Maine Striper fishing report 6/29/08

This morning I had the pleasure of guiding Brian Tebben, Executive Chef of the Royal River Grillhouse restaurant located in Yarmouth, Maine.
Despite heavy fog & an easterly weather pattern we decided to give it a go anyhow. After splashing the boat and heading upstream with a flooding tide at our backs...we came to a stop on a shallow flat that I have been frequently finding feeding Bass. Right away we noticed large V-wakes and splashes indicating stripers on the feed. Despite Brian's accurate casts, we'd see the Striper turn & charge the offering only to quickly turn away before committing to the eat. After 3 days of easterly weather, I was not suprised by our results. It was however, a great way to spend the morning with some new friends.

Capt. George Harris
207-691-0745
www.superfly-charters.com

Darley dale,29th june

Fished at darley dale on the derwent this afternoon with
john and mick.was greeted with the steam train passing
alongside the derwent

Fished the lower stretch with john(drac water) with mick
fishing the derby county stretch.mick made the right choice
with a shed load of fish me and john struggled with the wind
and the fishing was very hard and the odd sharp shower
dampening our spirits.
did manage this trout on a balloon caddis and a grayling on a
f-fly .

we will try this stretch again soon as the fish
were not playing ball but that does'nt mean
that they are not there.

Allestree,derby,24th june

Had a few hours fishing this afternoon so headed off to
the derwent at allestree.Dcac have changed their lease
and we have to share this stretch with dayticket anglers
sold by the farmer at a very reasonable £5 per day.

I expected to catch a few grayling today but they proved
very difficult and were taking something off the top but
not owt i offered them.
suprised by catching a nice trout on balloon caddis as i
didn't know that they was any down on this stretch.
followed up with another trout then lost a good un.
managed one grayling but they were hard to entice
today.

this stretch as quite a few fish of differing species
and i would give it another whirl.best described as
a mixed fishery most of it is more suited to coarse
fishing but the riffle just below the a38 is more
grayling/trout looking.
if you need any directions on how to get to the fishery
please ask.very secure parking.
remember this is not dovedale or the wye but hey
what do you want for a fiver.

Maine Striped Bass fishing report

A happy Detective Robert Smith from Texas with his first ever Striped Bass, caught 6/22/08 using a black sluggo on ultra light tackle("Evening Blitz Trip")A "fish story" that is sure to grow by the time he gets home to Texas!!!

Early Morning's & late evening trips have been critical in producing fish for us. As we continue to experience some slower than normal fishing, I have switched gears and instead of stubbornly tossing flies & artificials, have begun using live herring & chunking techniques more commonly used during the heat of mid season. The switch has paid off. While we havn't landed any really big stripers this season, we are still catching. Of course we continue to cast our flies and artificials & pick off fish here & there. The good news is that Big schools of striped Bass have invaded southern Maine...It's just a matter of timing of when they'll come blitzing into Muscongus Bay.
I have made a couple "football" Tuna scouting trips around Monhegan Island...Heavy Fog has hampered my search. The next clear day I plan to spend some time offshore scouting for the early arrival of BFT's

In addition to my Striper/Bluefish/Tuna trips I'll be offering light tackle Cod/Groundfish trips to the ledges off Penobscot & Muscungus Bay which have been covered with codfish and other tasty species. Ask for details!!!

Reservations continue to come in for the 2008 season, call today to set up a time.

Capt. George Harris
207-691-0745
www.superfly-charters.com

Maine Striper fishing report

We've had a run of slow fishing over the last few days...most likely due to the unsettled weather patterns that have been moving through the region. Baitfish of many varieties continue to clog our rivers & bays. Thick schools of Juvie herring have arrived giving the Stripers plenty to forage on. Mackeral have made an early appearance and have been blitzing on schools of micro herring....If only these macks grew to the size of their southern cousins, They're still kinda fun with a 5 wt!!!
Reports from other parts of the State indicate that Maine is off to a slow start...which is consistent with what I have been finding.

Also I've been receiving reports of "Football" Tuna crashing on the surface around the south side of Monhegan Island...I'll try to make my first scouting run of the season this friday if I can get some time off from my Striper Charters.

Reservations continue to come in for the 2008 season...I have limited availability left for July & August. call today to set up a time. I still have plenty of evening blitz trips available!!!

Capt. George Harris
207-691-0745
www.superfly-charters.com

ecclesbourne ,willersly 17th june

Tried out the ecclesbourne at cowers lane firstly today and
was quite surprised with the amount of coppicing plus
general improvments attempted so far .Met one other
angler who said she had only seen a couple of fish moving.
also spoke to the bailiff for this stretch and he was a mine
of knowledge with plenty of tips as the best times to fish
and what flies he succeeds with.He mentioned that early
season electrofying turned up quite a few decent wild trout
some upto 16 inches long.this water as recently been
stocked to add to the wild populationand make it more
productive for the angler.we didn't catch anything only
seeing a couple of rises so went back to sign out of the
checking station on studying past visits patterns could
be seen between successful and unsuccessful visits so
next time we will better prepared to catch some fish
with the advice offered.

onto willersly castle ,the weather was very changable with
swirling wind one minute followed by calm then sunshine
then rain the next.fishing was not brilliant but we managed
three fish each matched by the number of drinks from the
kelly kettle because the water felt a little cooler today.

all my trout came on the grizzly wulff but the
effectiveness of this fly did not match the visit
two days previous.all in all not a bad day but
hope for a bit of water soon to liven things up.

