WOW! What a boat ride!!

[Phil from Maine]

The wife and I decided to try our luck at saltwater fishing yesterday. I have heard a lot about the " Old Sow " whirlpool but never realy knew exactly where it was located. So our trip down to Eastport with our 16 foot boat was a mixture of things. I decided to head down near Deer Isle New Brunswich thinking we would pass by the " Old Sow " without any problem. Little did I know we were on a direct coarse for it. The rapidly changing currents wouldn't allow me to open up my 60 horse Yahmaha outboard. So we went directly through most of it. It was an extremely bumpy ride to say the least and the wife kept telling me to put my life jacket on. Problem was I had to keep fighting the current so there was not a chance I was going to let go of the steering wheel. You can read some about the " Old Sow " here...http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sow_whirlpool

It was scary and exciting at the same time.. I do not think I will ever go that route again. I did find my way around it on my way back up the bay. We never had any luck with our target fish but did catch some Mackeral before heading in. We saw some purposes in which 4 were rising around 20 feet from the boat as well as a couple of harbor seals as well. Overall it was a decent day out on the salt water though once we got threw that whirlpool that is..

[NEK]

Glad you got through it safely Phil. I've heard about that whirlpool all my life and I thought it was a lot farther north toward Nova Scotia.
I have been through some pretty wild - turbulent water in the Piscataqua river between Maine and New Hampshire on a falling spring tide, and it can be a fun ride if you are ready for it and have enough boat to do it safely.
What were the fish you were after - Striped Bass? That was what I used to fish for on the river - we used Mackerel for bait. In fact - I, just last week, went down and fished for Stripers with an old acquaintance. We fished the same places around Portsmouth Harbor that I used to fish, and Man did we get into them. We went out in the ocean and caught a baitwell full of Mackerel then ran up into the rivers and caught and released 17 Big Striped Bass up to 38 inches - with most around 30 inches. We did keep one 32 incher for the table. It was a blast.

[Phil from Maine]

Yeah, we did not know where it was for sure and should have looked it up before we went out fishing.. Rather than after we got home and have everyone tell us about it. I knew it was there some place and thought we would be able to avoid it.. Sorry the link did not work above, so i went back and edited it.. Thanks..

We were going down to fish for haddock, cod, and pollock which ever we could manage to get to bite. Stripers up here have to be 20 to 26 inches or over 40 inches to keep. Then it is only one per day. I have not tried them as of yet but will be giving them a shot before long. Mostly this far north we get schoolies with a few big ones once in a while. Also on a blue moon type of thing we might have a couple of blues show up but those are really rare for up here.

[NEK]

Yeah Phil - those Blues are really fun to catch aren't they? It's too bad they don't show up more that far north.
My Son and I got into a big school of Blues feeding on the surface a few years back and started throwing big Rapalas at them, He
asked me how to fish the big Raps, and I told him to try and reel it like he was trying to take it away from them. You can't reel it too fast and when they hit - it is a shock to your arms and they just keep running like they will never stop. It really tests your reel drag. We caught over a dozen before the school went down, and man our arms ached and cramped for a couple of days after that workout. They were all in the 10 to 12 pound class. I think that was the most fun I ever had while fishing. I will never forget the big grin on my sons face.
Do you get the Cod and Haddock pretty close in to shore up there? We usually have to go out 26 miles or so to get to Jeffreys Ledge where the Cod live.

[Phil from Maine]

Yeah, those blues are a blast to catch.. I used to go down to Westport Island when my brother used to live in Wiscassett. We used to catch a few blues and stripers there quite often. We would use rapalas on them all the time. That is how I also caught my first striper down there..

