Cooler temperatures, less crowds and fish on the feed make the next few weeks arguably the best of the season! Sharpies will be loading up on eels at Little Bay and mackerel will be first choice off Moody Beach.
New Hampshire
Chad from Dover Marine should be excused if he’s behaving as if he’s a little sore lately. He may be still recovering from a 10 ½ hour war with a 560 pound tuna recently which he and his brother fought on a “hump” outside of the Isle of Shoals. The big fish blasted a live whiting still-fished over structure.
As for bass, the heat has kept anglers from pursuing them. He expects the cool down to be the catalyst to the much vaunted fall run! Look for the beaches to be a bass best bet. Anglers should spike and chunk mackerel near rockpiles and bars at Wallis Sands, Rye and Hampton beaches. Mackerel should be searched for as soon as you clear the harbors with first light your best chance. Blues are not predictable but anglers are occasionally trolling up double-digit fish with plugs.
Tim Moore told me that torrid temperatures slowed the striper fishing considerably. For a solid shot fish the cooler waters of the incoming tide among Little Bay, Little Harbor as well as throughout the Piscatagua River watershed. Just prior to the temperature spike, Tim was having legendary nights with eels for fish up to 32 pounds! With cooler temps predicted look for eels to be a superb nighttime bait again.
Roland of Suds ‘N Soda said that squid jigs remain one of the shops top-selling items. The Newcastle bridges and piers seem especially productive and there’s talk about them also in Kittery. With tourist traffic mostly over there’s a lot more space to wet a line and with the predicted run ready to gain steam look for some of the best bass fishing of the season to take place along the beaches as well as Great Bay once temperatures finally dip below the current, boiling-hot 70 degrees.
Southern Maine
Brandy of Webhannet told me that Maine has hardly been immune to the skyrocketing mercury. The previously hot rivers have gone cold but with weather “normalcy” predicted she expects the bite to be back on at the Ogunquit, Mousam and Saco Rivers. Regarding the Saco, Brandy recommends the sea wall on an incoming tide with sandworms the bait of choice. Macks are as close in as Wells Beach.
Chunk mackerel should do the trick off Moody Beach. Blues are big but reports random, regardless trolling X-Raps and CD18s is the best bet to get you singing the blues! Kenny from Saco said that some of the beaches have been fishing best in the middle of the day, just the antidote for the sleep-deprived! Chunk them up with mackerel or clams off Higgins Beach, Biddeford Pool and Ocean Park. Incoming tide has been good with the scorching temperatures but the pattern could change this weekend. For those who want a case of the blues, diving birds have been the clue by Richmond Island. Sharpies are loading up on serpents and planning to hit night tides in the Saco River, Scarborough Marsh and Spurwink River.
Fishing Forecast
If you’ve been sweating more from the lack of stripers than the sizzling temperatures then redemption should be at hand thanks to September finally feeling like September! Boaters should “mack-up” just outside of Hampton and Rye Harbors and troll or live-line them inside the harbors. Incoming tide is your best bet off Moody and Higgins Beach in Maine with sandworms a surefire striper bait.