Complements of The Kittery Trading Post

Activity for the 2nd week of May, 2001

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May 14, 2001

            Striped bass are huge in our news today, as last week's unseasonably warm weather had raised coastal water temperatures enough to entice the stripers up from the more southern waters. From the Saco Bay south, stripers came into the local bays and rivers, mostly with a meal of alewife on their minds.

            The first news received came from Bill Hubbard, Coastal Conservation Association activist and striper addict: "The stripers are here! They're everywhere! I fished the Salmon Falls River (South Berwick, ME/Dover, NH) this morning. Plenty of alewives at the dam and plenty of stripers with them. Saw many Maine-sized keepers and a number over 26 inches that were released. Saw no shad," Bill ended.

            But some of the fishermen frequenting George Taylor's Trading Post in Madbury reported they'd had some great shad fishing below the South Berwick Dam on the Salmon Falls River, with fish to five pounds landed. "We've heard that one fellow took a 31 inch striper and, he said that the pool there was loaded with fish," George added.

            Dave Ganter at the Kittery Trading Post's Fishing Department, also was privy to the news, as several fishermen had heard of stripers from as far away as the Mousam River to the Merrimack River. One Mousam River angler had caught and released 20 schoolies. Dave figures the mackerel won't be far behind, and with them, the largest sized stripers of the spring season.

            At Saco Bay Tackle, Craig Bergeron was very enthusiastic about both the stripers and shad that had showed up at the Cataract Dam on the Saco River. "One of our fishermen took two dozen shad one morning. It's been red-hot," he said. "The shad are right at the base of the dam, and there are quite a few stripers that are busting into the schools of alewives there. We've also had reports of quite a few schoolies up into the Mousam River, but not the larger fish we are seeing here in the Saco. And to top that off, some of the party and charter boats have run into some wonderful haddock and cod fishing out on Jeffrey's Ledge. It's all breaking out at once," Craig laughed.

            "The saltwater Lamprey River is full of alewives and stripers, and I understand that all of the Great Bay Rivers have runs of both alewives and stripers right now," reports Jim MacKenzie at Suds-n-Soda in Greenland, New Hampshire. "We've heard of fish over 30 inches, so that's a good sign. Along the coast, especially in the Rye area, some of the striper guides are starting to pick up some fish, but they are mostly on the small size. There's also been a school of stripers up into Portsmouth's North Mill Pond. The outlet to that pond can be excellent fishing on the outgoing tide. Everyone we've talked to that has been out on the party boats fishing for ground fish have had excellent fishing. Although we've had no reports of mackerel and flounder yet, it wont' be long," Mac ended.

            Kay Moulton at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island was also happy. "We've really got 'em now--lots of fish both in the river and along the ocean front. In the river, they're using clams, worms and cut bait. They're working it in the currents. Outside, casting metal lures or bucktail jigs is catching most of the fish. A lot of the fishermen are using teasers tied into their lines in front of their lures. They're catching two stripers at a time occasionally, and it seems that many of their single fish are coming from that teaser," Kay noted.

            Kay also said that when the dam at Lawrence shut down some of the water flow, the shad fishing that had been very good, slowed down. She suggests trying downriver from the dam, as she's found in her experience, that when the water drops like it has, the fish also drop back. Shad darts and bright weighted wet flies have been best.

            "Boston Harbor is alive with stripers with many over 30 inches," was the word from Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett, MA. "The Amelia Earhartt Dam in Somerville is full of big bass chasing alewives. The dropping tide is a slaughter, as the bass pounce on the baitfish. I've never seen stripers of this size so early in the season. They are also doing very well at the Route 99 Bridge in Everett, the North Washington Street Bridge in Charleston, and the North End. Trollers are doing well on the Santini Tube-n-Worm combo at the Fawn Bar and off Logan Airport. Surfcasters are catching both stripers and flounders off Point of Pines in Revere on seaworms. Cod are still hitting well throughout Boston Harbor, with Green Island and Graves Light being the best bets. Clams and jigs rigged with a teaser are tops for the cod. Some mackerel have shown up at the B Buoy and for the first time in years, wolfish and conger eels (ocean pout) are making a strong comeback. They're ugly but great eating," Santini suggested.

