Stripers with Jim

by Kevin McKay
Master Maine Guide

I really didn't know what to expect. I had only met Jim once before at the fly shop he runs, Eldredge Bros. Fly Shop, and he posts fishing reports weekly on my web site. He emailed me one day and asked if I fly fish for stripers and I said I had always wanted to, I even had the rod and reel for it, but just hadn't done it yet. He told me it was a must and we set the date.

I traveled down from Bangor around 1 a.m. and we were on the water by 4 a.m. We met at a little store just off I-95 and he took me to his skiff; it was a 14 foot skiff that he and a friend built. Not letting on that I was a little nervous, we headed out into the ocean in this little boat. Jim bailed out water from a recent rain and put my gear away. We traveled for about 3 minutes when he cut the motor. Jim handed me a rod and told me what to do while he messed with my rod to get it ready for fishing. I brought my 6 weight which isn't the right rod for big fish but for schoolies or rats, as he likes to call them, it was perfect. As the fly popped across the water at a rapid speed, Jim video taped it and out of no where came a striper that attacked the little popper. It was only about 15 inches or so, but on a 6 weight, believe me, it was fun. The sun had just come up, so it had to be around 4:30 a.m.

It was spooky as we were lit by the lights from shore and just drifted around in the dark past empty moored boats. As I casted this 8 weight with 250 grain line on it, Jim told me that he had yet to catch his 40 incher of the year, but not long after this trip I received this fishing report:

"Tom Cormier and I had an incredible day of striper fishing yesterday. It was the best day of fishing I've seen in a long time. Between the two of us we landed 20 stripers between 28" and 40 ½"!!! That doesn't include all of the fish we missed or lost during a fight. The fish were hot. We had very few follows and the schoolies were almost non-existent. It was as if the big fish chased the schoolies out. Tom's largest fish was 40 ½" and mine was 39 ½".

It was Probably on my tenth cast I was into a striper only about 16" or so, but man, these fish are strong! I caught one or two more before moving on to top water action and to see bait fish busting out of water because the schoolies were chasing them.

As we headed out into the ocean Jim informed me that I wasn't allowed to photograph the shore line because as trout fisherman have their secret spots, Jim has his secret shore line. I can see why. It was like looking into an aquarium; I must have seen close to one hundred stripers and man I would get excited. I would shout, "Jim, there, there, a 40 incher!" Or, "There, 20 fish!" He would just laugh and tell me that I really needed to calm down or I was going to spook all the fish."

It was a gorgeous day; blue skies, warm and sunny. I sat in the bow of the boat as Jim took us out to one of his favorite spots. The first stop was at three or four big rocks just under the water. He said to cast right in behind them and strip like a mad man. I think on the second cast I was into a 25 inch striper. Jim said they change after 28 inches meaning that they put up a better fight once they get over 28 inches.

We worked our way down the shore line all day. He would have me cast my fly right where the ocean would crash onto the shore and strip the fly back as fast as I could. He would yell, "GET ON IT!" Most of the time I was casting a Pollock fly and almost every time a rat would follow it back. Jim was determined to get me on a 30 + inch striper, so I would cast and strip and cast and strip. I think Jim could tell I was getting tired so he handed me my six weight with a mini guitar minnow fly, so I could catch a rat.

I continued to cast right into the surf as I had been doing. As soon as the fly hit the water, there was a flash and line started to rip off my reel. It was like playing tug of war with a person under the water. This fish was strong and this was no rat. If it wasn't for Jim's great boat work I wouldn't have been able to land this fish on my six weight. I would just get the fish close to the boat and out he would go again, this probably went on for five or so minutes. Time goes by very quickly when you are into a great fish. It measured 29 ½ inches. It was beautiful and I am hooked on stripers.

What I Learned

As I find out every year, no matter how much I know about fly fishing there is always something new to learn. In between locations Jim and I had time to talk and for me this was probably the best part of the trip. Jim is a great story teller.

I found I picked up a bunch of new information. First of all the whole striper experience was new; the rods and lines, 8 and 9 weight rods with 250 to 350 grain sinking line. You can't just cast them but you have to almost throw them, no false casting. Get the sinking tip just up to the rod tip, open your cast way up and on your forward cast let line shoot out through your guides.

Jim liked to have four rods going at once, he would have four different set ups positioned throughout the skiff and would jump to each rod depending on the situation. He also had 5 gallon buckets with these set up with the line all pulled out into them. They were always ready and wouldn't get tangled up when stripping line back into his boat, the line would go into the bucket. This also prevented him from stepping on the line which he said would shorten the life of it.

Never grab the rod above the grip when fighting a big fish because that isn't where the rod is meant to bend and there is a good chance of breaking it when fighting a cow.

We also only fished about four or five fly patterns in 12 hours, Mini guitar minnows, 2/0 guitar minnows, grocery Pollock flies, and Dink poppers. Like any fishing there are only a handful of flies you really need.

Dreaming

As I sit here writing this it is 50 degrees out and all the rivers are running over. The striper season is just about to begin and this story brings me back to the salt air and warm weather. I dream of floating over all those fish and the excitement of seeing them. I dream of casting until my arm is sore and hooking that fish of 40 inches.

Until then I will tie some striper flies and stare at that photo of me with the striper and dream of warmer weather.

Thanks to Jim from Eldredge Bros. fly shop for giving me the opportunity to have a great experience and pass it on to you.