Seacoast New Hampshire Sportfishing » Fishing Reports

Aug 29 After the storm – wide open bluefish bite

Capt Bob — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:08:45 +0000

After “weathering” a solid three day Noreaster and its aftermath, it was an open question what we’d find. After hitting a few spots in rapid succession, dropping in prime spike mackerel, we were getting a bit concerned. Enroute to another spot, birds were working in 50′ of water. As the morning wore on the surface action increased, allowing us to pick up several on light spinning gear in addition to our trolling tally. What a fight! And to those of you who say bluefish aren’t good eating – give me a call…

I expect this influx of blues to scatter the mackerel, leading us into our fall eeling. If past seasons suggest anything, big fish await.

I’m pretty heavily booked, but happy to refer you to a trusted colleague should our schedules not mesh.

School’s starting, summer’s winding down, sooooo…

C’mon down.

Capt Bob

Aug 22 Thar she blows, and blows…

Capt Bob — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:13:58 +0000

Back from a much needed and appreciated “off the grid” family vacation upstate with friends. We enjoyed several friends & family outings coastwise as well.

Upon re-entry, here comes the current multi-day blow that we’d call a Noreaster if it weren’t summertime. I shudder to think about my lobster gear!

Just prior to the blow, we had spike mackerel readily available, water temps back to 64 degrees, and the first substantial showing of bluefish mixing in.

My gut says we are now entering the fall cycle of mackerel till dark, then productive eel fishing. Will test this theory as soon as mother nature allows.

Until then….

My Best,

Capt Bob

Aug 8 New week, old story – and that’s not all bad…

Capt Bob — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:10:33 +0000

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the pattern has been consistent in recent weeks: nice results on days with warmer water temps, hard work on post frontal days when the water temps have dropped as much as ten degrees in a matter of hours. We’ve landed keeper fish on all trips, but yearn for a string of becalmed days to resume tearing ‘em up!

We’ve been able to obtain mackerel bait fairly consistently, and also some herring from this fledgling cast netter. I need a client from the Keys to really show me how that’s done! I expect the eel bite to develop here as we move towards Sept.

Taking a family vacation soon, so I’ll post again when circumstances permit.

My Best,

Capt Bob

Aug 1 More of the same…

Capt Bob — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:28:19 +0000

As reported last week, we are enjoying good action when the winds keep the warm surface water shoreside. When the westerlies blow….well let’s just say fishing can be work at times. We have scraped out a showing even under those conditions, but the REAL fun is taking a well of mini macks shoreside when the water temp is in the mid sixties. Check those drag settings!

School will be in session all too soon, and work is always demanding, so….

C’mon down!

My Best,

Capt. Bob

July 25 – West is NOT best…

Capt Bob — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:51:22 +0000

We fished this week through a consistent pattern: avoid the times immediately after a hard westerly blow, wherein the coastal water temps dropped a lockjaw 7 degrees in a matter of hours on several occasions. In between, we continue to see consistent action. On those westerly days – tough fishing but Guarantees fulfilled nonetheless…

I had the please of hosting a regular client, and his Mom. While raising one of my more photogenic clients, she had tried mightily to catch a striped bass, to no avail. After adjusting to the “no set” circle hook set, she proceeded to land the nights’ two largest fish, along with a “lesser” or two. Did it help that she was allowed to use the son’s sacred orange balloon color?

I’m now carrying a kite and tuna sticks on most trips, in order to allow us to pursue a combo when conditions allow. I’ve also started using a cast net to snooker a few baby herring dockside, as they seem to be striper candy when fished deadstick.

Next week is August, and this has been a fun season so far.

What are you waiting for? C’mon down….

Capt. Bob

July 18 Thar she blows…

Capt Bob — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:19:21 +0000

We’ve had pretty consistent weather this week, and with it a nice combo of access to tinker mackerel and hungry stripers. It’s made for a fun series of twilight trips, some with eeling blended in on the tail end. Things changed abruptly Friday nite, with a two day blow that dropped the water temps 8 degrees and made all concerned cranky. We worked hard yesterday to scratch out action, and are pleased to see the wind turn in our favor once again. My $.25 says we’ll be back in the game momentarily.

Best,

Capt. Bob

July 11 Surf’s up, macks are back, stripers steady

Capt Bob — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:18:05 +0000

I’m happy to report the tinker mackerel have re-appeared inshore, providing us our desired daytime bait. Fishing has been pretty steady, with a number of 30″ plus fish on most trips along with schoolies. This weekend’s frontal passage brought welcome relief from the heat, but also a big swell. We were surfing out there today, but managed to pull fish from each of the areas we could get close to. The coming days should see a moderation of that, and coupled with nice evening tides the prospect of some fun fishing.

C’mon down….

Capt. Bob

July 5 – Steady…

Capt Bob — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:30:34 +0000

We continue to enjoy large numbers of schoolie fish, with the occasional biggie mixed in. Mackerel have become harder to get in recent days, but we’ve substituted pollock with no loss in action. The week ahead promises consistent weather, which should help us continue our string.

I’m fairly well booked, but happy to assist with finding a colleague should we not have a slot at your preferred date.

My Best….

Capt. Bob

June 26 – a knife at a gunfight…

Capt Bob — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:46:29 +0000

Trophy season has officially begun….

While happily plinking away on schoolies yesterday, we doubled up on two truly large fish. One was broken off on an initial screaming run, while the other took us down to the reel arbor knot as I was frantically pulling anchor to chase. Chase we did, and after a great fight on a totally outgunned Shimano light spinning outfit we had a 47″, 41 lb fish aboard for an elated 17 year old. His cousin landed another keeper a short while later, and all mackerel were claimed by bass in short order. What a day….

We did have a slow trip recently, but in general we are enjoying pretty consistent action using live mackerel on light gear. Sometimes too light gear!

Summer’s here, and right now the catchin’ is easy. So……

C’mon Down.

Capt. Bob

June 20 – on a weather dependent roll…

Capt Bob — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:03:48 +0000

We continue to enjoy good action with mostly schoolie fish, but are starting to see the trophy size ones. I say see, because as these latest pics attest they are one heck of a fight in shallow water!

We’ll continue to feature evening or first light trips to capitalize on the strong mackerel presence. The topwater strikes are a real thrill, so…..

C’mon down!

Capt. Bob