Goosebay Guide Services is run by Thom Watson, a Registered Master Maine Guide. Thom operates from the municipal docks located on the waterfront in Bath, Maine. This location provides easy access to those wanting to experience fishing on the Kennebec River.

Thom is an avid hunter and fisherman and has been a Maine State Legislator and the House Chairman of the Inland fisheries & Wildlife Committee. If you get him talking he might have a story to tell.

Thom offers 1/2 day and full-day fishing and tour services from a 17 ft boat capable of comfortably carrying 3 anglers. He will provide beverages, bait and tackle for your trip.

Whether you are an experienced fisherman or a novice, Thom has the local knowledge to make your fishing experience memorable. The lower Kennebec offers views of destroyers being built at Bath Iron Works, light houses, coastal architecture, seals, bald eagles… “the sites on the lower Kennebec River will leave a lasting impression”. And the fishings great too!

Casco Bay Boatworks is owned and operated by Matt Brewer, a third generation owner and fourth generation fisherman. The operation is located at the very head of Sebasco Harbor. In fact, it’s tucked just around the corner, you’d never know it was there if you didn’t search it out.

Casco Bay Boatworks offers a variety of services including new boat construction, custom restoration, custom fiberglass repair and general boatyard services like hauling, storage, moorings and sales.

This spring, while readying my sailboat, I spoke with Matt who was just putting the finishing touches on restoring a locally built day-sailer. These little boats are seen all around the small point area and used by locals for teaching kids to sail. Matt had obviously put a great deal of time into this project and the craftsmanship was top notch!

For boat owners, finding a good location to store and maintain a boat is critical. Finding the right boatyard, with owners who are knowledgable, helpful and easy to work with is a real bonus. So seek out Casco Bay Boatyard - Matt will be glad to help you with your marine service needs.

Coastal Fly Angler is run by Captain Eric Wallace and based out of South Freeport. Eric splits his fishing seasons between stripers and blue fish in Maine and permit, tarpon and bonefish in Florida. In both instances, he applies a Florida keys flats strategy, stalking the fish using a push pole.

It’s apparent when you visit the Coastal Fly Angler website that Captain Eric is really into fly fishing and photography. Check out the great photo slideshows he has for 2005 & 2006. These shots tell a story about how he approaches fishing, his clientele and what you can expect from your excursions with him.

If you enjoy sight fishing, working the flats and casting to shoreline structure, the waters of Casco Bay are a destination for just such an adventure. Captain Eric will help you explore these bays and position you where the fishing actions best!

North Creek Guides Service is owned and operated by Captain John Nowinski, a Registered Master Maine Guide and USCG Licensed Captain who resides in North Yarmouth, Maine.

Captain John has extensive experience fishing the waters of Casco Bay and an intimate knowledge of the Kennebec River. He fishes out of a 20 foot Lund Alaskan and practices differing strategies to help his clients catch big fish. One strategy he finds very effective is trolling tube-n-worm rigs. This technique gets the bait down to suspended fish and can be very effective when the suns high in the sky and the surface action has died down.

Captain John invites you to join him this fall for some great fishing action. It’s common for his sports to land 20 -40 fish during an outing and September is the month for striper fishing in Maine. “Fall is when the big fish get caught, and the action gets hot”!  So book your stiper fishing excursions early with Captain John Nowinski, as tournament days are limited and prime dates fill up fast.

North Creek Guides Service is a proud sponsor of the 17 Rivers Striper Tournament!

Obsession Sportsfishing Charters is run by Captain Dave Pecci, a native of Bath, who was born and raised right there. He has fished the Kennebec River almost his entire life and has an intimate knowledge of the river system and the coastal waters in this area.

Captain Dave operates out of the Kennebec Tavern Marina in Bath Maine, just upstream from the Rt. 1 bridge. He is a Registered Maine Guide and USCG Licensed Captain. Dave is also involved with numerous organizations. He is the current President of the Maine Association of Charterboat Captains, an Orvis Endorsed Guide and a member of the Yamaha National Fishing Team.

OSC specializes in light tackle spinning gear and fly fishing charters. They run two boats, dependent on the weather and the number of clients in a party. Obsession is a 22′ Cuddy Cabin with a 150 HP Yamaha. This boat can handle up to four clients and is set up with some interesting electronics. Obsession II, an 18′ Hewes Redfish with a 115 HP Yamaha is set up as a flats boat which can handle up to two clients.

