Brewer site becomes main attraction for area striper-seekers

If you believe a fishing trip must entail mounds of expense gear followed by days of planning, and tips from uncle Bob who just purchased a new fishing boat with all the latest bells and whistles, think again. There’s a small piece of real estate bordering the Penobscot River that puts a genuine tear in that theory.

Just a short hike down river from the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge in Brewer, is a small well-groomed park that’s been gathering crowds ever since the striped bass first advanced into the river, possibly since early June.

Since then this site has become the main attraction for anglers totting only a fishing rod, and a handful of lures or a container of bait, preferably blood worms. The blood worms are the hors d’oeuvres these bass crave. Van Raymond Outfitters of Brewer confirms that.

From the early stages of the striper run in the Penobscot River this season, “we’ve sold about 4,000 of them,” said store employee, Jim Snow. Snow added that most of the store’s bait was used by fishermen at the Brewer spot. Tom Powell and his son Kyle of Bangor have visited the same location with a fish pole in hand on five occasions this season and said they saw fish caught during each visit.

“We’ve caught two so far,” said Tom Powell, who mentioned the fish were probably 18 to 24 inches. Although that doesn’t reflect all the catches, he added.

On one particular trip, a fishermen landed five stripers in some 20 minutes of fishing, casting only a few yards down stream from Tom. They looked to be about 17-21 inches. On another occasion a fisherman latched on to a striper, which he claimed made it a total of 30 that he’d caught this season from that spot, said Tom Powell adding the lengths and weights were unknown.

There was a real unusual catch recently. A fishermen quickly showed a crowd that stripers weren’t the only fish lurking in these waters. A few weeks ago a fisherman caught a 34-inch sturgeon, said Tom Powell.

Keep the sun up

At Grand Lake Stream the bulk of the action from the landlocked salmon is occurring during the few remaining hours before dark, according to Kurt Cressey, owner of The Pine Tree Store. Cressey said to tie on the Adams or an Elk Hair Caddis, as they take much of the credit, especially if present in the Dam Pool. Bass continue to be a major force in the area, and West Grand Lake is releasing a fair amount. However Big Lake still holds title in that category, said Cressey, who added that the Big Lake had already given up some hardy 18-21 inch fish.

Reds bending at Shawmut Dam

Fishing below the tail water of the Shawmut Dam on the Kennebec River is still producing rod-bending action, according to Mike Holt, owner of the Fly Fishing Only in Fairfield. However, Holt cautions the latter hours of daylight are when things are happening. A No. 12 or No. 14 Light Cahill, accompanied with a No. 18 Sulfur seem to be choice flies, said Holt. However, he said to not leave home without a selection of Blue Wing Olives, preferably a No. 18 or No. 20. There has been a frequent hatch of Blue Wing Olives during the recent string of rainy days, said Holt.

Salmon biting Down East

If you are rigged up with lead-core line or down-riggers, you may want to investigate some of our waters in the Down East area. This past spring a number of lakes and ponds produced 21/2-31/2 pound salmon, said Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife fisheries biologist Ron Brokaw. Here’s a few of those lakes and ponds: West Grand Lake in Grand Lake Stream, Schoodic Lake in Cherryfield, Echo Lake and Long Pond on Mount Desert Island, Alligator Lake in T34MD, Phillips Lake in Dedham, and Tunk Lake in T10SD.

Long fish at Long Lake

In Aroostook County, Long Lake continues to make headlines. DIFW fisheries biologist Frank Frost recently heard a report of a fisherman +losing what he estimated to be a 10-pound salmon, after he’d played it to the boat. This news comes only about a week after the success story of Wilfred Chasse of Saint Agatha, who also boated a 10-pound salmon.

Francis is first

The results are in from last weekend’s Machias Valley Bassers fishing tournament at Big Lake in Princeton. John Francis of Eastport took first-place as his five bass totaled 13 pounds. The catch consisted of one lunker that weighed 4 pounds, 14 ounces.

Question of the week

The brown bullhead is a fish in Maine that is identified more frequently by what other name?

Answer to last week’s question: Is the rainbow trout the only trout in Maine that spawns during the spring? Yes

Outdoor Calendar

The Sunrise County Bassers Open is Sunday. The tournament will take place on Grand Falls Flowage in Baileyville. For more information, call Jim Stawarz at 427-3352 or Bill Seavey at 496-2387.

Terry Farren’s Outdoor report is published each Friday. He can be reached at 990-8067 or by e-mail at outdoorreport@bangordailynews.net