Bluefish the likes of which anglers haven’t seen in northern New England in years have just arrived. While that has spelt doom for resident bait populations, anglers are having a hard time complaining while battling those blues!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
It’s a pretty safe bet that if Maine has bluefish, New Hampshire must have them also. While my contacts in the Granite State had no word on that toothy subject, Scott from Webhannet Bait and Tackle in Wells Maine reported that on this very Thursday, multiple reports from charter captains as well as private boat owners all touted the same news – bluefish have arrived. The accounts are not random but instead numerous with multiple fish hookups each trip! With better than average numbers of blues in Massachusetts for over a week now, I expected it to be only a matter of time. The two best techniques to catch blues are chunking/livelining pogies and trolling plugs. While I am not hearing much in the pogy department there is nothing to stop you from free-spooling a gold/orange or green/orange Rapala CD18 off of. Wallis Sands Beach, Rye or Hampton and see if you can’t catch one of these premium sportfish. For sizes, in the Bay State, most are running between 6 and 9 pounds with the occasional double-digit gator thrown in for good measure and I expect that the size you folks will encounter will be similar. In Massachusetts, the sweet zone for trolling up those blues is 30 to 50 feet of water. Go get them and good luck!
Captain Andy of Adventure and Catch Charters told me of an interesting big white hake bite between 280-316 feet of water with some of the fish 35” beasts! He mentioned Three Dory Ridge and Pigeon Hill as possibilities. Haddock and big pollock have been numerous as well but sadly so are the spiny dogfish! Regarding stripers schoolie to slot stripers abound in Hampton Harbor, Wentworth Harbor and Little Harbor. The captain is still finding schoolies right off his slip in Great Bay Marina. Tim Moore of TimMooreOutdoors told me that he’s hearing of similar reports of schoolies and slot stripers throughout the Piscatagua River and Portsmouth area. Anglers are spotting squid right off the marinas throughout the Piscatagua River watershed. The salmon bite has finally picked up in Winnipesaukee as the fish fatten up in preparation for the spawning run in the fall. Two colors of leadcore line are all that’s required now with orange and purple spoons and streamers doing the trick! Lakers remain as deep as 100 feet where they feed on huge bait balls of smelt. The same deepwater vertical jigging technique has also been working in Lake Champlain, except the lakers there are bigger, in fact, Tim recently caught a corker 33 1/2”, 15 pounder there!
Southern Maine Fishing Report
It’s been said that bluefish are a tackle shop owner’s best friend and from what Scott from Webhannet Bait and Tackle has been telling me, that might be true! Lures, leaders, hooks, you name it; stuff is flying of the shops walls thanks to those razor-sharp teeth. Not surprisingly bait, albeit pollock or mackerel, is now in short supply! Rapala CD18 trolling plugs as well as X-Raps are the go-to trolling plugs for blues and according to Scott should be trolled outside of Wells Harbor, Drakes Island, Moody Point and the Mousam River. That’s not to say that the stripers have done a disappearing act; they are still around in good numbers it’s just that the new visitor is garnering all the attention!
For a striped bass perspective, Captain Lou from Diamond Pass Outfitters was more than willing to pass along tips! The Saco River/Bay Area has been the epicenter of some impressive striped bass fishing! Fishing at night during the new moon phase has been awesome with 40 pounders falling for eels and 13.5 GTs. Herring fry are beginning to stage in natal watersheds and are attracting big bass! Adult herring are still present and just the thing for those fish looking for a larger meal. Lou’s been having luck with Albie Snax and 9” GTs as well as yellow Guppy pencils! In addition to the cows, there’s a lot of 20” to 30” fish!
• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Maine!
New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
The “game-changer” has arrived and unlike past seasons it looks as if those blues aren’t going anywhere for a while! Trolling deep diving plugs in 30 to 50 feet of water should tempt a bite from these blues which are averaging 6 to 9 pounds! Big bass moved inshore during the new moon phase to snack on adult and young herring. Offshore the Groundfishing grab bag remains hot in spite of the dogfish scourge. Cranking up a few of those critters is a small price to pay for 35” white hake!
Talk to us about stripers in Casco Bay Area. Martin in Maine