Popular fish caught around Eastport

And not all of it’s meant for human consumption. Some of it’s used for bait, usually for lobsters.

1. Along the coast we have mackerel. It’s a small fish and oily, one that doesn’t keep well, but cooked promptly or smoked for storing, it’s a lot like salmon. For sports fishing here, seems everybody’s catching ‘em, sometimes six on a line. Some folks even trade buckets of them for lobster.
2. Alewife. Migrates from the sea late every spring. Another small fish that needs to be cooked promptly or pickled for canning. Also used as prime lobster bait.
3. Herring. A century ago, these were the basis of Maine’s sardine industry.
4. Smelt. They’re small, often dip-netted, and can be pan fried and eaten whole. Pacific Northwest Natives called them candlefish, for their oil. Around here, they often show up on the line when casting for mackerel.
5. Flounder. The species includes fluke, and they like to hang out around pilings and docks – the kinds of places where many folks fish.
6. Halibut. Now we’re getting to the kinds of fish you might recognize on a restaurant menu or at the grocery.
7. Haddock. Ditto.
8. Turning to freshwater, we have several species of trout.
9. And bass. or perch.
10. Plus landlocked salmon. Migratory salmon are off-limits, however.

Clamming is also big when the tide’s out. Not that they’re actually fish.