North of Portland 2022

[Roccus7]

Reluctant dining...

 

Went out this AM with now intention of keeping any slot fish caught.  Very early on I noticed the subtle change in the wake of my popper that said, "There's a fish following deep!" so I altered retrieve speed and rod twitches and BANG, fish on.  Knew it was big as it made a racket on top and then proceeded to turn my 22' boat around twice and take me on a short, 20 yd Nantucket Sleigh Ride.

 

As I got her into the boat, I noticed that the lure was entirely in the fish's maw and blood coming out of the fish's gills.  Got her in quickly and noticed there was a single hook buried in the flesh, right in the location of the heart.  I quickly unhooked her and got her over the side, and with my hand in her mouth, trying to revive her.  As I shook her 32" body gently and moved her back and forth, I notice the blood still coming out of her gills.  After 5 mins of fruitless "CPR" it was apparent that she wasn't going to make it so I made the difficult decision to keep her.  :-( :-( :-(

 

One other hit, a dink that came off soon after hitting the plug.  Timing of the events sealed the deal that the spot I've been fishing is daylight sensitive.  You're good from first light to just after the sun clears the horizon...

Edited August 20, 2022 by Roccus7

[adam42]

16 mins ago, Roccus7 said:

 Timing of the events sealed the deal that the spot I've been fishing is daylight sensitive.  You're good from first light to just after the sun clears the horizon...

My experience as well. Haven't landed a fish post 10 am and overwhelming majority come before 7

Edited August 20, 2022 by adam42

[CotroneOnIce]

16 hours ago, Roccus7 said:

Reluctant dining...

 

Went out this AM with now intention of keeping any slot fish caught.  Very early on I noticed the subtle change in the wake of my popper that said, "There's a fish following deep!" so I altered retrieve speed and rod twitches and BANG, fish on.  Knew it was big as it made a racket on top and then proceeded to turn my 22' boat around twice and take me on a short, 20 yd Nantucket Sleigh Ride.

 

As I got her into the boat, I noticed that the lure was entirely in the fish's maw and blood coming out of the fish's gills.  Got her in quickly and noticed there was a single hook buried in the flesh, right in the location of the heart.  I quickly unhooked her and got her over the side, and with my hand in her mouth, trying to revive her.  As I shook her 32" body gently and moved her back and forth, I notice the blood still coming out of her gills.  After 5 mins of fruitless "CPR" it was apparent that she wasn't going to make it so I made the difficult decision to keep her.  :-( :-( :-(

 

One other hit, a dink that came off soon after hitting the plug.  Timing of the events sealed the deal that the spot I've been fishing is daylight sensitive.  You're good from first light to just after the sun clears the horizon...

Right there with you.. if I’m going to keep a fish it’s going to be one that isn’t going to make it otherwise. So far this year all my slots are still swimming.  

[adam42]

Did some night fishing tonight catching the slack tide on a tidal river. The water broke a few times with something big, but was convinced it was a seal.

 

But the reason for posting there was everywhere you looked, all you could see was minor ripples along the water. So I shine a light and get a good look and zomg minnows everywhere -you never see minnows out here normally, and if you do, it's a small school of like 20.

 

Then I look a little closer, no, these aren't fish, they swim too weirdly and maneuver too sharply to be fish.

 

Gotta be baby squid I think. But I can't be sure, so I grab my plug to rack it and then want to go grab some kind of improvized scoop to capture one and get a good look and see that I've snagged one on my hook.

 

It was worms. The entire ocean is full of worms.

 

[adam42]

And of course it was after 10 am so didn't see any evidence of a striper at all. Was both chunking and tossing plugs and poppers with 2 lines in the water for a few hours.

[Roccus7]

Idle Hands are a Devil's Workshop...

 

Got fogged out of Plans A & B this AM as they involved "commuting" and even with radar, I'm loathe to travel out of my harbor before it gets light out in the thick fog like we had this AM.  Since the bite has been dropping off after the sun rises, I decided not to go out, but as I was awake, I figured I'd try fishing in the backyard.

 

Had to use my GPS to get to my "Never Fail" spot in very thick fog, and my first cast had a swirl and then the fish unceremoniously tail-flicked my popper back at me.  As more casts were like treated like folks in a car lot, "No thanks just looking", I started to panic thinking that the First Cast Curse had the Skunk had locked onto me.  Eventually I enticed one of those "lookers" into hitting the plug and quickly released a 22" fish, followed by another 22 & a 21.  By then the tide had run its course and it was back to the barn.

 

Still awake and somewhat bored, I decided to quantitate the size differentials when comparing 2022 to 2021 and my histograms clearly showed that at least in this case, my mind has been functioning properly.  Going to run the Mean and Medians later, but it's patently obvious that thangs are shifted far to the bigger fish, especially considering I've only caught 1 16" fish so far this year, my smallest...

