Fall in New Hampshire usually ushers in two seismic changes in the striper situation, and this season is no exception. Less are still in the game and resident stripers area now on the move. If you chunk off a beach, chances are you’ll find plenty of bass and plenty of solitude. The other options are freshwater pursuits and salmonids in Winnipesaukee and coastal rivers become more active.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Anglers are giving up the fight in large numbers and the bass bite is transitioning from upstream toward beaches. If you’re a surf fisherman who views the off-season as too long as it is, then this is your time! The shop is still carrying seaworms, eels, and frozen fish, and bass are being taken near rocky structure on these baits. I would not discount bridge fishing at night from now through October in the least! Find the early stages of an outgoing tide, a lit bridge, a shadowline where bass of all sizes stage, and bet not only bass will be there, but big ones as well.
You can’t beat “slapping” eels with splashdown just beyond the shadow line. The action is built in the eel, but a jig/soft plastic combination is almost as good. This works best for fish you can see, lurking just behind the shadow line. You’ll want to slowly crawl that jig at an angle just in front of the fish so that it gets a good longing look! Hook a 25-pounder like this in the still of the night, and you’ll never look at a bridge the same again! In addition to bait, Suds ‘N Soda surf sharpies have been catching well with yellow Gibbs pencil poppers. Experiment with your retrieve, fish are aggressive now so don’t be afraid to burn that plug in, just barely skimming the top of the rollers!
“The bite on Winnipesaukee has been amazing!” so said Tim Moore from Tim Moore Outdoors! He can’t remember seeing them stacked so thick before. In 14 feet of water there is usually 15’ of fish. The Daddy Mac Lures Nervous Minnow is still crushing it. When the fish begin to get finicky, late morning, they switch to a DM ½ ounce Albie jigs and the beatings continue! It’s important to react quickly with the smaller jigs, otherwise the lakers inhale it fatally. The salmon bite has been good, with some really nice fish caught, including a 4½-pound bronzer caught trolling a Tommy Gun smelt spoon in 35 feet of water by regular client Rolf from Switzerland. The two spent five mornings on Winnipesaukee and when the salmon and lake trout bite died they flipped over to jumbo white perch for the rest of the trip. That’s not a bad way to spend the day!
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Brandy from Webhannet said that angling action has been running inverse of participation. Few are now it, but the ones who still are having a blast! Schoolies are no problem with the bite moving from rivers to beach fronts! A few best bets have been just outside of the Mousam River as well as Ogunquit. Regarding both ears, now is the time to target salter brown trout! Both watersheds have unique brown trout fisheries. Flies designed to imitate shrimp, scuds, killifish or sand eels often rule. These salters have unique coloration and owing to a marine diet they can grow big. Brandy knows of 28-inch salters which have been taken. Favored spots are the Ogunquit foot bridge and the Rogers Pond area of the Mousam.
Fishing Forecast for New Hampshire and Maine
If you prefer few anglers and willing fish than now is your time to fish off Hampton, Seabrook and Salisbury Beach. Stripers have strapped on the feed bag and a chunk of mackerel or eel at night should do the trick. Freshwater increasingly is an attractive option as everything from Winnipesaukee white perch to brackish Downeast brown trout are stirring.