While the weather could be more cooperative, some anglers shook off the showers and found willing cod. As for stripers, the deck has been reshuffled in that rivers are seeing a resurgence in the catch rate.
Southern and Coastal Maine, & New Hampshire Fishing Report
Ben from Webhannet Bait and Tackle/Boatyard told me Bibb Rock has given up a few cod, with clams and jigs accounting for a few keeper fish. The tube-and-worm has been working well throughout the Webhannet River and out into Wells Harbor. Just beyond the harbor, mackerel can be found, as well as intermittent pogy schools. There have also been sand-eel-induced surface feeds with soft plastic stick baits working well under those conditions. Some of the better bass bets have been off Biddeford Pool, the Cliff House and Long Sand Beach. Just be forewarned that there are a lot of sharks around, with several anglers reporting that they are relieving them of their catch and, in some cases, their nerve! Be extra careful when lipping your striper or venting it before release.
After a brief respite and a sweetwater stay with the family, Captain Lou of Diamond Pass Outfitters has returned to the salt, and the timing could not have been better! Rivers are once again the rage as striped bass have sniffed out the dropping herring fry. A common catch is slots to slightly larger stripers. Flying in the face of the “match the hatch” logic is that the tube-and-worm seems to be working the best. A mack snack is probably the runner-up method, while chucking soft plastics is a distant third technique.
The outlier is beach blitzes where the fish seem to be responding to the calendar and are ravenous when found. A few beaches to consider are Higgin’s Beach, Moody Beach, Ogunquit, and Old Orchard. There are, however, those who are sticking with deep water and deploying a three-way rig as they drop mackerel or squid in front of marked fish.
New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
The fall run is living up to the hype, with rivers seeing a resurgence in striped bass activity by and large because of the downstream migration of herring fry. Stripers blitzing on sand eels are often belied by wheeling, chirping terns making slim-profiled soft plastics effective. Surprisingly, the tube-and-worm is catching them up under all those circumstances. Deep water still has game, as striped bass respond to squid and mackerel weighed down toward marked fish. Those craving cod should consider dropping clams or a jig among irregular bottom just east of the Isles of Shoals or Bibb Rock.