Complements of The Kittery Trading Post

Activity for the 1st week of July, 2001

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July 3, 2001

      Last week's inland and saltwater fishing was great, as hex fly hatches in the north brought out some of the big trout and salmon, bass and panfish were hitting well, and everything seemed to be coming up roses on the coastline. Giant bluefins had started to hit both trolled baits and baits on anchor; bluefish seemed to be everywhere; cod and haddock reports were numerous, and stripers were plentiful.

      In Pittsburg and much of upstate New Hampshire, the hex and alder flies were coming off both rivers and ponds. Chris Henson at the Kittery Trading Post's Fishing Department, couldn't have picked a better weekend to fish the trout ponds in Pittsburg. "On Saturday, because of the warm and overcast weather, the big drakes were hatching sporadically all day. At times the trout were reluctant to take dry flies--they were obviously nymphing," Chris said. "When that happens, we bring out the wooly bugger wet flies and do some trimming on them to create hex nymphs. The key here is to match the size and color. We like to use a golden brown body, a sparse, but one-inch long gray marabou tail and sparse, gray hackle. Size eight or ten, 3X long nymph hooks work the best. Sometimes the fish will stalk that nymph fished just under the water for close to twenty feet! It's pretty exciting when they decide to take it. We caught and released well over 30 trout using this method," he noted.

      Chris's report also mentioned that early morning trout and salmon fishing was holding up on the big lakes--leadcore line, Sutton or other flutter spoons being the key.

      "One of our customers, Dave Kanter, has been making a study of our alder fly hatch here," reported George Malloy at River's Edge General Store in Berlin. "His records, taken over many years, indicate that the hatch always starts between June 17th and 25th. Kanter says that the hatch always happens in the morning, and if you are lucky enough to be there on that first morning, you'll have the day of your lifetime. The one time that Dave was there on the first day, he caught over 40 nice fish!" George said.

      "We've been fishing out on the Androscoggin River from in front of the store upriver to the Tech School, mostly trolling Panther Martin spinners with an orange blade. We caught over 25 trout and bass the last time out on Thursday evening. The Fish and Game people are doing a tremendous job in managing this river, and the fish stocked are nice--often averaging over a pound. Our local ponds are still fishing well, with hatches on several of them. Dummer (Town of Dummer), Success (Town of Success), Millsfield (Town of Millsfield) and Cedar Pond (Milan) are all doing very well on trout, with Cedar Pond also having some very good bass fishing," George reported.

      Umbagog Lake in the Errol, New Hampshire/Rangeley, Maine area, once was known for its fine brook trout, landlocked salmon, and outsized pickerel. An illegal stocking of smallmouth bass into this watershed has some anglers and concerned fisheries managers shaking their heads in disbelief. The smallmouths could easily invade the Rangeley chain of lakes though the Rapid River, threatening the great native brook trout fishing there. Dave Ganter at the Kittery Trading Post reported that some fishermen returning from Umbagog have been having tremendous bass fishing. Illegally stocked pike have also been noted at Umbagog Lake. Fishermen should note that penalties for moving fish without the proper permits are being rigidly enforced, with enforcement agents working  on keeping a lid on this onerous practice.

      "Even though the surface temperatures on some of our big lakes have been reaching the high eighties, the rainbow trout and salmon are coming up to within 15 feet of the surface," observed Rich Lavoie at Nute's Trading Post in Wakefield. "Great East Lake (Wakefield) and Ossipee Lake (Ossipee) have both been good. During the bright parts of the day, you'll need to drop down to the 30 to 40 foot depth ranges."

      Rich is a bass tourney fisherman on weekends and is behind the counter at Nute's on weekdays. His bass report spotlights nearby Balch Pond, a long and winding body of water shared by New Hampshire and Maine. "We've seen some huge largemouths coming from Balch, fish to over six pounds with reports of fish much bigger. Topwater lures have been working great there," he noted.

      Rich's last tourney produced a 4.5 lb. smallmouth and a 6.25 lb. largemouth. "Pre-rigged worms, purple and white or solid pearl seemed to be working the best for me. I was using a split-shot about 18 inches in front of the worm, hopping it along the bottom in ten feet of water," he revealed.

      "Crappie fishing at night is producing some very nice catches on both Great East Lake and Pine River Pond--drifting live minnows near bottom in 18 to 20 feet of water is working. Rock piles are producing well, instead of weed lines."

