In some ways, I’m hoping Bay State fishers don’t take a peek at this report… they may be jealous! The coastline of New Hampshire well into Maine has ideal water temperatures, plenty of pogies and the one species “we” don’t have – bluefish!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
From all indications, it’s hard to top the striped bass fishing in New Hampshire right now! Exhibit one comes courtesy of Captain Jon Tregea of Sea Run Charters. Jon has been tailoring his trips to the needs of his charters and catching on all fronts. For “keepers” the simple method has been drifting or trolling (during slack) along rockpiles, mussel beds or other current-breaking structure throughout the Piscataqua River. Mackerel are resulting in keepers-plus catches with more action but when the skipper puts a pogy on the line – woah! He’s also aware of squid throughout the Piscataqua River watershed.
Chad from Dover Marine told me of a buddy who has been snagging and dropping pogies at the mouth of the Merrimack and catching mid-30-pound stripers! This is not an aberration, in fact, numerous Massachusetts anglers have been finding the same size fish when they find schools of rushed pogies. The key is to find pogies which are being besieged by bass. Don’t make the mistake of settling for the first school of pogies unless you see them balled up tightly and occasionally “spraying” the surface. The whooshing sound pogies under duress make is pure melody to cow hunters. With all those pogies around, it’s not surprising that Charlie has made an appearance along with some interesting inshore whale shows. Spend some time ogling the life around those pogies and it’s easy to see why many consider them the most valuable fish in the sea.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
I’m no Nostradamus, but I opened my conversation with Brandy of Webhannet Bait by predicting they had pogies and big bass and she said, “Oh yeah!” Forget about the rivers unless you want smallish stuff, the big bass are prowling below the pogies. There are also bluefish pounding the baitfish! Therein lies a clue as to fast-tracking your search and catching. Discount the pogy schools which look as if they are on vacation and stick to schools which are tightly wound and occasionally breach the surface. Brandy did say that because of the chopper presence, chunk has been outfishing live pogies. Consider what a North Shore sharpie pal of mine has been doing with great success. When he finds a bass-on-bunker school, he tosses a white RonZ beyond the school and slowly cranks it under the bait ball. Consistently he’s been culling out the bigger bass this way, even when fishing next to anglers using live or chunk bait. According to Brandy, an effective artificial alternative is a large Kastmaster, the flash and general shape of which often attract bass that pass up on live bait. Thanks to all those pogies, there is no special “spot”, the bait is on the move and so are the bass; there is no substitute for a learned eye. Although Brandy did give a special nod to the Nubble Light area.
Flounder catches are increasingly the reality around Wells with some being caught by the mouth of the Saco River, Ogunquit and Drakes Island.
Josh Thelin of All Points Fly Shop and Outfitters touted the good fortune of anglers fishing for bass in the Casco Bay thanks to all the pogies! As for finding the best ball of bait, Josh did say that anglers finding other types of bait along with the pogies are doing the best. Two examples of this are sand eels and sea herring. Let the birds point the way to the diversity of bait. Pogies are simply too big for most seabirds, but sea herring and sand eels in the mix will attract quite the bird following. Additionally, slurping sand eels or catching sea herring is a lot less daunting a task for striped bass than chasing down the evasive pogy, at least during daylight hours.
New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Forecast
Pogies, perfect water temperatures and plenty of big bass all add up to striped bass fishing as good as it gets! Snag up and hit the mouth of the Merrimack or Piscataqua Rivers with a live pogy or chunk. Along the ocean front, keep an eye out for harried schools and don’t discount working an artificial below the bait and bass ball. More than water temperatures have heated up during the last week, hopefully you have some free time ahead.
Just saw a school of pogies being worked by blues, threw an SP minnow and caught one 22 incher.
Charlie is just 2 plus miles off of Hampton beach, confirmation of 3 tuna boats I spoke with, and I fished the Hampton jetty and poggies are every where, with all these poggies big bass are very finicky