FIshing Reports from The Tackle Shop

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We will be having a Christmas gift certificate special again..

When you buy a gift certificate of 25.00 or more you get an extra $5.00 gift certifiacte to put with it…

Christmas hours will be

Mon-Sat 9:00am-5:00pm

Closed on Sunday

Hours will Change on Dec 12 to….

Mon-Fri 9:00am-6:00pm

Sat-Sun 9:00am-5:00pm

Not much change in the fishing if anything it seems like the fall run has got a bit of an early boost. Teach even went down to Ferry Beach during the storm and caught some fish!! Got reports from another unspecified nearby beach on Tuesday over 20 fish in the am and this morning on my way to work I watched a good size school of bait being crashed off the bar at Mackworth and at the mouth of Back Cove.. So Irene didn’t do any harm to the fishing it has changed a few of the sand bars around a little so be aware of that as you wade out or pull in a bit to fast in the boat..

Fishing still remains good.. Seems like fish have been very active this week so far and should be very active right through September at this point. Night time fishing has still been the most productive with 7.5 to 9″ Slug-gos, Yellow Baby Striper Bombers,5 and 7″ Black Mambos all catching fish in good numbers. During the day live mackerel and pollack have been the top producers but we have been seeing a shift to lures this week 5″ Mambos, and SXR10 Rapalas they seem to match up with the big schools of spike macks,herring and what looks like peanut bunker showing up in the harbor.  No spot has realy been better than any other Higgins,Ferry, Pine Point, and Kettle Cove have all had some great beach fishing this week 30+ fish nights and some big 43″ and bigger fish all on lures.. Places like Mackworth Island, Mussle Cove and the rest of the inside of Casco Bay have been consistent but not as fast as the beaches…..yet… they will though….

      Some good size schools of bluefish have been poking around the last week they don’t seem to spend a lot of thime in one spot but they are around and most likely the fishing for them will get better before it gets worse. Some spots that they have been frequenting lately are Higgins Beach, Richmond Island, Two Lights, Portland Headlight and Halfway Rock. Plenty of reports of People getting bit off and being left with half a mackerel all over Casco and Saco Bays so keep your leaders near by..

Sorry its been so long since last post… Fishing  has been great for the last 2 months and finding fish hasn’t been a problem for most people. Now that we are getting into the dog days of summer and herring have moved out of the rivers for the most part its time to change fishing strategies. First is if you are going to fish during the daylight hours bait and more importantly live bait is key. Lots of mackerel and pollack around so catching them trolling a sabiki with a big spoon on the end shouldn’t be a issue. Cast bait up into cover near rocks ,sandbars, jetty’s etc bass are there and will find them. Best fishing is when the sun is low or not out at all. At night three lures are catching the majority of the fish 5″ black Mambo, Bomber A-Salt yellow baby striper, and black 7 1/2 inch Slug-Go. fish them slow and across current dropping tides have been best and on those days that it reaches the 90’s the fishing has been on fire 30 fish nights all size ranges.. Best bait at night has been mackerel sand and blood worms. Fish have been a bit finicky on flies especially in the daytime, but fishing black flies at night has produced for the die-hards who can chuck a fly at night.

     Some bluefish have been sticking their noses around Richmond Island and Prouts Neck, They tend to be here and there and gone the next minute. Trolling CD-18 Rapalas will find the deeper fish and if you get out in the early am you can find small pods of spooky blues cruising near the surface..DON’T drop your fly or lure on their heads or they ‘ll be long gone.

     The freshwater fishing as it usually does this time of year has gone to the bass…. which isn’t bad news unless you are a die hard trout fisherman. If you want to catch large mouth this time of year as with stripers early, late and at night and cover if your out in the may time. Jitterbugs, Black Slug-Go, and Yum Dingers are my favorites at night. Frog imitations like the new Dahlberg Frog and Crayfish like the Z-man craw are my best producers, just remember one color craw will not always work they change throughout the summer from pond to pond so mix it up a bit.  This is my favorite time a year to catch big small mouth I always do well in late July and August with 4.5″ Dingers in Green Pumpkin Chartreuse, Carolina Pumpkin Chartreuse wacky worm rigged and if i can find a place with some current small Chug Bugs and Badonk-a-Donks are favorites also.

  Good Luck!

Stripers are in all rivers and bays at this point even some fish taken out on the ledges. Fish size are ranging from 18-44″ so far. In the rivers fish are keyed in on alewives and the start of the herring run so big baits like 9″ slug-gos, 7″ mambos and big jigs. Out on the beach fronts fish are keyed in on sand eels and a huge bio mass of smaller slug of small herring so smaller jigs, 4 1/2 to 6″ slug gos, storm shad and 5″ mambos have all been repeat sellers this week.

Mackeral have also made their first appearance’s inside Casco Bay. The State Pier had big schools of busting macks this am…

  Get out and catch em!!!!

SUMMER HOURS

MONDAY-SAT 7:00AM-6:00PM

SUNDAY  7:00AM-5:00PM

Lots of stripers have moved into Portland area… Most of the fish are small slot sized fish and are being caught on everything… bait, worms and flies you name it! Some bigger 30+ inch fish are being taken out of the Saco so those fish will be at Higgins, The Marsh, and the Presumpscot within days… No big schools of Mackerel inside harbor yet but they should start to move in in a week or so. A dozen or so shad have been caught in the Presumpscot which is a great news for a recovering population of fish!

       Freshwater fishing is still off the hook lots of trout in rivers and bass are staging to spawn in most ponds.

Get out and go fishing (or come watch the store for me so I can go!!!!!)

   Good Luck!

     A few stripers have been taken in he Saco river this week along with some shad. Stripers were taken on shad darts, bucktails and Super Flukes. Shat were all on darts. Expect the striper fishing to pick up in the Portland area this coming week. I intend to hit a the Presumpscot this week a few times and I’ll keep you updated.. My favorite lure for the early season is a Salt Shaker in white or ice shad on a 1/4 or 3/8 head fished low and slow!!!!!! If you are not losing a few on bottom you’re not fishing them right…

      The smelt run in So.Maine has tailed off a bit but the salmon and togue fishing is still been good. Big marabou flies like the Montreal Whore and Black Ghost Marabou have been good producers. All the local rivers have been stocked well by the state and fishing good. Piscataqua River. Presumpscot River, Nonsuch River, Little River, Pleasant River, Mill and Collyer Brooks just to name a few. I have seen pics of fish from most of these rivers. Nymphing is working best as of now but when the sun hits the water some good hatches have come off..

        I bass is your pursuit the fishing has been just ok. The water is still a bit chilly to get their metabolism and aggression up. Dark bottoms and sunny banks where the fish can absorb the daily time warmth have been the best spots. CD rapalas and power slugs caught us a few fish the other eve. Slow rolling spinner baits and dragging crank baits across rocky bottoms will do well in the spring of the year as well..

   Get out and make a fishing report.. Can’t catch em on the couch!!!!   Good Luck!