Summer never seems to last long enough here in Maine
July 13th 2020
Offshore: Groundfishing has been consistent on the usual nearshore humps, saving us the steam out to Jeffreys. If you can keep baits on the bottom, you will get fish. However, if anglers are inexperienced at bottom fishing or strong tides prevent you from holding bottom, you could be in for a slower trip. Slivers of mackerel have been outfishing both clams and jigs by a wide margin. A little secret: Those ‘old school’ pink rubber shrimp threaded on a hook, then baited with mackerel, are catching the majority of our larger fish.
We are finding nice pockets of 18-21 inch haddock in 220 - 250 feet. The slammer pollock haven't shown up yet in any numbers. However, we have managed to pluck a number of legal redfish and a short halibut (released) on recent trips. The whiting (silver hake) bite is getting better by the day. Find these tasty fish in 250 - 300 feet. The larger whiting move in as the summer progresses - as do the dogfish. We ran into a few dogs the other day, but I’d guess we have at least another week or two until they take over the ledges.
The football tuna that we encountered several times in June and early July seemed to have moved on. We still have an oversized-spinning outfit ready with a big popper just in case. Additionally, the squid bars and Sluggo daisy chains are never more than a reach away. We are marking a few fish on the high ground each trip while targeting groundfish.
Plenty of big porbeagles are still roaming the ledges and we had a curious pup on the surface investigating our float just the other day. On the subject of ‘beagles, here’s something cool: We caught a little pup July 9, 2019 13 miles off Cape Elizabeth, and James Sulikowski and his lab from the University of New England outfitted her with a satellite tag. The tag popped off 28 days later (Aug 7, 2019) outside of Penobscot Bay, and washed up off Gloucester, MA just this past week - almost exactly a year after it was attached. According to Sulikowski’s data, the little shark was found to have made frequent daytime dives to 100m and spent the majority of her nights just below the surface. August is traditionally shark month in Maine and that fishery should be heating up in the coming weeks, so stock up on your chum. We strongly encourage CPR (catch, photograph, release) with the toothy critters!
Inshore: We are finding plenty of stripers around the inside islands, as well as along the Cape and South Portland shoreline. If you can get a mackerel or pogie into the deep holes along the ledges, you can usually pull out a good fish. Live bait continues to outfish chunks. Mackerel have been surprisingly spotty inshore this season. Their usual haunts in the harbor - off Spring Point Light, in front of Portland Head Light, etc. - have been hit or miss. “Loading up” on macs seems more like picking away at singles or doubles with the occasional herring mixed in. However, it’s a different story offshore, where acres of mackerel have been rippling the surface for the past several weeks. There’s still large schools of pogies in the bay with some big bass (and seals) under them. Also, don’t disregard the artificials - pencil poppers and big jointed swimmers can work magic some days (or nights).
Summer never seems to last long enough here in Maine. Get out there and catch ‘em up!
Jonah Paris
First Mate
Teazer Charters
South Portland, ME