New Hampshire, Maine And Vermont Report
New Hampshire, Maine And Vermont Report Provided By Ron Powers
With southern New England coastal water temperatures nearing 70 degrees, stripers are scooting and it just may be a case of Massachusetts’ loss is New Hampshire and Maine’s gain. Two species that seem ambivalent about inshore temperatures are cod and haddock. The haddock haul continues to be great while the cod watch is on for August 1st when at last a keeper cod can be kept.
New Hampshire
Jason from Suds N Soda said that Little Bay in Newington is probably the best bet for local stripers with outgoing tide fishing best. Surfcasters have been chunking up fish off Wallis Sands Beach. Bait choices are live mackerel and pollock for the boaters while the casting crowd is sticking with eels and squid at night off bridges throughout the Piscataqua watershed. If Jason had to give up one super squid spot it would be the Kittery Bridge. If your boat is up to the task, you’ll find plenty of mackerel by the Isle of Shoals, but inside you’ll have to poke around for them by the 2KR Can as well as Hampton Shoals Ledge.
Tim Moore told me that cookie cutter 28” fish are easy pickings in Little Bay and Little Harbor, especially the “backchannel” of Newcastle. Night has been best with eels as bait but the major tides are a major headache with weed and way too much current. Once the flow simmers down, bigger bass are expected to come calling. A freshwater alternative is the consistent catches of walleye in the Claremont, Hinsdale and Hanover area. Tim’s been teeing off on good walleye with jigs/Daddy Mac whisperers. If you find flooded timber in relatively deep water you’ll find a pile of ‘eyes lurking around panfish fry.
Southern Maine
The disgruntled in Boston have been wondering where “their” big fish have gone. One theory that a friend has been floating is that the cows have moved north to follow the schools of bigger mackerel. After hearing Brandy of Webhannet’s tale of a 48-incher, my friend just might be onto something! The big bass took a tube-and-worm towed behind a kayak in Ogunquit. The kayak and tube-and-worm combo has also been a killer at the mouth of the Mousam River, Kennebunk River and Drakes Island. A few flounder have been caught by accident while anglers targeted stripers at the mouth of the Kennenbunk River. Offshore haddock fishing is awesome north of the “Fingers”!
Kenny of Saco Bay Tackle Company confirmed that the striper fishing in Southern Maine is stellar. What’s bizarre about the bass is that the size on any given cast can run from 8” to 40” with little predictability. Beaches are your best bet and the hottest are Higgins, Camp Ellis, Pine Point and Old Orchard. Bait is outfishing artificials with the nod going to mackerel, clams and finally sandworms.
The Fingers section of Jeffreys Ledge has been hot for haddock with jigs/teasers a better option then bait because of dogfish. Chartreuse cod flies and chartreuse or pink Gulp Swimming Mullet are effective as teasers.
Fishing Forecast
Little Harbor and Little Bay are best bets for a keeper striped bass with eels at night tilting the odds in the anglers favor. Look for much larger linesiders once the full moon’s effects wane. Mackerel are plentiful among the Saco Bay islands; fill up your livewell and target the mouth of the Mousam River on an outgoing evening tide. The Fingers section of Jeffreys Ledge is where you’ll find haddock as well as cod. Speaking of “fingers”, keep your fingers crossed that all those cod remain put until August that way when you put the boots to that 15-pounder you can actually keep it!
L.L. Bean Maine Fishing Report
L.L. Bean Maine Report Provided By L.L. Bean’s Matt Bickford
Mid-Coast Maine
Anglers targeting stripers in the Sheepscot, Kennebec and New Meadows Rivers have been reporting some good numbers of fish ranging from 18”-34”. Surgical tubes tipped with sand or blood worms have been extremely effective on both the New Meadows and Sheepscot Rivers. These have been particularly effective trolled along rocky edges, as slow as possible during the rising tide. On the Kennebec River, Stripers have been stacked on hard bottom structure throughout the river. Anglers working this structure with live eels, Mackerel or blood worms on a Carolina rig with a 2-4oz. egg sinker are reporting consistent numbers. Butterfly jigs worked vertically over ledges and areas where there is a break in the current is another great technique for triggering a reaction strike or used as a search bait. As river temps continue to rise, look for bass to start dropping out of the rivers and relocating in the cooler water that can be found along the rocky coast and beaches with deep pockets.
I fished Parson’s Beach the evening of the full moon. I caught two schoolies on a fly that looked like a sand eel. Great time.