A little late

Tied these guys a little late to fish for stripers this year considering we got about 8" of snow last night.  I'll be prepared for next year.  Can't have enough.  I'd hate to run out when there are big stripers around.

Steelhead time

With the striper season behind me it's time to get ready for steelhead!  I went through and organized some of my boxes to see if there were any flies I feel like I need for this season.  This box is looking pretty good filled with sculpins and flashy leeches.  One week away from a full week of swinging flies looking for a tug from some NY and MI steel.

A day to remember

I figure if I keep going fishing eventually I'll have a good day.  Last time out striper fishing I had a day I'll be sure to remember for a while.  Headed out with my friend John on a beautiful, fall day that felt more like July than the end of September it was so warm and humid.  The day started slowly with no sign of fish at the first spot and it took a while to hook up in the second spot where John caught a small striper.  It got a little more interesting when John hooked up a much larger fish that broke him off in a frenzied thrashing on the surface at the end of a long cast.  From there it was my turn and I experienced some of the best big striper fishing I've had on the Maine coast.  For the next couple of hours I spent more time fighting fish than I did actually casting.  The only disappointment I had was losing what I think was the largest striper I've ever hooked.  After landing a few good fish I hooked one that didn't feel anything like the others.  It was a whole other class of fish.  It powered it's way out into my backing with a few slight pauses.  I put a lot of pressure on the fish but never felt like I had any control over it.  At one of the pauses my line went slack and at that moment I thought I broke the fish off only to find out after retrieving my line that it pulled the hook.  I was a little in shock but was happy to get the chance to even play with such a beast.  Here are a few pics from the morning that I hope you enjoy.