 

2021:

 

 

2022 YTD:

Edited August 22, 2022 by Roccus7
Website's inability to handle cut & pasted images...

[MainelySmallies]

13 hours ago, adam42 said:

 

 

It was worms. The entire ocean is full of worms.

 

Wade into the shark-infested ocean in a black rubber suit in the dead of night fumbling around like a wounded seal? Sure!

 

Wade into the ocean infested with tiny worms? F*** no. No thank you. Absolutely no I will not.

 

That is haunting stuff.

[Roccus7]

You folks never see a worm hatch???  Used to see it all the time on LI.  It's the height of frustration, as usually the bass and weakfish would be slurping the worms all night totally ignoring your lures.  You'd be lucky to have 2 hits in 3 hours.  One night after fishing for 4 hours without a hit I had a quick hit with no hookup.  I was so infuriated that I tossed my rod into the water and stomped out to sit on a log.  After 15 minutes I cooled down enough to go back in and grab my rod...

 

Now, some of the fly boys should chime in.  I think they'd have the best chance of "matching the hatch" in this instance...

[PSeggs]

3 hours ago, MainelySmallies said:

Wade into the shark-infested ocean in a black rubber suit in the dead of night fumbling around like a wounded seal? Sure!

 

Wade into the ocean infested with tiny worms? F*** no. No thank you. Absolutely no I will not.

 

That is haunting stuff.

Lol. We all got our things. 

 

Worms and slimy things don't bother me.  I used to catch leeches by standing knee deep in a swamp.  Then would pull em off my legs.  Now if a horror movie comes on. Or GASP! Something with those grey bug eyed aliens!!  I'm OUT!!

[Roccus7]

It's possible that the Fat Lady has sung for my 2022 Striper Season...

 

Looking at my fall travel schedule and may pull the boat tomorrow because I'll be in and out of Maine from now until November.  

 

Well no matter, had a lovely morning, getting 7 up to 28".  To get to my spot I had to pass this Panel of Pinnipeds.  Fortunately they stayed put and didn't follow me to steal fish off the line.

 

 

[ill_postino]

keys under a streetlight...

 

You know the joke about the drunk searching for keys under a streetlight? Guy trying to help asks him if he's sure that's where he lost them. "No, this is just where the light is."

 

This a.m. was what I consider looking for keys under a streetlight fishing: when I choose a destination because it's convenient—short drive, easy kayak launch with no mud dragging, some shelter from the wind—even though it's not a spot where I've actually seen the most/biggest fish lately.

 

So I was pleasantly surprised when this 30 incher smashed my popper around 6am and took me on a nice sleigh ride.  It was a good thing I landed this one too because I was about to have one of the longest series of big-hit-with-no-hookups I've seen, where 6 or 7 consecutive casts to the exact same spot (with no visible surface activity) yielded a huge splash with no connection. But I did also get to chase a couple of pods of breaking 24"-range fish for a nice morning on the water.

 

[Figured I'd post a midcoast report while @Roccus7 is on hiatus. My only chance to outfish him is when he's not on the water.]

[CotroneOnIce]

3 hours ago, ill_postino said:

keys under a streetlight...

 

You know the joke about the drunk searching for keys under a streetlight? Guy trying to help asks him if he's sure that's where he lost them. "No, this is just where the light is."

 

This a.m. was what I consider looking for keys under a streetlight fishing: when I choose a destination because it's convenient—short drive, easy kayak launch with no mud dragging, some shelter from the wind—even though it's not a spot where I've actually seen the most/biggest fish lately.

 

So I was pleasantly surprised when this 30 incher smashed my popper around 6am and took me on a nice sleigh ride.  It was a good thing I landed this one too because I was about to have one of the longest series of big-hit-with-no-hookups I've seen, where 6 or 7 consecutive casts to the exact same spot (with no visible surface activity) yielded a huge splash with no connection. But I did also get to chase a couple of pods of breaking 24"-range fish for a nice morning on the water.

 

[Figured I'd post a midcoast report while @Roccus7 is on hiatus. My only chance to outfish him is when he's not on the water.]

Nice to see the 30” fish nice and chunky.

[adam42]

How big of a sleigh ride will a 30" give you?

[ill_postino]

18 hours ago, adam42 said:

How big of a sleigh ride will a 30" give you?

I'm in a kayak so honestly even a spirited 24" can tow me along pretty good.  Not sure how to quantify but a 30"+ fish in shallow-ish water—so it runs more than dives—can get pretty comical: spinning me around, pulling me towards rocks and buoys of course.  I realize a 30" is not necessarily anything to write home about farther south, but in this neck of the woods where 33" is my PB, and on light tackle in a light 'yak, any slot fish will have me leaving a wake.

[7 Rivers]

Where abouts are you?