Here at Captain Joe's Cruises we don't market ourselves as a fishing charter. We're here for an easy cruise of the Saco River, and there are a lot of great guys on the river who can take you off-shore looking for tuna or ground fish such as haddock and cod. But we're not against some light tackle fishing in the Saco River! Many of our clients are taking kids out for their first fishing trip, or just want to drop a line in the water to see what happens.
This has been an interesting year for striper fishing. Last year at this time you could just about guarantee to get into a school of 14"-18" stripers (schoolies) on the river regardless of the time or tide. This year they seem to be a little more particular - already preferring evening or early morning - a behavior we normally don't start seeing until July. I haven't noticed any difference due to tide...yet. On the plus side, the fish have been larger on average, but no keepers (28"+) for our charters so far.
So if you're hoping to land a couple of fish on your trip, we'd suggest going for an evening cruise. If you really want an early morning, give us a call or send an email and we'll see what we can set up!