Striper season on the Maine coast has shifted gears, but there’s still life in the salt for anyone willing to bundle up and fish smart. This is Artificial Lure with your Atlantic-side Maine fishing report.
Tides along the southwest Maine coast are running big today, with a morning high just before late morning and a deep low midafternoon, giving you plenty of moving water on the outgoing. The sun is riding low this time of year, with first light around 7 a.m. and dark settling in just after 4, so the prime windows are short and centered on dawn and that last hour of light. Weather-wise, expect wintery chill, northwest to west breeze on the exposed coast, and much calmer conditions once you tuck into the rivers and protected bays.
Out in the open Gulf of Maine, most of the action has slid to deeper structure: party and charter boats are working offshore ledges for haddock, pollock, redfish and some cusk, picking away whenever the seas let them out. Inshore, the classic surf bite is quiet, but a few diehards are still finding holdover stripers in the lower Saco and Kennebec systems, especially on the warmest tides of the day. Think slow, subtle presentations; these fish are more about an easy meal than a chase.
As for what’s been coming over the rail lately: offshore headboats have reported steady mixed bags of pollock and redfish, with enough keeper haddock to make the ride worth it. Inshore, reports of striped bass are scattered but real, mainly schoolies with an occasional better fish holding around deeper winter holes and bridge abutments. If you’re targeting cod or haddock on the deeper wrecks and hard bottom, rigs sweetened with clams, squid strips, or cut herring remain the standard.
Lure-wise, keep it small and slow. For holdover stripers in the rivers, 4–5 inch soft-plastic paddletails on light jig heads, small bucktail jigs tipped with pork or soft plastic, and slim suspending jerkbaits in natural bunker or smelt colors are getting the nod. For groundfish offshore, heavy Norwegian-style jigs or diamond jigs with a teaser fly above, worked close to bottom, are tough to beat. If you’re soaking bait from shore, fresh or well-frozen clam, mackerel, or squid on simple fish-finder rigs will outproduce fancy hardware most days in this cold water.
Couple of local hot spots to circle:
- The mouth of the Saco River out to Biddeford Pool, focusing on deeper channels and current seams on the dropping tide for holdover stripers.
- The ledges off Cape Elizabeth and down toward Wood Island, where winter headboats traditionally pick at pollock, haddock, and redfish when seas cooperate.
That’s the word from the Atlantic edge of Maine—cold, quiet, but far from done if you play the tides, dress warm, and fish slow. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
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