Yeah we do not have to go very far ofshore to catch the cod, pollock, and haddock. Around 500 to 600 hundred yards and you would be in some pretty decent water. There is a lot of ledges and what is reffered to as under water mountains shooting up that makes for some decent fishing. That as well as some deep sandy and muddy bottoms. The most I would need to go out is around three or four miles from the landing where I put in at. Also a few halibut get caught in those waters as well. Recently not far from where I had tried it a large Beagle Shark was caught. It was something like 406lbs.The thing was hugh and not something we are acustomed of seeing here. That was caught around another 600 yards or so from where I was fishing. So we do have some large fish roaming around there. Last year fishing off the peer in Eastport we saw a few tunas going by chasing some mackeral, herring, or something that they wanted. You could actually see them just under the surface of the water right next to the seaweed drifting by. So one never knows what might hit. I am just interested in the haddock mostly if I can get a couple to bite.

[Phil from Maine]

I went back out today but never had much luck. I caught 25 mackeral as well as quite a few sculpins. I caught the sculpins on live bait I also had some heavey fish hit but never hooked them good enough.

When I first got there I heard some kind of big fish breaking water. It was to foggy to see what is was at the time. When the fog lifted I saw a fish of some sort roll that I had never saw before. It produce a ripple that I am sure would of easily swamped my 16 foot boat had I been close enough to it. I saw it roll three times like that. I am not sure but was thinking it was a shark or something like that. The tide was around half out when that had happened.

Later on with the incoming tide I saw two hugh tunas come flying right out of the water. As well as a couple of seals which one tried to follow me around for a while. Then I was able to see two whales come up and blow. I watch them do that for a little while. But none of them made the wake that the first fish had done. Will a big shark do that sort of thing? I do not know what the heck it was but I am going to do my best to stay away from whatever it was..

[NEK]

Wow Phil,
You have been having some exciting times out on the salt lately.
As to the big (something or other) that made the huge wake, I have not been around any big Sharks, but I suppose one of them could do that. I would rather think it was one of the larger whales like a Right Whale or a Fin Whale probably lunge feeding on the Mackerel or Herring. I have seen them do that before. You said - you saw them roll - what did you see? Was it a huge- smooth- black body with a small fin on the back? If so, that was one of the bigger Whales that come in to feed on the bait fish.
Man - you are so lucky to have the deep water that close to shore. It is always a rush when you see a giant Bluefin Tuna jump like that. I have seen them do that out on Jeffreys Ledge when they were chasing down big Bluefish.
The important question is - why aint you catching any Haddock or Codfish or Pollock? Mackerel are great for bait, but they suck for eating as far as I'm concerned.
How are you rigging for them - are you using Jigs or high low bait rigs with worms or clam chunks for bait. Do you have a depthfinder? And if so, are you marking fish before you stop to fish?
I usually fish a - at least 7 or 8 oz. diamond jig on the end of the line and about 18 inches above that I tie on about a 9/0 hook with a dropper loop with either live bait or a plastic teaser on it. Usually I use the orange plastic squid teaser and I have real good luck on Haddock and Pollock with that set-up.
I imagine, that with the stronger tidal current you have down there - you might have to use a much heavier jig to keep it straight below your boat. I have a bunch of 21 oz. and a few 32 oz. jigs that we had to use out in over 300 ft. of water when the tide was running strong. I have found - that by using jigs and teasers and not bait, you don't have as much trouble with the Sculpins and other trash fish and bait stealers.

[Phil from Maine]

Hi Warren,
Yes we do have some Fin Backs that come in where I was fishing. I saw two of them. You could hear them blowing all over tha bay as they came up threw the area with the incoming tide. I never noticed that big of a wake from them but they ere farther out from me. Right whales are normally out to sea quite a ways but anything is possible.

That is what the problem is with that big whatever it was. I could not hear or see anything coming up blowing at all. So even though I have no idea for sure what it was making those huge splashes I am only guessing that maybe a big shark. For as far as what I saw was not very much at all of it. It was dark in color and fairly wide with no fins that I could see of. The wake as I stated could of easily swamp my 16 foot boat. That is what made me really nervous. All I could think of what if it was directly beside me when it had happened. Those Poorbeagle Sharks are not normally in this area either but they are now. Here is a link to one that was bothering a diver in Eastport..http://bangordailynews.com/2010/10/2...ght-off-shark/

