Complements of The Kittery Trading Post

Activity for the 3rd week of August, 2001

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August 20, 2001

      The mid-August doldrums didn’t shut down the recent saltwater fishing, as big stripers and bluefish moved inshore, and some of the big game species have really started to put on a show. Freshwater reports almost universally noted that low water and high temperatures were impacting the cold water species activities, and in some cases, mortality has become apparent.

      Some of the most dramatic saltwater reports came from Captain Cal Robinson at Saco Bay Tackle: “Out on Scantum Basin yesterday, Andy Boise and Carl Bacon hooked into a huge mako shark using only a 50-pound standup rig.  The mako weighed-in at an astounding 840 pounds. It was 11 1/2 feet long!  The boat Hound Dog landed another notable mako of over 200 pounds. Most of these fish are being caught with mackerel chunks fished in a chum line,” Cal notes.

      “Chuck and Nancy Baker like to fish for sharks on light tackle. On Saturday, they were enjoying a nice active day when a 300-pound giant bluefin tuna took one of their shark baits. Chuck passed the rod to Nancy to try at harpooning the tuna when it made a pass by the boat, and when he threw the harpoon, somehow he was attached to it and went overboard with the harpoon! Nancy got on the harpoon line and hauled Chuck back into the boat, where he proceeded to stick the fish with his harpoon on its next pass, not even loosing a beat from his dunking!”

      Offshore ground fishing continues to be very steady with cod, haddock and large pollock dominating the catch.

      Bluefish and striper action was also hot in Cal’s area, with big stripers in on the beach in the Wells area. The word was that there were schools of the big cow bass there. There’s plenty of bluefish still in the Saco Bay area, but because of this, mackerel are scarce and available only in Portland Harbor. Cal also noted that customers fishing for flounder around the Isles of Shoals have had some great luck. Seaworms were the bait.

      Farther up the Maine coast, Sam Cassida at Little River Lodge and Charters reports a big lull in the striper fishing from the Penobscot Bay area to the Kennebec River. “We had a hard time even finding mackerel, but this often happens in mid-August,” Captain Sam reported.  He’s looking for the fishing to pick up as the month moves on.

      At the Kittery Trading Post’s Fishing Department, Dave Ganter had some good news about both the offshore and inshore fishing.  “At Rye Harbor and along the shoreline there, especially around Straw’s Point, stripers up to the mid thirty pounds were hitting red Santini Tube-n-Worm rigs. One boat that had found these fish reported that they’d never had to roam more than a mile and a quarter from the harbor entrance and had boated several fish, with the four people onboard all keeping one large fish each,” Dave said.

      “Charter skipper Ray Mamoine, who operates out of Rye Harbor, had his best day ever on Saturday. On the morning’s charter, his four-man charter boated 18 keeper stripers. Ray’s afternoon charter did even better, with 22 keeper stripers brought to boat by another four-man crew. Ray’s method of operation is to catch mackerel offshore and to fish them live below a balloon bobber. “It’s worth the effort it takes to locate the mackerel, as the big stripers are not far away,” Ganter said.

      Jim MacKenzie at Suds-n-Soda in Greenland, NH reported that his brother Howard MacKenzie returned from a striper trip on the Piscataqua River where he’d caught and released three beauties in the mid-30 inch class.

      Mac noted that the river fish seemed to be long and thin, but that some of the fish coming from the coastal areas are really fat. Bluefish remain scattered from up into Great Bay to the Isles of Shoals.

      “The flounder fishing has been a lot better than in years past,” reported George Taylor at Taylor’s Trading Post in Madbury. “There are several fishermen that come in here for sea worms that say they’ve got their freezers full. Most of them are being caught in the Rye area and Hampton Harbor.”

      At Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island, Martha Moulton had this report: “The refuge has been opened to four wheelers for beach travel in some areas, and the fishing has been good for them, with stripers to 16 pounds, a few bluefish and some flounders being caught from shore. Sea worms are working best. Bluefish are hard to get from shore right now but the boat people are having no problems. Stripers up on the flats have become active again. The incoming tide is best. When it hits high tide, then it’s all over. Herring chunks and worms are working best there. Some of the best luck has been by not using any weight on your sea worm lines, just casting them out and letting them drift with the currents. There’s too many dogfish outside to be able to chum for mackerel or stripers. And mackerel are very scarce,” she ended.

      “Boston Harbor just won’t quit this year,” enthused Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett. “Around the B Buoy, the waters have been alive with bluefish. There’s great surface action early in the morning and after that, when the sun starts higher, you can still catch plenty of fish by either dropping chunk bait down to 70 or 80 feet or by trolling Rapala type lures in those same depths. Lovell’s Island has been hot for stripers in the 40-inch range. They’re hitting the red Santini Tube-n-Worm trolled right along the rocky shoreline. If you are looking for non-stop action on schoolies and some keeper-sized stripers, try behind the airport at East Boston in front of the Orient Height Yacht Club.  The Revere Beach shoreline is also a place for plenty of action on stripers. Seaworms and chunks fished on bottom are working there. We caught limits of flounders drifting worms on Chincoteaugue rigs near the #4 Buoy in the North Channel. The fish were up to 22 inches long! And my fishing buddy Todd-the-Cod continued to catch codfish around the B Buoy. He was jigging ten-ounce jigs with blue teasers. The cod were averaging around seven pounds,” Pete said.

