Good news! After a lot of searching I finally started to connect with a few stripedos by the end of the weekend despite the ocean is still being a chilly 52 degrees. The stripers seem to still be a little south of my usual haunts, but at least we've confirmed that they are coming. Fish were taken both in marshes and on beaches with flies, including my new tie the 2018 Herring Deceiver, white and olive clousers, and crab flies. Little fish are always better than no fish! Tons of young-of-the-year Atlantic herring on on the beaches and river herring are pushing up from the estuaries and into the rivers proper. There's a veritable smorgasbord waiting for these first waves of stripers moving into southern Maine waters.

A lot of hours were spent looking for my first 2018 striper!

Plenty of fish were to be had this morning by wading fishermen on an undisclosed beach south of Portland.

As part of my marine biologist duties today, I also went to check out the local alewife run to see if I could sample a few for our annual monitoring of the run... turns out there were a few that were caught in a holding pool in the brook thanks to low water conditions. Hopeflly these guys and gals will get some rain soon.

April 1 is the traditional opening day for trout fishing in Maine. It's no coincidence that it's also April Fools Day--no many non-fishermen understand why you'd go stand in a half-frozen body of water searching for fish that often seem like they are hibernating. With ice and snow, not to mention near freezing water temps, the excitement of opening day is enough. Opening day is about getting outside, remembering how to cast a fly rod, and basking the gloriousness of fishing season finally arriving. Much how I approach all of my fishing, catching fish is secondary.

With the late winter weather we've been having (it's snowing while I'm typing this!) we headed to a small pond that we know holds wild fish and hoped that the ice was out. As luck would have it, this pond happened to be the first one I've seen ice free in 2018.

Spotting the pond through the tangle of alders led us to the next surprise of the day. Evidently, a beaver had moved in since the last time any of us had been there and raised the pond about 2 feet and doubled the size of the pond. Next time we come, we'll definitely be bringing the float tubes.

A few midges skirted across the cold, dark, tannic water but wet flies and tiny streamers were the place to start. After a few casts with a royal coachman I had the first hit of the year--I promptly strip set (too used to striper fishing!) and yanked the fly right out from the little guy's mouth. Nonetheless, over the next hour or so all three of us landed a dozen or so healthy brookies (and didn't lose too many flies to the flooded alders). A morning with good friends, eager (but still not foolish) wild brook trout, a "new" old pond to explore, it was the perfect Opening Day. Let's hope it bodes well for the rest of the season!

Two April Fools on a blustery, but fishy, day.

Early season is finally here! Stripers, alewives, boat rides, oh my!

Opening Day 2018