when I retire in a few years.. The Penobscot is a great river for many species now the dams are gone, and some down east rivers too.

Ahhhhh, I remember now.  He tried to get a few people together to fish the beach at Popham. I was the only one that showed up. I believe he was from up there. Haven’t heard from him since. 

[Roccus7]

Plenty of Fish, BUT getting a hit is the challenge - @ill_postinoand I have been up against Whack-A-Mole: Jedi Master Level, along with feeding fish with little interest in our offerings the past couple of mornings.  We're catching, but after the 10th cast into a melee of feeding fish without a touch, the frustration level goes off scale. There's always golf I guess -- NAH!!!

 

I've been starting my AMs off with a quick stop at a "never miss" spot with a fish or two, so even with the mercurial nature of fishing right now, I've been able to avoid a date with Pepe LePew...

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Roccus7

[7 Rivers]

1 hour ago, JerryV said:

Ahhhhh, I remember now.  He tried to get a few people together to fish the beach at Popham. I was the only one that showed up. I believe he was from up there. Haven’t heard from him since. 

Yup, that was him...I remember all that well.

[Oso]

Ventured out front this morning, glad I had my surf rod as I forgot my fly box in my sleep induced stupor. As a rookie fishing these ledges, I was pleasantly surprised when I came tight to a solid bass, followed by 3 more on a few different plugs. 
 

What # leader are ya’ll using while rock hopping? My 30# looks like I spent the morning with bluefish

[JerryV]

I’ve been heading out every morning into the rivers and producing fish from the 24” to 28” range. All fish caught between 4-9am. The past two outings have been extremely slow. 1 fish a day. 
All fish caught on large Dragon Tail flies. 
I may have to venture out and try new spots. The river is drying up quick, water temps showed 73 degrees (surface temp). 
 

[ill_postino]

14 hours ago, Roccus7 said:

 We're catching, but after the 10th cast into a melee of feeding fish without a touch, the frustration level goes off scale. 

 

 

Yup - funny thing about last couple of days is they've actually been among my best so far this season*** but the sheer number of casts into feeding schools with little to show for it definitely gets on the nerves!

 

(*** some nice fish to 26" beefy enough to take my kayak on little sleigh rides, fun if frustrating "whack a mole" miniblitzes, good learning experience of trying to single out patrolling bass on the margins of areas overstuffed with bait, this morning's adventures in chasing fish in the fog by sound . . .)

 

 

[jimbighead]

Slow but Steady stream of the 23-27” fish around my hood 

 

on the night chunk last evening we scored the first good sized fish of the season at 35”, fat angry big tailed didn’t want to get in the net, hey I need to tighten the drag kind of fish

 

it was a hell of a soak if you catch my drift

 

Damn that felt good to see that come on the boat, not on my rod, but happy and willing to assist 

 

Tight lines

 

Jim  

Edited June 22, 2021 by jimbighead

[Crozzbow]

Hey, Ruccus, 7

My activity coordinator (Wife) gave me enough time off yesterday morning to check out my newly installed rudder assembly on my yellow kayak on the water of my choosing. Of course, I chose one of my best Striped Bass fishing waters that have done me good over the years.

 

It was a Wicked good choice in that when I reached the site, that I planned on fishing the Striped Bass were breaking the waters surface every where I looked.  There were also several schools of Striped Bass chasing bait fishing all directions

 

Unfortunately, there were also large flights of birds flying above these schools and giving away the school’s location and drawing crowds.

 

I was lucky enough to spot a few smaller schools that were not drawing attention which enabled me to get remarkably close to these small schools in my kayak.

 

From there I was able to entice several of these school fish to hook themselves to my trolled tube and worm set ups.

 

With all this activity, I was able to catch fish steadily for approximately four hours. During that time, I pulled 30 healthy Striped Bass (measuring between 18 inches to 26 inches) over the gunwales of my kayak.

 

Note:  All the fish I caught firmly were hooked in the lip or the or corner which is interesting in that the two my tube and bloodworm set ups were virtually identical with the exception that one of the sets had a 7.0 J hook and the other one had a 7.0 circle hook.

The second thing that was interesting is that the set up that carried the circle hook caught more fish (16) than the J hook set up (14).

The only thing that I could think of at this time was that there was a small difference in coloring between the two tubes.

Edited June 22, 2021 by Crozzbow

[jimbighead]

Great to hear you are back out there and getting it done crozzbow 

 

always love to read your posts 

 

stay at it good man

 

jim 

[Roccus7]

The Postman Always Texts Twice

 

Due to the extreme tide this AM, my boat was sitting on the bottom at sunup, but @ill_postinohad no problem launching and getting into fish, texting me reports as I waited for my "boat to float".  Finally got out and joined him in the scattered blitzes throughout the harbor, lots of nice, feisty and fat 25 & 26" fish providing excitement.  I had quite a tussle with one that wrapped around a mooring buoy and I had to fend off the moored sailboat, run my rod under the mooring painter, and keep the fish on. 

 

My patience with the sailboat-loving 25" fish was rewarded later with a 28" that's the guest of honor at dinner tonight.  A hectic, but fun morning...

[JerryV]

Decide to change it up today. 
fished the incoming tide later in the morning. Came across a large school of feeding fish around 11am. Landed about 8 fish in the low 20s. 
still looking for something over 30”. 
 

[7 Rivers]

4 mins ago, JerryV said:

Decide to change it up today. 
fished the incoming tide later in the morning. Came across a large school of feeding fish around 11am. Landed about 8 fish in the low 20s. 
still looking for something over 30”. 
 

Nice, I also have been fishing the incoming on rivers, been do better as well. 32 is my biggest so far..usually a few over 40 by now, ugh..

[Crozzbow]

On 6/22/2021 at 4:15 PM, Crozzbow said:

Note:  All the fish I caught were firmly hooked in the lip or in the corner of the jaw. Sort of interesting in that the both of my tube and bloodworm set ups were virtually identical with the exception that one of the sets had a 7.0 J hook and the other one had a 7.0 circle hook.

Here are a couple of pics I took of the two hooks

Edited June 24, 2021 by Crozzbow

[TGIF Harpswell]

I am pretty pleased to hear that circle hooks worked, in case things go in that direction. 

[Roccus7]

Slow morning today, only 3, BUT I had a Sacrificial Virgin aboard, my new neighbor, a Colorado trout fly fisherman who decided to retire here.  He was tickled pink to catch his first ever striped bass, a nice 24" one, but was shocked that I didn't even go for the net to land it.

 

Therefore although it was a let down, today was a definite "Mission Accomplished" morning...