All Points Fly Shop + Outfitter - News

Sunday July 9th was the 2017 Southern Maine Striper Derby. In the third year running, it attracted teams from all over including New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and almost every corner of Maine. Divided into teams of two, anglers had the entire coast of southern Maine as their playground. WhyKnot fishing has been the driving force behind this event since it's inception and along with Ben Whitehead (yup, the guy that ties our saltwater flies here at All Points Fly Shop + Outfitter) and gracious support from Cheeky, Costa, Yeti, Beulah, Mud Dog Flies, XTRATUF, Cortland, East Coast Flies, Brackish Flies, Coastbusters, Kismet Outfitters, and Early Rise Outfitters, it is now a thriving event.

The rules are simple: it's a catch-and-release format (like all WhyKnot tournaments) and the winning team will have the best 4 fish (measured in inches accumulatively). Each team received a unique tag and measuring tape at the beginning of the event and pictures of the fish needed to include these tags with accurate measurements shown in the photograph. 

Check-in for the derby was at 3:30am at Pine Point in Scarborough. Teams gathered, drank coffee and Redbull, received their unique team tag, and finalized their strategies for the day. At 4:00am over 30 teams were released and quickly got into their vehicles to head out along the rocky coast. 

The derby ran from 4am-2pm so a total of about 10 hrs for fishermen to work the diverse coastline. This included about 2 hours of an outgoing tide and a full incoming tide. So, this presented the opportunity to fish different areas and also utilize the tide range to try numerous game plans. Some headed to the beaches, some to the rivers, some to the ledges and rocks, with all theories producing fish.

The afternoon progressed and the sunny warm weather didn't seem to slow the action down much. Anglers were catching fish in almost every spot they went to and teams were on average catching fish in the 24-27" range! The biggest fish of the day was a nice 31" landed by Gary Kearns of the winning team "Into The Backing." 

The day wrapped up with a 2:00pm check in at Oxbow Brewing in Portland. Teams raced into town to make the cutoff and submit their fish/total lengths. People ate, drank, dried off, and exchanged fish tales. It was a perfect way to end a great day of fishing! The sponsors involved all had top notch awards and raffle prizes. The winning team received a rod from Beulah, line from Cortland, and a Cheeky Reel. The 2nd place team won Redington Predator fly rods from us at All Points, and the 3rd place group were given $100 toward XTRATUF and many coupons and accessories for their accomplishment!  

Thanks to everyone who participated and was involved in this years derby! It was the biggest to date and not only shows how good the fishing can be here in Maine, but also is true reflection of how great of a community we have here. Teams ranged from a father and (young) son team, to a husband and wife combo. The derby is open to anyone and we can only hope to continue with what's been established well into the future! 

Here are some additional photos from throughout the day...

Words + Photos: Josh Thelin

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The technique of using two handed rods has a long history in fly fishing and has spread from Europe, to the west coast of the U.S., to now seeing it more here on the east coast.  Although the concept of using a two-handed rod in the ocean to achieve longer casts and to better negotiate larger/heavier flies and lines is not a new thing, it is still somewhat of a grey area in New England. Although slowly catching on, single handed rods still rule the flats and seaweed covered rocks here in Maine. But, if you have not considered using a two handed rod in the salt for striped bass, here is a great chance to get started. Especially with the fishing being so good lately!

The Redington Dually was released a few years ago to great reception. It has found a foothold in not only the spey world, but the skagit and also two-handed overhead casting worlds with ease. This review will cover using the Dually specifically for striped bass on the coast here in New England.

A medium-action rod, which is well suited for most two-handed applications, the Dually is not only a good rod for beginners to learn the "two-handed world" but also those accomplished casters who enjoy a more feel-oriented experience. The idea of a medium-action rod might not initially conjure up thoughts of 100+ft casts, but this can actually be quite on the contrary with the Dually. Specifically when using a spey/skagit rod in the ocean, having a softer rod while specifically overhead casting will allow it to fully load under less weight. This intern equals less need for false casting and provides the rod the ability to load under one or two water-hauls - which is really the preferred style for how we are using it in the salt. This doesn't mean that the Dually is the longest casting two-hander on the market, but it is very well designed for this style.

