Summer fishing is underway, and it looks like more people than ever are taking advantage of some great fishing opportunities. The striped bass fishing is great this year for many anglers, with some very nice stripers being caught. Lake trout fishing is strong for those who love to jig fish, and bass are in their typical summer patterns, with smallmouth moving deep and largemouth feeding at night. Are you new tofishing? Do you have new fishing gear that you aren’t well-versed with? Join professional fishing guide Tim Moore for one of four Fishing 101 classes he will be giving on August 8 from 2-3 and 3-4pm, and August 15 from 2-3 and 3-4pm. Tim will help new anglers learn the basics of their equipment and get them started learning how to cast. Bring your gear and have fun. It’s an excellent way to learn the mechanics of your equipment and help set you up for success on your first fishing adventure! Space is limited, so please reserve your time slot ASAP!

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MAINE

Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago said that the fishing has been good on Sebago Lake lately. “One guy who has been fishing all over the lake has been catching a lot of fish,” he said. He says many anglers are complaining about catching lots of small salmon in the upper water column. Greg says the concern is that the smaller fish don’t seem to tolerate the warm surface water as well and many of those smaller fish die. For the most part, Greg says things have been quiet. He says that he thinks the hot weather has been keeping people off the water.

Dave Garcia at Naples Bait and Tackle in Naples reported some “halfway decent salmon fishing” in Sebago. Dave says that some anglers are still running sinking fly line with a 40-foot leader and a sewn-on shiner and catching quite a few salmon. He says you can never go wrong trolling a spinner and worm on Long Lake in the evening for white perch. He was amazed to have seen pictures of a 20-inch horn pout caught in the Muddy River. “It’s fun to go out in the evening and throw some dead shiners or night crawlers on the bottom and watch the bobber, and swat the flies,” he said. Dave said the Crooked River has been producing fish on caddis flies in the evening. He says drifting nymphs in deeper holes works well during the day.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE

Full-time New Hampshire fishing guide Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors was fresh off a trip to Lake Champlain, where he spent four days jigging for lake trout. He says the salmon and rainbow fishing is status quo, they’re just finding fish a bit deeper now. “The god thing about July and August trolling is that you can depend on early mornings being better than the rest of the day, and the fish will concentrate around the thermocline,” he said. Tim says they are catching some very nice rainbow trout in the 3-pound to 4-pound range, with a few salmon mixed in. he says that while the salmon are fewer and farther between, they are running around 23-inches to 26-inches long. Tim says that the lake trout vertical jig bite is good, and should improve as we progress through the summer. “Some days are better than others, but we can always find one or two that are willing to bite,” he said.

Alan Nute at A.J.’s Bait and Tackle in Meredith tells us that not a lot has changed since last week. “Things seem to be the same as last week, only deeper,” he said. Alan says people are fishing down around 45-feet deep with more rainbows than salmon on Winnipesaukee, but the salmon fishing on Squam Lake has been very good lately. “Don’t be scared to go deep,” he told us. He says whites, green/silver, and orange/yellow spoons are working well, and most flies with yellow and orange are catching. Alan said that the lake trout jigging is also going well right now.

Tom Caron at Tall Timber Lodge on Back Lake in Pittsburg furnished the following report on his website: “The fishing season is progressing along here on the upper Connecticut River in northern New Hampshire. More summery weather this past week, and even some willing trout and salmon that have been playing the game.”

“That’s Tall Timber guest Ken Bracewell with a nice rainbow that he caught and released on the Trophy Stretch with our fishing guide, Mickey Cunliffe. They spent a couple of days together out there harassing the local fish, finding them in all of the usual haunts, as well as some lesser known spots.”

“Nymphs are still producing well on these high sunny days as you would expect, but dries are also producing in certain spots. This is also a great time to trot out your Grasshopper patterns, and certainly, the “hopper dropper” strategy can be employed with some confidence now.”

“The latest news might be welcome for those anglers that like to sling and swing streamers, too. The river flow in the Trophy Stretch was raised to 200 CFS today and it should stay that way for a couple of weeks. Great River Hydro needs to replace some of the top boards on the dam at First Lake, so the lake has to be lowered a bit to accomplish this.”

“That increase of water should be welcome by the fish, as it gives them the opportunity to spread out for better lies presumably. Change is good in this case. It also means more spots to try to target trout and salmon in, so anglers should be able to spread out as well.”

“We expect it to go back to normal levels once the work starts at the dam in a couple of weeks. Elsewhere, the flows in the other stretches remain the same: 52 CFS in the No Kill Stretch and around 300 CFS below Murphy Dam.”

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MASSACHUSETTS

Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plumb Island reported a little slow down, but she says that’s typical for right now. She says the night bite is best lately. Martha said that during the day, the water is warm, the boat traffic is heavy, and the fish are full on pogies and fussy. “There are definitely still some big fish around. They’re just full and fussy. You need to work the schools and find the ones that will bite,” she said. Martha wanted to let anglers know that the city of Newburyport has closed the parking lot on the north side of the island to residents only on weekends.

Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett told us that there is a big striper bite between Nahant and Swampscott, with fish up to 50-pounds being caught regularly over the weekend. “There’s been a hundred and fifty boats out there for the past four days and they’re catching some big stripers. They’re hitting everything you throw at them,” he said. Pete says there are some tune to 500-pounds mixed in as well. He says tube and worm has been hot in Lynn Harbor. Pete says the orange tubes have been working well. The fluke are still in the Pines River, and a few flounder as well.

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