       Maine's inland fishing continues to produce some fine fly fishing for both trout and bass. This writer just returned from Aroostook County's Square Lake, where the hex hatch was just starting. Grandson Ben Brown of Portsmouth, had the largest fish of the trip, a native brookie of just under 17 inches and a landlocked salmon just under 18 inches, both caught on a size 8 green sedge wet fly. The fish weren't hitting dry flies, but were working the wet flies enough so that on our best day, 16 fish came to boat.

      Kurt Lane of Woodland, said that he can always count on the big flies hatching out anytime from the 4th of July onward. When this happens, he uses a home-tied fly that is larger than the naturals, saying that by doing this, trout and salmon will often pick his big dry fly out of a bunch of naturals, probably out of  greed!

      Dan Legere at the Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville, reports that most of the smaller hatches have started to fade, but the hex time is just about to come. "Small pond should come alive this week. The shallow, lower elevation ponds will start first with the higher and more northern ones to follow. It should last at least two weeks, with some of the more northern ponds going through most of July. At the first of the hatch, most any size eight dry fly will work. As days go by, the fish will often turn to nymphs," Dan instructed.

      "Big golden stone flies started to show yesterday. We fished big dry flies--golden stones and stimulators and hit fish all day long. Those big flies will bring up nice fish in the mid-day," he observed.

      Dan has the "cheeseburger theory" when it comes to fishing big flies during the midday when no fish are showing. "Give them something worth coming to the surface for. You can catch small fish in shallow water on small flies all day long. Like you and I, the big fish prefer something substantial," he laughed.

      Dan also said that it's time to start searching for spring holes and other cold water sources where trout and other coldwater fish gather, especially during the warm parts of the day.

      Rusty Harvey at River's Edge Sport Shop in Oquossoc, reports that the Rangeley Lakes continue to produce, as well as some of the local rivers. "We weighed a 5 lb., 6 oz. salmon caught on Rangeley Lake and a brook trout over 4 lbs. caught from Mooselookmeguntic Lake. The brookie was caught on a junior size copper Mooselook Wobbler. We also had a 4 lb. salmon from Rangeley caught on a yellow and silver DB Smelt. The fish are mostly down in the 30 foot depth ranges," he noted.

      "Some of the rivers were producing well last week. There were some nice trout to over 2 lbs.  coming from Upper Dam and the Rangeley River. The lower Magalloway was also doing well, although we've heard a few complaints about kayak use during the weekends conflicting somewhat with the fishing," he ended.

      "The togue (lake trout) fleet is out there every day, and they always seem to catch a big bunch of fish," reported Carroll Cutting at Jordan's Store in East Sebago. "There's upwards of a dozen boats, all trolling deep for lake trout. They'll share information with each other, so that keeps the fishing exceptional. It's not really unusual for any of those boats to bring 20 or more fish to boat in a morning's fishing. Although the fish are not the big, typical Sebago type salmon, there's also a group of fishermen that enjoy the early morning's fishing for them. And just like the togue fleet, they seem to make some good catches each day. It's just like a fraternity," Carroll observed. 

      Dave Garcia at Naples Bait and Tackle on Long Lake, reported that brown trout and salmon fishing was still holding up well on the lake, with browns to over 5 lbs. and salmon averaging larger than the Sebago fish. "Best luck for the trout and salmon here has been with fluorescent spoons, such as Mooselook Wobblers, Flash Kings and those kind of trolling spoons. Over on Sebago Lake, the best luck for togue has been a sewed-on bait, trolled near bottom behind a dodger. Although there's some real big togue being caught occasionally at Sebago, most of the recent ones we've seen are in the three to five pound range. Pleasant Lake in Casco produced the two largest lakers we've seen in a while. Two fishermen brought in two lake trout caught there, one was 15 lbs. and the other was 11 lbs. Thompson Lake in Casco also has some big trout and salmon, although right now, smallmouths are taking center stage--lots of fish in the 2 1/2 lb. range. For warm water fish, especially pickerel and perch, the Muddy River above the Route 114 Bridge is incredible. Using Sluggo lures in this area, two fishermen caught and released 126 fish, by actual count, during a little fishing contest they were having with other friends!" Dave ended.