Generally, the main goals when picking up a two-hander and heading out for striped bass are to eliminate the amount of false casting, to cover a lot of water, and to do so efficiently. Most of the fishing we are doing is blind casting. So if we can cut down on the amount of false casts before shooting the line out, we are saving a lot of energy, Advil, and time. Plus, if dialed in, one can achieve longer casts with heavier flies using less energy! 

Fitted with a full cork handle and reel seat, the Dually is a burgundy/maroon colored rod in a matte finish. Available in either spey or skagit configurations, it ranges from a 10’9” 4wt to a 13’6” 8wt.  So whether it’s swinging streamers for trout or looking to target big steelhead, salmon or striped bass, the Dually has a size/weight for all of these applications. Plus, it has been a popular choice for anglers here in Maine who also venture to upstate New York and Canada yearly for other anadromous fish. The price point puts it well within most anglers budget. In our opinion it gives rods twice the price a run for their money.

The rod that we have been testing here at All Points is the 11’3” 7wt. Matched with shorter head and skinking lines in grain weights 330-375 from Rio, Scientific Anglers, and Airflo work very well. This setup allows an angler to effectively fish bait patterns such as clousers and also crabs flies deep along the bottom. You will find most anglers using two-handed rods here on Maine beaches are doing so with sinking lines. Matching the proper line to the rod is one of the most important aspects in fly fishing. When first getting involved in two-handed technique, this mystery of line matching can be infinitely more confusing. One added note about reels: finding a slightly heavier reel to help (counter) balance the longer rod will aid in casting and help with fatigue. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us!

• Rod Tested: Redington Dually 11’3” 7wt
• Action: Medium
• Price: $249.95
• Warranty: Lifetime

Rod testing + content by: Ben Whitehead + Josh Thelin

Photos: Josh Thelin

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Finding early season striped bass can be tough.  The fish have just started to arrive and are not spread around in various areas as much as they are later in the summer. Here are some tips for finding those early season stripers when fly fishing along the coast of Maine and New England. 

1. Water Temperature

They say 50 degrees is the magic number. Striped Bass are migrating from southern waters and are doing so based mostly on water temperature. Stick to the rivers and mouths of rivers as the water here will be warmer. Baitfish are also spawning and moving into rivers. This is why estuaries and saltwater rivers are a popular spot when looking for that first bass of the year! On the contrary, beaches will not be as productive as water temps are cooler here and most baitfish are focused in other spots. 

2. Low 'N' Slow

Most fish this time of year are scanning around for their food along the bottom. They are not too concerned with the top of the water column, yet. So getting your fly deeper in the zone can be a big advantage when fishing early in the season. Baitfish patterns stripped slowly along or near the bottom can be very productive.

3. Herring

Early season is when the adult herring are in efforts to spawn and they will be doing so in the rivers. Deceiver patterns about 5-7 inches long, with preferably some blue tied in, will work well.  The smaller juvenile herring ("britt" herring) will also be around. The britts can be easily imitated with a (smaller) deceiver pattern with various darker colors tied in such as dark green and black.

4. Small Sand Eels

Sand eels are a baitfish that are prevalent all season long in Maine. But as the season progresses, logically, they get bigger. So early on, you will see that most of the sand eels are 3-4 inches long on average.  Bob Popovic’s Fleye Foils are probably the best imitating patterns for these (and the “latest and greatest”) - many other basic sand eel patterns that are available commercially are also good. But just make sure they are properly sized and have almost zero movement in the first 50% of the body — that’s important when imitating the profile and movement of a sand eel.   

5. Crabs

Crabs are a food source for stripers all season long.  They eat them in Maryland, Cape Cod, New Hampshire..everywhere all along their travels.  Maine has a big population of crabs and they can be effective if fished properly.  Early season can be really great for crabs because, as mentioned before, most bass are looking downwards this time of year.  This will change later in the season.  But for now, most fish are not looking to the surface for their food.  So a good offering of a meaty crab that’s right in their vision is hard to ignore! Get a sinking line (not just an 10’ Type 3) and pull a crab pattern along the bottom.

HOPE THOSE HELP...NOW GET OUT THERE AND EXPLORE!

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