New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 5-22-14

New Hampshire Fishing Report

Tim from Suds ‘N Soda was out in the Connecticut recently looking for crappie when hungry pike seemed hell-bent on relieving him of his crappie-killing lures. Don’t worry about Tim running out since this lure is “his lure.” He’s had a crappie design idea in the back of his head for decades. Enter Jack and Dennis from Daddy Mac lures and the trio conspired to bring that lure to bear. It’s called the Crappie Whisperer and providing you can get it through toothies, the crappie love it. Find a setback or eddie from the current of the Connecticut and you stand a good chance of finding pike, crappie and maybe walleye. Good starting points are the Claremont and Hinsdale sections. Schoolie bass are livening up Great Bay with the arrival of big fish imminent. Tips from Tim are Little Bay, the mouth of the Oyster River as well as the flats of Newmarket.

Jamie from Dover Marine recently competed in a Winnipesauke tournament and said that there is no shortage of 2-pound landlocked salmon in the Winter Harbor section. Shiners and red/white or gold/orange spoons are the ticket. He’s also been hearing of good things from Jeffreys Ledge where they have been jamming pollock among contour lines deeper than 200 feet.

Maine Fishing Report

Ken from Saco Bay boasted that they are having the best shad run in the Saco River than in years! And the biggest hens are do any day now! Scholes are swarming throughout the Spurwink River, the Saco River and Scarborough Marsh. Bait is working best for the bass. In a recent flounder tournament we were in, our two-way rigs were composed of clams and seaworms. We tallied ten by-catch stripers and every one took the clam as opposed to the seaworm.

Dylan from Dag’s in Auburn said that the sweetwater best bet is brookies in most any moving water you can find. Maine’s IFW folks just finished stocking all their spring allotment and watersheds are teeming with them.

Fishing Forecast for New Hampshire and Maine

Schoolies are cruising the flats grubbing for seaworms in Great Bay but will soon be joined by far bigger at the mouth of the Oyster and Lamprey rivers as these bigger fish look for herring. In Maine, moving water is hot whether it be small brooks for brook trout or shad in the Saco River.