For as far as not catching any of the fish I wanted to catch is most likely I have never before tried fishing for them. Yes, I am using a fish finder and marking quite a few fish on it. I have been trying to use live bait from bait trapping. It is mostly large shiners around 4 to 6 inches long. I was thinking they may think it is herring or something like that. I was using some old wieghts from when my grandfather used to fish saltwater. The heavey ones have a #6 stamped on them and they are keeping me down there. They are pretty big and heavey wieghts. I have not tried using those mackeral so perhaps I should be. My hooks have been 6/0 so perhaps I should be using bigger ones as well? The mackeral taste pretty bad IMO as well. I give them away when I get back from fishing. Those mackeral are easy to catch so they wouldn't be a problem getting some of them. Alot of the fish I am marking are down around 83 feet in 90 feet of water. I have been keeping my bait just above the wieght. So perhaps that is part of the problem as well. I have also been marking some fish down around 50 feet in 200 feet of water. No idea what those would be though. I might go give them another try on Sunday to see if some of your ideas can improve my luck. Some areas I am marking quite a few fish down around 195 feet of water as well and they are right on the bottom.

[NEK]

Hey Phil,
The way it sounds, from what you are saying, I bet it was a big Shark going after some of those Seals you saw. I think a Great White would be the only one that could make a wake as big as you describe though, and they have been known to come that far north. The fish all go to where the bait is - and from what you say - there are plenty of Mackerel and Herring and seals - what with all the Whales around, it must be a prime feeding ground and that would include Sharks.
You are also marking plenty of the fish you are trying to catch Phil - you just have to start going after them with the right baits and the right set-up. I am far from an expert on this sort of thing - but I have fished for these fish with some people who are experts, and I use their methods.
The fish you are marking right on the bottom are most likely Cod and Haddock - and the ones you see suspended are probably Pollock. The Pollock are usually up a ways off the bottom, and the way I use to catch them is a lot of fun - but it will flat wear you out in a hurry. You rig the same as you would for Cod - with a heavy Cod jig on the bottom and a #6/0 or 8/0 Mustad #3407 forged hook tied on about 18 inches up the line with a short dropper loop. I use 50 lb. test for the leaders. Then you put a 3 inch orange squid skirt on the teaser hook and lower it down till you are either on the bottom or you are sure you are underneath the Pollock - then the fun starts. You just start cranking that reel as fast as you can, and if the Pollock are there - all of a sudden the lure will just stop dead and you are in for a heck of a fight. Lots of times, you will hook doubles of Pollock on this rig and two - 10 or 12 pound pollock at once will give you about all you want to handle.
For the Cod and Haddock - you just lower this same rig right to the bottom and start jigging it up and letting it fall back. You have to experiment some days to see the rhythm they want - some times a real light gentle jigging action works and others, you need a pretty heavy jigging action.
If you pm me - I can tell you where to get the 3 inch orange squid skirts.
Man - you are sure lucky to live where the deep water is so close to shore. I would love to fish there some day. As you can probably tell - this is my absolute favorite kind of fishing - I would rather fish for bottom fish than any others. It's lots of fun, plus, they are the best eating. I hope this helps Phil.
Good fishing and be careful.

[Phil from Maine]

Thanks for all the help Warren, I will be trying some of this stuff out to see what happens.

The Bay of Fundy is a prime feeding area for a lot of fish and other animals. It is a huge bay with a lot of tidal water that runs on average around eighteen to twenty feet between tides. I am told some of the water can be pretty murky on the bottom in places because of the big tides we have. I am not sure about that though but can understand why however. Alot of crill shrimp are in the bay as well. That helps to bring in the mackeral and other small fish as well as some of the whales that we see here. I have talked with some of the folks I that work at the mill I work in. They are local folks that claim the better fishing is just south of where I was fishing. Just out past the " Old Sow " area where the ledges are taller and more feed is being pushed threw from the tides. I am not sure but will concider that as well though.

Most likely I am lucky to be living up in this area with all the different things to do and fish for. Whether salt or fresh water fishing. I have lived up here all my life. The only time I really notice all the options I have is when I am away for a while.