If you’ve been pounding the same rivers which were productive a week or two and finding them barren, there’s no need to panic. With waning herring runs the fish have just moved off to nearby beaches and the dawn to dusk anglers catching them there couldn’t be happier!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Chad from Dover Marine said that just south of the shop was the hottest and (as usual) it all comes down to the bait! Mackerel can more easily found by anglers beginning just east of the mouth of the Hampton River and poking around by Hampton Shoal Ledge. Once the bait is acquired the fishing is easy. In addition to the harbors, as typical of late June stripers are transitioning over to wandering beach fronts such as Wallis Sands Beach and chunkers fishing mackerel from dusk to dawn are getting into 30” plus stripers! With herring runs drying up there is nothing “great” about Great Bay at the moment, making Little Bay and the mighty Piscatagua River a much better bet! Zach from Suds ‘n Soda said that anglers are going to extraordinary lengths to procure mackerel because in the Piscatagua River they are potent stuff! Early risers by the 2KR Buoy are doing best. An effective, albeit not quite as good as the mackerel, are harbor pollock which swarm near most any rockpile, kelp forest, bubbleweed grove or ledge past the mouth of the river. Increasingly anglers are finding larger “fun” pollock in the 16” to 20” size which are a blast to catch on their own and make great fish cakes or fish chowder. This bigger inshore pollock phenomenon is also occurring in the North Shore of the Bay State. While readying his new boat for more of Tim’s “excellent adventures”, Tim Moore of TimMooreOutdoors has been fishing less but nevertheless still catching. A recent kayak outing with a charter yielded steady smallies from Squam Lake. The fish are predictable now as they cruise the shadowy shoreline in the morning and venture out to the nearest drop-offs as the sun rises. Regardless of where they are they can’t resist the Daddy Mac Tim Moore Whisperer jerk bait.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
The bad news as given to me from Thomas of Saco Bay Tackle is that the Saco River is no longer hot-as-a-pistol for bigger bass as the river herring runs run out of steam. The good news is that those fish have just shifted over to nearby beaches. Chunkers and eel launchers a few hours either way of dawn and dusk are catching nice fish of over 40”! The key is cooking current, when slack you might as well eat a sandwich since the stripers will not be eating. Hot beaches are Biddeford Pool, Camp Ellis, Hills Beach and Higgins Beach. The hot lure for artificial aficionados is the Fishin’ Magician Skid Stick, which is a versatile top water which acts like a spook/popper hybrid and puts a spell on those stripers. Rumbling rumors of blues in Saco Bay were confirmed today when a batch was dropped into the shop and some were duly mauled by toothies! It might be time to troll around the islands with an X Rap or Rapala CD18 to see if there are jumbo blues in the mix.
Brandy and Scott from Webhannet apparently took a bit of a “busman’s holiday” over the weekend and actually caught rather than just reported on stripers! Brandy found cooperative schoolies just off her dock on sandworms while Scott took a 32” at the mouth of the river. Far bigger bass are being caught by those fishing the “right way” – at night! The beaches have been best for better fish with squid the preferred bait. When asked where, Brandy gave York Beach a big “yes”! Long Sand Beach in particular. An interesting quarry many are catching are pollock up to 20” at the mouth of Wells Harbor and by Kennebunkport. The Marginal Way area has been especially productive for pollock.
Fishing Forecast
If your preferred method for catching striped bass is off a beach than your time is at hand! Boaters should rise early and start probing east of the Hampton River jetty to see if they can pick up a few mackerel! Trolling by the jetty or Wallis Sands Beach should pay off. In Maine Long Beach, Biddeford Pool and Higgins Beach are all good choices for soaking squid or chunk mackerel. Just make sure you’re set up before or after the sun shines and that the tide is moving!
I see Tim Moore’s name mentioned more and more…nice guy seems to know his stuff…..fished with him the first time in February for whites in Winni and had an ok day..however, the big surprise came at the end of the trip back on shore when I said something about his dressing of the fish…….I was told that he didn’T clean fish, and that was my job…..WOW!!!! REALLY???
I have been fortunate enough during my 71 years to have had many fine fishing adventures around the world and NEVER have I ever had a guide tell me that he didn’T clean the catch.
Very strange…either he does’that know how or he doesn’T want to get his hands dirty……VERY WEIRD!!!
Tom, You clearly have never been on another guided ice fishing trip in NH. Cleaning fish for clients on the ice just isn’t feasible. There are no “cleaning houses” as there are in the Midwest, and it’s illegal to leave fish racks on the shore of any water body.
Of the 115 clients we guided last winter, you’re the only one to complain about us not cleaning their fish. Sorry to hear that having to clean your own fish was a deal breaker.
You want to keep fish. Learn how to clean it. If cleaning fish is not described in what the guided trip offers than it should not be a surprise to you. Putting you on fish is the name of the game, Tom, and that’s what you paid him for. Maybe you should have asked that question first hand before you paid??
I don’t know if Tim pays for sponsorship on this article or what. He is mentioned several times due to the fact that Suds and Soda is about the only bait shop that is large enough to even offer fishing reports.
Tim’s base is Suds and Soda, the place most likely pays to be mentioned. So there you have it. As far as not cleaning the fish, that is a new one for me. Usually the guide takes care of that.
I’m not based out of Suds N Soda, and we don’t pay (or get paid) to be included in the report. It’s an honor to be chosen as a contributor.
Thank you for clearing those things up. I honestly was unsure about how on the water did their business. Guiding must not be an easy gig and after reading my post again, it did not dawn on me about the fish carcasses. I clean and remove the stuff myself and understand what a PIA it is to get rid of them on non dump days.
I have subscribed to the magazine on and off for several years as well as watch the shows. Good to see these are not paid advertisements .
Caught a shad in the Pisqataqua last week. Have obviously caught them in the Merrimack before and it stands to reason the Pisqataqua would have a run but was certainly surprised when it hit a small plastic I was tossing to schoolies. And yes, I can tell the difference between a shad and a bluefish – which I had my first encounter of the season with today in the same area.
Hmmm, spell check doesn’t get the proper spelling of my home water. You get the point.