As avid fishermen we often find ourselves with brief, FFing opportunities that make themselves available as windows of time during trips geared toward other purposes (business travel, family vacation, etc). Being a morning person, I can often luck into a few hours of early morning FFing before other duties call. This week I was able to get in some fishing on the Maine coast in the vicinity of Kennebunkport. I've hit this area a few times over the years and have done well but this year was lousy fishing. Of course, one of the downsides of surf fishing is the hit or miss nature of the game. "Yuh shoulda been here last week" is a common refrain - often with validity. Anyway, conditions were good but I couldn't buy a striper on fly gear (did manage one decent fish on a spin rod). Other fishermen, including bait fellas, weren't having much luck either, which is something of a consolation. For three days straight, I was the first fisherman out at the break of dawn at a popular river mouth known to be a striper hotspot. All three days the tide timing was good, the wash was thick with sand eels and diving terns, but the bass just weren't hitting. I tried Clousers, poppers, fast slow, sink tip, floating line etc - no dice. I could see some bass feeding but they were always too far out or moving fast. Bluefish were rumored to be around but I didn't see any of them. Water temps were in the upper 60s/low 70s. Word around ME is that this has been a better year for inshore saltwater fishing than last but my timing wasn't lucky. In any case, if you've never FFed the beaches at points north of Boston, you will encounter predominately rocky shoreline. The tides in southern ME run very high, roughly 10 feet - more during the full moon - so areas fishable at one tide are largely unfishable at the other. Much of the shoreline is posted with upscale homes dominating the landscape, but public access can usually be found and, if you get out early, you'll beat the summer beach crowds. The rocks have a heavy kelp coating that is treacherous to walk - be careful. I tie my salt Clousers with a heavy mono weed guard allowing them to snake thru the kelp and over rocks with relatively few snags (see photo). In the past, when I have had good FFing in ME, it has usually been around rocks. If you ever get to FF the New England coast, it's beautiful and (if your timing is lucky) it can fish well.
Maine Beaches, York Co ME, 8/11-13/09
- Thread starter Fishidiot
- Start date
David
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- Jan 21, 2008
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Nice FI...
I got to fish the rocks of Cape Anne frequently when I lived in Boston. It is a beautiful setting to watch the sun rise! Nice to hear someone else appreciate the NE coastline!!!
Thanks for taking me back.
Just don't forget to wash all the salt off your equipment!!!
I got to fish the rocks of Cape Anne frequently when I lived in Boston. It is a beautiful setting to watch the sun rise! Nice to hear someone else appreciate the NE coastline!!!
Thanks for taking me back.
Just don't forget to wash all the salt off your equipment!!!
SulphurKing
Member
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2008
- Messages
- 38
I was up on Cape Cod in June and did pretty well on Bass - even though it was the weekend of that strange Nor'Easter... Was up again in July for the family Vacation (read less fishing) and didn't do much of anything. This time of year it seems the bass move off the beaches to colder water, then come back in in the fall. Maybe that's less true in the colder Maine waters but maybe you need to schedule a nother "business meeting" in late September...
SK,
You're probably on the money. Water temps in ME have been unseasonably warm this summer and this tends to put the fish on a night feeding cycle or, as you suggest, they move to deeper water. Nevertheless, the bait was inshore and that usually means bass/blues will be around. Go figure. I do agree that next month would likely be a better time to fish Maine this year.
You're probably on the money. Water temps in ME have been unseasonably warm this summer and this tends to put the fish on a night feeding cycle or, as you suggest, they move to deeper water. Nevertheless, the bait was inshore and that usually means bass/blues will be around. Go figure. I do agree that next month would likely be a better time to fish Maine this year.
