The Fishin’ Hole BlogFish

two evenings of fishing out in Saco bay has seen some adventure. We started out acting on a rumor running around about blues and pogies crowding Goosefare brook.

Don’t listen to them! we got over there and spent two hours, with two boats scouting and fishing at the mouth of the brook and saw and caught nothing at all.

The islands off to the left of the camp ellis breakwater was seeing some action though, and schools of Pogies were being pushed up to the surface by blues. Without revealing the exact locations, we caught some nice blues around wood island as well.

The action isn’t yet as fast and furious as last year, but the blues seem to be nice, fat and big. The limit on blues is THREE PER PERSON PER DAY! I only mention this because a guy from Mass, was pulling out of the water the other day with a boat load of about 60! The witness didn’t think to write down his plate number so there was little to nothing authorities would be able to do.

If we all fish within the laws and limits the DMR management team has set up, there will be plenty of fishing for everyone for years to come. The unconscious slaughter of as many as 60 by one person could clean out our beloved bay in a single season. I can’t even imagine what one person would want with 60 blues to begin with.

Stripers are hiding, but can be found up into the river, holding tight to cover. The blues are certainly in, and worth pursuing.

In a final note, my new Penn CV4000 rod/reel combo was pulled overboard by a big blue near basket island. I was sad to see it cruise out into the bay, but it made for a good story.

Monday we headed out on the Saco and the bay for some striper and blue fish fishing.

We strated out down by the breakwaters, outside and inside the river. Behind UNE and up to and slightly past the Marblehead boat launch.

One bite….. just one good hit, and no fish to show for our efforts. There were a smattering of Mackerel here and there, but they have certainly slowed down in Saco bay. We tried plugs, poppers, clams, sand worms and Mackerel for bait. with and without chum.

The gates opened back up up above, so the water was roiled and murky. Fishing at the river, is just plain slow.

On Saturday evening we hit Saco bay to do some fishing.

We hit two slot stripers, two at the same time, down by the break waters, slow fishing around the islands and in the bay itself. Up in the river in the evening time saw a bunch of Eels, that we were just as happy to leave in the river. That dos mean that live lining Eels down at the mouth might be productive.

Mackerel are running hot up north, and big ‘uns too. Grab some of our fluorescent jigs and run them deep.

The Saco river upstream has lowered considerably for some nice bass, and trout fishing. Keep those flies sailing, because they are definately looking for dries in the evening.

Maine Hand Tied Mackerel Trees

	$4.00 ea Visit the home page for details

These are our premiere Fluorescent Maine Tied 4 drop Mackerel trees. Tied in Maine, with Maine mackerel in our sights. Don’t be fooled though, Mackerel everywhere will chase these rigs as hard as they do in Maine. This is how we stock our bait freezer for the whole season, and you can stock yours as well.

Tied tight on reliable, sharp Mustad size 1 hooks, superglued throughout for quality and long lasting Fishing quality.

Drop rig tied on 25lb test, with a black 35lb barrel swivel at the lead end, and a 40lb snap swivel at the trailing end. Other rigs don’t give you the advantage of pre-tied swivels, and looped knots in the line do nothing but weaken the line integrity.

Yes its true,

The website has seen a long overdue makeover. The shopping cart was scrapped for a more reliable, more secure  cart, we had a new logo designed for us, and everything should look and flow much more smoothly for our friends and visitors.

Shiners are in the shop in abundance now, some come get ‘em while their hot! Only $3.50 per dozen, you can’t go wrong, and EVERYTHING is slamming them hard right now, from trout and salmon to stripers!

Yesterday saw some nasty weather, but there was some time to get out and do some fishing.

Stripers are still slow to bite, they seem to be completely ignoring plugs and surface poppers. Tubes with or without worms still aren’t working out very well at all.

HOWEVER, I got out in the evening for a few hours and landed 6 nice fatties, two of which were under the slot, the rest just in the slot.

Later in the evening I landed a good sized eel, and what I think were Herring were pipping the surface EVERYWHERE. This is important because it means the stripers still aren’t very hungry, and they have plenty of food to eat.

The 6 I caught were all in brackish water toward the river area, and on worms. If you can get hold of live herring this might work as well. Sand worms still seem to be the bait of choice though.

A couple of small schools of blues have come and gone, although I have only seen one school personally, and they weren’t particularly hungry either.

The pogies seem to have disappeared for a little while, although I am sure they will be back. It looks like the late season is going to be hotter than the early season. Macks seem to have thinned out some, and I did see a porpoise blow out in the bay. So there are critters in there moving them around and out. This will make the stripers hungry again.

We will be going out to try again today to see if we can find some bigger stripers in the bay.

This weekend all the cogs, permits and paperwork should be in place for The Fishin’ Hole to be able to legally sell bait, tackle, and gear right at the boat lauch on Biddeford pool.

We are excited to be able to service our customers this way. We plan on having frozen Macks and pogies, Sand worms along with rods, reels, mack rigs and other fishing gear.

This should prove to be a good time!

Over the weekend I tied up a bunch of Mackerel rigs, 4 drops mostly but did a few 7 drops just for those who are serious about loading up on bait.

New Striper and blue fish hooks and rigs are also in, so grab them while they are hot….. and cheap.

Don’t forget we can special order Cortland, Penn, most any gear you need.

I am also on the hunt to find a carpenter who can re-do the shop to make it look more like a retail space and less like a garage.

So If you have some decent Carpentry skills and would like to trade work for fishing gear, time on the water in my boat, or whatever else we might offer, just pop in this weekend, or give us a call.

Mackerel are still in, but schools are thinning. So get out a good mackerel tree and snag them while you can.

The Mackerel schools are thinning because the Blue fish have arrived. I have personally seen a couple of small schools and had a few grab at my poppers, but none brought overboard yet.

However, yesterday I confirmed that the blues were actually in the bay by casting out a 15/16 oz Black and Gold Rattlin’ Chug bug and watching the fish swirl at it. A couple of good looks at the profile and coloration confirmed my suspicions of blues.

Watch for schools at low tide pushing remaining macks and silversides up to sand bars and beaches for easy meals. Trolling for blues doesn’t seem to be working yet, so casting poppers is still the best method for catching them.

Some stripers are still in, so not to worry. Fresh clams and sand worms up in the river are still a hit, as is live bait fish. If you are fishing in the river though, I would suggest fishing a high tide and using live shiners, herring or chubs. If you find yourself out at a mid tide or low, fishing toward the salt in the river trenches seems to also be working well. It IS however, time to keep the leaders on as the blues will bite pretty much anything a striper would like to bite on to.

The trout and salmon up river have slowed a bit on blue dun mayflies, but seem to be happy taking Elk Hair Caddis and Muddler minnows now. After the hungry hour before dark, start sinking down some Fishin’ Hole Hares ears Nymphs or Beaver Nymphs for some tastey dinner.

This weekend The Fishin’ Hole is having a sale. Many Items are marked down…. rods / reels, Tying supplies, flies and more.

In addition to the already marked down prices you will get an ADDITIONAL 10% off all purchases, and orders placed!

So get into the shop THIS WEEKEND! For some great deals! The Fishin’ Hole would also like to welcome to town all the Stripers247 folks!