GROUNDFISH
We fish for cod, haddock, pollock, cusk, and wolfish beginning
around Memorial Day weekend, through October 15th. These fish make excellent
table fare and generally range in size from just a few pounds up to 30 or 40lbs.
We generally ground fish in 200 to 300 feet of water on one of two offshore
ledges: "Tantas Ledge", approximately 8 nautical miles southeast of the mouth of
the Saco River, or "Jeffrey's Ledge", approximately 20 nautical miles south /
southeast from the mouth of the Saco river. Which ledge we travel to on any
given day is dependant on the weather, as well as the local fishing reports.
Currently, each angler is allowed a bag limit of 10 cod over 24 inches, and an
unlimited amount of haddock or pollock over 19 inches. There are no bag or size
limits on cusk, or wolfish, however, we strongly urge anglers to keep only those
fish they intend to eat and no more.
It is not unusual to see whales
(predominately finbacks, humpbacks, minke and pilot whales) harbor and hooded
seals, harbor porpoises, or white-sided dolphins on our runs out to the ledges
and back. So remember to bring your camera or camcorder!
STRIPED BASS Striped
Bass, or "Stripers" begin to show up in Maine waters in early to mid May. We
start fishing for stripers beginning around Memorial Day weekend, through
October 15th. The first fish to arrive are the "schoolies", which are the
smaller stripers, most weighing under five pounds. Schoolies are aggressive
feeders and we catch them on many types of artificial baits with spinning gear,
fly rods, and trolling with surgical tubes and seaworms. As the season
progresses into June and July, the larger stripers arrive and start to feed in
our rivers. These fish will generally range from 20" to 45", and will usually
weigh anywhere from 8 lbs to more than 30 lbs. Most of the fishing for these
stripers is done with live bait (usually mackerel we catch that day and throw
into the livewell) or with chunks of dead mackeral or herring. We use only
circle hooks to minimize fish mortality. Currently, Maine marine laws
allow striped bass anglers to keep one striper daily between 20" and 26" OR one
striper over 40". The vast majority of this fishery is catch and release, and
stripers provide an excellent battle when caught on light tackle. They are also
delicious tablefare, and Capt. Dave has several recipes for you to try on your
filets that you take home. One of Capt. Dave's colleagues at the University of
New England is Dr. Jacque Carter. Dr. Carter has been conducting tracking
research on stripers, to learn more about their migration patterns. Visit Dr.
Carters website at www.sportfishtracker.org to learn more about
these fish, and how they travel seasonally up and down the Atlantic coast.
BLUEFISH Swimming together in large schools, bluefish migrate north with
warming water temperatures and generally appear along Maine's coast between late
June and early July. Their appearance is usually preceded by the arrival of
other schools of fish, such as mackerel, and menhaden, upon which they feed.
Bluefish travel in schools of similar size, and most of the bluefish that come
into our waters are the large chompers, weighing anywhere from 5 lbs up to 20
lbs! Pound for pound, you will not encounter a more fierce battle on rod
and reel than with the mighty bluefish. When hooked, it'll leap several times,
and then bear down on your boat, desperately trying to free itself (which it
often does!). A feeding bluefish is fearless, fights to the end, and will still
try to have your fingers for dessert once it is in the boat. Bluefish have razor
sharp teeth and we are very careful with them once they are brought on board. We
fish for them trolling with conventional reels, and will cast to them with
spinning tackle. It is not unusual to be striper fishing in July and hook a
fish, only to have your line bitten off in just moments. Then we know the
bluefish are around, and we will put on the steel leaders and have some real
fun! There is no minimum size limit for bluefish in Maine, but we do have a bag
limit of 3 per angler. Some people enjoy the taste of bluefish, while others
find them a bit to oily for their palate. We often use them on the Pritnear
Heaven as shark bait during the shark season, as sharks seem to consider them
the filet mignon of the sea!
SHARKS Most sharks begin
to arrive in Maine waters in late July as the water temperatures warm to over 60
to 65 degrees farenheit. The sharks we will encounter are predominately blue
sharks, but with a mix of mako, porbeagle, and thresher sharks. Porbeagle sharks
prefer cooler water temperatures, and we often find them when targeting
groundfish on the offshore ledges in May and June when the water temperatures
are still in the 50"s. An excellent website to visit if you want to learn more
about the sharks of New England is www.newenglandsharks.com . Captain Dave is
particularly fond of shark fishing, and is the director of the Downeast Maine
Shark Tournament. In 2008, the tournament will run from Friday August 22nd
to Saturday, August 23rd (Captain's dinner will be Thursday, August 21st). If
you are interested in fishing the tournament, either with your own boat or by
striking a deal with one of our local captains, check out the tournament webpage
at www.mainesharktournament.com. Shark
fishing is done 10 to 30 miles offshore in anywhere from 300 to 600 feet of
water. We head out early and put out a chumline behind the boat when we reach
our destination, and drift over several hours. The vast majority of the time,
the toothy critters will eventually come up the chum line and find our baits,
and the battle is on. We fish them with Penn 9.0 reels, as well as Penn 50
Internationals, on custom made stand-up rods with roller guides. As blue sharks
are not good table fare, all blue sharks caught are tagged and released, after
getting a nice photo or video of them. Shark fishing usually results in a
"two for one" fishing experience, as we generally fish the bottom for cod,
haddock, and other groundfish while we are drifting for sharks. So if you book a
shark trip, you may bring home several cod and haddock filets with you at the
end of the day!