Maine Striper fishing report

All that I can say is...WOW!!! I have never seen that baitfish come in as thick as they are right now. The water is completely black with balls of baitfish of many different varieties. Dense schools of rainbait have moved in over the course of the last week, Mackeral have made an early appearance and are blowing up on bait schools every where(kind of fun on a 5 or 6 weight)Alewives are still dropping out of the rivers in Jaw dropping numbers, add some Juvie herring & a worm "hatch" that should go off around the full moon period(right now!!!)and we have the stage set for some epic fishing conditions. Striped Bass have not shown up in force yet but we have fished pretty amazing surface blitzes. Fishing the right tidal flows and during low light hours has been best. I have been on the water every day this month, day & night, and have seen the ups & downs that guides all along the Maine coast have been experiencing. On "my" stretch of the "Striper Coast" the Bass haven't really settled into thier typical summer patterns so time on the water has been critical. Early mornings and late evening trips have produced best.

Our reservations continue to come in daily. Call today to set up a time!!!Capt.

George Harris
207-691-0745
www.superfly-charters.com

Willersly castle,15th june

Fished willersly this afternoon on the derwent at cromford
with my brother mick.Started off very slow indeed with
only one grayling attacking my f- fly near the bridge.
spoke to a few other anglers and no one was doing very
well but went through everything i could think of that
might work eg spiders/nymphs .there was nothing rising
so we thought that nymphs would be the answer but i only
managed one take on a black spider but lost it.
chilled out for a while with some coffee from micks kelly
kettle and studied the water and the odd mayfly which
were producing no takes.

after the break mick made is way upstream with me
staying put.I put on a grizzly wulff and worked it down the
margins after a couple of casts i managed to rise a trout
which was not taking off the top but must have been
irritated enough to have a slash at the big bushy fly.
after 3 or 4 decent trout all on the wulff i caught this one
below which took some landing in the fast flow.
16 inches with a spade tail this was close to a couple of
pounds and the best river trout of the season for myself.

Mick came back down to where i was fishing just in time to
witness me trip up mid stream and end up sitting on the
bottom with water coming over my waders.i swiftly jumped
up and hurriedly got my phone out of my waterlogged
waistcoat to see it was ok with mick laughing is head off
didn't make the pain any easier because i had banged my
kneecap on a rock (bit like funny bone bang).
back to the fishing with my grizzly wulff still being taken
with mick asking for one which i promptly gave him but
he couldn't make it work which made it even better.

It got to about nine with mick trying to drag me out of
the river but the takes never stopped and i ended up
with 9 decent trout and lost twice as many.

Eaton dovedale,12th june (two bob bits,perfect dive)

Fished at eaton dovedale with my brother mick.
arrived about 2pm with mick feeling unwell (bad guts)
waited for ages for him to get is tackle and waders sorted
out .we started off down river with no signs of fish rising,
met a chap who was catching well on wet flies small spider
type flies.came to a nice looking pool with mick rushing to
get in first he got his feet crossed and did a brilliant dive
from the 3ft high bank into about 2ft of water,couldn't
stop laughing he said it was freezing after quickly passing
me his mobile phone which surprisingly was still ok.

back to the fishing we used f-fly black and tan on the
surface and just under to catch quite a few nothing very big
but mick did catch a chub about 1lb.
enjoyed a pot noodle from the kelly kettle plus a cup of coffee
which was very welcome as mick was still wet and cold.


the fishing was quite good today even though
they was not taking much off the surface and
the mayfly hardly present.

Darley dale, 10th june

Arrived at darley dale (the DRAC stretch) about 2 pm.
the conditions were bright sunshine about 19 degrees
with a stiff breeze .with the way that the derwent
meanders around this stretch you can allways find
a bit out of the wind.went straight down towards the
riffle halfway down passing another angler on the way.
Fished for about half hour with no signs of fish so made
my way back upstream.Stopped to talk to the other
angler who turned out to be another FFF member
the squire.fished just below him and watched him catch
a couple of trout.I couldn't get a take myself so made my
way upstream oppisite the derbyshire county angling club
stretch.The wind in this straight peice of river was blowing
my line and flies all over the place and after several tangles
decided to walk downstream again .Found a nice bend which
was sheltered from the wind so gave it a go for a few minutes.
met the squire again coming upstream and with not much
happening we got out the kelly kettle and had a brew and
a chinwag.

After the teabreak managed to tempt a few trout with
my yellow humpy fly which seemed to be working also
for the squire.The fish were not rising much but the big
size of these flies seemed to trigger some not yet forgotten
mayfly morsels.

Ended the day back at the lower corner where i had

started ,still nothing rising so stuck with the humpy

and managed one more trout before heading off home.

