Portland, ME

Smallmouth Bass

Micropterus dolomieu

Pound for pound the hardest-fighting freshwater fish in the Northwest. Smallmouth live on rock and eat crawfish imitations year-round.

Brook Trout

Salvelinus fontinalis

A beautifully marked char native to eastern North America, at home in cold creeks, beaver ponds and backcountry lakes. Brook trout are willing biters on small spinners, worms and dry flies, and a favourite of beginners.

Striped Bass

Morone saxatilis

A powerful migratory bass shared by both coasts — Atlantic beaches and rivers, and San Francisco Bay and Delta on the Pacific side. Stripers school on baitfish, feed hard at night and in current, and hit plugs, swimbaits and bait alike.

Haddock

Melanogrammus aeglefinus

New England's beloved codfish — a schooling bottom fish of Georges Bank gravel, marked by its black thumbprint and first-class white flesh.

Atlantic Cod

Gadus morhua

The fish that built the North Atlantic — cod still stack on the banks and wrecks from Newfoundland to the Gulf of Maine, taking jigs and bait fished right on the bottom.

Pollock

Pollachius virens

The cod's faster cousin — pollock school over the same North Atlantic wrecks and ledges but fight harder and feed up in the water, a favourite on Gulf of Maine party boats.

Landlocked Atlantic Salmon

Salmo salar (landlocked form)

The Atlantic salmon that stayed home — landlocked salmon cruise the smelt schools of Maine, Quebec and Newfoundland lakes, named and managed as their own fishery, distinct from their sea-run cousins.

Atlantic Mackerel

Scomber scombrus

The silver staple of Atlantic piers — Atlantic mackerel arrive in huge spring and summer schools from Newfoundland to New York and hit small feathers and sabiki rigs as fast as you can drop them. A perfect first saltwater fish and prime bait besides.

Winter Flounder

Pseudopleuronectes americanus

The cold-water flatfish of northeast harbours — winter flounder slide into shallow bays in late winter and spring and pick tiny baits off the mud with the softest of bites. Patience, small hooks and fresh worms are the whole game.