2000 Striper
Season
The summer striper fishing is just getting started folks so hold on tight, the
Kennebec in Waterville/Winslow is going to be “wild” the Alewives are
already here so thick you can walk on them and the stripers won’t be far
behind, any day now as a matter of fact. There are some resident fish here
already around 20 inches in length but not in great numbers. The picture to the
left was from early summer 2000 in the upper Kennebec at Augusta. I’ll
be adding to this page as the season progresses, so stay tuned.
Fishing Reports
May 20,
2000: I
fished the Kennebec today, and caught just a few small stripers using a popper.
The bait is very abundant and its difficult to attract stripers to a lure, but
if you wait for signs of predator fish, (larger boils and scurrying bait) then
throw a popper in there and you can get them to strike at it. They won’t
follow it very far but you can entice a strike if you can hit on or near a rise.
A few more fish are being caught at sunset and during lowlight conditions …
jigs and flies are working also but better in lowlight. I haven’t fished
Augusta yet but will on the 27th.
Tight lines
all.
May 24,
2000: I’ve
been fishing early mornings at the base of both the Sabasticook dam and the
Kennebec dam in Waterville, been having good luck using a ¼ oz. jighead with
black and white rubber type baits (shadows, sluggos). A dead drift technique is
king as of late, it seems the stripers are eating the dead and wounded versus
wasting energy chasing all the bait that is so abundant (Alewife, herring).
Another key to this technique is the use of clear mono line. I’ve tried a
little test with colored line versus clear and the hits are 10 to 1 with clear
being the winner. Part of the reason may be the amount of bait present and the
fish having the chance to look things over a bit before striking. The strikes
are coming quick and subtle, and they are just as quick to spit the bait out
once they feel the weight of the jig in their mouth. The hookset needs to be
quick as well, because the second small bump you’ll feel is when they spit it
out. In other words if you didn’t record the first bump and set the hook on
the second bump, all your going to feel is alot of open water and the fish has
gone back to his lie. Keeping contact with the lure is key at all times to
record these subtle1st strikes, so be ready and “feel” the jig back in and
try to make contact with the bottom as much as possible, this will help call the
fish off the bait that is present and so abundant.
Going
to Augusta Saturday and can hardly wait.
Tight
lines all!
May
28, 2000: I
Went to Augusta yesterday, had a nice trip and was quite surprised that I could
motor up past the Sidney launch about a mile to 6 mile falls. There is some
pretty skinny water in the last ¼ mile (under 2ft), a nice coarse gravel bottom
most of the way. The best fishing was near Augusta, with plenty of bait around
(Alewife/herring). We caught some decent stripers in the 30” class at high
tide with poppers and jigs. There seems to be plenty of water and a strong
current, enough current to hold stripers on the outside current edges and seams.
I followed up this trip with another today just to check if new fish were coming
in with each tide and I wasn’t impressed. The second day yielded less fish by
far and left me slightly disappointed although the bait didn’t seem to be as
abundant the second day and that could have been the reason, as well as a
hundred other factors. All in all Augusta is still good fishing, not as good as
when the dam was still in place but I am happy with what I found and the river
looks real nice with some vegetation growing along the shores now.
Photos coming soon! Soon I’ll be starting the
summer 2000 page to the Fishing
gallery.
May
29, 2000: Fished
Winslow this morning early and caught some real nice fish in the 25”-30”
class, one was a tagged fish and was tagged in New Jersey, so the migrating fish
are here for sure now and things should be getting better as far as numbers and
size of the fish. Largest fish this year so far was 32” about 15 lbs. I’ll
take it!
Tight
lines all!!
June
3, 2000: Some
good fishing can be had in Fort Halifax Park in Winslow, poppers are the deal
there, and blue and white seem to be the color of choice as of late. The bigger
fish are starting to show up now but they are quickly getting educated by the
shore fishers. Fishing the area from shore seems to be the best way to go about
it and by far the stealthiest, which is very important in catching the big fish.
NO GAS MOTORS PLEASE! Many people haven’t learned this yet and it continues to
plague the shore fishers, who have the best chance by far of catching the real
big ones. You can’t run a gas motor in 3-4ft of water without totally spooking
every fish in the area, if you must go up in the Sabasticook use electric or
pole in. By running your outboard all your going to achieve is ruining the
fishing for all that are there, if you have to use your out board to get there
at least have sense enough to anchor long enough for the fish to set back up and
start feeding again. I watched one gentleman motor in, anchor and fish for 1
minute, then move up river, anchor and fish or another minute and so on until he
totally ruined the fishing for about twenty shore fishers that had no idea why
all the fish left so suddenly, to top it off he was a fly fisherman, if anyone
should know about stealth, they should.
