Coastal New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report- May 25, 2023
Stripers are everywhere with migrating bass continuing to filter in, and groundfishing remains great as well with a dizzying variety of willing species cooperating.
Stripers are everywhere with migrating bass continuing to filter in, and groundfishing remains great as well with a dizzying variety of willing species cooperating.
Sea bass season is off to a great start with big scup in the mix, 30-pound stripers pass through the Canal and flood Cape Cod Bay, and bluefish arrive en masse around Upper Cape.
Mackerel and squid are attracting hungry bluefish and migrating stripers.
Big bluefish chase bunker in the Western Sound, porgies pave the bottom to the east, and 30-inch stripers crush topwater plugs around the river mouths.
Black sea bass season starts strong, big bluefish mix in with stripers on bunker schools, and some keeper fluke trickle into local waters.
Big bluefish still dominate the bays and are showing up in the surf, bottom fishing is productive for scup and kingfish, and larger fluke show up off the east end.
While smallmouth and pike have been feeding well, brown trout has been the fish of choice the week and kings have been more spread out and harder to find.
The black sea bass bite has been hot, weakfish and fluke bite well in the back bays, and stripers and bluefish hit poppers and minnow plugs around the inlets.
Bluefish follow bunker schools into the Western Sound, North Shore fluke fishing improves, and striped bass fishing remains reliable in the back bays on both shores.
Forty pound stripers follow bunker schools out front, fluke fishing continues to improve in the bays and rivers, and sea bass fishing has been fantastic.