      Saltwater fishing success was equally great. Sam Cassida at Little River Lodge and Charters in Belfast, Maine (207-338-9711) said that stripers and mackerel were running rampant along the coast! July 1st marked the opening of live bait and "keeper season" in the Kennebec River watershed. "That first day brought record numbers for my day's charter--75 fish with some up to 36 inches! We were using mackerel--dead or live didn't seem to matter. In spite of the weeklong southerly winds, we were able to catch enough mackerel for bait. It sure looks like a great season coming here," Sam forecasted.

      Outdoor writer and fishing school instructor Stu Bristol reported that Portland Harbor was jammed with mackerel, pollock and bluefish. "My first day of fishing school, we landed over 100 mackerel and a dozen bluefish in the 10 lb. range and released several more. Stripers are here big-time. Come on down--or up!" he invites.

      "The groundfishing has been red-hot on the inside ledges," enthused Captain Cal Robinson at Saco Bay Tackle. "Fourteen mile ledge and Tanners, most anywhere along the 900 line have been great for cod and a few haddock. You need to fish in the 225-240 feet depths. Jeffrey's ledge is still good but you will also need to fish off the edges there, as the top is kind of barren. We actually weighed a 13.2 oz. haddock that was eaten by the happy angler that would have place well in the record book!" Cal laughed.

      "The big-game fish are showing up better this week. There are some poorbeagle sharks around, and the giant bluefins are starting to hit better. There have been a dozen trolled fish and half that number taken by chunkers. Inshore,  the bluefish seem to have passed by, but the stripers are getting bigger--lots over 30 inches. It seems like they're in pods of about a dozen fish. You've got to work hard to catch fish on the flyrod right now. Little mackerel are everywhere," Cal noted.

      "Mackerel and blues seem to be everywhere around here," reported Dave Ganter at the Kittery Trading Post. "Our Curt Mitchell is having a heck of a good year fishing our local beaches, mostly at night. He's been using natural baits. He gets some big fish, not being especially handicapped by not fishing from a boat. His largest striper of the year so far has been 42 inches! Groundfishing continues to be very good. The party boat Bunny Clark out of Ogunquit has been having some great days," Dave mentioned.

      "Because of the bluefish, you've got to work to get your bait," warned Jim MacKenzie at Suds-n-Soda in Greenland, New Hampshire. "The key is to get out there at daybreak. After that, the bluefish will have scattered the schools of mackerel and pollock. The 2KR Buoy off Portsmouth has been the best early morning spot. If you can't find bait there, the next best bet is to try around the Isles of Shoals. My son Jim and his buddy Keith Folger boated over 40 fish in one day this week--mostly in the 30-inch or better range. They were on the water at first light, got their live mackerel quickly and had so much striper action that they ran out of bait. By then, the mackerel had scattered, but they were able to get another tank-full of live bait at the Shoals," he said.

      Jim mentioned that flounder fishing was the best in years, especially at Kittery Point's Pepperell Cove. Occasional fish of over 3 lbs. top off catches averaging 12 or more per trip.

      At Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island, Kay Moulton was talking about a bit of a slowdown in the fishing. "Except for the guys that are getting out there real early to fish the last couple of hours of the outgoing tide near the sand bars, it's slowed down. Those fishermen have been making some big catches, mostly using Sluggo Lures with lead jig heads. The bluefish are back out in the deep water, off Halibut Point at Cape Ann. The boat striper fishermen have been doing okay outside using live baits. No real reports of fluke here yet, but the blackbacked flounders are plentiful on some days," Kay ended.

      "One of our good customers, Todd Williams, went out alone to fish for flounder and cod in the North Channel. He got his limit of both, with cod to 12 lbs. and flounder over 3 lbs., in just two hours! He chums heavy and likes to use sea worms fished with a Chincoteaugue rig," reports Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett, MA. "We've got bluefish to nine pounds in the Reserve Channel. They're hitting niner rigs (umbrella rigs), Rapala plugs and the orange Santini Tube-n-Worm. Mackerel came back into the harbor--they were around the Charles River Locks and all along the waterfront. Out on Faun Bar, Nix's Mate and Lovell's Island, it's been hot for stripers on the tube. The biggest fish of the week was a 35-pounder taken on a red Santini Tube off Nahant. At Revere and Winthrop Beaches, there's been some great surf fishing. Worms and chunks are working. Night times have been best," Pete observed.

                     Past Fishing Reports 2001

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