Weekly Fishing Report: July 22, 2024
Fishing Conditions & Updates for Maine, New Hampshire & Massachusetts
For most anglers, this is a summer to remember. We are still hearing of excellent striper fishing, but fewer haddock reports, which could just be the weather. The freshwater reports are all positive, with great catches reported for lake trout and salmon, and a few anglers jigging up lake trout. Warmer water often slows things down for many anglers. Many striper anglers resort to night fishing with live eels to beat the heat and target larger fish. Once the full moon tides subside, the fishing will get easier and those night bites will pick up even more. Many anglers report using dark colored weightless Slug-Go and Hogy Lures as an eel alternative.
Jack at Saco Bay Tackle in Saco reported a little bit of a change in the fishing, with warmer water around. “It’s been really tough from the beaches lately. The water seems pretty warm. The Saco River is fishing okay though. Bait seems to be better than lures lately. Mackerel, clams, and sandworms are more efficient than lures right now, but the RonZ and Savage Sandeels are doing pretty well,” 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 to excellent, depending on the angler. There were some dogfish but not a lot of dogfish and the weather was perfect. The catching was very good. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were cusk, by far. And this is strange to me that so many cusk would be available to bite. Maybe it's because the dogfish count is down this season? Legal landings also included fifty-one haddock, forty-five pollock, two redfish and a cunner. Released fish included fifty or so dogfish, four cod of decent size up to 10.5 pounds, twelve small cod, fifty or so sub-legal haddock, twenty-five sub-legal pollock and twelve sub-legal redfish. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well today.”
“Art Kemler, Jr. (PA) surely had to be high hook with the most legal fish today. I did not get confirmation from Captain Ian about this but he certainly had the most bags of fillets coming off the boat. And Art is no stranger to the high hook category. Art also won the boat pool for the largest fish with a 13-pound pollock. This makes him the fisherman of the day as well. His 13-pound pollock was caught as a double with another pollock of 12.5 pounds, the second largest fish of the trip, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest double of the fishing season to date. Art had caught a 9-pound pollock as his largest fish until the very end of the trip when he caught the double.”
“John Cadorette (MA) caught the third largest fish, a 12-pound pollock. He had the largest fish of the trip before Art caught his double. Some of John's other fish included an 11-pound pollock and the largest cod at 10.5 pounds.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Adam Tozian (MA) caught the first fish that Ian could weigh for the boat pool, a 7-pound pollock. Patrick Wallace (QC) also landed a 7-pound pollock today. Leo Tozian (MA) caught an 11-pound pollock, his biggest fish. Corie Treemont (MA) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for being the only angler to get seasick.”
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee reported that the thermocline is only improving the salmon and rainbow trout fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee and lake trout are moving into deep water by the day. “We are coming into my favorite time to troll. The thermocline is set up nicely and the fish are just below it. Spoons and flies are still getting it done, but more spoons than flies lately. Fish are down around 40 feet most of the day but they do come up a bit early and late in the day. The lake trout are biting jigs too. As always, Nervous Minnows are my go-to for jigging lakers,” he said.
Lon Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton told us they had a busy weekend of bass anglers, those heading to Winnipesaukee, and even saltwater fishers. “Fishing locally in the ponds and on Winnipesaukee is still good. I’ve had reports of more salmon and rainbows, and some big bows. I’ve also had reports of a few guys jigging lake trout. We sold a lot of saltwater bait this weekend, so there must be stripers still around,” he said.
Jason Brewster at Brewster’s Bait and Tackle in Portsmouth sent in the following report: “We got at least 25. All 40 or more" was shouted across the back channel Sunday AM. The Piscataqua River continues to produce, and the stripers are the headline. New Gravity Tackle Eels and Paddle tails are in with new colors and are fantastic off the rocks. Worms continue to fly out the door.”
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Belmont says that the fishing is still great on Winnipesaukee, and the salmon and rainbows are growing and getting bigger. “There’s still good fishing with bigger bows and salmon starting to show up. 40-feet down seems to be best right now, but I’m hearing of fish being caught very early as shallow as 20-feet deep. I would still say 75 percent of my fish are still coming off of lures rather than flies, but some guys are doing well with flies. Pumpkinhead flies are hot and the governor Aiken (pink/purple) spoon has been on fire all summer. I’m even doing well with some slightly bigger spoons early in the morning. Bass are down 25 feet in the deep grass and live crayfish or hellgrammites are catching very well,” he said.
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island reported that the striper fishing is picking up off the beach. “The boat guys are still slaying the stripers, but the beaches have been spotty until lately. There are even mackerel being caught off the beach on those Ava 007 jigs and Crippled Herrings. It’s July, so we expect the beaches to be hit and miss. There are a lot of fish on the flats. Nighttime with eels has been on fire between us and Cape Ann. For the beach guys, it’s been more bait than lures catching fish. We’ve been selling a lot of Rapala X Rap Magnums. The 20’, 30’, and 40’ deep divers have been selling a lot lately. They’re trolling deep for stripers and they’ve been working great,” she said.
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett reported great striper fishing and excellent fluke fishing in Boston Harbor. “The fluke bite is off the charts in Boston Harbor. Fish up to 24-inches are being caught. There is a school of pogies off of Deer Island up to Revere Beach and all the way to Nahant. There’s big bass and bluefin tuna in with them. Guys were hooking up and getting spooled. Tube and worm is doing well around Long, Spectacle, and Peddocks Islands. The full moon brought squid into the harbor around Charlestown and East Boston and there are some black sea bass in 30-feet to 40-feet of water on the hard bottom outside the harbor. They’re also catching some nice big rainbows and brook trout holdovers in Walden Pond fishing deep with blown up night crawlers from shore,” 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