            Freshwater reports were equally glowing with promise. Dan Legere at the Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville, had some good news for the pond fishermen that wants a quality fly fishing experience for wild brook trout: "There's some very fine wild trout fishing this time of the season, and the ponds in our area are prime. There are about 40 ponds within an hour's drive from here, some with very easy access.  You can get more detail by checking out our web site at www.maineguideflyshop.com and click on the pond guide," he offers.

            "The mayfly hatches haven't started yet, but a good bet is to use a sink tip line with a #6 wooly bugger fly or a #6 dragon fly nymph. The dragon fly nymphs are predators that prey on mayfly and caddis nymphs. They prowl the shallows and are easy prey for brookies cruising the shoreline. Fish the sunny shallows with nearby drop-offs, letting your sink tip line bring your fly down near bottom. Late in the day, if you see fish rising and can't see what they're taking, chances are they're after midges--in that dreaded tiny size 24. Try a black midge or Griffith's gnat. You'll have trouble detecting strikes, so tie three feet of 6x tippet material to the hook bend of a number 10 or 12 royal Wulff dry. To this dropper leader, tie on a size 20 or smaller gnat or midge. When a fish takes your midge, the Wulff fly will move. Bingo--you'll hook a lot more fish with this method," Legere instructs.

            Dan noted that most of the local rivers are quite low, except for the Moose River that is still handling the snow melt runoff from the Jackman area. "The water should start to drop this week and as we all know, the river will be full of fish," he ended.

            Rusty Harvey at River's Edge Sports in Oquossoc in the Rangeley Lakes Region, said that the fishing there had been wonderful, with some of the action and largest fish coming from Rangeley Lake. "Since ice-out, the fish have really been hitting well. Off of Hunter Cove Bridge, there's been some huge brook trout caught. We've weighed one that went 6 pounds, 3 ounces and another that weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces. Our guide that fishes from here had a day when he caught a salmon and brookie both over 4 pounds. Some boats are having days of over a dozen fish. Sewed-on smelts have been good, as well as streamers--the red streak and grey ghost patterns. Our smelt runs look like they're over," Rusty ended.

            Maine fisheries biologist Jim Stahlnecker reported that the Kennebec River below the Shawmut Dam in Fairfield received its annual stocking of spring yearling brown and rainbow trout on May 9th, but that these fish are not legal size. The regulations there are 16 inches for trout and salmon. This spring marks the beginning of a study to find out how the rainbow trout compare with the brown trout there. Megunticook Lake in Camden and Lake George in Canaan will also be involved in a similar stocking of rainbows and this study.

            Downeast waters have already seen some good luck for trout, according to Ron Brokaw, their fisheries biologist. Simmons Pond in Hancock has yielded brook trout to 14 inches, as has West Pike Brook Pond on the Barrens. He suggests trying the following Hancock County waters: Echo Lake, Hopkins Pond, Long Pond (Great Pond Township), Little Tunk Pond, and Witchole Pond. In Washington County, try Lilly Lake, Peep Lake, Salmon Pond, Shattuck Lake, Monroe Lake and West Monroe Lake.  Big Lake and Cathance Lake are his choices for best landlocked salmon. 

            Sebago area fishermen were having some good luck, according to several sources. John Boland, Regional Fisheries Biologist in that area, said that earlier, the mouth of the Songo River had been the hot place, but as the smelt runs there diminish, the salmon and togue (lake trout) spread out. Most of the salmon are in the two-pound range with quite a few sub-legal fish. Togue of up to 15 pounds have been reported. Auburn Lake also has been producing some fat salmon, up to 20 inches long.

             Wayne Davis at Dave Garcia's Naples Bait on Long Lake, said that most of the action nearby was centering on big Sebago, with more than just landlocks and togue getting attention. "There's been quite a few white perch showing up at the Songo Locks. Crappie are on their beds and if you find them, you should have some fun. The bass have been hitting well in a lot of the local ponds. You better get out there," he suggested.

            "We're seeing some pretty nice landlocks from both Sebago and nearby Trickey Pond," noted Carroll Cutting at Jordan's Store in East Sebago. We've weighed in salmon of close to 5 pounds from Trickey and some of the Sebago salmon are going over 3 pounds. Togue fishing here remains wonderful--the best around. We had one fish that was 34 inches and weighed over 15 pounds and another one  31 inches weighing 11.28 pounds. One of the prettiest fish of last week was a very fat splake (lake trout/brook trout cross) that was only 22 inches long but weighed 4.76 pounds. The salmon have started to spread out and are being caught all along the shoreline here. Off the Northeast River and in Wards Cove are good bets right now," Cutting suggested.

