Fishing Conditions & Updates for Maine, New Hampshire & Massachusetts
Stripers, salmon, and bass, oh my! The fishing is off the hook (pun intended) right now. Striper reports are great from everyone we spoke to. We’ve had excellent reports from Cape Cod all the way up through Portland and Casco Bay, with many reports of consistent days of multiple fish over 40-inches. Flounder are still biting well, and in some less fished areas, such as York Harbor. Landlocked salmon seem to be biting very well in New England larger lakes, like Sebago and Winnipesaukee. Stocked trout fishing reports seem to have slowed a bit, but largemouth and smallmouth bass are on fire. Time will tell what the coming heat wave will do to the fishing, but we know it usually makes the night time striper bite great, and we have live eels! Come on in!
MAINE:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago reported that the salmon fishing is still on fire. “It’s pretty crazy to think that just about anyone with a little knowledge of salmon fishing can go out and catch 18 salmon a day. Some wonder if there are too many salmon for the amount of smelt in the lake. The water must be warming up, because there’s not much fight left in them. The lake trout are still biting though. The salmon are still right on top though. The smaller ones can tolerate that warmer water better than the bigger ones. I’d guess there are some bigger fish a little deeper. I’ve heard some good local crappie reports from area ponds this week too,” he said. Greg says a mix of trolling live bait and hardware is still catching.
Captain Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit published the following report over the weekend. “The fishing was very good. There were a few dogfish and the tide was strong, keeping the fishing out of the excellent category but very manageable just the same. The catching was nearly excellent. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included eight pollock, a cusk and a mackerel. Released fish included over a hundred sub-legal haddock, seven small cod, one decent sized cod, about a hundred dogfish and eight sub-legal pollock. They anchored and drift fished. Both jigs and bait were used. Bait ruled the day.”
“Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. It was just too busy. Rachel Kuklinski (FL) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8-pound cod. The second largest fish was a 6.5-pound pollock caught by Gardner Murphy (ME). Jonathan Hood (NY) landed the third largest fish, a 5.5-pound haddock.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Bob Nunamacher (NY) caught a 5-pound haddock, the third largest fish of the trip. Katie Del Rio (ME) landed the hard luck award for getting into the worst tangle of the trip.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors on Lake Winnipesaukee reported another great week of salmon and trout trolling on Lake Winnipesaukee. “There are still a lot of salmon, rainbows, and lake trout being caught. Some days all you want and some days just a half dozen or so. A mix of spoons and flies are working well for me. Down 30-feet on downriggers and out 4 colors of lead have been my preference. Color preference seems to change every couple of days, but orange and pink flies and spoons have been the most consistent,” he said.
Jason Brewster at Brewster’s Bait and Tackle in Portsmouth sent in the following report: “Another weekend on the striper bite with people catching all up and down the Piscataqua. Stories of big schools of mackerel in the river and outside with varying degrees of success depending on the wind. York Harbor continues to dominate the flounder talk with Mackerel and worms flying out of the bait shop all week.”
Lon Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton told us that Winnipesaukee is firing on all cylinders. “The fishing has been pretty good. Guys are still finding some salmon, rainbows, and lake trout. They’re mostly down 35-feet. The smallmouth fishing is absolute lightning right now. Senko worms and topwater are killing it. The Whopper Plopper and Pig Bomb have been the two favorites lately. Pond fishing for perch and other panfish has been pretty good too. Saltwater fishing is excellent! The striper fishing is on fire. We are selling a ton of frozen mackerel. We’ve had reports of guys catching fish up to 40-inches all the way up into the Portland, Maine area,” he said.
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Belmont reported another great week on Winnipesaukee. “There’s some fish out there. The fish are still around 25-feet to 35-feet. The rainbows seem to be a little higher, but most fish are down around 35-feet. The Blood N’ Guts and other yellow flies are working. I’m tying some AJ’s Fire Smelt right now. Lures are still catching fish. The Fork Lake color spoon (a blue/silver/pink) has been hot. Any orange is good and the taped stuff on a sunny day has been great. Down 4 Colors of leadcore has been good. I haven’t heard much about white perch, but there are some crappie being caught. The bass live bait season is open, so crayfish, hellgrammites, and worms are working. If you’re looking for a place to find fish, head for the marker buoys. The markers are there to marks structure and structure holds fish,” he said.
MASSACHUSETTS:
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett said the striper fishing is excellent and flounder are still hitting well. “We got a pile o fpogies with bass on them from Castle Island all the way to Spectacle Island. Some fish are up to 30-pounds. There are a lot of slot fish. Mackerel have been scarce outside. The tuna are harassing them out by B Buoy, so the mackerel are there one day and gone the next. Tube and worm has been great around all the islands. Flounder are still going off over in Lynn Harbor, around Peddock’s Island, off of Long Island, up in Marblehead, Manchester by the Sea, and Swampscott. They’re hanging in pretty good,” 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
