While rivers remain the best bet for a successful striper outing, offshore reports are hinting that bigger “beach” bass may be on the way. More typical offshore quarry results in a decent haddock haul, but it sometimes takes some searching to get it right.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Captain Andy Adventure and Catch Charters told me he’s been seeing striped bass of all things, pushing sea herring and mackerel up towards the surface among offshore ledge. Bass fishing is prohibited in federal waters, but odds are that those fish will be on their way in, which should make things very interesting. Meanwhile, the skipper has been finding mackerel by Murray’s Rock, the 2MR Can, and Hampton Shoals Ledge. Those macks can be put to good use by drifting along Pierce Island and by the Portsmouth Yacht Club. While jigging up mackerel, the captain is coming up with brightly colored, white-bellied young cod of 15-17” which, while admired, have been carefully released. The nemesis for finding the haddock are draggers, which, after trawling an area, generally leave it barren. A hint that an area has been dragged, other than actually seeing it, is noticing the surface strewn with weeds and other flotsam; should you find such conditions, look elsewhere for fish. Some spots that have been producing are The Curl and Outer Pigeon Hill.
Kai from Dover Marine told me that most of his customers are still fishing the herring run tributaries of Great Bay. Beaches are beginning to awaken with chunk sea herring and clams working well. With word of squid in large numbers in northern Mass, the shop is gearing up for the arrival of them throughout the Piscataqua River. Kai is not sweating a sudden demand for squid jigs as the shop has every size and color imaginable in stock.
Southern and Coastal Maine Fishing Report
Ben from Webhannet Bait and Tackle/Boatyard told me spent river herring are moving out of the rivers and getting picked off by opportunistic striped bass. Anglers working those feeds with Slug-Gos, GT Sand Eels, and the larger SP Minnows are doing very well. There have been beach bites with Parsons, Moody, and Ogunquit noteworthy. Mackerel have moved in closer and are subject to a sabiki rig cast from area jetties. The tube-and worm has also been doing the trick from the Webhannet River out through Wells Harbor.
According to Captain Lou of Diamond Pass Outfitters, things are taking off along the Maine coastline. The majority of the river systems are fishing really well, even with the lower-than-average alewife numbers they are experiencing. The bass in the rivers are still locked in on the alewives, so soft plastics such as Albie Snax XLs, Gravity Tackle Paddletails, and similar baits have been very effective. They have also been throwing glide baits and working them to good effect slowly around the edges. Colors working best so far are bone and olive with grey bellies. They are starting to see roving schools of bass out front along the beaches and islands. Saco Bay has been loaded with sand eels fifteen feet thick in many spots. The bass that are on them are in the mid-30 to high 40” range. Anglers fishing those sand eel aggregations have been doing well with XL Albie Snax, 7” Zoom Flukes, as well as Yo-Zuri hydro pencils. The fish on the ocean front are not really setting up, so it takes some hunting on a day-to-day basis to find them.
New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
Herring runs in the Lamprey River, Oyster River, and Saco River remain a best bass bet with stripers hard pressed to leave such easy and abundant prey. While slower, bass are beginning to move along beaches such as Wallis Sands, Moody, Parsons, Biddeford Pool, and Camp Ellis. Chunk bait and clams are getting it done there. Keep an eye out for sand eels in the Saco River, and when found, break out sim-profiled soft plastic stick baits. Interestingly, bass have been spotted among offshore ledges as far out as Scantum, and once shore-bound, should make for some very impressive fishing. Elsewhere on Outer Pigeon Hill as well as The Curl, haddock can be found – just keep an eye out for draggers!