Striped bass catches in Maine this summer have been very good for fish in the high 20 and low 30 inch range. They are fat, feasting on blueback herring, alwife, mackerel, britt herring and crustaceans. The number of fish roaming the Pine Tree State aren't as plentiful as in years past, but the quality of the fish makes up for the numbers. Every fish being caught on my boat has "shoulders" - meaning they are heavy and strong for their size. As of mid-July, crustacean imitation flies have been working quite well along with poppers. The best time to catch seems to be first light for the several hours prior to the daylight hours getting stronger. Heavy rainfall in Maine has kept the estuary water temperatures below 70 degrees F. and dirty, so surface activity has continued into the late days of July. Fishing should remain quite good for the remainder of the summer.
Bluefin tuna fishing has been red hot since the first of July. Stick boats and trollers have been boating more tuna in the 150 to 300 pound class than in many previous years. Light tackle anglers looking for football tuna weighing less than 60 pounds might be rewarded with a new year class to play with as some speadsters in the 20 pound class have been reported along Maine's coast. The biggest problem has been getting to fish tuna. Weather and sea conditions haven't been the best.
As of July 21, 2009; buefish haven't been seen or reported in the midcoast area of Maine. A trickling of reports of snapper blues have surfaced from the extreme southern areas of Maine.
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