We fish for cod, haddock, pollock, cusk, and other bottom dwelling species 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 ground fish in 150 to 300 feet of water predominately on one of three offshore ledges: "Tantas Ledge", approximately 8 nautical miles southeast of the mouth of the Saco River, "Jeffrey's Ledge", approximately 20 nautical miles south / southeast from the mouth of the Saco river, and Platt’s Bank, approximately 30 nautical miles East of 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 over 18 inches.
There are no bag or size limits on cusk, no bag limits on redfish (but a minimum size 9 inches) and no bag limits on pollock (but a minimum size of 19 inches). Wolffish must now be released immediately if caught. 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 mid September. 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, 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 and around our islands. These fish will generally range from 20" to 35", and will usually weigh anywhere from 8 lbs to more than 25 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.
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 too 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 creator of the Downeast Maine Shark Tournament. In 2011, the tournament will run from Friday August 26th to Saturday, August 27th. 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 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 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. We recommend tagging and releasing all sharks caught, however. 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!
BLUEFIN TUNA
The bluefin tuna is renowned for its size, speed and beauty in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They range from Newfoundland to Brazil in the western Atlantic and Norway to central Africa in the east Atlantic. The bluefin attracts intense interest in both recreational and commercial fisheries. Bluefin tuna is prized in Asian markets as one of the best fish to eat raw. Its seasonal feeding migration to the Gulf of Maine slowed dramatically in the 1990’s and into the 2000’s, but has picked up significantly since 2009.
The fishing season for bluefin tuna runs from June through October. In the Gulf of Maine you will typically find bluefin tuna ranging in sizes from 27 to over 73 inches (curved fork length), with the smaller fish tending to travel in large schools (commonly called 'footballs'). Bluefin that have a curved fork length over 73 inches ("large medium, and giants”) may be kept and sold, so any fish landed that have a curved fork length larger than 73 inches will be the property of the boat (if a large medium or giant bluefin tuna is landed and sold on your trip, you will be offered a free charter in the future). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) sets the quota each year on the amount of bluefin tuna that can be caught by the recreational, charter/headboat, and commercial fishery (see their website at https://hmspermits.noaa.gov). Depending on what the current regulations are at the time of your trip (they change throughout the season), some tuna with a fork length between 27 and 73 inches may possibly be kept.
The larger bluefin Tuna are caught by trolling (usually early in the season), or fishing at anchor with live bait or chunks. Casting baits with heavy spinning tackle are used to catch smaller tuna when we see them crashing bait on the surface.
