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With sizeable striped bass keyed in on Mackerel, and bottom fishing for Haddock on fire, summer fishing doldrums still seem far away in northern New England. Striped bass to 45-inches have been reported in Maine, while bottom fishing excursions to deep water are finding an array of haddock and pollock. Meanwhile, offshore-oriented anglers are now pursuing their first tuna of the 2024 season.
Based out of Newington NH, Captain Andy from Adventure and Catch Charters was on the way to tuna grounds at Stellwagen Bank when contacted for this week’s report. Capt. Andy had heard positive reports of tuna at Stellwagen, and was on his way to target the offshore Thunnus species this afternoon.
Earlier this week, Captain Andy said that he and his customers had found haddock willing to bite at Jeffreys ledge in approximately 225’ of water. Squid were the bait of choice for hungry haddock, as well as pollock from 25 to 30-inches. Unfortunately, dogfish, a less-desirable by-catch, have moved in and mixed in alongside the haddock and pollock this week.
Inshore, Captain Andy also mentioned that mackerel were the primary forage for striped bass in the Piscataqua River; he caught schoolie and slot-sized fish chasing live mackerel in the past week. Although he was using live bait, not artificials, any stripers on sustained surface feeds of Mackerel would undoubtedly be susceptible to a broad array of topwater plugs and swimming lures for anglers who prefer tossing artificials.
Crossing over into Maine, more fish on mackerel were reported at the mouth of the Saco river, according to Brandy at Webhannet Bait and Tackle/Boatyard. Pogies are also present in this area, and boat anglers are targeting fish holding here on the tube & worm, with bass caught up to 45-inches!
Surf anglers are also able to join in on the action all around Southern Maine. Brandy mentioned she had found fish from the surf in the Wells Harbor area, catching on small, white topwaters, soft plastic paddletails, and straight-tailed soft baits such as the ever-popular Lunker City Sluggo®. She had heard of fish up to 38-inches being caught in the surf in the past week! The abundance of a broad array of bait in this area should make blitzing striped bass a very viable target for shore-bound surf and boat-based anglers alike.
On the groundfishing front, Brandy’s report mirrored that of Captain Paul Hood of Touch of Gray Fishing Charters. Captain Paul has found haddock to 25-inches from 180 to 215-feet of water on Jefferies ledge. The current calmer conditions have allowed his clients to reach these fish with sea clams and soft artificials weighed down with only 16 ounces of lead.
In the coming week, inshore anglers should be able to have their fill of striped bass fishing, no matter if they are hiking the shoreline, or chasing blitzing fish from boats. Plentiful pogies and mackerel, especially around the mouth of the Saco river, should keep schoolie, slot, and over-slot sized bass occupied for the time being.
Ground fishermen inclined to venture further out in search of table fare will be able to quickly fill limits of haddock and pollock from 180 to 225’ of water on sea clams and squid. With rising water temperatures, increasingly abundant dogfish are the only adversity groundfishing anglers must contend with.
For offshore anglers, tuna are now an option. Confirmed reports from Stellwagen should keep those targeting tuna satisfied during these earliest stages of the season.
As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.
“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.
“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”
Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.
“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.
He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”
Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.
For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.
“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”
Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.
CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”
Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.
29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.
“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.
While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.
“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,
“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.
“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.
Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.
“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.
Local News
A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway.
Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski.
The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said.
The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police.
He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said.
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