Give Captain Dave a call to schedule your guided tournament trip. He’s an amicable person who really knows how to get his sports onto nice fish.

Marsh River Charters is owned and operated by Captain Hank DeRuiter, a Registered Maine Master Guide and USCG Licensed Captain. Hank has been guiding fishermen in the coastal waters of mid-coast Maine for 17 + years and has an intimate knowledge of the Kennebec, Sheepscot, New Meadows and Damariscotta Rivers.

Marsh River Charters uses a 24 ft. Grady White Offshore powered by a 2006, 250 HP Yamaha four stroke. This set up is quiet and safe! The boat is equipped with live-wells, Raymarine and Lowrance electronics and GPS color plotters. This gear comes in handy when trying to locate fish and find your way on those foggy mornings.

Captain Hank can accommodate up to six anglers, but only recommends a maximum of four when fishing.

Captain Hank also provides the gear and uses Loomis and St. Crois rods with Shimano and Penn spinning reels. These outfits are selected by Captain Hank for the fish he targets. His tactics include drifting the tidal rips for striper and blue fish using live mackerel, which he catches for the trips. If mackerel can’t be found, he will troll tube-rigs or drift live eels. If fish are showing on the surface, he’ll encourage the use of  soft rubber jigs or top-water poppers. All these tactics work well and produce results.

Captain Hank, operates from the dock at the Kennebec Tavern Marina located in Bath, Maine, the “Official Host City” of the 17 Rivers Striper Tournament.

Marsh River Charters offers 1/2 day trips of up to 6 hrs for $300.00 and full day trips of up to 8 hours for $400.00.

Book your tournament trips early!

When  the idea of organizing a saltwater striper tournament first started to crystallize, we reached out to conservation organizations having a fisheries focus. Early on, we spoke with Ian Burnes, Executive Director of Maine CCA about a fall striper tournament and he made a point to lobby for this event to be a catch & release tournament.

Being an avid fly fisherman since the age of 7, I was exposed to the catch and release philosophy at an early age. While we are advocates of catch & release and have practiced it for decades, it didn’t occur to us that this was a viable format for a tournament. After serious consideration, we realized it made sense and computer technology could readily support the vision. So a seed planted by Ian, quickly germinated and blossomed into a formal plan.

The path to successfully integrating a catch & release format into practical application hasn’t been easy, but we think it’s worth the effort. What we are talking about is preserving resources, protecting valuable genetics and retaining broad genetic variability.

Traditional catch & kill tournaments target the largest fish, those brood fish. These mature adults have the quality genetics and also produce a vastly greater number of eggs than smaller adult fish. When compared to a slot fish, a 40 inch stripers egg production is exponentially greater by a factor of six, to possibly ten. So, targeting these brood fish can really have a negative impact on future fish populations.

For these reasons, we decided to overcome the obstacles and make the catch & release format a reality.

For the 2007, 17 Rivers Striper Tournament, angler’s will be required to submit two photographs when registering a striper. To qualify for prizes, fish must meet a 30 inch minimum length requirement.  Photo I, will show the angler proudly displaying their catch. Photo II, will show the striper laid out on a flat surface, a tape measure clearly showing the fishes length and the Angler ID Card will need to be in the picture.

On this website, we have constructed a slick E-Fish Registration Form, so anglers can easily fill in their personal information and upload pictures of their fish right from their home computer. We are really excited about this format. Since “a pictures speak a thousand words”, we’ll likely be sharing millions of such words with those of you who return to visit the site and track tournament standings!

The Kennebec River is truly a great river. This watershed is huge and drains at least one third of the State of Maine. We’ve heard people call it Maine’s “Hudson”, although we locals think it far exceeds that comparison.

The Kennebec River is the focal point of activity in the mid-coast region for striper fishermen and guide activities. Just before dawn, from June - October, guides and their sports motor from landings and docks to chase stripers throughout the Kennebec tidal estuary. The fishing here is great and the scenery diverse.

The Kennebec River’s estuary is significant! From head-tide, just above Augusta, it is about 50 miles to the Atlantic and the surf casting of Popham Beach. The unique topography of the region results in some very interesting geographic features and habitat, ideally suited for stripers. 

Near Augusta, the river bed is fairly constrained, from a 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile wide. As one travels down river, the geography flattens into a large region where sediments have built up and the soils are rich. Agriculture has been ongoing on these farm lands bordering the river in Dresden, Richmond and Bowdoinham for centuries.

