Ian Sawyer of Lyman often finds himself standing chest-deep in the Atlantic Ocean at night, fishing rod in hand.
The Registered Maine Guide is targeting striped bass in the waters along Maine’s southern coast.
If you have any doubts about how the fishing has been so far this season, look no further than today’s video of Sawyer landing a large striper during a recent nighttime outing.
The video was shot and provided by Registered Maine Guide and avid striper fisherman Larry Blanchette of Wells at a fishing location they would only refer to as “south of Biddeford.”
Sawyer made no bones about the quality of the fishing action he and his friends enjoyed.
“That particular night was the best night I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Five guys there. Each person caught at least five fish over 40 inches.”
The video shows the challenges Sawyer faced trying to extract the hook from a fish that measured 46 inches and weighed close to 40 pounds — all while standing in the water with his fishing rod clamped under his arm.
“When you keep them in the water they don’t take long to revive. That thing was ready to go,” Sawyer said of the spunky striper. “My lure was all wrapped up in my waders so I had to pin him against my leg.”
Sawyer and Blanchette used the footage in part to extol the virtues of a particular lure, the yellow Yo-Zuri Mag Darter, which they refer to as “the meat banana.” It has been hugely successful targeting stripers.
Sawyer said the action was fast and furious, even in the lead-up to the arrival of the larger stripers.
“Before the bigger fish showed up I was catching post-slot fish between 36 and 39 inches every cast for about an hour and a half,” he said. “I landed about 20 to 25 of those.”
The slot for stripers — which determines if a fish may be legally harvested — is 28 to 35 inches. The post-slot fish are larger and thus must be released. The same applies to fish under 28 inches.
Once the bigger fish moved into the area, things got crazy. One of the men snared a 49-incher and Sawyer himself caught eight fish of more than 40 inches, including a pair that measured 45-plus.
“We had a quadruple 40-inch hook up,” Sawyer said of the highlight of the night. “And one of my friends caught his personal best twice in one night.”
The slot limit and length regulations on stripers aren’t a problem for Sawyer. As a fishing guide and conservationist, he believes Maine anglers should live by the catch-and-release ethic.
He avoids taking a fish out of the water unless it’s absolutely necessary. In that case, he supports the belly of the fish — rather than allowing it to hang from its mouth — to avoid injuring the fish’s internal organs.
“I think people should think twice about keeping them even if they are in the slot,” Sawyer said. “I only take them home when they are gonna die. We need to protect these fish.”
Sawyer and friends will continue to do their part, but he looks forward to the challenge of catching more big stripers along the way.
Many thanks to Ian Sawyer and Larry Blanchette for today’s video!
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