      Pete had also weighed a big rainbow trout caught by local angler Dave Paaz. Dave hooked the 4 lb., 22 in. trout while fishing the outlet culvert at Horn’s Pond in Woburn. The trout took a nightcrawler-salmon egg combo, often referred to as a “surf-n-turf” rig.

      Too hot and too low were the main themes of a lot of the freshwater people. Fisheries Biologist Forrest Bonney who works out of the Western Mountain Regional Office reported that streams are generally low and warm. They’ve had reports of fish mortality in at least one of the shallower trout ponds. “Brook trout are truly a coldwater fish, preferring water temperatures of 68 degrees or less, though they can survive temperatures as high as 75 degrees for short periods. Salmon and most other trout are a bit more tolerant of warm water temperatures. Despite the heat, trout and salmon can be caught in streams. Some of our higher-altitude streams, such as the Cupsuptic River, stay cool all through the summer and are a good bet for late summer fishing. The Magalloway River below Aziscohos Dam provides some good tail-race fishing, created by the release of cooler water from the dam.”  Bonney suggested.

      Rusty Harvey at River’s Edge Sports in Oquossoc situated in this same region, reports that the lake fishing hasn’t suffered that much from the heat and also noted that despite  the low and warm water, he’d seen a salmon of over four pounds jump while launching his canoe at the Steep Bank Pool at the Kennebago River.

      “We’ve weighed some nice fish this week--a five pound salmon from Rangeley Lake, along with a salmon just under three pounds. Mooselook Lake produced some salmon in the two plus pound range. There’s plenty of action still taking place at Upper Dam on both brook trout and salmon,” Rusty added.

      In the Aroostook County area, Biologist Dave Basley suggests fishing with lures such as the Al’s Goldfish, the Super Duper and the fluorescent Weeping Willow lure. “Fish the lures deep in the 20 foot range and vary the retrieve. Try Echo Lake, Matthew’s Pond, Upper Elbow Pond or Island Pond (these are all in Piscataquis County).

      The Moosehead area was reporting very little fishing activity on the lakes and that most of the rivers and streams were not fishing well because of the conditions.

      In the Sebago Lake Region, Dave Garcia was hoping for some big rains that could draw some fish up out of the big lake into the rivers, but he noted that there’s still plenty of action to be had, especially with bass fishing. “We fished the China Lake Tourney this week and had a good bite. The smallies were up on the flats in the weeds and Carolina rigs with ten inch Yamamoto worms were working best for us. Rigging is most important. A two-foot leader past the weight is plenty. Out here on Long Lake, there’s still a lot of white perch action to be had from shore, docks or boat. In the evening when the schools of perch move in, it can be non-stop fun. And on Sebago Lake, where the togue fishing has slowed down and some of the people are wondering about where they all went, several fishermen have zeroed in on the fish by vertical jigging bucktail jigs tipped with cut bait. They’re not catching a lot of monsters, but the action is steady,” Dave reported.

      Sebago Regional Biologist John Boland warns that people should be aware that after August 15th, fishing for brook trout in streams and rivers requires the use of artificial lures only, and there’s a one fish limit. Boland and his crew surveyed Kezar Lake in Lovell last week and found a lot of good-sized lakers. “You need to have the fishing tackle that enables you to fish in the 40 to 70 foot depths. Trolling live bait or lures is very effective. This lake is also noted for its smallmouth fishing. Most of the larger fish are in the 15 to 25 foot depth range,” Boland said.

      “Sebago Lake had a few good reports--salmon in the 16-20 inch range and some lake trout in the three to five pound range,” he ended.

      Shirley Remick at TR’s Bait in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, said that some nice salmon had come from the First Connecticut Lake as well as consistent lake trout action. “Third Connecticut Lake continues to amaze us with the steady rainbow trout fishing. It just hasn’t stopped all season long. Most of the fish are around a foot long, but there’s some that are quite a bit larger,” she said.

      “The bright spot around here is the Trophy Stretch of the Connecticut River, where good flows are being experienced,” suggests Cindy Caron at Tall Timber Lodge in Pittsburg. “Earlier high flows made it hard to fish and wade, but now the flows have abated and the earlier fast water had brought some nice trout and salmon up from the lake.” (The Trophy Stretch is the Connecticut River between the First Connecticut Lake and Lake Francis. There are special regulations for this area and it is historically stocked with huge fish--brook trout to over five pounds!)

      Bill Martel at Martel’s Bait in Laconia, had seen a lake trout that came out of Lake Winnisquam that topped 14 pounds and was 33 inches long! “The same fellow had taken a 5 1/2 pound salmon. He trolls with live shiners on downriggers. Another party was just in here. They’d hit the lake before dawn and had caught four salmon, two lakers and one rainbow trout, enough action for the fellow to say that it sure was worth the effort to get up so early. Bass have slowed a bit here,” he noted.

      Tink Nelson at Nute’s Trading Post in Wakefield, said that nearby border lake--Great East Lake, had been producing nice mixed catches of bass, lake trout and rainbow trout. “A lot of the lake trout are small, but there’s been some real lunkers. Yozuri Pin’s Minnows are working well there. The biggest bass are being caught in deep water--to thirty feet. Nightcrawlers are producing most of this action,” he ends.

                      Past Fishing Reports 2001

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