Old Orchard Beach, ME Fishing: Charters & Surf Access

The Charter Boats: Marketed as OOB, Docked in Saco's Camp Ellis

HatTrick Sport Fishing Charters & Tours is run by Captain Bo Apt, a USCG-licensed captain and Registered Maine Guide, aboard a 24-foot Aqua Sport with a 2019 200-horsepower Yamaha. Per the operator's own site (hattrickfishingcharters.com), HatTrick is based in Saco and fishes Saco Bay and the Saco River, offering a 4-hour inshore trip for striped bass, bluefish, and mackerel, a 2-hour children's trip built around mackerel fishing and a scenic cruise, and a 2-hour lobster-trap-hauling and scenic-cruise option. Tackle and bait are supplied and no fishing license is needed for charter passengers (see the registry exemption below); a deposit is required with a 7-day cancellation policy. The site does not publish current trip pricing, so call (207) 935-3019 to confirm 2026 rates directly.

Rippin' Lips Charters is captained by Jim Bollinger aboard Rippin Lips, a 23-foot Black Lab Marine center console. Per the operator's own site (rippinlipscharters.com), the boat departs from Camp Ellis Pier at 5 Bay Ave in Saco, roughly 3 miles south of downtown OOB, not from an Old Orchard Beach dock. Published 2026 rates: a 4-hour inshore charter for stripers, bluefish, and mackerel runs $525 total for up to 3 anglers, and the “Fish Lips” kids' trip runs 2 hours at $325 for a base group of up to 4 (a 5th angler adds $25). A deposit secures the booking, and the site's cancellation policy forfeits payment inside 10 days if the date can't be resold; call (207) 229-3845 for current availability.

A search of the charter-aggregator FishingBooker's Old Orchard Beach listings (fetched for this page, Summer 2026 season) turns up a longer list of boats sold under the OOB search radius, including Miss Madison Charter Service, Keeper Charters, Two Tides Guide Services, Eagle's Rock Tackle & Charter, GQ Charters, and several others, with quoted trip prices ranging roughly $300 to $850 depending on boat size and party count. Nearly all of these list home ports in Biddeford, Saco, or nearby towns rather than OOB itself, consistent with the pattern set by HatTrick and Rippin' Lips. Treat these as real leads worth a direct call rather than independently verified options, since this page did not confirm captain names, boats, or current rates for them beyond the aggregator listing.

Surf Fishing OOB's Own Beach, and the Town's Fishing Ordinance

Shore fishing directly off OOB's own sand is a genuine option, and it's the one piece of fishing access that actually belongs to the town rather than to Saco. Maine's Department of Marine Resources names OOB specifically in its own Kittery-to-Cape-Elizabeth recreational angler's guide, describing shore fishing along the Ocean Park section, “Old Orchard Beach proper,” and Surfside Beach, while noting that seasonal restrictions apply to both parking and angler access. The DMR guide also points to Camp Ellis Pier's boat ramp in Saco, just south, as a shore-access spot with dock, beach, and jetty fishing, plus Ferry Beach nearby for open-beach casting; both of those are in Saco, not OOB, so treat them as a short drive rather than an OOB amenity.

OOB also has its own beach-fishing rule worth knowing before you cast a line. Per Saco Bay News' 2021 coverage, the Town Council formalized OOB's first permanent beach-fishing ordinance that year after decades of informal, never-finalized attempts dating to the 1960s, prompted by a resident complaint to the police chief about someone fishing on the beach. The ordinance restricts fishing on OOB's beaches from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day, unless a public-safety representative designated by the police or fire chief determines fishing won't pose a hazard to other beachgoers, with that permission allowed on slow, cold, or otherwise lightly used beach days and revocable at the officials' discretion. Practically, that means early-morning, evening, and off-season surfcasting is the more reliable bet during the summer crowds; anyone planning a mid-day peak-season session should check with OOB's police department first rather than assume open access. This page did not find species-specific size and bag limits for striper, bluefish, or other surf-caught species particular to this stretch of Saco Bay, so confirm current rules directly at maine.gov/dmr before you fish.

Maine's License Rule: A Registry, Not a Traditional License

Maine does not sell a traditional paid saltwater fishing license the way many states do. Per the Maine Department of Marine Resources' own site, anyone fishing recreational saltwater in Maine, including from OOB's beach or aboard a Saco-based charter, must register annually through the state's Saltwater Recreational Fishing Registry: $1 online through the DMR's LEEDS system or in person at a DMR licensing office, or $2 through an Inland Fisheries & Wildlife license agent. Confirmed exemptions include anglers under 16, holders of a current Maine freshwater fishing license, Maine residents fishing only on Memorial Day, July 4th, or Labor Day weekend, members of specified Maine tribal nations, and, notably for charter customers, passengers aboard a vessel captained by someone holding a valid For-Hire Charter Boat Operator's License, since the boat's own license covers paying passengers. Anglers already registered for saltwater fishing in another state or the National Saltwater Angler Registry are also exempt. As with any state fishing rule, species-by-species keeper sizes, bag limits, and open seasons change year to year and are set by Maine DMR, not by this page, so check maine.gov/dmr directly for the current season before you fish.