Bluefish are the big news and they are reining terror on baitfish schools in numbers the likes of haven’t been seen in years. Some of the best bass fishing is taking place at night with eels the ticket. Rivaling that for those who value catching winks as well as fish is focusing on herring fry bait balls as the herring are beginning to transition downstream of their nurseries.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
In recent years while it wasn’t unheard of in northern New England to catch a bluefish, anglers could not successfully target them. That has all changed big time! The easiest ticket to a toothy in New Hampshire is to troll along Salisbury Beach, Seabrook or outside of the Piscatagua River in 25-50 feet of water! Shop owners are dusting off deep diving plugs which haven’t moved in years and selling out. Bright colors such as orange, red, yellow and chartreuse are working best and Rapala CD18s as well as X-Raps are two of the most effective plugs. Juvenile river herring fry fresh from the Great Bay tributaries such as the Oyster and Lamprey Rivers are beginning their trek out to the sea and when found are sure to have striped bass pounding them. Topwater plugs and swimmers should do the trick as will Kastmasters and shad baits.
According to Captain Andy of Adventure and Catch Charters the Merrimack River through Salisbury Beach is a best bet for both blues and bass. In the past, the skipper has done well off the Isle of Shoals with deep diving plugs. One sign that the toothies have arrived is the absence of mackerel and despite the captains best efforts, on a recent outing they only managed to scratch together 12 for they livewell. Andy has sniffed out a nook on Jeffrey’s Ledge where impressive silver hake up to 25” lurk.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Usually Captain Lou of Diamond Pass Outfitters tips me off as to what’s catching in Maine but this time I was the one who alerted him that the toothies were on the way! Massachusetts anglers have been enjoying an epic season for weeks now and with water temperature surging it was only a matter of time before Maine got walloped! From Kennebunk to Portland if there’s one thing you can count on, it is bluefish and they are pulverizing pencil poppers. Not to be outdone the bass fishing, according to Lou, is holding up just fine with first light the magic time and the preferred environment where river herring fry are staging. Jumpin’ Minnows, Albie Snax, and Skok’s Mushmouths are some of the better offerings. The night bite is consistent for cows with live eels and rigged eels all working among estuaries such as the Saco River. There’s a reason why anglers in more southern environs call striped bass rockfish or simply “rocks”, be as it may the rockpiles around Casco Bay are fishing well for striped bass especially for boaters deploying mackerel.
Brandy from Webhannet Bait and Tackle said that an employee of the shop used fresh mackerel to catch a 28 1/2” striper from a kayak right in front of the shop! One of the regular customers caught 4 fish over 40” upstream in the Saco River between Cocktail Cove and Marston’s Marina and reportedly mackerel worked like magic! With the appearance of blues, macks can be a tough find with first light and chumming very helpful. Now regarding bluefish, shore anglers off the Wells Harbor jetties have been catching them on poppers and swimmers. Deep diving plugs are the key to boaters’ success with the trolling sweet spot 25-30’. Drakes Island and the mouth of the Mousam, as well as the Ogunquit area, have been good and some of those blues have been real 36” gators! Offshore you’ll find cusk as well as the occasional pollock and haddock as close as Tantas Ledge and the Flag Pole.
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New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
Bluefish are arguably a northern New England best bet at the moment with deep-diving plugs trolled from the mouth of the Merrimack River up through the Piscataqua River a reliable means to catch them up! As river herring fry migrate from the tributaries of Great Bay through the Piscataqua River look for surface feeds as stripers sniff out the bait aggregates. Farther north there has been some shore success for blues right from the jetties of Wells Harbor. Mackerel remain money for cows off Drakes Island and off the rocks of Casco Bay but be prepared to search out for that prized bait at first light and it doesn’t hurt to chum, chum and chum some more!
