Kittery Trading Post
301 US-1 One,
Kittery, ME 03904
888-KTP-MAINE (888-587-6246),
Local: 207-439-2700
https://www.kitterytradingpost.com/
The fishing just continues to improve. Stripers continue to show up in droves. We’ve had reports of fish up to 50 inches caught around Plum Island, and as far north as the Saco River! Bass fishing is lights out right now, as is trout fishing and trolling on salmon and lake trout lakes. Both Sebago and Winnipesaukee had derbies over the past weekend, and both reported great catches. Ground fish reports were slower, only due to windy conditions, but when most boats go, they are catching lots of haddock and pollock.
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago told us that the Sebago Lake Trout Shootout was a success and that the winning fish, a 15.5-pounder, was caught by angler Alex Theriault. “There were a lot of boats out there during the tournament, and we’re hearing of some great lake trout and salmon catches. It’s not a salmon tournament, but one angler caught a 5.75-pound salmon during it. Trolling bait and Flatfish is still the ticket. The winning fish was caught trolling a sewn-on shiner,” he said. Greg says he has been selling a lot of streamer flies and Northeast Troller spoons. He told us of a customer who came in to get some bait and headed off to Hancock Pond in search of brown trout and caught seven.
Dave Garcia at Naples Bait and Tackle in Naples reported cold, windy, and rainy weather, but says they are still catching fish. “I know a lot of people don’t like to hear it, but they’re catching some very nice pike out of Sebago. They’re picking up some pretty decent salmon on Sebago, and they’re getting some nice ones on Thompson as well. Long Lake has been producing some decent browns trolling bait and DB Smelts. Orange seems to be the ticket,” he said.
Zach at Saco Bay Tackle in Saco told us that there are a ton of striped bass in the rivers in his area. “For the past two weeks we’ve had schoolie-sized fish all the way up to 50-inchers coming in. The Nonesuch River has been full of schoolies, and the Saco River is where the big fish have been caught at the moment. Artificials are working well. White 6-inch paddletails are working great and topwater is working well in the blitzes. For bait, it seems that sand worms and blood worms have been best,” he said.
Captain Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark furnished the following report from last Sunday on their website: “The fishing was very good, considering the swells and the few dogfish. The catching was excellent, as good as it gets. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock again, by far. Legal landings also included thirty-one haddock, twenty-six whiting and six mackerel. Released fish included thirty-five dogfish, a pile of short pollock, fifty cod of 5 to 10 pounds, sixteen short cod, thirty sub-legal haddock, a whiting, a couple sculpins a mackerel or two and a halibut lost. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well but jigs and flies had the edge.”
“Max Grimm (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. Josh Luscomb (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with an 11-pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 10-pound cod caught (and released) by Matt Curtiss (NY). Chris Gatehouse (CT) caught the third largest fish, an 8-pound pollock.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Dick Grimm (ME) caught a 7-pound cod. This might have been his biggest fish today. Sean Menge (NJ) landed a 3-pound Maine state trophy whiting. This is our largest whiting of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. Captain Ian took a picture of Sean with his catch. This digital image appears on the right. Chuck Gramness (NJ) landed the hard luck award for being involved in the most tangled lines. With all the pollock today there were a lot of tangled lines.”
Full-time New Hampshire fishing guide Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors reported excellent smallmouth bass fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee. “The smallies are in their spawning patterns. Males are on beds and females have moved off, mostly to drop offs right now. Top water lures, like the Whopper Plopper, are great early on calm mornings. For those post-spawn females, you can’t beat a suspended jerk bait right now, but that will wind down quickly,” he said. Tim says the trolling has been good, but he hadn’t been out since the Winni Derby, which was held over the past weekend. He says landings were very high from what he saw while he was out guiding bass anglers.
Captain Les Eastman at Eastman’s Fleet in Seabrook posted the following report on their website: “Fishing was excellent, two boats caught lots of pollock and haddock, three boats caught mostly haddock. An amazing spring, LMAIII has had only one slow trip and even that was just slow, not terrible. That’s seven weeks, unheard of. We have openings tomorrow and Thursday, F/S/S are sold out. Traditionally, next three weeks are the best fishing of the year.”
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett told us that flounder are king again this week. “We had the Zobo flounder tournament last weekend, and it was record catches. There’s a ton of flounder around this year. The outgoing tide has been the best tide so far,” he said. Pete says there is a “pile of stripers” between the airport and downtown near the seaport. He says flutter spoons are working well, as are tube and worm, Al Gag’s, and umbrella rigs. Pete also says that tube and worm has been very good along the shorelines of Long, George’s, Spectacle, and Deer Islands.
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island reported a ton of stripers around. “The fishing has been good. Low tide at the mouth of the river and in the mouth of the sound have been good. We’re seeing plenty of fish over 20 inches and I’ve heard of some big fish from shore already. Paddletails have ruled,” she said. Martha says the Al Gag’s Whip-It Fish, Savage, and the new Gravity Tackle paddletails have been great. She said that the water was so high during the shad run that there were not a lot of people who caught them this year. She said there were only a few days that she received reports on them.
