At this time of the year conditions change rapidly and for striped bass fishermen that means mid-30” fish are now in your neighborhood! Those bigger bass are seeking out a big meal and for now that snack is river herring!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Fortunately for Captain Jon Tregea of Sea Run Charters the hot fishing has made up for the clammy weather. There has been lots of action from Hampton Harbor out through the York River. Bait and warmer temperatures are drawing the bass into the rivers and marshes and Jon has been finding a nice bunch of 26-28” fish mixed in with the micros. Regardless of the size, a lot can be said for casting into a blitz in May! The captain and his clients have been having lots of success on the new paddletail 3.5” Hogys in pearl and olive. The size – 1 ounce – and “cast-ability” have quickly made this lure a favorite on Jon’s boat. As always, sun-up and sunset are fishing best with cloudy days prolonging the bite. The captain emphasizes conservation by pinching down barbs and skipping out on treble hooks. Six and seven wt fly rods are always at the ready on Sea Run Charters and make for the perfect tool for this size fish.
Christian of Suds ‘N Soda said that stripers up to 35” have now been caught in the area! A best bet for a big one of your own is to target the mouths of the Great Bay Rivers which support river herring runs. A pre-dawn assault will increase your chances. Next in order of preference is the Piscatugua River and Little Bay. Most stripers are being caught on bucktail jigs. Beaches will remain quiet until we get a spike in water temperatures! The harbors are fishing better for flounder now that water temperatures have crested that magical 50 degree mark!
Southern Maine
From Captain Luis Tirado of Diamond Pass Outfitters comes news of strong striped bass fishing that is getting better with each passing day. School sized bass are being caught from the Piscataqua up to the Kennebec River. Soft plastics, small swimmers, and flies have been extremely productive along with sand and blood worms. The top water bite in Southern Maine is turning on as well with some better fish targeting the alewives that are pushing up the rivers. They have yet to see any mackerel in any good numbers, so the predominant bait is sand eels, and alewives at the moment. Lou anticipates a push of larger fish soon with the amount of bait in the rivers and marshes. He has been catching his fish mainly on flies in the 5-7” range – mostly hollows, and Two Lights Tackle Co. spooks. The offshore scene has been hot as well. Boats are regularly filling their daily haddock quota, and are finding pollock and cusk as well. Cod bycatch is inevitable but staying in more shallow water is helping some. Porbeabgle sharks are also making their presence known so keeping a suitable rod at the ready could prove to be beneficial.
According to Brandy from Webhannet Bait and Tackle striper fishing has heated up over the past week even if air temperatures have not. The average striper caught was in the low 20” range and best spots were the Mousam River, Colony Beach as well as off Oguinquit, York and the “Cove”. A few keepers have also been caught as well. Considering their long trip, the fish are hungry and not fussy with many catching on sandworms and all manner of soft plastics especially Slug-Gos and Fin-S-Fish baits fished on jigheads. She also heard of mackerel taken from the Kennebunk jetty on higher tides. The saying is that when the lilacs bloom, the mackerel are in and both are happening! Sand eels are thick in the Kennebunk River which is driving surface feeds. When there’s a break in the blow, the haddock fishing is hot with both clams and jigs/cod flies working well. Tantas and Peaks are best but a few fish have also been cooperating far closer off Boon Ledge!
Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont Fishing Forecast
Just after dawn be on the lookout for surface feeds throughout the Piscatagua River and you should find willing schoolie to keeper size stripers. For larger, target pre-dawn herring runs in rivers such as the Lamprey, Oyster and Saco; pass on the finesse stuff and toss a big swimmer, spook or fly their way and see if you can make that drag – sing!
Do you guys ever get reports of stripers in Penobscot Bay in Maine? Mackrel is all that we can find there.
Thank you.
This is last weeks report?
What’s going down in the great bay? Any bait fishing?
Anyone seen mackerel or stripers in Penobscot river yet????
Copy and paste for us
I released an 18.5″ schoolie on June 6th and another on June 7th after having lost a previous one each day in the Boothbay area flyfishing a chartreuse and white small Clouser on a 7wt fly rod. Since then they have disappeared. Water temp still 53-54. Too cool