×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

Maine and New Hampshire Fishing Report Brought to you by the Kittery Trading Post

By Staff | Jul 25, 2020

While some anglers refer to late July as the summer doldrums, others enjoy the more predictable fishing. Mid-summer water temperatures make fish less active during the day. In larger lakes, cold water fish, such as lake trout and salmon, will take advantage of the stable water temperatures along the thermocline, which tends to be found around 30-feet down. Anglers in the know (and the fish) take advantage of cooler mornings and evenings, and thermoclines, for more productive fishing. Whether it is striped bass, largemouth and smallmouth bass, lake trout, salmon, there is usually a predictable pattern that comes with July and August fishing.

MAINE

Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago reported some good salmon and lake trout fishing on Sebago Lake recently. He says he has had a couple of regular customers report good catches of salmon trolling live bait “right on top” early in the morning. He says some good areas have been off of Nassan’s Beach and Ward’s Cove. Greg says many of the fish that have been kept are full of alewives, which may account for the better live bait bite. Greg says the bait is moving around, and the fish are following. He says not to be afraid to follow the crowds. He reports good bass fishing in 30-feet of water off of the area known as the Camel’s Pasture. He recommends drop shot rig as it can be vertically jigged well, but also recommends blade baits and tube jigs. Greg says reports of some good northern pike have also been coming in and that they are being caught on large hard baits, such as a big Rapala.

Dave Garcia at Naples Bait and Tackle in Naples told us that the bass fishing has been very good lately. “I can’t believe the bass bite has been as good as it has, but it has,” he said. He says the fish are in deeper water and that he and some of his customers have been doing quite well with a lizard on a Carolina rig. Dave says a slow drag on bottom works well. Dave says he wouldn’t rule out Long Lake for those who want a consistent bite, and says that the evening white perch bite has been very good. He says a simple worm on a bobber gets it done there.

Saco Bay Bait and Tackle posted a recent report on their website: “Offshore: Groundfishing has been consistent on the usual nearshore humps, saving us the steam out to Jeffreys. If you can keep baits on the bottom, you will get fish. However, if anglers are inexperienced at bottom fishing or strong tides prevent you from holding bottom, you could be in for a slower trip. Slivers of mackerel have been outfishing both clams and jigs by a wide margin. A little secret: Those ‘old school’ pink rubber shrimp threaded on a hook, then baited with mackerel, are catching the majority of our larger fish.”

“We are finding nice pockets of 18-21 inch haddock in 220 – 250 feet. The slammer pollock haven’t shown up yet in any numbers. However, we have managed to pluck a number of legal redfish and a short halibut (released) on recent trips. The whiting (silver hake) bite is getting better by the day. Find these tasty fish in 250 – 300 feet. The larger whiting move in as the summer progresses – as do the dogfish. We ran into a few dogs the other day, but I’d guess we have at least another week or two until they take over the ledges.”

“The football tuna that we encountered several times in June and early July seemed to have moved on. We still have an oversized-spinning outfit ready with a big popper just in case. Additionally, the squid bars and Sluggo daisy chains are never more than a reach away. We are marking a few fish on the high ground each trip while targeting groundfish.”

“Plenty of big porbeagles are still roaming the ledges and we had a curious pup on the surface investigating our float just the other day. On the subject of ‘beagles, here’s something cool: We caught a little pup July 9, 2019 13 miles off Cape Elizabeth, and James Sulikowski and his lab from the University of New England outfitted her with a satellite tag. The tag popped off 28 days later (Aug 7, 2019) outside of Penobscot Bay, and washed up off Gloucester, MA just this past week – almost exactly a year after it was attached. According to Sulikowski’s data, the little shark was found to have made frequent daytime dives to 100m and spent the majority of her nights just below the surface. August is traditionally shark month in Maine and that fishery should be heating up in the coming weeks, so stock up on your chum. We strongly encourage CPR (catch, photograph, release) with the toothy critters!”

“Inshore: We are finding plenty of stripers around the inside islands, as well as along the Cape and South Portland shoreline. If you can get a mackerel or pogie into the deep holes along the ledges, you can usually pull out a good fish. Live bait continues to outfish chunks. Mackerel have been surprisingly spotty inshore this season. Their usual haunts in the harbor – off Spring Point Light, in front of Portland Head Light, etc. – have been hit or miss. “Loading up” on macs seems more like picking away at singles or doubles with the occasional herring mixed in. However, it’s a different story offshore, where acres of mackerel have been rippling the surface for the past several weeks. There’s still large schools of pogies in the bay with some big bass (and seals) under them. Also, don’t disregard the artificials – pencil poppers and big jointed swimmers can work magic some days (or nights).”

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Full-time New Hampshire fishing guide Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors tells us that the fishing has been very good on Lake Winnipesaukee. “We have been doing very well for pretty much everything lately. The bass, lake trout, rainbow trout, and salmon are all in predictable patterns and we have been doing very well lately,” he said. Tim told us that he has had some very good early morning trips trolling for salmon and rainbow trout. He says he is fishing streamer flies down three colors of lead at sun up and as the sun rises he moves down to around 35-feet, or around six colors of lead. Tim said that the recent cool spell slowed the lake trout jig bite a little, but the even more recent heat wave has pushed the fish back into deep water, where he hopes they stay for the remainder of the season.

Alan Nute at A.J.’s Bait and Tackle in Meredith reported consistent fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee. “People still seem to be doing as good as can be for this time of year,” he said. He says flies have been catching the majority of the fish reported lately and that yellows and oranges are the hot colors. He says there are a lot of lakers, quite a few rainbows, and a few salmon being caught. Alan says if you’re trolling and can’t keep the rock bass off your lines then you probably need to fish deeper water.

Tom Caron at Tall Timber Lodge on Back Lake in Pittsburg furnished the following report on his website: “The Trophy Stretch has remained good fishing for those that are venturing out to challenge the occasional thunderbolts. Nymph combinations too numerous to mention have been achieving the best success. Get adventurous and change up your offerings, but Beadhead Pheasant Tail nymphs and Prince nymphs are good ones to start with. From there, the trail fly options are endless. Smaller might be better for the next few weeks too – the fish have been getting “educated” all summer long.”

“Dries have also been working at times, so BWO patterns, Elk Hair Caddis patterns, and Stimulators are all worth giving a shot. We are also entering our terrestrial season, so Hoppers, Ants, and a multitude of other “buggy” looking flies should be given a look. Those are some of the most exciting hook ups all season.”

“South of Murphy Dam, the fishing has been slow for a lot of anglers, though the water temperature down there is a spine tingling 50 degrees. Great relief in the heat of summer, but not much in the way of active fish.”

“Back Lake’s hexagenia hatch is long gone by now, and while the trout are undoubtedly laying low in the spring holes, the smallmouth and largemouth bass are liking this weather just fine. A fly or spin bass angler would have quite a time one would figure right now.”

MASSACHUSETTS

Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plumb Island says there are plenty of stripers around but getting them to bite is the hard part. “We are loaded with pogies. So many that people are snagging them off the beach, but the fish are fussy behind them,” she said. She says there are some very big fish around if you can get them to bite. Martha says that it is “typical July” fishing, with slower days and better nights. Martha says to find the cooler water and you’ll likely find better fishing.

Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett reports very good striper fishing, with a good bite out near Egg Rock. He says there are fish to 40-pounds and there are some small tuna mixed in with them at times. He says there have been surface feeds all week between BG Buoy and Egg Rock. He says the night fishing trolling tube and worm along the Winthrop and Nahant shorelines has also been very productive lately. Pete also says there are still some fluke in the Pines River and they are catching a few winter flounder with them.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *