Fishing Conditions & Updates for Maine, New Hampshire & Massachusetts
Great fishing continues, with stripers dominating discussions. We are hearing great reports, with many guides reporting record days of big fish. Live and chunk bait, as well as all the usual lures are catching big stripers. Live eels are dominating the night tides on either side of the recent full moon. Lake trout and salmon reports are still great from Winnipesaukee, Squam, and Sebago. Bass fishing continues to fire on all cylinders, but trout fishing has dwindled slightly in the heat.
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago told us that there are still a ton of fish being caught on Sebago. “The lake trout are biting. One guy just showed my pictures of some of the 14 fish he caught and they were chunky. He was fishing downriggers and leadcore with Flatfish. They’re still catching a lot of salmon out here no Sebago. Lake trout are stacked up 100-feet down and the salmon are 40-feet down. Some other guys were up to Tricky and showed me pictures of some of the splake they caught. They said the fish were down at the windward end of the pond. I’m not sure what they were using,” he said
Captain Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit published the following report over the weekend. “The fishing was excellent, except for the sea state. The catching was very good. Landings were fair. This was one of the two slowest days of the season for landings. There were a lot of fish but most were too small to keep. Legal landings included forty-four haddock, five pollock, one cusk and two whiting. Released fish included five dogfish, one 8.5-pound cod, twelve small cod, over two hundred sub-legal haddock and fifty sub-legal pollock. They anchored and drift fished. Jigs, bait and cod flies worked equally well.”
“Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. Adam Croteau (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with an 8.5-pound cod. The second largest fish was a 7.5-pound pollock caught by Logan Edwards (MA). Ian Croteau (ME) caught the third largest fish, a 5-pound pollock.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Joe Freeman (ME) caught a double, both fish on the same line at the same time, that I have never seen before. His double included a 4.5-pound Maine state trophy whiting and a 3.75-pound Maine state trophy whiting. The 4.5 pounder ties with the Bunny Clark's sixth largest whiting of all time. We have never caught two trophy whiting as a double before today. Ian took a picture of Joe holding up his two silver hake. Niko Mihallari (MA) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for being the most seasick. Ouch! Not good!”
Tim fromTim Moore Outdoorson Lake Winnipesaukee reported still-great fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee. “This is the most consistent fishing we’ve seen in the past few years. It’s a confidence boost for sure. Lots of salmon, although not a lot of huge ones, hitting the net and there are plenty for those who want to take some fish home to eat. Orange is still the hot color, but there have been a few outings where purples got it done. The fish are moving deeper as expected. 35-feet down is about average, but 40-feet down on bright hot days,” he said.
Jason Brewster at Brewster’s Bait and Tackle in Portsmouth sent in the following report: “Lots of big fish reported leading up to, and in the wake of, the big Moon last week. Piscataqua is loaded with some regulars cleaning up at the Memorial Bridge of all places! Sight fishing from land at the site of the old Pier II restaurant (for you old school fishermen reading this) mackerel and seaworms continue to be top sellers even in the heat!
Lon Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton reported a slower than average week in the shop. “The weather kind of ruined the fishing for a lot of people. There are still a lot of people catching smallmouth on Winni. Some others did well on smaller ponds up in Carroll County. We sold out of striper bait, if that’s any indication of how the striper fishing has been,” he said.
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Belmont said things were pretty much the same as the previous week. “Pretty much everything is working as far as color goes. I’ve had every color I make getting hit. I have been going back to basics, silver/copper or silver/brass. Inks, oranges, and yellows are still working for trout and salmon. For flies, Firesmelt, Blood N Guts, and a Rangely pattern I tie is working well. The Governor Aiken and silver/blue taped spoon have been great, I just made a bunch of those. I would go 35-feet to 40-feet down for salmon. You can still get them at 25-feet early in the morning,” he said.
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everrett reported big bass all around Boston Harbor. “We’ve got a lot of big bass underneath the Tobin Bridge, from there all the way down to the Amelia Earhart Dam. They’re trolling tubes and Rapalas, and snagging pogies. There has also been a big fish bite out by the BG Buoy. The mackerel are a little east of the B Buoy. Pogies are everywhere inside the harbor. There have been some good topwater feeds out near Castle Island. Flounder are still holding strong, but there isn’t much time left before they start to thin out. The tuna and haddock bite has been good on the northwest corner of Stellwagen,” he said
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island reported a wild and crazy week. “Water temperature has been all over the board, from low 50s to high 70s. We had 51-degrees on the ocean front and 79-degrees on the flats. Some guys are having a hard time finding the nice 65-degree pockets of water. When they do, they’re finding fish. Some other guys are seeing fish follow their lues, only to turn away. Fussy fish. Mackerel have been off and on, but I was able to get a bunch on Friday. The boat guys are using a lot of Magic Swimmers in the pogie schools,” she 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