Maine Striped Bass fishing report

Stripers continue to show up in the shallow coves & tidal rivers of Muscongus Bay on a daily basis. The big push of migrating fish is still being slowed down by the colder ocean temps.
Over the past few days we've been finding stripers in most of the usual places as well as some new spots that I typically don't fish early in the season. Huge schools of baitfish continue to supply our Stripers with abundant forage. Bigger fish should start to show up this week.
Flies like the the Half & Half have been our bread and butter and soft plastics like the 5-7 inch slug-go & fin-s fish have been slayers.
We've also been using live bait to put some of the bigger fish in the boat. A live alewive fished under a float has been tough to beat.


Or reservations continue to come in, call us today to set up a time before prime dates fill....dont forget to ask about our nearshore "Football" Bluefin Tuna trips.

Capt. George Harris
207-691-0745
www.superfly-charters.com

Derbyshire tour 8th june (manifold,dove and derwent)

What a day we spent traveling around derbyshire with
not many rewards for our efforts.with me was my
brother mick. we started by heading up to longnor
to check out the river manifold not much water in that
river so went downstream to brund same again then
off to ecton by the mill at westside we watched the water
which was very clear with no signs of fish.
In the motors again off to mayfield on the dove picture
below.

It was really hard going with not many trout showing
only the odd grayling.managed to catch a grayling near
the weir on a danger baby.Had a nice brew then ran up
and down the river like the whirling dervish trying to
suss it out to no avail .We decided to pack in and head off
to willersly castle to try and change our luck.
we fished hard with no takes and nothing hardly moving
had another brew met another fff member "garth" who
was also having a mare.we split up and mick went
upstream leaving me at base camp(cunning plan)
fished for ages with no action then put on a f-fly cast down
my side of the bank only for a trout to come from nowhere
and grab my fly only to spit it out laughing at my strike.
cast at him a few more times and after several swoops
he took it (out of pity me thinks)picture below

Cunning plan about to be set in motion.looked upstream
with no signs of mick i thought i would make my
bid for freedom i hurried down to the bridge only to be
tempted back in again after seeing something rise.
after several casts i came back to my senses and swiftly
packed everything up in the car.
i popped in to the local shop near home for cider and pizzas
only for my phone to ring .
mick"where are you"
me "nearly home"
mick"i reckon you hiding somewhere"
me"no i'am not "LOL
Finally arrived home to watch the match gemany v poland
and the spanish moto gp on sky plus.
nice day but the fishing was S**T.

Wolfscote dale 4th june (duffers fortnight nearly)

Fished wolfscote dale this afternoon and it
turned out quite a good afternoon with the
fish taking mayfly for part of the day.
this part of the dove is stuffed with fish of
all sizes from 2 inch fingerlings to decent
trout of over a pound not all of them are
stock fish but quite a mixture.

when you fish here it is usefull to have a long
handled net as there is no wading and some
of the banks are quite high.

i fished with mick (brother) and john smith
who also caught quite a few.mick had the most
but john missed alot as well with myself catching
about a dozen.The best fly for myself was the
yellow drake in the afternoon but by the evening
it became harder with most fly's being ignored
john and mick had a good spell on balloon caddis
the best fly for myself after the switch from mayfly
was a yellow para dun.

This really is a marvelous place and is fishing
very well at the moment.The picture of myself
above chilling out is a reminder that it is
sometimes good to take time out and enjoy
the surrounding's.Duffers fortnight as not
arrived but it is very close.

Maine Striper Fishing Report 6/3/08

Baitfish continue to pour into the bays & tidal rivers of coastal Maine. Cool ocean temps have kept the Striper migration to a trickle, but that is about to change. Every day we have seen signs that the run is about to bust wide open. Yesterday afternoon during the ebb tide we witnessed our first blitz of fish of the 2008 season. Hungry Striped Bass were blowing up on schools of river herring making for a very exciting couple of hours of fishing, add to that 65 degree water & a new moon triggering an evening worm hatch and you've got a pretty good fishing scenario. While the fishing is not what it will be in a week or so...it's a great start. I have been in full on fish mode for a few weeks now & have been spending all my time either rigging gear, tying flies or working on the boat. We'll have some new Airflo fly lines to play around with this season & all kinds of new rods, reels & other fun stuff.

Check us out in the May/June 2008 issue of "Fly Fishing in Salt Waters" spring "Hot Spots" section(pg.88)
We're the featured guide service for Maine Striper Fishing!!!

Reservations continue to come in for our Striper & "football" Bluefin Tuna trips!!!
call today to set up a time before prime dates fill.

Super Fly Charters
Capt. George Harris
207-691-0745
www.superfly-charters.com

river ecclesbourne,1st june

Today visited ecclesbourne (drac) at hazlewood. after the
heavy morning rain the brook was coloured up but i still
gave it a go ,loads of mayfly about but with the clarity
down the fish couldn't see them .

managed a couple on pink glister nymphs with tungsten
gold heads very small but nice fish all the
same.

I will be back when the water is running
clear as this venue is one of the closest
to home and is just right for a couple of
hours fishing(very peaceful)