Fishermen have the edge on this Father’s Day weekend, since instead of just a card, anglers can take dear old dad fishing! Dovetailing nicely with that is superb surf fishing and for those with a boat, groundfishing makes for a great alternative.
New Hampshire
Jon Tregea of Sea Run Charters said that now that herring runs are waning, stripers are settling into more predictable patterns. Mackerel as well as flies worked around structure throughout the bays and the Piscataqua River are finding their mark regarding stripers, which are holding tight to structure once the current cooks. Some of the flats in Great Bay and Little Bay are perfect for sight casting light soft plastics and streamers now. Other options are flats in Hampton, Rye and Wentworth Harbors. Jon even took a trip up to Cape Porpoise and the Saco area and found fish. He feels that the key the further north you travel is water temperature with upstream locations fishing best.
Chad from Dover Marine described the flounder fishing as awesome! He ticked off Hampton, Wentworth, Rye and Kittery as all places which are producing flounder. Now that river herring are falling back post-spawn, the mouths of tributaries as well as the mouth of the Piscataqua River are spots where stripers are looking to ambush the alewives and blueback herring. Pierce Island has been particularly productive. For mackerel, the going is hit or miss at the 2KR Can as well as Hampton Shoal Ledge and Breaking Rocks. The groundfishing on Jeffreys Ledge is simply outstanding. I was lucky enough to sample it on Saturday and the non-stop action has me still gushing. Such spots as Long Ledge, the Inside Flag and the Southwest Hump were teaming with life! We left with plenty of haddock fillets and a memorable experience with a 20 pound plus wolfish!
Zach from Suds ‘N Soda gave a shoutout to Maine’s Moosehead Lake when we spoke. Now’s prime time to the salmon bite he said with lakers a great consolation prize if the salmon aren’t cooperating. Closer to the shop, flounder are feeding well in Rye and Hampton Harbors and stripers up to 36” have been taken off Wallis Sands on mackerel chunks.
Southern Maine
Brandy from Webhannet said that the schoolies from last year, which were mostly 2 year old 14-16”, have been doing some serious growing and are now paunchy 18-20” stripers! Those doing best are pounding the surf at false dawn, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:30 and scoring plenty of fish on both bait and lures. For bait, mackerel is the top choice while with artificials, soft plastic /jighead combinations are catching best. A few of the better surf spots are the north side of Drake’s Island and Parson’s Beach, which is at the mouth of the Mousam River. River herring are starting to fall back from the Saco and Mousam Rivers making those rivers prime places to intercept the prey/predator explosion.
Mackerel are spotty but the groundfishing is anything but! Scott Lee took but a short 12 mile run to Tantas and found all the haddock he could ask for! Mixed in were cusk and whiting. Bright cod flies – chartreuse/pink – and jigs were all that was needed to catch that grab bag of groundfish. Other customers are making the haul out to Jeffrey’s Ledge and finding more cod mixed in with the other gadids. One customer displayed a 48” brown bomber which was promptly released after being caught.
Kenny from Saco Bay said that with river herring runs drying up, angling attention is turning from alewives in the rivers to bait on the beaches. Clams or sandworms should do the trick as long as you are in the wash by first light at Camp Ellis, Old Orchard, Pine Point and Higgins Beach. That’s not to say that it’s bait or bust! Due to a surge in sand eels, almost anything similarly colored and slim-profile will work off beaches. A few best bets are Bill Hurley Mole Tails and when fish are aggressive, Lonely Angler spooks! Groundfishing is nothing short of great on Jeffreys Ledge with most everyone returning from a trip with smiles and limits of haddock.
Fishing Forecast
With river herring runs waning and that main body of bait exiting back to the sea, the mouth of the Piscataqua River by Pierce Island is a good bet to catch bass chasing the fleeing herring. Beaches such as Wallis Sands, Parsons and Old Orchard are now replacing rivers as the place to fish with early risers catching much better than those arriving at the “crack of noon”.
How is the striper bite around Sandy point this week
Very nice fish