Slot-size stripers continue to flood northern New England where they can be found among the open ocean and inshore where there is a respite from the vagaries of the weather. Groundfishermen have seen a bump in haddock numbers possibly because of a shift in offshore currents bringing warmer water in closer.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Fishing by nature is unpredictable but especially so regarding groundfishing. After an inconsistent haddock bite, anglers are reporting more reliability for their efforts. Captain Andy from Adventure and Catch Charters likens the improved groundfishing to a shift in the Gulf Stream where warmer offshore eddies have spun off and possibly brought along more bait and predators such as haddock. Regardless of the reason, The Curl as well as the lower section of Jeffrey’s Ledge has seen a spike in haddock and pollock numbers. Should Stellwagen Bank be not to far of a haul for you, then consider muddy bottom sections there in 200’ of water. As for stripers, a mackerel floated or drifted throughout the Piscataqua River watershed should not last long before being engulfed by a slot striper. Some are even taking a few upstream to the herring runs, which are still very much active, and tossing a few in the mix for bigger stripers. For a bass best bet Captain Andy suggests outside of the Navy Yard and below the “old prison”.
Captain Bob Weathersby of Seacoast NH Sportfishing said that there has been pretty consistent striped bass fishing along the coast with live mackerel the key to catching. While the predicted swell will shut things down inshore, Hampton Harbor as well as the Piscataqua River should be sheltered enough to fish and there are plenty of stripers in both places. Winter flounder have been more cooperative with water temperatures rising. While there is no clear-cut pattern yet, bluefin tuna are beginning to migrate into inshore haunts. The skipper would like to remind anglers that mackerel retention limits have changed to 20 fish per day, per angler.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Captain Paul Hood of Touch of Gray Fishing Charters has been dividing his time between Platt’s Ledge and Jeffrey’s Ledge with the aforementioned having had a better bite due to more bait. The skipper however is keeping tabs on Jeffrey’s because that ledge often comes into it’s own as the summer waxes. Regardless of where Paul is spending his time, the catch continues to be strong with cusk, cod, haddock and whiting all cooperating. The Captain was telling me about one of his regular customers – Charlie Hegarty – who does amazingly well with some very old school techniques. He opts for gold bait-holder hooks and affixes red beads on the dropper loop. While I scrolled through my memory bank trying to imagine the last time I used such a hook, Paul snapped me out my funk with tales of how well Charlie catches this way! On Touch of Gray you can expect to be using bait, slow pitch jigs, conventional cod jigs, teasers and whatever it takes that day to put fish in the boat! He’s also hearing of a solid striper bite throughout the Maine coast with mackerel mattering greatly.
Things are going good up in the Casco Bay area of Maine according to Captain Lou Tirado of Diamond Pass Outfitters. Rivers which support herring runs are crammed with all kinds of bass with anglers doing best by offering what brings the bass in – alewives and bluebacks! There are also plenty of 30-35” fish willing to take down topwaters and Albie Snax.
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New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
River herring runs, which should remain active for a few more weeks, remain a best bet for solid striper action. With swells predicted over the weekend a protective respite in Great Bay or the Saco River should be timely and hopefully fishy. Once seas settle consider the groundfishing option in Southern Jeffrey’s, Tillies Ledge or even “muddy” sections of Stellwagen Bank!