We have a harbors in Connecticut. We have some commercial fishing. But for Noah and I, fishing busy ports full of lobster, tuna, and swordfish boats was a new game. We didn't really know exactly what we'd get, but this trip was going to revolve primarily around Atlantic mackerel and harbor pollock, with some striper targeting on the side.
Gloucester was not a stop we planned on initially. We realized we likely wouldn't get into Maine early enough to have fishing time on Friday night so we made the call to stop in Massachusetts. We didn't catch anything there, but we kayaked past a lot of History. We kayaked by the Fisherman's Memorial, inscribed "They that go down to the sea in ships". The North Atlantic is a dangerous place and has swallowed fisherman whole, some never to be spit back out. We were safe inshore and well prepared for rough conditions, something the harbor masters were good enough to check. But the Ocean was out there, and like it always does it called to me. Someday.
Noah had a hit on a kastmaster, probably a mackerel. I had a hit on a chartreuse and white deceiver. Definitely a striper.
When you're fishing new water there are I always try to chat with other anglers I meet. I never ask for spots, what to use, anything like that. If someone is going to be forthcoming with information I'll take what they are willing to give me. I find I learn more useful stuff by watching what other anglers are doing and listening to what information they feel is fair to give out.
There were a few anglers fishing together form on of the docks there in Gloucester, chumming little bits of what were presumably the few mackerel they were catching and free lining chunks for stripers and more mackerel. They were hooking fish pretty consistently, and seeing as the only activity we could see anywhere around was right there we were hanging around in fairly close but appropriate proximity. We talked a bit, they said their were some mackerel and stripers moving through, and even though they were chumming and I would expect that to result in schools hanging out right there the amount they were hooking up and the behavior of the small peanut bunker adjacent to that dock lead me to believe that was exactly right, the fish were moving. We also talked about fly fishing, and though I didn't expect them to know fly fishing one clearly did and we talked a bit about big stripers. His biggest on fly had ten inches on mine (37"). Never, ever think you can't learn from a conventional angler if you are a fly caster, or that you can't learn from a bait fisherman if you only fish artificials. As much as I learn talking to other fly fisherman I usually learn more from surf casters, bass fisherman, and bait fisherman. And that is in large part because I strive to do things with a fly rod that have never been done before (more on things that have never been done before soon).
Noah and I made it to the spot where we were going to spend the night and found a southern Maine sand eel 'hatch', beach structure I'd never seen the likes of, and a bite I couldn't have been quite put my finger on.
While we were taking our gear off a surf caster whose light I had seen way out on the sandbar walked past. We exchanged hellos. Then I asked if he had caught anything. He didn't reply.
I'm not sure. Maybe he was just pretending not to hear me, or maybe he really didn't. But I think I know. I think he knew exactly what was going on and where he had to be.
It is smart to keep your cards close these days. But sometimes silence speaks more than anything else.
Be careful. Share only the things that are important with those who you are certain you can trust. And no, where the big stripers are right now is not what's important.
The next day we'd fish spots all over a long stretch of the Maine coast. We'd learn a lot. Catch some new fish. See things we'd never seen before. You know what? That's what's most important in fishing.
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