Maine Striped Bass

By Dave Sherwood

Shh. Don't tell.

Striped bass have known it for years—but saltwater fishermen are just beginning to discover that Maine offers what no other state along the Atlantic coast can: tranquility, and endless variety.

With 3,478 miles of coastline, 10-foot tides and endless granite ledges and sandy beaches, finding a place to cast a line is easy.

Kittery, Kennebunk, Ogunquit, Yarmouth, Harpswell, Thomaston—even as far north as the Penobscot Bay—striped bass are a fixture for summertime fishing, and fun. In Maine, you will share the water with lobstermen, eider ducks, seals and porpoises—and the endless roar of ocean waves falling on largely undeveloped coastlines.

Maine Waters Create the Perfect Fishing Storm

Striped bass, hungry after a long migration from the Chesapeake Bay, come here to feast. When states to our south swelter beneath the hot summer sun, Maine thrives, attracting striped bass and bluefish that yearn for cooler waters. In spring and fall, bait runs collide with striped bass in a sort of fishermen’s perfect storm. Along the Kennebec, the Penobscot, the Presumpscot and the rivers of Casco Bay, striped bass swarm in enormous schools, blitzing on the surface and churning the water to a froth. Along the ledges, ocean swells churn the rocks like a washing machine, confusing bait and attracting both striped bass and fishermen.

Striper Fishing in Maine: A Guided Tour

Whether you come to Maine as a beginner or expert, there are dozens of charter boats at your beck and call. If you prefer to do it yourself, check into one of the state’s many coastal tackle shops, then find a beach or a granite ledge all to yourself—a rarity in today’s world—and cast to breaking striped bass almost any day of the summer.

You can fly fish, you can spin fish, or you can drift a live mackerel along a ledge and wait for that fish of a lifetime. It’s a combination no other state can offer: Cool summer sea breezes, granite cliffs and spruce-covered islands, a striped bass on the end of your line - and, of course, a fresh Maine lobster to end the day.

Prepare for a fishing vacation along the coast by checking Maine’s statewide striper regulations.