Mackerel, whether by chunk from the shore, or live while drifting rips and depressions in the Piscataqua River, remain one of the best bets for bass. Jigging up a mixture of groundfish from Jeffreys Ledge is still an attractive alternative, in spite of the cod moratorium. For fast-paced action, it’s hard to pass up squid from New Castle or big mackerel off Boone Island.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
According to Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors the striper fishing in the Piscataqua River is still good with quite a few big girls hiding in deeper water and cruising rips. Live eels are catching well even during the day. As usual, live macks will always catch. For non-stop schoolie action, follow the birds. There is no shortage of bait around. Water temps in the Bay are rising steadily, so picking your tide is key. Tim is seeing temperature fluctuations as great as 5 degrees per tide. Temperatures rise on the outgoing and drop during the incoming. Wednesday the water temperature where the Piscataqua River meets Little Bay was 68 degrees at low tide. By mid-way through the incoming it had dropped to 64 and the fish showed up all at once.
Jason of Suds ‘N Soda said that local waters have been struck by a “Squidnado!” Newcastle, Rye, Hampton and Kittery all have squid aplenty. Squid sharpies are taking along their own lights to really attract them. The shop carries all essential squid gear including portable lighting. Mackerel are usually no problem to find by the 2KR Buoy in Portsmouth as well as at Hampton Shoal Ledge although numbers fluctuate. An alternative is harbor pollock which are more tolerant of brackish water if you decide to live-line baitfish upstream of Little Bay. Nighttime has been the right time to fish with eels throughout the river as well as the Newcastle area. The beaches are a best bet for the surfcaster with Wallis Sands a solid choice for chunk mackerel between dusk and dawn. Flounder have vacated Rye and Hampton Harbors and can now be found just offshore of those harbors in 25’ to 35’ of water.
Chad from Dover Marine has been jigging Jeffreys for quite a mixture of groundfish between 166’ and 177’ of water. A limit of haddock is a cinch as is catching tackle-taxing pollock. It seems that the hardest part is steering clear of cod as fish up to 20 pounds apparently aren’t aware that there is a moratorium. Clams just off the bottom usually won’t sit long before engulfed by something. And maybe best of all there are few dogfish! While you’re out there, float some mackerel, whiting or sea herring: Chad just caught a 75” tuna this way.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Mitchell of Saco Bay Tackle said that there have been 30-pound stripers taken as far upstream as the Saco River Dam! Doubtless praying on fall-back herring. Regarding live bait, anglers are still catching mackerel off shoreline jetties, such as Camp Ellis, and finding stripers practically at their feet. The most effective artificials have been RonZs or other “sand eel imitators” which mimic one of the most popular forage species in Southern Maine. Boaters are catching mackerel by the islands off Saco Bay and occasionally getting bitten off, which must be the handiwork of bluefish. The tube-and-worm continues to be one of the most consistent catchers for those fishing close in and by the Saco Bay islands.
Brandy from Webhannet told me of a few flounder that have been caught off Wells and Webhannet in very shallow water! Some were even taken by happenstance while pausing with a tube-and-worm. Stripers up to 39” have been beached off Ogunquit on chunk mackerel. Red tube-and-worms in the York River have resulted in good action on stripers from the upper 20 inch range to the low 30s. Kids have been catching mackerel right off the Webhannet Marine dock! Huge mackerel have attracted football tuna as close as Boone Island! Some are jigging up small rock cod on their Sabiki Rigs and unknowingly keeping a fish they are unfamiliar with. “Resident” cod often adopt a reddish color which is a sharp contrast to their “white-belly” amber-flanked offshore relatives. But a cod is still a cod and all must be returned immediately! Ironically those heading to Jeffrey’s are finding no shortage of “real cod” as they target haddock, pollock, cusk and redfish.
Fishing Forecast
The incoming, cooler tide has been fishing best for bass in Little Bay and the Piscataqua River. Live mackerel make the catching easier as does eels at dark and even in the day. You should be able to find mackerel as close as Hampton Shoals and the 2KR Can in Portsmouth. A Maine option is chunk mackerel off Ogunquit. For some offshore jigging at Jeffreys Ledge has been a “fish per drop” outing with clams on the bottom in about 170’ of water working best. For a groundfish a little closer to the coast, try soaking some sandworms in shallow mudflats in the Wells and Webhannet area where they are excited to be catching winter flounder.
trolling with a Ron Z eel, do you use anything like sandworm, clams or strip bait on the hook, or just troll the eel…????
Hi Herokat, usually a Ron Z or other jighead/stick bait combo is cast and retrieved near structure rather than trolled. But I suppose under the right circumstances it would work. I knew of a surf sharpie who used to cast and retrieve a Berkley Power Worm tipped with sandworm and did remarkably well off beaches. A friend of mine used to fish a “worm and worm” three-way rig, again with a Berkley Power worm and sandworm and drift over structure and caught also! The soft plastic/sandworm combo is often a winner.