By Janet Gertz

Heavily perfumed with repellent,
the murkiness of the trodden forest path,
is erratically illumined by our bobbing headlamps,
which magnetize a bevy of moths.

The three joggling rods with reels
and our essential tackle, swing back and forth
as if keeping time with our steps.
On the edge of the path sits a burly porcupine.

Upon arriving at the shore
I listen to the diminutive sounds of the low tide current.
First cast, second cast, third cast,
I feel delighted when I hook a schoolie.

Soothing sprays of ocean water,
occasionally dust my face with salt.
From the distant boulder of the jetty,
I hear their muffled voices,
jesting and joking about bears.

I recline in the solidarity of darkness
and gaze at pinholes of star light
in the otherwise ebony colored sky.
I ponder a prior discovery of engravings…
were they a hoax or was the area visited by Vikings?

Soon we retrace our steps
and go home for the night.

Two rise in the predawn darkness,
leaving our half consumed coffee and partially eaten bagels,
we don our rubber bibs and boots.

In the truck I place a cooler containing bait.
Creepy, crawly, wiggly, slimey.
Navigating along the curving road,
a brief journey, we arrive at the new spot.

Beyond a distant island,
the sky is intensely tinted in crimson.
Single file…
We navigate the shoreline…
Edge…

In the threatening, semi-overcast glow
I begin to see evidence of lavender sea heather.
A multitude of hoof imprints from deer.

We gently maneuver our gear amongst the brush.
Then, with the sea water up to my waist,
I troll back and forth, casting between
my make shift boundary of protruding ledges.
He captures a twenty-two inch fish.

Scattered rain drops forming tiny rings,
upon the retreating tide.
Bam! Hit! The squealing line pulls forward.
Water splashes, radiating reluctance.

My catch is a thirty-three inch strong.
A striped bass.
We take photos and release the fish.
She glides off into the murky waters.

With jovial attitudes our gear is packed.
Prudently…
We retrace our earlier steps,
within halos of ferocious mosquitoes.

Fall is here! Over the Columbus Day weekend I had to get out fishing one more time… actually three times. The stripers are still here and the fishing’s pretty good. I did  land a 28″, 34″, 36″ and a 39″ striper, but overall the action was relatively slow. However, the quality of the fish did make up for it.

On one night, I awoke at 2:00 AM, put on the waders and headed off to go fishing. It was inky black out and the moisture was heavy in the air. When I got to the ocean, the tide had slipped and was going fast.

When I stepped onto the flat, the ground and water exploded in iridescent sparks. The movement of my passing disturbed tiny dynoflagelates which each emitted an iridescent glow that lasted for only seconds, but it was really amazing. I looked back and could actually see the outline of my footsteps glowing in the sand.

I started fishing. As I waded along, my legs sent off showers of sparks each time I moved. Tiny bait fish and shrimp skittered out of the way also emitting a cascade of sparks. Each cast resulted in illuminating sparks and the action of the fly gave off streaks of iridescence.

After some casting I finally got into a fish. It was 28 inches and gave up a good fight. As I brought the fish into the beach I could easily see it’s shape and size due to the iridescent glow. I landed the fish, removed the hook and gently released it back into the water. She lay there for a moment regaining her strength, then with quick acceleration darted out to sea. The movement resulted in an intense burst of illumination as the dynoflagelates erupted with the stripers passing. The result was breathtaking; a iridescent fish, all a-glow, darting into deeper water and in its wake, a fading iridescent footprint reminding me of it’s passing.

That experience was something I will never forget!

In Maine we have unique striper size limits, a slot and a trophy option if an angler wants to keep a striper, but every State has differing regulations. If you are ambitious, check this link out detailing State specific striper regulations. When you see how other States manage this recreational resource you’ll be able to get a better understanding to the value of this resource and gain some insight into how varied the regulations are. Their are infact several States that also have significant commercial fisheries.

An interesting study was recently published by Dr. David Conover, head of Marine Science Research for Stony Brook University. The study looked at the effect selective taking from a fish population had on future populations over several generations. In the study, Conover established three base populations (1,000 each) of Silversides, an Atlantic bait fish. From those populations he removed 90% of the largest fish from one group, 90% of the smallest fish from another and randomly removed 90% from the third. This procedure was carried forward for four generations and then the populations assessed to see if their was a measurable result.

