If the bugs and crowds of the summer were making you wish for relief, then your prayers have been answered since both have thinned out considerably since Labor Day. What hasn’t appreciably slacked off, however, is the volume of striped bass as fish up to 41” are cooperating as far north as Ogunquit!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
It could be a mystery right out of a James Patterson novel but for some odd reason, the striped bass outlast most of the striped bass fishermen in New Hampshire. While on one hand it’s a shame, on the other it’s an opportunity for the determined to find plenty of stripers along with cathartic solitude. Jason of Suds ‘N Soda said that as befitting mid-September there are a lot of surface feeds throughout Little Bay, the mouth of the Piscataqua River and even upstream into Great Bay. The presence of peanut bunker is playing a big role in the surface activity. Pogies which were plentiful farther north a few weeks ago have left and may be off a beach you’re familiar with right now!
Those pogies while in Maine had a lot of striped bass interest so be prepared to snag and hook up to a bass! Some stripers have been observed pushing silversides up against rocky shorelines off Rye, Wallis Sands and Hampton. Odione Point has been one of the more accessible and productive shore spots for stripers. For tuna, begin the lookout as soon as you clear your port since some have been caught inshore of the Isle of Shoals!
Chad from Dover Marine said that as his crew was recently unloading a medium tuna at a marina on the Piscataqua River at night, they scattered about 15-20 good sized stripers in the dock light! Ironically, he couldn’t think of many who would be interested in such news since most have given up on the stripers for the season. Tuna however remain on a tear to where it’s almost child’s play for those who know what they are doing! In close and out far humps and bumps which either show marked tuna or bait balls all have the likelihood of holding tuna! Whiting and mackerel make the best bet and both are easy pickings with macks as close as the mouth of the Piscataqua River.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Brandy from Webhannet River Bait And Tackle said that even though angling interest is waning, the customers showing stick-to-itiveness are finding plenty of fish. One customer who soaks clams off Ogunquit each morning was catching little more than micros, when out popped a 41” striper! While not nearly as much as there were, pogies are still present and early risers are spotting them around the Mousam River. Recent glassy calm mornings have been conducive to exciting topwater action in marshes, estuaries and rivers with mixed sizes of stripers joining in. It may be curtain call for the haddock recreational season in the GOM on September 16, but there still is a lot to fish for among drop-offs on Jeffreys Ledge as Scott Lee found out recently as willing cusk, pollock and catch-and-release cod were found in good numbers from 250-400 feet of water!
New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Forecast
Grab a bucket of eels and target lit docks and wharves along the Piscataqua River. Odds are good you’ll have no competition but plenty of willing stripers. The offshore options consist of a terrific tuna bite, some which is occurring even closer to shore than the Isle of Shoals, and a grab bag of groundfish over steep drop-offs on Jeffreys Ledge. Off the Maine coast a few pogies can still be snagged off beaches but if you’re looking for a more relaxing alternative than soak some clams off Ogunquit; the guy who caught a 41-incher is sure glad he did!
How late do the Stripers stay in Southern Maine?
In recent past seasons I have hooked into Striped Bass right into late October, early November.