New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report – May 31, 2018

While meaning no disrespect to Yuletide revelers, a case could be made for right now as the “most wonderful time of the year.” With practically every tide more and bigger bass are pushing closer and farther north. And they are not all micros either, with fish up to 35 inches making news.

New Hampshire Fishing Report

Captain Jon Tregea of Sea Run Charters has been into a real good schoolie bite during most evenings towards the mouth of Great Bay. He also said Wood Island has been a winner. The fish are generally “three-year olds”, and the 18- to 20-inch fish are zeroing in on small bait. Small spooks and soft plastics have been doing the trick. To protect those future “50s” as well as human flesh, Jon swaps the trebles for single hooks.

Zach from Suds ‘N Soda was busy restocking the shops P-Line Sabiki rigs when we spoke. He said that the P-Line version of the Sabiki is something special. There is good reason to have a sabiki at the ready since mackerel are as close as the New Castle Bridge as well as Odione Point. He hasn’t heard of any keepers yet, but a Maine shop reported a 35” already so they are around. Fort Stark as well as the New Castle area have been among the most consistent for schoolies but with the migration in full swing be on the lookout for surface feeds.

Joe from Granite State Rod and Reel Repair had a good recent day for stripers in the Merrimack River. Spooks and Savage Sand Eels worked well on stripers up to 33” from Joppa Flats to just downstream of the dam. In freshwater circles, Canobie Lake, Beaver Lake and Massabessic are all still holding trout. In the Nashua River largemouth bass are still on beds but the fish you find on guard are generally smaller males. The black bass bite is best among the coves of the river. His river pick for trout is the Pemigewasset where a patron told of double-digit catches recently for both brook trout and brown trout.

Southern Maine Fishing Report

Josh Thelin from All Points Fly Shop and Outfitter said that striper fishing in Maine is transitioning from micros to better bass. Not surprisingly the fish are pushing in closer, past Portland and marching northward. Rivers and estuaries such as the Saco, Mousam, Biddeford Pool, Scarborough Marsh and recently the Royal River all have received a surge of schoolies. Clousers continue to catch with bigger bass going about their business closer to the bottom making sinking fly lines a big help. Stripers have not gotten any “smarter” so certain maxims continue to matter. Dusk and dawn are certainly better than the middle of the day and current/structure will always hold more than slack water and nondescript bottom. For colors, Josh suggests darker such as forest green and black for the bottom while chartreuse and white get the nod when targeting fish closer to the surface.

Brandy from Webhannet River Boat Yard said that there are now larger stripers in southern Maine with many accounts of fish of 26 to 29 inches being beached at Kennebunk and at the mouth of the Mousam. A customer of the shop, “Murph” said he scored a 35” fish on a tube and worm from Portsmouth Harbor. In addition to jigs/soft plastics rising water temperatures are making the bass partial to poppers! Mackerel are scattered but can be chummed up off Wells Harbor.

Maine, New Hampshire And Vermont Fishing Forecast

Rivers for the foreseeable future will remain a best bet for stripers with good reports coming in regarding the Hampton River, the Piscataqua and even the Royal River. Some however are taking a fresh look at freshwater fishing as bass aggressively defend their nests in the Nashua River.