Flyrodding for Striped Bass is always a bit challenging this time of year. Add in the heat and the big moon this week and you have a recipe for lots of casts and few results..
Maine Fishing Charters
Light Tackle and Fly Fishing in Mid Coast Maine - The rugged beauty of the rocky coast, the miles of pristine beaches and the wooded shores of the mighty Kennebec River all set the tone for a world class fishing trip. During the months of May & June the Kennebec is catch and release, fly and artificial lures only fishing. This provides for some of the very best striped bass fishing on the East Coast. July through September Striped Bass light tackle or fly fishing is very consistent. In July the Bluefish show up along the coastal islands and beaches along with school sized (footballs)bluefin tuna offshore. August and September is the time to try your luck at offshore fishing for shark. Blue Shark, with the occasional Mako mixed in, cruise the cool waters of the Gulf of Maine. Obsession Charters currently holds the State of Maine Blue Shark Fly rod Record.
Conditions: The River has muddied up a bit due to a lot of inland rain from Hurricane Beryl's remnants last week. Flow is up slightly. Hopefully by mid week conditions will improve.
Bait the fish are feeding on: River Herring, Pogies, Sea Herring, Sand eels.
Target species right now: Striped Bass
Bill Farland with a nice 33" fly rod striper.
02-13-17 Obsession Charters Fishing Report
Friend and client Bob Emmons joined me Tuesday for a fun morning on the Kennebec River. Light winds and a perfect tide produced this beauty on one of our favorite spots above Bath. There was a small school of fish this size smashing adult river herring. We also had some action in the lower river where they were feeding on sea herring and pogies..We caught them on artificial lures and eels. Always a pleasure to have Bob on the boat, he has fished with me for more than 20 years!. Sorry that his fishing partner and granddaughter Nat couldn't come on this trip, she would have loved seeing "Bumpa" reel in this big one.
Natalie holds up one of the striped bass she caught on her mid June charter
Capt. Dave Pecci Obsession Sportfishing Charters
Paul shows how waiting for a sinking line to get into the strike zone is so important. These stripers were holding in 10-15 feet of water. He had to get the fliy within a few feet of them to get hooked up.
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
Sal was hammering the stripers in 15' of water while they were feeding on 5-7" whiting. Great morning and a great angler.
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
Despite the rainy weather we are getting some great fish this summer.
The excellent striped bass fishing on the Kennebec River is not by happenstance. It comes from decades of stewardship. I recently celebrated this amazing fishery with Maine's Commissioner of Marine Resources Pat Keliher, his wife Deirdre, and daughter Kaitlin.
"A great fishery needs healthy habitat and forage. The Kennebec has both in abundance..."
Capt. Dave Pecci 6-27-22
Despite 15kt northwest wind gusting to 25kts we pushed through and got eleven nice Kennebec river striped bass on fly rod. Bill Farland got the job done with a sinking line and his great casting abilities. First spot, first cast, first fish. It was a fat 30"er weighing over 9 pounds. At that point we knew we were in for a great day. Though the wind kept us from fishing some spots, we were able get on the fish in several places. Absolutely a great day on the water.
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
A beautiful morning on the Kennebec River fly fishing 18-30" striped bass With Richard Ievoli.
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
Hi everyone, if you have been emailing me and I have not responded its because the address Dave@obsessioncharters.com is not working correctly. Please use obsessioncharters@gmail.com until the problem is resolved.Thanks Dave P.
I returned from the heat of Pine Island Sound and Boca Grande two weeks ago and the Kennebec River striper season is already in high gear! The River is stuffed with stripers ranging from 16" to 32"
"One of the best starts of the Kennebec River striper season in years."
Capt. Dave Pecci
Fishing Conditions: Water clarity and current levels are good. Salinity is up due to the lack of rain. Bait size varies from 1" sand eels to 9" throughout the lower 15 miles of the river. Boat traffic has increased now that the catch and release season has ended. The boat ramps still have parking spots though, even on the weekends...
If you are fishing a rip or bank with other boat set up a rotation and drift through so everyone can gets an opportunity.
Capt. Dave Pecci
Hi everyone! June is here and so are the striped bass. There are stripers spread throughout the lower 11 miles of the river. There is an incredible amount of bait ranging in size from 1 1/2" sand eels to 8" river herring.
2021 striped bass fishing is off to a good start.
Capt. Dave Pecci
2021 stiped bass fishing is off to a good star...
The fishing has been very good all summer so far. It been a bright spot in this summer of uncertainty...
We are catching 10-20 striped bass per trip on flies and lures. No complaints about that!
Capt. Dave Aug 2, 2020
Just in from BlackStrap Products, custom Obsession Charters neck tube/face coverings! And for those of us who can't keep our glasses from fogging up, I've included a flexible nose clip These tubes meet the Maine CDC's covid19 requirements for face covering while on a charter and have SPF 50 sun protection. I recommend using them folded double for extra covid19 protection.
$22 plus $6.00 shipping. If you want one (or more) email, text, or call me, I'll get them to you! dave@obsessioncharters.com 207-841-1444
Jerry and Ted joined me for a foggy morning of fly fishing for striped bass on the Kennebec River. We caught around 30 fish ranging from 11"-26". It has been excellent fishing this June.
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
I'm seeing the best June striped bass fly rod action in years. Lots of fish spread throughout the lower 15 miles of the Kennebec. We're getting fish from 21-32" each trip. If your looking for quantity, there's loads of 10-15" schoolies feeding on the surface too. I'm pretty much booked through the end of the month, but I do have several openings in July. Let's go fishing!
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
Hi all, its been quite a while since I did a post. Crazy times for sure.
Barb and I are well and in Maine. We flew up from Florida on Feb 18th for what was going to be a two week stay but as the pandemic gained its grasp on America and all our lives, we remained in Maine.
I would like to thank all of you who have reached out to check on us and those who have offered to send deposits and in some cases payment in full for charters during the upcoming summer striper season. Your thoughts prayers and offers to help financially has meant so much. I have dusted off my carpentry tools and have been doing projects to generate cash flow. I am taking on outside work to protect my customers and myself from the virus as much as possible. I am grateful and blessed to have a trade considered "essential" to fall back on.
"Barb and I both have rediscovered our surroundings. So much goes unnoticed as we go about our busy lives. I can't remember the last time I took time to watch ospreys repair their nest..."
Capt. Dave 5/20/20
Some great shots of Paul Skydell and Mike Wolfson fly fishing the shallows of the Kennebec for striped bass. The video ends with Paul getting a very nice one on a 7wt. using 10# tippet.
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
