There’s no place like home. That’s true, at least, if you’re a fly fisherman from Maine.

Thanks, then, to Joe and Matt from Why Knot Fishing for starting the Southern Maine Fly Fishing Derby, held this past weekend. (Is it the first? The first in my memory, certainly.)  The derby kicked off Sunday at 4am from Pine Point, with fishing allowed anywhere in Maine. My friend Bob, seen often on this site, came up from Boston to fish as my teammate for the day.

The morning started shaky: we got into tons of mackerel, no stripers, and the guy next to me broke his line off on a sturgeon (note: he was in the tournament, fishing for stripers, not sturgeon). Other teams left, leaving Bob and I to fish alone. We were starting to plan for our next move when – boom! – I hooked a nice striper. I lost it when my line wrapped my Tibor, and unwound the drag knob – something that had never happened to me before.

Over the day we fished estuaries, rocks, beaches, and bridges. We got a few fish, and lost one, and had a great day in some stunning landscapes.

The winners posted some impressive numbers. The top three teams had cumulative lengths of their top three stripers from 90-101 inches. That’s a good on the water.

At the end of the day, we all gathered at Oxbow Brewing in Portland — a great spot — for some beer, some food, and for some fish chatter. Cheeky Fishing stepped up with some nice products for the winners’ baskets, as did The Fly Pack, Buff and Mud Dog Saltwater Flies, among others.

It was a great day. Already looking forward to next year.