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Sunday, July 25, 2004
For the love of stripers
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||||||||
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Also on this page: STRIPER FISHING | |||||||||||||
CASCO BAY — Tom McManus is a man who likes to fish for sea-run bass all day . . . and then enjoy a little striper stir-fry when he quits. He's a fisherman who likes to keep fishing when the fishing gets good. . . . and fish until it gets going. He's an Irish spincaster who can spin a fish tale filled with images that are unrelated to his sport - and yet that are telling of his saltwater satisfaction. "The bigger fish are below," McManus said. "They're layered, like lasagna." McManus also is something of a fishing guru, at least according to those he has led to sea-run salvation. His yearlong fishing partner and newly made striped bass addict Pat Will said McManus' brand of enthusiasm is contagious, and his secrets to striper fishing work. This summer when McManus reeled in a 50-pound striper that got away twice before it was landed Will was there, but by then he was already a believer. "The first time out with him we got on the boat and I said to my wife and our friend, 'OK, these are the rules: We do anything he says,' " Will said of his guide. McManus' simple satisfaction in catching fish was obvious on a recent trip every time his line went tight. "Oh. That's a big fish. Oh, that's a big fish." "Oh, yea, this is a big fish." "Maybe not." "A good size fish." "Dinky!" McManus said as he reeled in a 24-pound striper, showing as much enthusiasm when he finished as when he started. McManus started out as a boat builder. But he found no money in the traditional wooden boat building trade. So today he's a carpenter, which suits him. He has the freedom to fish. Will also is self-employed. The founder of an organizational consulting company, Will sets his own hours and works in time to fish. "Organize my life," McManus barked while fishing. "I haven't taken on that case," Will quipped. McManus' undying enthusiasm for fishing is why Will sought him out last summer, when he and his wife, Carol, got into striper fishing. The Wills replaced their ineffective canoe with a motor boat, and tried their luck on Casco Bay. With a perfect runabout boat, Will said they were well on their way to pursuing all the stripers they wanted. Except they didn't know how to catch them. They would fish for hours, and he said they'd only catch three stripers. Then they started fishing with McManus - and they were catching three in an hour. The first time out, Will said, they caught one on virtually every cast. "It doesn't happen every day," McManus was quick to add. "You're lucky if you get hits like that two to three times a summer." But two weeks ago, it did happen that way when the two men met at 4 p.m. In an hour they caught more than a dozen mackerel for bait. Then they reeled in four legal stripers in two hours of fishing around islands in Casco Bay. The fog was thick and the seas were empty of boats, but after Will caught a 25-inch striper within a half hour, they moved on and their luck increased. They next dropped anchor at a strategically chosen ledge next to an island, and found a home. "Some people say they are in the rocky shores near weeds. Other people say they get to where the deep water gets to be shallow, into the coves," Will explained. "That's not the kind of fishing we do. We tend to go to the rocky places." "Where it's frothy and bubbles . . . that's where we catch the bigger fish," McManus finished. And yet, McManus said it's the thrill of catching any striper - not just the big ones - that helps him convert the freshwater faithful. He said lifelong inland fishermen like Will, Mainers who never bothered to wander beyond the rivers and lakes of their youth, never go back to the freshwater after they've been striper fishing. "We'll take someone else out striper fishing, and then we've hooked a new person," McManus said. "They'll spend $500 to $600 on tackle and gear. They start with a rod. And then they'll want to catch the bigger fish. Then they're buying everything in sight." McManus said he doesn't always go fishing to catch that 35- to 50-pound striper that he hooks at least once a year, but he does go for the simple sight of fish. But there's no doubt, McManus waits and wonders how to hook the big ones. After three hours of fishing in the fog a few weeks ago, Will was called home. But McManus lobbied to stay. "Now we're getting into big fish," he said hopefully. The trip had already run into overtime. So McManus just reflected on his love of fishing. "Time is but a stream I go fishing on," he said. "Thoreau said that. It means, I could go out at 3 p.m. and plan to be back at 5 p.m. I start at a pool and go to the next pool, and then to the next pool, and then to the next pool, and then the next. And where has the time gone? "Time is but a stream I go fishing on." Then McManus and Will drove in through the fog, arguing over which way to go, debating over whether it was legal to filet their fish at the dock. And the two men put the boat and equipment away together, partners in their pastime; allies in their addiction.
Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:
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