July fourth weekend and schools of pogies habitually adds up to big striped bass in New Hampshire and Maine and this year is no exception. There are even a few bluefish around as well. Recent east winds have blown in cooler water and livened up upstream bays and stirring up surface feeds!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
From Captain Jon Tregea of Sea Run Charters came word that there is still plenty of action in the Piscatagua River with mid-20” fish being caught on flys and lures. However, for larger striped bass check out the pogy schools off Salisbury Beach, Seabrook, Portsmouth or wherever you find the larger forage. Trolling a big plug, parachute jig or mojo rig will work under the pogy schools as well as live bait.
I received a solid groundfish report from my friend Richard Wolfe of Sea Wolfe Tackle! Rich makes some of the finer jigs, rigs and other tackle around and he put that gear to good use on a recent groundfishing extravaganza out of Eastman’s in Seabrook over the weekend. From all accounts the fishing was spectacular with most anglers limiting out on haddock with a smattering of pollock, catch-and-release cod and wolffish. Should you go, get ready for a workout since the fishing took place in 250 feet of water. The bonus was the whale show which took place all around the boat. When asked what worked, Richard said that Sea Wolfe’s pink cod flies and haddock rigs.
For more intel on groundfishing as well as striped bass throughout Little Bay and Great Bay region we are fortunate to welcome aboard Captain Andy and crew from Adventure & Catch Charters in Great Bay! Showing his prowess, Captain Andy just this week whipped a 65”, 161 pound halibut from Jeffrey’s Ledge! Anglers who catch these leviathans often skip out on more conventional baits and go right for a sliver or chunk of mackerel, sea herring or whiting. These flatfish have cavernous mouths and prefer fish as prey. The skipper is finding haddock up to 26” throughout Jeffrey’s Ledge and there are cusk cooperating as well including 31” beasts! The arrival of pogies has lured bigger bass into Great and Little Bays!
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Southern Maine Fishng Report
Zach from Saco Bay Tackle Company said that rivers and estuaries such as the Saco River, Spurwink and Scarborough Marsh have been recharged with stripers thanks to the recent east winds. For bigger bass, however, shore, kayak anglers and the boat folks are doing well with pogies and mackerel off Two Lights Park near Cape Elizabeth as well as The Graveyard by Scarborough Marsh. Some anglers have been catching mackerel or snagging pogies from shore and catching well on site! While we are on the Graveyard subject, those who are holding graveyard shift hours are doing quite well with black/purple pencil poppers, needlefish and SP Minnows. The Cove section of Jeffrey’s Ledge has been hot for haddock with cod flies tipped with clams killing them!
Captain Lou of Diamond Pass Outfitters tells me that the fishing is still going strong. Stripers are prowling river mouths and chasing herring. These fish have been falling for walk the dog style lures. Two lights Tackle Spooks and Yo-Zuri HydroPencils have been the ticket. There are also plenty of fish on the flats feeding on shrimp, sand eels, and crabs with regularity. Flies have been most productive, but Albie Snax In Bone and Amber have been doing well. The surf continues to produce as well. The bass are being found staged in the wash, and along the shoreline. Metal lips, pencil poppers, soft plastics, and flies are all producing. Chasing pogy schools has been effective for finding big hungry bass. Don’t fret if you don’t find stripers feeding on the first school you come across, just hop from pod to pod until you find them.
Brandy from Webhannet Bait and Tackle told me that bigger bass – up to 45” – have been taken in the area on pogies as well as mackerel. There even have been reports of bluefish which has not surprisingly resulted in chunk bait the best offering for stripers! The blues aren’t big at 20” long but a nice addition to anglers catches. Hot spots have been Fortunes Rocks, the Little River, Drakes Island and the Kennebunk River. The story of the week is about shore sharpies who are snagging pogies and and Sabiki-rigging mackerel and live-lining that bait for big bass from Fortunes Rocks! Flounder continue to be among the best news of this season with catches coming from the mouth of the Mousam River, York River and Footbridge Beach. For an alternative to bait, Brandy recommends weighted Slug-Gos. Haddock are among the deeper sections of Jeffrey’s Ledge with bait out-fishing jigs.
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New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
For numbers of striped bass check out the first light feeds in Little Bay, Great Bay as well as the Saco River and Scarborough Marsh in Maine. Finding pogies throughout the Piscatagua River watershed as well as most of the coast up through Maine should be no problem and as you’d expect that big bass bait has with it big bass! Flounder at the mouths of rivers such as the York and Mousam are an unexpected score this season and should you drop a chunk of mackerel into the deep of Jeffrey’s Ledge as Captain Andy from Adventure & Catch Charters recently did, you might find yourself tight to a 161-pound “flounder”!
The river in NH is the Piscataqua, not Pistatagua