Fishing Conditions & Updates for Maine, New Hampshire & Massachusetts
It’s great to hear so many reports of excellent fishing with the weather as warm as it has been. We aren’t hearing of any signs of mid-summer doldrums as of yet. Striped bass fishing remains steady, although warmer waters have fish moving to some different locations in search of cooler water. Lake trout and landlocked salmon reports from Sebago and Winnipesaukee, and other area waters, are still excellent. Bass fishing is going strong, but local stocked trout fishing reports have slowed.
MAINE:
Peter at Saco Bay Tackle in Saco reported a great weekend of striper fishing, including the catch and release tournament they held over the weekend. There were a ton of stripers caught, but the night bite was by far the best. Guys were catching a ton of fish using bait along the shore and quite a few were using topwater and having a blast. There haven’t been a ton of tuna reports with the new regulations and wind. Haddock are out off of Jeffreys Ledge now,” he said.
Captain Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit published the following report over the weekend. “The fishing was very good, only dropping to this level due to the larger number of dogfish in the area fished. It wasn't horrible with dogfish but there were certainly more than the last two days of trips. The catching was very good. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included six pollock and forty cusk. Released fish included about eighty dogfish, six good sized cod, fifteen small cod, ninety-one sub-legal haddock, twelve sub-legal pollock, two halibut and a sculpin or two. Drifting was the method. There was only one jig used today. Bait was best. Cod flies were second best.”
“Shawn Willey (NH) should have won the boat pool with a halibut that weighed around 25 pounds, more or less. It was sub-legal so they didn't want to gaff it and, potentially, kill it. So, they tried to lift it in. The attempt failed, the fish flopped back in the water and quickly swam to bottom. Shawn got the hard luck award t-shirt for his loss. Andrew Mastrorillo (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with largest, briefly, boated fish, an 11-pound halibut. Ian took a picture of Andrew holding this fish just before releasing it. This digital image appears on the left. The second largest fish was a 9-pound cod caught by Joe Maillett (ME). Darlene Chin (FL/VT) caught the third largest fish, a 7.25-pound cod.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Ethan Willey (NH) caught the largest cusk at 7 pounds. Robert Ramsey (ME) boated a 6.5-pound cod which was weighed and, quickly, released back to the ocean alive. Doug Schlichting (ME) caught the largest haddock at 4.5 pounds.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee tells us that the fishing is still “incredible” on Lake Winnipesaukee. “Until lately, I’ve wondered if the incredible fishing on Winnipesaukee was just perspective, after a few years of tough salmon fishing. It’s definitely not just perspective. The fishing is great! We are catching multiple keeper salmon on every trip and there almost seem to be more huge rainbows than salmon. Rainbows from 3 to 5-pounds are everywhere in the lake. The fish are around 40-feet down. Slightly deeper after the sun hits the water and slightly shallower early in the morning. Oranges and pinks are still the hot colors, but anything with flash will catch after the sun hits the water. I’m seeing increased numbers of lake trout in deep water, so I’ll be poking around for them this week and might open my schedule a bit early for jigging trips,” he said.
Dana Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton reported a good weekend. “The bass anglers are doing really well for smallmouth lately. The jigs from Gordie’s Custom Lures have been doing very well, and they’re made in New Hampshire. We are still selling a lot of streamer flies and are hearing good reports of salmon and rainbow trout trolling from Winnipesaukee,” she said.
Jason Brewster at Brewster’s Bait and Tackle in Portsmouth sent in the following report: “ANOTHER good week on the Piscataqua again with "oil slicks" of pogies in the river and big fish just underneath. There are lots of reports of multiple big fish all up and down the coast and New Castle. New pencil rigs from IslandX are flying out the door and, as always, the worms are the MVP.”
MASSACHUSETTS:
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island told us that the fishing has been strange this year, with some days being completely different than the day before and some areas as well. “I had one guy tell me that he found fish everywhere he went one morning. Other people have been sticking to the night bite, which is almost always great this time of year. Tube and worm has been excellent lately. Some guys are catching well with the Gravity Tackle Eels and weightless Albie Snax,” she said.
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett told us of stripers and pogies galore in and around Boston Harbor. “The harbor is still full of pogies with bass all over them. The area around Castle Island has been on fire. Some guys are snagging pogies and live lining them and some are chunking them fresh. Tube and worm is always good too. They are still getting some flounder out off the deeper ledges and the tuna bite is good off the southwest corner of Stellwagen,” he said.
Because of inherent time restrictions of gathering fresh, up-to-date information, editing & producing this report in a timely manner, occasional errors or marginal information may slip by us. We try our hardest to provide accurate information. We urge readers to use this report as a tool to increase their fishing pleasure and not to rely on as their sole resource. First or second-hand information is offered by fishing guides, commercial fishing charters or party boats, bait & tackle dealers, well-known successful anglers, and state & federal fisheries and natural resources enforcement officials. We also welcome and use reports forwarded to us by fishermen that use this report. - Kittery Trading Post Fishing Report Editor