Results - The group where the largest fish were removed had an average weight of 1.05 grams. The group randomly harvested had an average size of 3.17 grams. The group where the smallest fish were removed had an average size of 6.47 grams.

Think about this! Our fisheries regulations have a direct impact on fish escapement and conversely those that will spawn. Based on this research, we can draw some pretty solid conclusions related to what the future fishery will translate into if the over-riding regulations encourage the taking of the big stripers. Ultimately, schoolies will be the norm! Darwin would be pleased that we grasp this concept… So, with such important knowledge, why can’t we put into place solid regulations that are uniform across all State boundaries? Politics!

So, since we can anticipate bureaucratic inaction, we fishermen need to be responsible stewards of this resource. If we value this resource, we need to individually take the position of releasing the big fish. Put the big ones back, let them spawn, and be happy with the knowledge that their will be stripers there for your kids to catch.

Who says stripers can’t be caught using flies after dark? It’s just a bit more difficult managing the line, but when you find the fish, they can be caught. Ed Gauvin proves this point by registering another nice striper (33.5 inches) caught the night of September 27th using a fly. 

 ”If you bite down hard on the cork before removing the fly, it won’t hurt as much”. Nice one!

This morning I was anticipating less than good conditions due to the heavy showers, but the waters seem to have cleared quickly and the stripers are right back on the bait.

The tides right now are huge flood tides and big drains. This water movement really gets things moving around. With such an abundance of bait the stripers are holding off the mouths of tidal rivers, streams and flats just waiting for the bait to get flushed to them.

This evening as the tide approached low, I watched a huge school of stripers corral a bunch of bait by taking up feeding positions off the mouth of a flat and cutting off their escape. As the tide neared low, the stripers progressively worked the bait back up into the ever shrinking drainage. The feeding frenzy that ensued was awesome! Water flying everywhere… pop, pop, splash… craziness!

With low tides at 7:00 AM & PM it’s definitely time to get out and fish either end of the day. The fish are keying in on small 2″-4″ bait fish, so fly fishermen can count on deceivers or minnow patterns working well and spin fishermen can go right to small rubber shad. That should do the trick.

Only three days of fishing left for those participating in the 17 Rivers Striper Tournament and heavy rains, a result of tropical storm “Karen”, will likely have an impact.

Fresh water from heavy rains doesn’t mix well with salt water and sits on top of the ocean until wave action can mix the concoction. Ever add water to scotch? It’s the same effect. The rain run-off also muddies the water of the tidal bays and rivers, further confounding the stripers ability to see. These factors give the cornered bait a chance to escape and result in the stripers feeding patterns changing.

Yesterday morning and last night we had two major downpours which deposited at least two inches of rain in very brief periods. These types of showers tend not to soak into the ground, but instead run off. Such run offs result in a quick rise in river and stream levels and muddied water. Often these dramatic changes put the stripers off and change their feeding patterns.

Expect action to be slow over the next 24-36 hours. The closer you can get to open ocean, the better. Fishing the slosh near deep waters might be a productive option until the waters begins to clear.

However, as the waters clear the stripers will be hungry and will feed with added intensity. They will work to round up schools of bait and the feeding frenzies will being. Chaos is on the near horizon!

Expect action to pick up Saturday and into Sunday as the weather improves. A Canadian high is expected to push into the region overnight bringing cool dry air and bright sunshine to the areas. Bright days in combination with clearing water can result in hot action during almost any point on the tide. So, don’t be discouraged, get out there and fish hard!

Over the last several days we’ve experienced some crazy fishing. Low tide has been at both ends of the day, bait’s everywhere and some really big fish are being caught.

Ed Gauvin of Bath, registered two fish yesterday at the Kennebec Angler. A 33 inch striper landed using a fly and a 36.5 inch striper using spinning tackle and a rubber shad. Very nice fish… and because of the weighting factors, prize contending entries!

Today, the kids in Phippsburg have their first “no school” day. No it’s not because of snow, but “personal development” for the teachers. As a result, I woke the kids at 5:00 AM to catch some daylight fishing action while the tide was low.

Alex Fernald caught a small striper right off, then repeated the process, but with a much nicer fish. This time, the striper peeled line off the reel and the battle lasted 10 minutes before Alex brought the fish to the bank.

This fish measured 30 inches and is the largest striper Alex has ever caught. Shortly thereafter, Alex asked to go home,… “my hands hurt from all the reeling”.

Note the glow of pride emanating from his father as Alex displays the catch for the camera.