Fishing Report August 17, 2026

It may be the summer doldrums for stocked trout anglers, but those who like trolling for salmon and lake trout are loving this late August fishing. Reports are good from Sebago and Winnipesaukee. Not much news on lake trout jigging from either lake this week, but that could change by the day. Striped bass continue to dominate the ocean front from Massachusetts up through Maine. Largemouth and smallmouth bass always seem cooperative when you can locate them. Look for darker-shaded areas for largemouth and deeper, cooler water for smallmouth. One of the best things about August fishing is the consistency. Not a lot changes this month.

Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago told us that the anglers were still picking away at the salmon on Sebago. “I talked to one of the guides who was out this morning and they had caught some salmon. There is bait up on the north end of the shoals. It seems like the bite is early in the morning. Some days they are catching salmon and no lake trout. Other days, it’s the opposite. They’re catching quite a few short salmon, which is a good sign. The size of the salmon seems to get a bit smaller as the season wears on. They’re still using hardware. That copper and orange Mooselook seems to be doing really well. The surface water temperature is around 71 degrees right now. For anyone interested, the Portland Water District has a buoy in the lower bay that measures temperature at depth. If you’re wondering where the thermocline is on that part of the lake, I think you can find that data on their website,” he said.

Weston at Saco Bay Tackle in Saco says that the biggest change is that there are a few more people finding fish up higher in the Saco River. “The temperature has been dropping, and a lot of people are catching more fish up there. A lot of people are using sand worms up there. Most of the fish are off the beaches or offshore in those big schools. We still have mackerel and squid around too,” he said.

Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit posted the following report from a recent trip on his website: “The fishing was good to very good overall. It could have been excellent if it were not for the strong current, the dogfish and the added annoyance of blue sharks. The catching was excellent; everyone had fish on all the time. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included 11 cusk, 39 haddock, 14 redfish, a cunner, 5 mackerel, and a whiting. Released fish included thirty small cod, six cod from 6 to 10.5 pounds, four sub-legal haddock, fifty-five (or more) sub-legal pollock, 7 blue sharks with jewelry and 85 dogfish. We drift fished and anchored. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.”

“I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. There was too much going on and many did very well on fish count. If I were to guess, I would say it was Chris Atkins (PA). Chris ended up winning the boat pool for the second largest fish, a 10.5-pound cod. He also caught the first good-sized haddock, a 5 pounder.”

“Eddie Kantar (NY) caught the largest fish of the trip; a 14.5-pound pollock. He was not in the boat pool. I also weighed a 7-pound cod for him before it was released. Eddie's son, Kevin Kantar (NY), caught the second largest fish, a 12.5-pound pollock. Kevin, too, was not in the boat pool. I also weighed an 8-pound pollock for him. Kevin caught the largest haddock of the day, weighing 6 pounds. Chad Roy (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the third largest fish; an 11.25-pound pollock.”

“Other Angler Highlights: Kenny Mosher (NY) caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool; a 9-pound pollock. He also caught 8 legal haddock, the largest of which weighed 5.25 pounds. Ken Andrews (ME) caught a 7.5-pound cod and an 8-pound cod that I weighed before releasing. His largest weighed fish was a 10-pound pollock, but he lost a bigger pollock right beside the boat. Steve LaPlante (CT) caught 4 or 5 haddock. I weighed a 4-pound haddock for him. But it wasn't his largest haddock.”

New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service reported an excellent week of trolling for salmon and trout, but not great results jigging for lake trout on Winnipesaukee. “We are definitely in that late summer great bite. The fishing is good, even on a slow day. Mornings have been better than evenings, but both are producing fish. I am hearing some guides getting fish down 55 feet, but most of my fish are coming from 25-35 feet down. Flies are significantly outfishing spoons right now. Anything with orange or yellow in it is good,” he said.

Ki at Dover Marine Covered Bridge Sports in Dover told us that very little has changed from last week in his neck of the woods. “It’s August, you know how that goes. Not much will change on the fishing front now until water temps start to drop or days start getting significantly shorter. Bass fishing is good right now if you like drop shotting in that deeper water around 30 feet. They’re still picking away at stripers. Mostly out on the ocean front from what I am hearing,” he told us.

Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Tilton reported another week of good fishing. “I had a charter this morning and we got four nice rainbows and a few lakers. We got them down 50 feet. Whenever I found balls of bait, I found the fish. Flies did well, but the Governor Aiken and silver/orange taped spoons were good. We got fish on tandem flies too. The Joe’s Smelt tandem fly with silver beads has been good. Water temps were 57 degrees at 50 feet,” he said.

Massachusetts:
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island said that their night fishing customers have increased now that there are some night fishing permits available on the refuge. “Parking lots 2 and 3 are open down at the wildlife refuge. Wouldn’t you know it, Saturday at noon someone lands a 49-inch striper and a couple other fish. He got them on clams. We have been busy in the evening with the night permits starting on the refuge. The refuge pass is $20 and it is good for a year from when you buy it, unless you buy a duck stamp, which lets you in too. Then, the night fishing permit is $20 and $10 for seniors. The other parking lots should be open soon. There have been a lot of boats fishing down off of parking lot 6. It’s more a night game right now and the Merrimack River reports have been slow,” she said.

Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett furnished the following report: “Yesterday and the day before, out in front of Castle and Deer Island, there was non-stop action for stripers. All you wanted. They were hitting everything you threw at them. You can troll Santini Tubes. 9er Rigs, Mystic Mojos, Boston Massacres. They were hitting topwater, Yo-zuri Mag Poppers, Wildeye Shads, live mackerels, and pogies. It was insane. If you want to get away from the crowd, try trolling Santini Tubes along Long, Peddocks, Georges, all those islands there and you’ll pretty much have the place to yourself. The haddock bite is still good east of Stellwagen. Tuna have been around off the tip of Nahant. There are some big cunner showing up off the rock piles. 16-inch ones. They’re great eating and fun to catch when they’re that big. There are a lot of squid outside still,” he said.