Coastal New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report- July 27, 2023

It’s pollock pandemonium out there as anglers target those tackle-testers and say, “Meh, who needs haddock?”. For steady striper action anglers doing best have been steering clear of the freshwater mess ushered along by rivers swollen by incessant rains and looking for cleaner water. 

New Hampshire 

Captain Andy from Adventure and Catch Charters has been making good use of ice. While most of it has gone towards keeping an impressive catch of pollock cool, some has gone towards icing down sore muscles from hours of filleting! The bite has been blistering at The Narrows section of Southern Jeffrey’s Ledge with the fish – up to 40” –  all being taken on jigs in 175’ of water! Just maybe best of all is that the dogs can’t keep up with the jigs.

Bluefish have pushed mackerel from the Isles of Shoals and Boone Island. The loss of macks has not been bemoaned by anglers hooking up to those choppers. The skipper has been taking part in the Mission 22 campaign which treats veterans suffering from the pangs of combat to a day on the water. What was telling about these heroes was that even though they were not experienced fishers, they were quick studies in the angling nuances taught by the captain. The crew had 4 tuna runs but none were landed that day. As for stripers in the Piscataqua River they are keying in on small bait – possibly peanut bunker – making them susceptible to bucktail jigs, shad baits and casting spoons.   According to Captain Bob from Seacoast NH Sportfishing the weekend’s severe storm and heavy rain tamped down both inshore striped bass and bluefin action. Mackerel became hard to get with the heavy dose of fresh water. Bass also seemed put off by the change. Action remains slow, but the changing wind direction will cool off the water and may reset things. Bluefish are abundant both along the shore and in deeper water. Pre-storm tuna fishing had been good with smaller fish pushing mackerel up towards the surface. Action had been scattered since then but expected to reassemble between the Isles of Shoals and Jeffrey’s Ledge.  

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain in New Hampshire!

Southern Maine 

Captain Paul Hood from Touch of Gray Charters has been seeing a bump in groundfishing numbers, especially in the pollock category. Platt’s has been his primary playground with haddock showing up in better numbers as well. He’s also seeing plenty of tuna busting on bait out there. The word from the Curl/Fingers section on Southern Jeffrey’s is that big cusk, haddock and pollock are all possibilities. Brandy from Webhannet River Bait and Tackle told me that anglers looking for stripers/mackerel are doing best by keeping clear of rivers/embayments and sticking to areas ocean-swept and cleaner!

Cape Porpoise, Cape Neddick and Perkins Cove were a few that came to mind. The shop is selling a lot of steel leaders which leads to the conclusion that there are blues around.  Regardless, do not discount inshore areas as evidenced by Brandy and her husband Scott trolling up Saco River stripers recently on a tube-and-worm. Anglers looking for mackerel are increasingly jigging up black sea bass. As for groundfish, Tantas which is only about 12 miles from shore, has been giving up plenty of pollock, a few haddock and a few hake!  

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain in Maine!

Fishing Forecast

Small bait in the Piscataqua River are drawing the interest of stripers making small shads and other offerings a better choice than even mackerel. Regarding mackerel, blues have moved onto the Isles of Shoals as well as Boone Island pushing the macks northward and offshore and necessitating steel leaders from anglers. Offshore pollock have been pleasing the patrons of charter captains with spots as close as Tantas Ledge delivering the goods!