Thanks
a lot PAL!
June
4, 2000: Went
to Augusta today and I'll have a report later in the week (big fish are here!
SSSSHHHH)
June
4th report:
had a good trip and caught some real nice fish today. Best fishing was above the
old dam location in between two gravel bars, poppers and jigs were the ticket.
The fish ranged from twenty to thirty inches and just full of alewives. A sneaky
approach is needed if you want to catch any good fish. A gas motor is needed to
get up from the landing but once up there you need to anchor for some time to
let the fish settle in again, patience and stealth will prove fruitful.
Tight
lines all!
June
15, 2000:
I’ve been fishing Waterville / Winslow pretty
heavily lately and the luck has been spotty at best, some times fish are there
in good size and numbers and other times nothing. Fishing pressure is pretty
high in all areas and alot of people are having luck. The big fish are here now
so large numbers of schoolies are a thing of the past until fall. One fisherman
told me “the stripers are petering out”, well far from it I say, when big
“smart” fish are here its not so easy to catch them, especially in shallow
water, these bigger fish are as sharp as a tack so you need to be too. Stealth
and patience will get you a nice striper, clear mono line as small as 12lb may
be needed, just make sure your reel holds lots of it if your fishing from shore.
I’m still working on a rig that will catch the big ones at night consistently
so far its been a real challenge with them chasing so much bait around. Getting
their attention seems to be the key thus far but poppers that usually work so
well aren’t cutting the mustard at night. Hopefully in the next report I’ll
have the lure and technique figured out, I’m getting sick of the “turn a
ways” I’m seeing now.
Tight
Lines all!
June
30, 2000: fishing
has been good in Waterville/Winslow, not a lot of fish but some big ones are
around. With the water at low levels look for fish in the fastest water you can
find. As the water temperature rises through the seventies stripers need the
high oxygen content found at the base of falls and dam discharges, also dam
discharges provide a lower temperature and high oxygen content, they also
provide spawning bait with the steady current that herring and other bait are
seeking pre-spawn. The alewives are pretty much gone now but blue back herring
are in at Augusta and Sidney and some nice fish can be had there, I’m hearing
reports of fish up to 52 inches 40+ lbs. I’ll be fishing the area this weekend
and I’ll have a report next week. I’ll bring my digital camera but I think
that thing brings me bad luck, when I bring it I catch schoolies and when I
leave it home I catch hawgs, I’m not much of a believer in luck but this
camera is leading me to believe slowly but surely. Maybe tomorrow I can exercise
the jinxes out of it 8^)
Wish
me luck
July
1, 2000: Went
to Augusta and had a decent day, caught some nice stripers up to 36 inches, they
have turned off of the poppers now and are hitting a more quiet and subtle bait.
I used big sluggos with no weight in the fastest water with great success. Check
the Fishing
gallery 2000 season for the latest photos.
Boat traffic is still an issue and continues to plague people
"quietly" fishing for stripers. I'm beginning to sound like a broken
record but I'm going to repeat it anyhow "YOU CAN'T RUN AN
OUTBOARD MOTOR IN UNDER 20 FT. OF WATER WITHOUT SPOOKING EVERY FISH IN A 200
YARD RADIUS!!", I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE SOME OF THE PEOPLE OUT THERE FISHING
AND TRYING TO CATCH THESE FISH TROLLING IN 6FT OF WATER,
WAKE UP! PEOPLE!
IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!,
PLEASE JUST TRY BEING QUIET AND ANCHORING FOR MORE THAN 20 MINUTES AND WATCH
WHAT CAN HAPPEN.
Sound travels 5 times faster and more efficiently in water then air and we're
talking about a fish that can sense with their lateral line a bait fish
struggling at 100 ft. away and can hone in on it in a five knot current.
Stripers are extremely sound wave sensitive and very weary in shallow water (10
ft. or under), once you have started an outboard all the big fish are gone and
if your lucky you might get a schoolie to bite. Just the moving shadow of your
boat on the bottom will spook them, even canoes will and maybe more so because
remember, in the river their largest predators are seals with a body shape very
similar to a canoe or kayak, so being stationary and quiet will increase your
odds 10 fold. And please bring an anchor heavy enough to do the job, clanking
your anchor across the bottom will spook them also, oh ya, and make sure you tie
off to the bow not the side or stern, I almost had to perform a rescue on the
river because of this mistake made by a couple older gentlemen that obviously
had zero experience fishing moving tidal water. What was a near stillwater at
one time can be a raging current in an hour so use your head folks. OK I'm done
preaching now.
