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Maine Vacation – July 27 to August 13, 2012
I just completed my 12th annual 18 day fishing vacation to the Bath area of the lower Kennebec in Maine. It was a decent trip. This year I caught 46 stripers of which 34 were quality fish in the mid-20”s to low-30”s plus a 37”er that beat my personal best for Maine by 3”. The remaining 12 were small, in the 12”-15” range. Most of the stripers were caught from shore and the remaining few were caught while canoeing salt ponds and mud flats. Most of my biggest stripers were caught while fishing the beach near Fort Popham. All were caught on a variety of soft plastics rigged either weightless or on a jig head. Lure sizes range from 4” paddletails to 5” and 7” bass assassins. Most productive colors were opening night, crystal shad and albino. Jig size ranged from .5oz to 1oz depending on depth, distance and swiftness of current.
Overall, I caught about the same number of nice stripers as last year (this year 34, last year 39) but this year they averaged a couple inches bigger… a size increase trend that’s been ongoing for me over the past few years…. each year the size is a little bit better. It’s been several years since I last caught any small 12”-15” stripers in Maine waters, so catching several this year bodes well for Maine waters for future years… a new crop of young’uns moving into the area. Maybe they will stay around for a few years.
During a 2 day period, big blues blitzed the Popham beach area just out from the Fort… and I missed it all. I was given all the gory details of the blitz by a few of my friends that were there both days to partake in all the action. A couple of anglers reported catching over a dozen blues up to 30” from the surf. Unfortunately, I was off fishing freshwater lakes at the time of the blitz and missed out on all the blue action.
Overall saltwater fishing pressure was about as light as I have seen up there. Mostly I just meet the same vacationing guys that show up at the same time, at the same place, year after year, just as I do. Many of the big ramps near Bath would only have a few trailers in the lot. Several years ago I’d sit at these ramps and spy on boat fisherman with my 10X binoculars to see how they were doing. This year there were hardly any boats to spy on.
Freshwater fishing was quite good but only at one lake I fish every year. This year I fished it several times from a canoe and caught two 21” bass plus several in the upper teens and a many more from dinks to low teens… dang decent fishing. I fished the heavy weeds using soft plastic minnows and plastic worms exclusively on the surface rigged either weedless or with an exposed hook when weed growth permitted. I also fished a couple of my other favorite lakes with fairly disappointing results, near skunks most of the time. I’m thinking the hot summer had pushed the bass out of the weeds into deeper water. And, when it comes to catching lmbass, my only forte is fishing heavy weed growth.
So, all-in-all, a decent trip especially regarding size of both stripers and lmbass.
(I attach a few pics of locations later after I process them for posting)
I just completed my 12th annual 18 day fishing vacation to the Bath area of the lower Kennebec in Maine. It was a decent trip. This year I caught 46 stripers of which 34 were quality fish in the mid-20”s to low-30”s plus a 37”er that beat my personal best for Maine by 3”. The remaining 12 were small, in the 12”-15” range. Most of the stripers were caught from shore and the remaining few were caught while canoeing salt ponds and mud flats. Most of my biggest stripers were caught while fishing the beach near Fort Popham. All were caught on a variety of soft plastics rigged either weightless or on a jig head. Lure sizes range from 4” paddletails to 5” and 7” bass assassins. Most productive colors were opening night, crystal shad and albino. Jig size ranged from .5oz to 1oz depending on depth, distance and swiftness of current.
Overall, I caught about the same number of nice stripers as last year (this year 34, last year 39) but this year they averaged a couple inches bigger… a size increase trend that’s been ongoing for me over the past few years…. each year the size is a little bit better. It’s been several years since I last caught any small 12”-15” stripers in Maine waters, so catching several this year bodes well for Maine waters for future years… a new crop of young’uns moving into the area. Maybe they will stay around for a few years.
During a 2 day period, big blues blitzed the Popham beach area just out from the Fort… and I missed it all. I was given all the gory details of the blitz by a few of my friends that were there both days to partake in all the action. A couple of anglers reported catching over a dozen blues up to 30” from the surf. Unfortunately, I was off fishing freshwater lakes at the time of the blitz and missed out on all the blue action.
Overall saltwater fishing pressure was about as light as I have seen up there. Mostly I just meet the same vacationing guys that show up at the same time, at the same place, year after year, just as I do. Many of the big ramps near Bath would only have a few trailers in the lot. Several years ago I’d sit at these ramps and spy on boat fisherman with my 10X binoculars to see how they were doing. This year there were hardly any boats to spy on.
Freshwater fishing was quite good but only at one lake I fish every year. This year I fished it several times from a canoe and caught two 21” bass plus several in the upper teens and a many more from dinks to low teens… dang decent fishing. I fished the heavy weeds using soft plastic minnows and plastic worms exclusively on the surface rigged either weedless or with an exposed hook when weed growth permitted. I also fished a couple of my other favorite lakes with fairly disappointing results, near skunks most of the time. I’m thinking the hot summer had pushed the bass out of the weeds into deeper water. And, when it comes to catching lmbass, my only forte is fishing heavy weed growth.
So, all-in-all, a decent trip especially regarding size of both stripers and lmbass.
(I attach a few pics of locations later after I process them for posting)
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