The Abbagadasset River Compliments of Ed Friedman -FOMB

Approximately 25 miles south of Augusta one comes to the north end of historic Swan Island marking the upper end of Merrymeeting Bay. The Bay, might be considered to have three sections: the upper Bay between the top of Swan Island and Abbagadassett Pt., the middle or main section between “Abby Pt.” and “The Chops” and the lower section between “The Chops” and Thorne Head.

Five miles north of Bath, the 280 yard natural constriction in the river known as ”The Chops” backs the river up to form the central part of Merrymeeting Bay. It is here that the Androscoggin, Muddy, Cathance, Abbagadasset, Eastern Rivers converge with the Kennebec River. The combined watershed of all 6 rivers meeting here is just under 10,000 square miles and represent nearly 40% of the water in Maine. 

Merrymeeting Bay is truly unique.  It is arguably, the most significant waterfowl habitat in the northeast. It is the only waterbody in the Gulf of Maine that provides spawning and nursery habitat to all of the migratory diadromous [collectively the anadromous (salt to fresh) and catadromous (fresh to salt)] fish species found in the Gulf of Maine. The Bay also has a major concentration of bald eagles and is home to about a dozen globally rare tidal plants. At high tide this area is flooded and appears as a huge bay, but at low tide, it is revealed to be a giant tidal flat with numerous channels winding throughout expanses marsh grasses like bulrush and wild rice. It is a great place for kayaking.

While the middle Bay is noted for its expansive marshes and flats, the upper section is more riverine in nature but for the marshes at the southern end of Swan Island and inside the jetty at the mouth of the Eastern. The lower section is marked by quite a few islands with their associated eddys, whirlpools and upwellings from the strong current passing by. While tidal, it is worth noting that the salinity is quite low in the lower section 20 miles upstream from the sea and virtually non-existant above the Chops where it is mostly river water backing up that makes the tide. Varied striper opportunities and habitats abound in all three sections of the Bay.

The Muddy River Compliments of Ed Friedman - FOMB

Just down river is the City of Bath, Maine. The city has a long tradition of boat building and is the home of BIW. Their naval boat building facility is huge and sports one of the largest cranes in the world. You can’t miss it.

Below the Rt 1 bridge, the geography changes. The river is split by fingers of granite ledge that run to the southwest and make up all the many points and communities of the mid-coast region. It’s here where the Sasanoa River splits-off from the Kennebec River, and flows to the southeast, connecting with the Back river and eventually the Sheepscot. When viewed on a chart or map, the land is a maze of back channels, bays and waterways. If you venture into this area, do take a chart!

If one is up for a boating adventure, you can travel from Augusta, down the Kennebec, across the Sasanoa and all the way to Boothbay Harbor, taking the back channels and protected waterways. It’s really a neat trip!

One notable feature on the Sasanoa River is Hell’s Gate. Here another geographic constriction and elevation drop results in a truly unique tidal sluce. During the later part of the going tide, this 1/2 mile stretch becomes a torrent. It’s estimated it to be class 2-3 rapids. So, hold on! And, the setting is really beautiful and pristine.

Below the City of Bath, the main branch of the Kennebec River continues on for another several miles to the open ocean. This is a drift-fishermans paradise. You’ll find great striper runs with plenty of deep holding water, rocky outcroppings, moving current, sandy flats and the “mouth of the Back River” (the Back River breaks off from the Sasanoa and gently flows southwest until it converges again with the main Kennebec and several miles closer to Popham). It’s not uncommon for huge sturgeon to jump right next to the boat or bump your leg when wading these waters, although they are now a protected species.

Sturgeon Fishing Early 1900’s - Compliments of Ed Friedman (FOMB)

At the mouth of the Kennebec River, to the west, is Fort Popham and Popham Beach State Park. Popham was first colonized in 1607 and was one of the first attempts at settling the new world. It actually predates Jamestown. A couple miles to the east and you’ll find Reid State Park and equally beautiful sand beach.

Reid and Popham are both great areas for family fun. There you’ll find miles of sandy beach, surf and sun, and scenic islands sit on the horizon adorned with light houses. The most notable of which is Seguin island. On the ledges seals bask on the rocks, and osprey’s and eagles dive for fish in the surrounding waters. Wildlife is evident all around.

Oh, and the fishing at both these beaches is really good too!