[doogue]

No Monomoy for me this weekend - which is a bummer but not a bust. I am headed to a friend's wedding in Kennebunkport and staying on the water (Nonantum Resort) right next to the Kennebunk River.

Obviously, I will fish the Kennebunk. However, does anyone know of any great rips or holes in the area? Is there good access at the mouth of the river?

Any information will be of help since I have never fished this river before and since I will have my lovely girlfriend in tow. I cannot afford an all day scouting mission when quaint Kennebunkport is a stones throw away.

Thanks...

-Mike

 

[juro]

I heard the bass like the rocks off George Sr's pad on the point! Watch out for secret service though, and parking might be tough ;D

All kidding aside, good luck and if no one has info I will contact some friends from Eldridge's.

 

[Mattb]

Mike, check your email.

Juro's right about George Sr's place, the rocks in that area are generally pretty good fishing, but from what i've heard the ledges haven't really heated up yet.

You should be able to fish just past the resort(walking distance) at the rivermouth. There's a huge jetty there that's a bit big for flyrodding, but as the tide goes out you can get down to the river and fish the channel. You can also fish the smallish pocket beach on the other side of the jetty. I've never hit the beach right, but if the bass trapped some bait in there it looks like it could be good. I haven't fished the river there for a few weeks, but earlier this year it was quite good.

If you have a bit more time, there's always the (crowded) Mousam, or the Saco to the north, and the York and the ogunquit to the south. If you can deal with the crowds, the mousam has been pretty hot lately. The saco hasn't really turned on yet, but it was this week last year that it got good, so you never know. I haven't fished the ogunquit or the York yet this year, so i'm not much help there.

If you do manage to get free let me know, I should be in the area.

Matt

 

[Chris]

Juro's got it right. Head out Ocean Ave. toward the Bush's place and there are a couple of short jettys and some real nice rock formations that the surf busts over into nice bowls where bass hold on the shore side. There is an Orvis shop in Kennebunkport on 35 just before you turn left into the village they can help. If you turn right at the light just beyond the Orvis shop about 1 mile down is a nice little beach at the mouth of the Mousam fiver that has some nice action also.

 

[doogue]

Thanks for the help guys! I fully plan on returning from the weekend with striper thumb.

Later...

 

[Mattb]

Mike, I just read a report by Tom Tero(the reel time guy) over at stripersonline and he's saying that the fish have finally started to show up on the ledges. So if you have korkers, that opens up another option; with much higher odds of hooking up with a larger fish.

-Matt

 

[doogue]

Matt,

I am unavailable for any prolonged sorties this weekend. I will fish a little bit each morning and I hope to fish the drop mid tomorrow afternoon if my second decent fly reel arrives. My girlfriend will not fish with me anymore when we only have a single flyrod. It all stems from a trip to Popham Beach where she had the rod and a pod of fish came feeding on through the area in front of us. She just couldn't cast far enough...but I could. I grabbed the rod from her and landed a nice schoolie. After that she decided that we would only fish when we had a flyrod for her - and she is right. Luckily, my devoted brother is taking part in my clever scheme to get a second fly reel to me. Thanks bro.

I may call you tomorrow Matt - just to see how you are doing in your travels on the water. Thanks for the e-mail.

Later.

 

[doogue]

Well,

When I arrived at the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport on Friday evening I quickly unpacked the car, grabbed my girlfiend's hand and then said, "Let's go take a look at the river." We walked out of the back door of the hotel just as the sun was setting. Amidst the hazy evening twilight I saw was I was looking for...blitzing stripers. I assembled the rod and walked calmly to the water. The fish were just out of reach, chasing what appeared to be pollock or some other larger baitfish. After about 5 casts from the shoreline of the hotel I had to call it quits. Why? The bugs were so bad (mostly mosquitos but a few black flies) that I had to retreat. Anyone that knows me must realize that there were more than just a few mosquitos out that night - it was a real melee of ravaging pests. I was not well prepared for this outing - my head net was packed deeply in the car and I had a dinner to attend. So be it.

Quite the tease. I fished the mouth of the Kennebunk the next day. The only time I had to get away and fish happened to be at dead low. Lots of sand eelish looking bait but no sign of Sir Striper.

That evening my good friend Joe was married on the shores of the Kennebunk River, again just outside the hotel. During the reception - just as the sun was going down - I once again took Kirsten down to the river. What a blitz!!! Both she and I were fascinated at the action before us. On the opposite bank of the river the bass had some bait trapped in a small cove. When the stripers charged through the school of bait the water would erupt in a linear fashion. The fleeing baitfish were flying out of the water in a manner that looked almost as if a machine gunner was strafing the water with bullets that rained down from a vantage point in the sky. I was standing there in a suit and I didn't mind the fact that I could not fish. I was at a great wedding, surrounded by great friends, and I was able to show my girlfriend a little bit of one of the more exciting aspects of fishing. She is now more motivated than ever to go on a Rip Trip with me. Hopefully her expecations will be met on her next trip out onto the water with me.

No fish, but an awesome weekend. You guys from Maine do have an excellent fishery at your doorstep. The rivers are wonderful and those ledges in Kennebunkport looked very, very fishy (I only saw them at low tide).

I will return to Maine sometime soon and enjoy more of the way "life should be".

-Mike

 

[Mattb]

Mike, I wound up only fishing on Sunday this weekend, and I didn't have any luck down south. I fished sunrise till 8:30ish at Popham and scored two fish in the 26-28" range, both fairly chunky fish, one just wallowed about 20 feet up after I set the hook, while the other took a few pretty good runs. I saw a few more boils and pushes in the surf, but they seemed to be very picky. I also saw close to 50 sturgeon jump this morning. I've seen two or three there before, but this was unprecedented- they were everywhere.

I fished southern Maine in the early afternoon before the t-storms rolled in, but only saw one fish and didn't hook up with any.

-Matt