Fishing Report July 28, 2025

Some reports say that not much has changed from last week, which is good since the reports were good. Others say that the fishing has picked up. Striper fishing remains consistent for many. Some are reporting consistently fussy fish, but the persistent anglers are able to figure out how to make the fussy ones bite. Salmon fishing seems to have picked up in what many are calling predictable summer thermocline patterns. Bass fishing is typical for this time of year, heavy cover for largemouth and deep structure for smallmouth.

Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago reported a good week of fishing on Sebago, Tricky, and Hancock. “One of the guys who fishes a lot says that there are a lot of lake trout out off the Camel’s Pasture suspended in deep water. If they’re out there suspended, then they’re probably everywhere suspended. Another guy was off of Spider Island in front of Nassan’s Beach and he said he was catching lake trout down 5-6 colors of lead core,” he told us.

CJ Harmon of Burnt Meadow Guide Service in Brownfield furnished the following report: “This week our schedule was consumed by our junior guide program. It was fishing week and we targeted everything from brown trout to yellow perch. We fished Lovewell Pond in Fryeburg and if you haven’t fished it, you should. You never know what you’re going to catch when your rod goes off! It is an exciting, action-packed spot for young anglers. We caught brown bullhead catfish, jumbo white and yellow perch, a 4.7lb chain pickerel, a few nice brown trout, largemouth bass, and smallmouth bass by trolling, using small dodgers and lake trolls baited with shiners and night crawlers.”

Captain Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit posted the following report from a recent deep-sea trip: “The fishing, despite the seas, was excellent. We had no tide to worry about, very few dogfish and the wind held the boat directly into the chop. Even anglers fishing on the bow had no problems. The catching was very good. Landings were good, no better - except for one angler, who had a fish a cast all day long. The only problem I had with the day was the extra time it took to anchor, cutting into our fishing time. Legal landings included 21 cusk, 31 haddock, 15 pollock, a redfish and 3 mackerel. Released fish included 3 legal haddock (one about 5 pounds), 4 cod of 6 pounds or better, 14 small cod, 30 sub-legal haddock, 31 small pollock and 16 dogfish. As mentioned above, we anchored all morning and drift fished in the afternoon. The drift fishing, particularly one drift, caught almost all of our haddock and was productive otherwise. All terminal gear worked about the same.”

“Chris Galletta (NY) was high hook with, by far, the most legal fish. He might have caught half of all the legal fish today. I know that he caught most of the cusk. And he caught a pile of haddock. But I never checked to see how many were legal. In fact, my sub-legal haddock count might be low because of this. The only fish of his that I weighed was a 5.5-pound cod. Steve King (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7.25-pound cod. He also tied for the second largest fish with a cod of 6 pounds. And he lost a haddock at the surface that looked to be about 5 pounds. Dave Soucy (NY) caught the other 6 pounder, also a cod.” “Other Angler Highlights; Josh Radigan (NY) caught the largest cusk at 5 pounds. Debbie Wolbert (FL) caught a 5-pound cod. Greg Kidd (ME) caught the most legal haddock while using bait. I would guess his count was seven. It could have been higher.”

New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee reported some very consistent salmon and rainbow trout fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee over the past week. “The fishing has been great! I love this time of year. The fish are concentrated at specific depths and beginning to feed on young of the year smelt. I’m finding fish between 30 feet and 40 feet, which is much shallower than usual for this time of year. Orange and pink Tommy Gun and BB Gun spoons have been good. Flies with orange or yellow in them are also doing well. Lead core line (micro lead) out 5-6 colors has also been fishing well,” he said.

Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Tilton reported very similar fishing conditions over the past week. “It’s still mainly just basic orange spoons that I’ve been hitting them on. Orange/silver, orange/black dot, orange/copper, and a little bit of pink. I also did that yellow/orange streamer fly and got some fish. Less with white this week,” he said.

Jason Brewster at Brewster’s Bait and Tackle in Portsmouth furnished us with the following report: “The Piscataqua showed a little more balance this week with birds continuing to show the way. Lots of top water plugs and seaworms out of the bait shop this week. Capt. TJ hit with some topwater poppers out front Saturday on the morning run.”

Dana Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton Bay said that not a lot has changed since last week. Lots of tourist anglers coming in to get geared up for shore and dock fishing, and the regular trolling anglers coming in to restock their favorite spoons and flies. “There are a lot of people losing flies and spoons on fish, so they are at least hooking up, but a lot of people are doing pretty well trolling. A lot of my customers are heading to the coast and catching a lot of striped bass, and a lot in the slot too. Frozen mackerel is a top producer for those that can’t catch fresh ones on their own,” she said.

Massachusetts:
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island says that little has changed from last week. “The fish are still fussy for the most part, but occasionally someone will come in and tell me that they figured out how to get the fussy fish to bite and it was an incredible time. There is a lot of mackerel around and still quite a bit of little baitfish around. Tube and worm have been good and live eels at night have been great. Some guys are making the long hike on Cranes to fish the mouth of the Essex River,” she said.

Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett says not a lot has changed from last week, which is a good thing. “I’m selling a pile of squid jigs. The harbor is loaded with squid. They’re everywhere, from the Mystic River on. I’ve never seen this many squid. The bass are with them too. They’re getting a lot of bass at night on Vella Rigs with a sea worm or squid. There is some great action in the morning out in front of Deer Island on poppers. Tube and worm are working great along all the islands. We got a bunch of fish last week along Long, Spectacle, Peddocks, and in front of Deer Island. There’s still fluke up in the Pines River and there are some black sea bass around on the rock piles if you know where to look,” he said.