Another incredible week on the Kennebec River! Pretty much nonstop action every morning on flies and lures. No bate needed. Catching striped bass up to 32" in many spots on the River. Here's three videos from this week:
Bill Farland joined me again on July 25th for a fantastic morning of striped bass fly fishing. We caught over 25 fish and several over 24" the biggest one weighed in at 7 pounds and was 28" long.
Great fly fishing action on the Kennebec River is continuing into mid July. Carroll and Adam caught over 30 striped bass during their 6 hour morning charter. We're catching them on both floating and sinking lines. There's more striped bass in the River than we have seen in years. One of the clips in this video shows Carroll Ware from Fins and Furs Adventures catching a 20" schoolie striped bass on a colossal 13" bunker fly!
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
Long time client and friend John Albin making this Orvis fishing guide look good on a less than perfect day of fly fishing. 15mph NE winds, rain and a 3 knot moon tide river current didn't stop John from catching over 20 striped bass.
Capt. Dave Pecci - Obsession Sportfishing
"Fly and lure size matters more than color right now..."
07-01-17 Fishing Report - Capt. Dave Pecci
Conditions: Water clarity is good. The water level is very low due to the winter tides. As long as water temps are in the mid-60s or above the fishing will be very good. Lots of snook around. The redfish have been a bit elusive (for me anyway). The fish have been moving back onto the flats with the incoming tide. Work the oysters and holes at low tide.
Bait the fish are feeding on: Shrimp, Crabs, Pinfish, some Threadfin Herring.
Lots of snook around. The fish have been moving back onto the flats with the incoming tide. Work the oysters and holes at low tide.
Fishing Report February 1, 2017
Longtime client John Kern from Salt Lake City joined me Saturday on the Kennebec for a morning of striped bass fly fishing. We had a dropping tide as we left the marina at 5:30am. As we rounded Thorne Head the gulls were diving on bait, a sure sign the stripers were on the ledge. First drift through the gulls provided a solid hookup.
Dr. Matt Budd (81) a long time client catching schoolie striped bass in the rips of the Kennebec River using a 9wt Helios2 and a 350gr Depthcharge line. The fish were holding on a ledge in 15' of water and feeding on 2" alewives.
We saw this redfish rush the fly and eat in 12" of water. Paul caught it on a 9wt. Orvis Helios H2 rod and one of my whitebait flies.
Stefan Piccone had a great couple days of back country fly fishing with me in Matlacha Pass this week.
Stefan is a true magician when it comes to wiggling the fly out mangroves branches and is very good at reading the waters of Charlotte Harbor. Even with a southwest of wind and cloudy water we had two very productive and fun days together. by the way, catching 6-8 pound jack cravalle in 2' of water on a Helios 2 8wt. fly rod is FUN!
Safe travels home Stefan, I hope to see you again the next time you are in SW Florida.
Stefan Piccone fished Matlacha Pass with me today. He caught snook, mangrove snapper,sea trout and jack crevalle all on his 8wt Orvis Helios 2 fly rod. Great job Stefan!
David Soule from Maine enjoying a morning of back country fishing in Charlotte Harbor's Matlacha Pass Wildlife Refuge. The first segment is catching ladyfish and the second is David's first redfish on a fly rod. He caught it blind casting an Orvis Helios 2 8wt into the mangroves with a hollow fly whitebait pattern I've been working on.
Sometimes Mother Nature throws you a big fat hanging curve. Sometimes she jambs you on the knuckles with a smoking fastball… John and Bill from CT got jammed on Monday. 20-25mph east winds with gusts over 35 at times. Our hopes of beach tarpon off Captiva and Sanibel Islands dashed, we headed for Pine Island and fished the back country of the Matlacha pass national wildlife refuge with John’s first saltwater fly fishing catch as a goal. Mission accomplished, John landed some snook on a whitebait pattern using an Orvis Helios2 9wt rod. 60' casts in 20+mph winds? - piece of cake. 5 hours of poling an 18' skiff in 20+ mph winds? not a piece of cake - thank you hot shower and Advil.
Conditions: Water temps have fallen into the high 70s due a weekend cold front but will rebound quickly. Good tidal flow will get the fish feeding again.
Bait: threadfin herring, pinfish, shrimp
Species to target this week: Redfish, Seatrout, Jacks, Ladyfish, Bluefish.
Fishing Tactics: Fish structure early and mangroves later in the day.
My Fly Fishing Tip of the Week: Fish will be staged on the edges in deeper water until mid day when the flat warm.
My Spin Fishing Tip of the Week: Fish deep along edges with jigs until mid day then swap to suspending baits and move to the shallows as the water warms.
7 day outlook: The cold front from the past weekend is long gone and the water temps will rebound by mid week. Early afternoon high tides will provide good moving water. Its going to be a great week!
Greg hooked and landed this nice jack on a shrimp pattern in 12” of water on one of my favorite oyster beds in Matlacha National Wild Refuge. We didn’t get the redfish portion of his inshore slam but this bruiser make up for it. Fantastic job Greg!
Both Matlacha and Ding Darling Preseves have great fishing this week. Here's Greg Killough and a nice Jack caught on an Orvis Helios 2 8wt fly rod. Greg also caught seatrout and snook.
Conditions: Water temps are in the high 70s to low 80s. A mild cold front will be arriving late in the week slight chance of afternoon showers and light winds through the weekend.
Bait: threadfin and greenback herring, pinfish, shrimp, crabs
Species to target this week: Snook, Redfish, Seatrout, Jacks, Ladyfish, Spanish Mackerel.
Fishing Tactics: With water temps rising the mid day fishing will be slow. Fish the morning tides for the best action.
My Fly Fishing Tip of the Week: Snook will be cruising the mangrove edges at the tide rises. Redfish will be near the oyster beds as the tide ebbs.
My Spin Fishing Tip of the Week: Suspending twitch baits and soft plastic on light jig heads fished slow along the mangrove shadows can be productive.
7 day outlook: Higher water levels in mornings will allow for easier access to the backwaters.
Doug Bear from Orvis doing it in fine style on the Kennebec River with the Helios2. Always a pleasure Doug, enjoy the rest of your time in Maine and wishing you safe travels home to PA. See you next year!