The bass beat goes on with pogies being the conduit to a cow! However, not all is rosy for those picking the “wrong” school or fishing the bait without thought. Do like some of the pros who help put this report together and you’ll up your big fish count!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Chad from Dover Marine told me that New Scantum has been hot for haddock with the caveat being that anglers have to cull through (catch and release) cod to get at them. Inshore there is so much bait between squid and pogies that tuna have been observed crashing on bait schools in water as shallow as 6’! With no shortage of pogies successful anglers are leaving schools of bait to find harassed schools, which can take on the appearance of a tightly wound purplish ball just under the surface. Working the edges, under and the seams in the bait works also.
Hans of Suds N Soda said that there are two types of anglers out there right now, the mackerel “baiters” and those picking the pogies. Throughout the Piscataqua River macks are accounting for numbers of fish but the larger linesiders are going for the bigger bunker bait. Schoolies provide surface fun throughout Little Bay and into Great Bay. What you can also find all the way into Great Bay is squid which are very plentiful off lit piers, marinas and bridges this year. Shore anglers have been snagging and live-lining pogies off the Hampton jetty.
Southern Maine Fishng Report
Scott from Webhannet Bait and Tackle/Boatyard said that it’s a pogy affair for those catching the cows! While there are no shortage of those snagging the pogies the anglers catching are poking around looking for rushed schools and sometimes working the edges of schools or schools bordering structure. For a best bet Scott suggests you give York Beach and Moody Beach a go. Some, however, just can’t kick the mackerel thing and for them, it’s hit or miss with areas near islands seeming to hold more macks.
Small boats are battling bluefin up close to shore as these big pelagics crash the pogy schools. The always modest Captain Lou Tirado of Diamond Pass Charters said that there was a slight striper dip due to the full moon/cloudless days and nights but I’d say that the pictures he shared with me belie that comment! Pogies, however, remain plentiful and with that big bass are not going anywhere, anytime soon! Among the schools live or chunk pogies and mackerel are can’t miss methods right now. Those more inclined to cast artificials are getting good results by throwing their wares into edges and holes in the schools. Hogy Double Wides, Mega Shads and Gravity Tackle Mondos are some of the better producers. The trick is to stay mobile and work any and all white water. Flats are also holding good numbers of fish making for perfect conditions for sight casting/fly fishing! Some rivers still have good numbers of “fallback” herring and the bass are sticking with them.
Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont Fishing Forecast
Punch your ticket to a big bass by shadowing pogy schools, just make sure you work edges/holes in the schools to hedge your bets. Shore anglers in New Hampshire stick to jetties and don’t forget a snag hook, pogies sometimes are that close! York and Moody Beaches have reports of 40” plus fish falling for pogies. An inshore option which is ideal for the small boat owner or kayak angler is rivers where spent herring which are migrating back to the sea after the spawn are easy pickings for hungry bass!