Chances are that if you were spending much time around the Isles of Shoals last year chasing stripers, you may have been praying for a repeat. The ideal combination of bait and water temperatures produced as good-as-it gets fishing, and while there are no guarantees, it’s increasingly looking as if this year will be very similar.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Captain Bob Weathersby of Seacoast NH Sportfishing reports that the bass fishing is coming along. As he puts it, “it’s coming in three flavors: live lining mackerel in the Piscataqua and Hampton Rivers, along the coast, and moving offshore amongst the pogy schools. The pogy schools are holding the largest fish, and as their reliable presence is new, there is still elbow room to fish them. No tuna on the inshore schools yet, but based on past years, it may fire up. Mackerel are still reliable along the coastal ledges and navigation buoys, the Isles of Shoals, and on out to Jeffreys Ledge.” Regarding groundfishing, “Bottom fishing continues to produce, although the onset of dogfish is making it a tad challenging. Favoring jig/fly over clams will help. Haddock are still coming in, but not nearly in the numbers of spring. Cusk and pollock have made a showing as well. And as for tuna, “Bluefin fishing is building, albeit slowly. There is an incredible bait biomass of groundfish, mackerel, and at times, pogies on the offshore ledges, but still not a consistent fishery. Early in the week, sporadic jumping fish on pogy schools were a here-now-then-gone thing, but given the nature of pogies in deep water, there was no consistency to it. Over the last couple of days, the bait fleet has been marking fish more consistently, with several caught. The belief is that as the waters to the south warm, the hordes of mixed-size fish around Block Island should push north. And they are going to like what’s for dinner!” Porbeagle sharks are still active on Jeffreys, but unseasonably cold waters are keeping the blue sharks away.
Captain Andy from Adventure and Catch Charters said that squid and small herring have attracted stripers from 25” to slot-plus fish in Little Bay and throughout the Piscataqua River watershed. Mackerel are a sure way to catch those fish, with the 2KR Can and Hampton Shoals Ledge being good places to look. The haddock fishing on Jeffrey’s Ledge remains solid, but use bait sparingly because of the increased presence of dogfish. The bite has been most consistent between 240-260’ of water. The captain’s tip to catch more haddock is to employ the “haddock wiggle”. This simple technique involves leaving your offering on the bottom and with a tight line, shaking the rod, thereby creating some come-hither action that haddock cannot resist.
Coastal Maine Fishing Report
Gavin from Saco Bay Tackle Company said that mackerel are omnipresent to where “you could almost walk on them”! Combined with a bump in sand eels numbers, all that inshore bait is making the beaches hot. Live macks and soft plastic stick baits such as Slug-Gos and Albie Snax are working well off of Higgins Beach, Old Orchard Beach, and Ferry Beach. A few pods of pogies have appeared, but not all schools have stripers with sharp anglers leaving schools to find just the right one that is holding bass. A few more haddock have moved onto Tantas Ledge. Cusk and pollock have joined the haddock on Jeffrey’s Ledge.
The bass fishing is bliss in the Casco Bay region, according to Captain Lou Tirado of Diamond Pass Outfitters. Maybe best of all is that the fish are spread out, giving many a shot at a striper. Fish on the ledges and around the islands are locked in on mackerel and pollock, while the fishing off the beaches has been primarily a sand eel and brit herring bite. Striper size is running from slots to beasts of nearly 50”! Anglers out on first light are reveling in short-lived surface feeds with slim-profiled soft plastics best as they mimic the sand eels and small herring. All is not lost however, when fish are not so obvious, as anglers working sub-surface structure are having luck. As is usually the case, night stalkers are more consistently catching cows with eels and 12-13” soft plastics doing great.
New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
The ubiquitous schools of mackerel among the inshore ledges off the Piscataqua River and all across Maine are holding consistent schools of bass. Beaches such as Salisbury, Old Orchard, and Higgins are among the best bass bets for those with a few mackerel in the live well. Further out on the Isles of Shoals, big schools of pogies are increasingly attracting big bass, which are pushing northward. Those who reveled in this phenomenon last year are hoping for a sustained redux. Haddock fishing remains solid on Jeffrey’s Ledge, along with Tantas, also producing a few fish for those searching closer.