Tight
lines all
July
15, 2000: I’ve
been fishing from Augusta to Winslow mostly, and almost exclusively at night.
Between the shallow water and all the pressure the river has been seeing, the
stripers are mostly nocturnal in their feeding habits now, well at least the
bigger fish are anyhow. What has been working the best for me is very dark
colored sluggos on a jighead of the appropriate weight to keep contact with the
bottom in a dead drift type presentation. The main forage now are herring and
eels the alewife young are about 1 ½ inches in length and are quite abundant
below the dam, it seems that alot of the adults alewives had spawned below the
dams as well as above this spring so there is plenty of bait around, but shallow
water conditions are making it tough fishing during the day. Hey
fish gods! If you’re listening we need about 6 inches of rain up north please
(thanks in advance)
July
30, 2000: catching
some real nice fish after dark … up to 30 lbs. Using the same technique
mentioned above … look for the fastest water you can find and fish the
bottom… remember the bait is small so 2 inches is the length they are keying
in on, even the big fish …. Don’t forget
nighttime is the right time so bring the bug dope and a flashlight
and go for it! …… more updates to come.
August
10, 2000: Same
as above, night-time is still the right time, at least until we get some serious
rainfall and raise the water level a couple feet … going to fish the Penobscot
river tomorrow, we’ll see how it goes.
August
11, 2000: Well
the Penobscot river was a disappointment to say the least… don’t bother .
the trip turned out to be the worst trip of the season to date (skunked!)
August
28, 2000:
stripers are still around if you don’t mind working a little for them
… look for areas of 20ft. or more for depth and work it with jigs to
match the bait size during the day …. At night fish the shallower areas close
to the same 20ft.hole. Dark colors
are working well at night …. We need some significant rainfall to get things
rolling.…. It won’t be long now and the fall fishing will be at our feet….
Literally! ……. Tight lines all
Sept.
8, 2000: The
fall Alewife run is beginning now, shortly they will be releasing water in the
Sabasticook watershed and all of the sudden .. “Bait galore”.. everywhere
and with a little help from the fish gods with some good rain and we’re going
to be surrounded by stripers. Still catching some decent fish after dark …
jigs with a dead drift technique work the best for me … September and October
should be real good fishing despite the problems the lower Kennebec has
experienced this year. I believe most of the reason for the slow fishing is/was
due to the construction occurring at Bath Iron Work’s installation of their
new dry dock facility. Once this subsides the good fishing should return.
Here’s
to a great FALL SEASON! And away we
go!
Oct.
3, 2000: OK,
everyone needs to pray to the fish gods together apparently, because my personal
prayers are still unanswered. We need some serious rainfall and now! Fishing is
still decent and mostly at night. The water is much too shallow for the big
stripers to come in during the daylight hours … I believe a lot of fish are
waiting hours after dark to move into the shallows at Waterville / Winslow …
after midnight in most cases … the areas are small and receive ALOT of
pressure during the day so the stripers are staying in the deeper holes and
aren’t biting until hours after dark. I hope things change for the better.
Augusta:
Again night fishing has been the best by far. Lots of bait around and some real
nice stripers in the 20 pound class are showing up now and I hope it continues
through the month of October … the water temperature was 62 degrees and the
fish are strong at that temperature .. Had to put the ol’ carpel-tunnel strap
back on (that’s a good thing) wow is my arm sore! .. Me and Smiley kicked some
striper butt that night. YYEEEHHAAAA!
More
to come! I’m sure of it!
Oct.
5-9, 2000:
Night time in Augusta is the ticket RIGHT NOW! with the water temp. dropping
like a stone it won't be long before its all over. Last night 8th Oct. water
temp. was 57 degrees and stable and we caught some ungodly fish. Some of the
stripers were so big I couldn't turn them around. We had a blast though .. at
the bottom of the tide its done so you might as well go home then unless you
need casting practice. Dead drift with a jig worked the best by far, with black
and silver the prominent color of choice... I let the fish decide and when push
comes to shove that was what they wanted. Don't go there with a light rig
cause you'll regret it big-time.