Fishing Report July 21, 2025
The fishing is very typical for the month of July. Stripers are abundant, but reports of picky fish that need work or very specific tactics to catch. Night bites with live eels have been very consistent. Large lakes are still producing salmon, rainbows, and lake trout and many are reporting an uptick in catches lately. Freshwater bass fishing is what you would expect for this time of year. Largemouth are relating to cover and feeding well at night, while smallmouth are being found deeper. Live shiners on a Lindy Rig have been popular as well as drop shot.
Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago says that more and more people are purchasing flatfish for trolling lake trout and the fishing has been good. “I have been selling even more flatfish this week. They are catching a lot of fish. One guy caught 30 lake trout the other morning. Another guy was in yesterday, he was fishing in over 100 feet of water and was catching a bunch. I have been hearing of a bunch of people jigging. They’re doing good. Most of them will troll until they mark a bunch of fish on bottom, then they’ll stop and jig. Woods Pond in Bridgeton has been producing a lot of bass. There are white perch in there too. Lovewell in Fryeburg has good white perch fishing too. I recommend trolling for them this time of year,” he said.
Captain Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit posted the following report from a recent deep-sea trip: “The fishing was excellent. Except for one anchor stop, the drifting was perfect, the weather was great and the sea state only bothered one person. I appreciated the low humidity and air temperatures. The catching was excellent even with the dogfish. Landings were good at best. Legal landings included 16 cusk, 32 haddock, many less pollock than yesterday with a total count of 25, 2 redfish and 30 whiting. We had a lot of nice sized whiting today. Released fish included 1 porbeagle pup, 17 small cod, more than 88 sub-legal haddock, 35 sub-legal pollock, more than 85 dogfish, a mackerel or 2 and 7 sculpins. Jigs and cod flies caught the most legal fish and the least number of dogfish.”
“I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. However, the angler who had the most fish was Jim Cholette (NH). He caught the most fish of all sizes. It was a fish a drop for him all day. He caught the lion's share of sub-legal haddock, most of the dogfish and everything else. Andy Robbins (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish, a 10.25-pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 9-pound pollock caught by Braeden Billert (VT). The largest fish was a 20-pound porbeagle shark pup. Jonathan Spearin (ME) hooked it in the side, which made it really hard to reel in. When it came to the surface, there was no real way to get it in the boat without killing it. So, it just popped off the hook when trying to lift it by the sink enough to grab it by the tail.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Bobby Gelinas (NH) caught our second largest Maine state trophy whiting today. The fish weighed 3.25 pounds. I took a picture of Bobby holding his fish. Herman Summers (ME) caught the largest haddock of the last two trips. The fish weighed in at 4.25 pounds. I weighed a 4-pound cusk and a 5.5-pound cusk for Charlie Glidden (NH). Jim Scaccia (NY) boated a 5.5-pound pollock. Ken Sears (NY) landed a 6.5-pound pollock, his biggest fish.”
New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee says that the fishing is still picking up again, now that the thermocline is well set up. “The time between the shallow salmon bite and when they move down to the thermocline is my least favorite time to fish. I don’t hate it, we still catch, but it’s more sporadic and the fish are all over the water column. I like this time when we can set our lines near the thermocline and know that the fish will be there…and they are there. Most of my lines are down around 50 feet. Orange spoons are still my number one producer, with pink a close second, but each day is a little different and I always run an odd color or two. Orange and yellow streamer flies are working well also.
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Tilton reported even better fishing than last week. “It’s been good fishing. No complaints. I’ve been getting most of mine down 50 feet, but I got a picture from a local who was catching rainbows the other morning right on top with fly line. The thermocline is deeper on the southern end of the lake. The wind keeps pushing that warm water on the surface down south. Flies have been working well. Any of them similar to the Blood and Guts are working well. The taped spoons are also working well. That orange/silver tape on gold was hot last time out,” he said.
Jason Brewster at Brewster’s Bait and Tackle in Portsmouth furnished us with the following report: “Fantastic week in the Piscataqua River....(if you wanted to catch baitfish). For some reason, and I believe gluttony, the stripers were uncatchable this week. It seems they got their fill and needed a week off. That won't last and I expect another big week coming up. Mackerel and topwater plugs were the big movers last week.” Dana Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton Bay says that there is still a lot of good fishing going on right now. “The fishing has been pretty good. I went through many pounds of live shiners over the weekend. They’re catching smallmouth pretty well. Topwater in the morning has been good. Trolling has been producing salmon and rainbows between 25 feet and 35 feet down. AJ’s Spoons in Governor Aiken and Copper Bikini have been selling well. Blood and Guts streamer flies are always good,” she said.
Massachusetts:
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island says the fishing has slowed down a bit. “It’s typical July fishing. The fish are a bit fussy, but they are still catching mackerel out along the beach, which is odd for this time of year. Tube and worm have been the exception to the slow fishing. We can’t make those things fast enough. That seems to be the one thing that’s working consistently. The boat guys are finding lots of mackerel, but the stripers are fussy. They can find stripers, but getting them to bite has been tough. The night bite has been pretty good with live eels,” she said.
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett says not a lot has changed from last week, which is a good thing. “The bass bite is on fire. Using Santini tubes in close to shore has been good. All the harbor islands and piers have been good. Use lead core and troll slow and low as always. Big bass are eating eels and sea worms fished on Vella night rig at night along the harbor docks. There are a few bluefish off of Winthrop shoreline eating Rapalas, Niner Rigs, and Mystic Mojos. They are catching fluke in the Pines River on Zobo rigs fished with squid and on bucktails with gulp or live shiner. Lots of black sea bass in the rock piles. Mackerel are off Nahant and BG buoy. Chum is important. Topwater action on bass at sunup around Deer Island. Tog at all the piers as well on sea worms and clams. They are still catching trout in the deep holes at Walden Pond. Use blown up crawlers on long light leaders and sliding weight at dawn. Bass, pike, and pickerel in the Concord River,” he said.