            R.J. Mere at the Kittery Trading Post's Fishing Department, took part in the stocking of over 860,00 Atlantic salmon fry in the upper Saco and Ossipee Rivers, according to Dave Ganter. Ganter said that these fish are raised each year in the Saco River Salmon Association's own fish hatchery. The goal is to bring this fishery to a point where it will support an Atlantic salmon fishery. Ganter spent the weekend with his 10 year old son Andrew, catching and releasing lots of bass in the shallows at Shaker Pond in Alfred. "You just threw your bait out and instantly a fish had it. Our largest was about 17 inches, but even the smaller ones were a blast," Dave said.

            Ganter had news of some outstanding landlocked salmon fishing on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee, where river fishing had slowed down, but lake trollers had been doing well.

            Chris Henson, also at Kittery Trading Post, had a blast on York County Ponds, where both bass and huge schools of white perch provided action when the landlocked salmon he was after had proved elusive. "We did manage to hook two salmon, but lost them. But the fun we had on the perch really made up for it," he laughed. Chris had seen water temperatures as warm as 62 degrees in some of the dark bottomed coves. Bass beds were evident in these places.

            New Hampshire's Lakes Region was again seeing lots of fishing pressure and some very good luck on both trout and landlocked salmon. At Hot Spot's Outfitters in New Durham, Paul Garland noted that nearby Merrymeeting Lake was producing fishing to rival the larger Winnipesaukee. "There's been a lot of salmon over 20 inches. The salmon are nailing streamers as well as live bait. At Winnipesaukee, one of our fishermen has boated over 40 fish in a week and a half. Some outstanding rainbow trout are mixed in with the salmon, as well as a few lakers," he reported.

            "We hammered the smallmouths last night on Winni at Wolfeboro Bay. Most of our luck came on gold bladed spinner baits. We landed over a dozen fish, some up to three pounds," Garland enthused.

            Bill Martel at Martel's Bait in Laconia, had some praise for his Lake Winnisquam. "We've had some parties that have been limiting-out on salmon every time out. They're trolling small Sutton spoons. Another customer has shown us that the early bird gets the fish. He buys his live bait each day and is on the water at 4am the next day. He's taken over 40 salmon and three very nice rainbows. He fishes Winnipesaukee. The white perch are hitting right off the docks here (Winnipesaukee River). They seem to be a bit larger than usual-- in the half to three-quarters of a pound range. And there's been a lot of bass action also," Bill notes.

            We had 30 degree temperatures and frost this morning," laughed Shirley Remick at TR's Bait in Pittsburg.  Shirley's son, Tom, was readying his boat for the start of his fishing guiding season. "We got caught by surprise by the way the ice dissolved overnight last week! The fishing on Lake Francis has been wonderful already. Brown trout to three and a half pounds, rainbows over 20 inches, and some lake trout mixed in. One boat came in that had caught two rainbows, three salmon and two lakers, all by the same method. We've also seen some brook trout over three pounds coming from Francis. The rivers are in perfect condition right now, and the smelts are running. Except for access to some of the outer ponds that are gated until Memorial Day, I'd say that it's a great time to come to Pittsburg," he offered.

            In Berlin, at River's Edge General Store, George Malloy noted that several of his customers had headed south to fish Winnipesaukee. "The locally produced, blue and silver DB Smelt has been the hottest lure of the season for those guys. We're also seeing our first hatches of the season, blue winged olive mayflies coming off the Androscoggin River. One of the best fish of the week, a fat landlock over three pounds, came from the Deep Hole in Umbagog Lake, at the outlet of the Rapid River. Norman Jackson of Berlin had some good brookie fishing at Munn Pond in Cambridge, with one fish over 18 inches. Dummer Pond was also producing some good fishing," he said.

            George Taylor at Taylor's Trading Post in Madbury reports that local Barbados Pond was producing rainbow trout to 20 inches and that Lucas Pond in Northwood had brook and rainbow trout hitting well. Berkeley Power bait was working there.

          Past Fishing Reports 2001

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