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Back in February, my wife booked a cottage in Maine for our Labor Day vacation. She said that the house was right on the water and I could fish every day. I fish almost exclusively for trout and the biggest outfit I had was a 5 wt. So I told her that I would need to "invest" in some heavier gear to the tune of about $500 for rod, reel, line, etc. She said, "So go ahead." (She has no problem spending money, but I, on the other hand.). So
I started pricing gear and shopping around and asking myself do I really want to get this? Fast forward to August 31. Still no gear.
Sunday, August 31 found us in Maine, snooping around the town of Bath. I was in a foul mood because I left my lucky fishing hat in some restaurant in
Kittery. As we got out of the truck and crossed the parking lot of some shop, my wife said, "Look honey, a fishing shop. Why don't you go over there and come meet me when you are done." OK. I didn't expect to find much except heavy tackle and trolling rigs, but maybe I would get a new hat.
As I turned and looked at the shop, I could just make out the Loomis and Rio logos on the windows. My early warning system kicked in, "Uh oh, this could be trouble".
I started walking toward the shop. The devil that appeared on my left shoulder was the first to speak, "You know, the cottage IS right on the water, and there is that very fishy looking rocky point just 200 yards up the shoreline. It would be a shame to waste this opportunity. You should get that outfit you wanted." I agreed.
Then the angel on my right shoulder said, "But do you really need that saltwater outfit? Are you really going to use it all that much?" Probably not, I conceded.
Devil: "But the cottage also has a few rowboats, and the water is sheltered, really calm! Plus, you live in Maryland, remember? About a half-hour drive from the Susquehanna Flats. You will use the heavier gear, trust me. ".
That was all true.
Angel: "You fish in rivers and streams, and this is the ocean. You don't know what you are doing. You don't know what you'll catch. This is a mistake". That is certainly a possibility.
Devil: "Stripers! If they haven't moved south yet. Ask at the shop!"
Angel: "OK, maybe they will rent you some gear. If the stripers are here rent some gear. Give this saltwater game a try; see if you like it before you spend a small fortune on something you aren't going to use!" The devil and I agreed. We would try to rent some gear.
I entered the shop and asked, "Excuse me sir. Are the stripers still around?" The shopkeeper replied, "Oh hell yea, this is the best they've been biting all year!"
The next half-hour was a blur. I remember some things like, "really good deal", "end of season, new gear coming in soon", "I'll throw in half dozen flies ", and "let's go out back and cast this one".
250 dollars later, I had a Temple Fork 9 weight, Okuma integrity, fast sinking shooting head line, rod case, leader, some tippet and flies. As the shopkeeper is running the Amex, he said, "Go pick yourself out a hat on the house." Ahhh, the great circle of life! Lose a hat in Maine; find a hat in
Maine.
We arrived back at the cottage at around 6pm, and by 6:30 I was standing on the rocky point, new rod in hand and new hat on head. It took some time to get used to the new rod, and shooting 60 feet (or more) of line. I was getting some good casts and some would fall short due to knots in the running line, or tangles on the rocks (I had no stripping basket). Soon I was able to concentrate on fishing rather than casting.
On the short casts, I would strip the line back in very quickly to cast again. Twice I saw fish roll up and miss (or refuse) the chartreuse and white deceiver that I had tied on. From that point on, I made fast retrieves. Within about 40 minutes from when I started, I hooked into something big, or at least something strong. It made three good runs, almost taking me into my backing. Then my first striper surrendered. I measured it against the rod (later found to be about 28 inches), admired it for a few seconds, and sent it back to the briny deep. I was as happy as a dog up a bone tree.
Seven times that week, I fished about an hour or two, both from shore and from the rowboat, and landed 4 stripers. The first was the biggest, and the only one I didn't capture on film (of course), the rest were 20 to 24 inches. All were great fighters, and I had a blast. [Pictures on ABPF]
The Temple Forks rod worked well. Toward the end of the week, I could shoot almost the entire line (although not consistently). The drag on the Okuma reel worked well, and the adjustment was smooth. My two complaints about the reel are that 1) the drag adjustment knob sometimes will catch the running line and 2) the black finish on the reel scratches easily. Overall,
I am happy with the gear, especially for the price.
The fly shop in Bath is Kennebec Angler. All kidding aside, they were very friendly and helpful. They hooked me up (no pun intended) with good advice and good gear at a fair price. I would certainly go back and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
I apologize for the ramblings, but I'm just getting over a bad case of
Striper Fever.
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