Rippin Lips Fishing Charters; Captains Notes

June 13, 2009

Over the last few weeks I've done a dozen or so trips and the fishing has been very hit or miss. One trip we will absolutely crush the fish on live alewives then the next trip we have to resort to trolling surgetubes and worms to get our fish. Don't get me wrong trolling works well but its not my preferred method of fishing. There's nothing like swimming a live baitfish and watching a huge striped bass chasing it on the surface before engulfing it and creating a huge splash, setting the hook then listen to the line scream off the reel as the fish makes its initial run. Today was just one of those days. Normally this time of year we fish up in the river until the fish start showing up in the rocks around the islands. Today they did just that. We left the mouth of the river at 6:30am and caught the outgoing tide. Quickly loaded up with mackerel and off to our destination, and set the anchor. As soon as the first mackerel hit the water there was a bass chasing it. For the next 3 hrs it was non stop action of fish in the 23"- 41.5" range every fish we reeled in had two or three other fish following it up. The fishing was so hot that several times we only had one pole fishing because I was trying to tie on new hooks, taking fish off, taking pics.....etc etc. I live for days like these. It's also nice to have the first 40"+ fish under our belt also.

May 20, 2009

Eureka....... stripers were hammering the alewives on the surface today. most fish we caught were in the slot (20-25") but a few were in the high 20's and one fish made the 30" mark. We caught all these on ultra light tackle with 10lb test. What a blast to battle with these fish on such light gear. This is very early in the season to be seeing such blitzes on the surface and to see this quantity of fish around. I think it's going to be a great year!!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting!!!!

May 19, 2009

The alewives have made their annual migration up the east coast and into Saco river to spawn. Good numbers of 18"-30" striped bass have also invaded the river to feed on the alewives. The big fish should be showing up any day now. If your looking for a 40"+ striper, the last week of May and the first 3 weeks of June is historically the best time to accomplish such a tough task. If you have any questions or to book a charter feel free to contact me via email or telephone, If calling please try both numbers as I will most likely be on the boat everyday.

March 22, 2009

I didn't do a very good job keeping up with the Captain's log for the 2008 season. I'm hoping I do a better job this coming season. I'm trying to talk my wife, Vicki into doing it but I don't think I've convinced her yet. I might have to bribe her :-)

2008 was a great year, although the number of small to medium fish were down from 2007 we did catch more 40"+ fish than any three years combined!! As I sit here looking out the window at my boat still sitting behind a 4' snow bank all I can think about is getting here rigged and ready to go, so I can splash her as soon as the docks go in the water at the marina. I hope to fish with all my regulars this season and can't wait to meet a bunch of new characters!! If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me anytime.