Fishing Report July 6, 2026
Freshwater fishing is largely hitting its summer stride. Salmon and lake trout are heavy in the reports, with some waters doing better than others. Sebago, Squam, and Winnisquam are some of the high hook waters for salmon and trout. Striped bass are blitzing all over the coast and up the many rivers. Mackerel, pogies, and sand eels are plentiful and stripers are blitzing in the mornings and evenings, making them easier to catch with top water lures. During the day, live mackerel or pogies have been excellent on deeper water structure. At night, it’s hard to beat live eels. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are in their typical summer patterns but are biting well. Last week’s heat wave kept many off the water, leaving the bass less pressured and more aggressive.
Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago had some surprising news to share about the types of areas he has been finding salmon on his recent trips on Sebago. “I was out dragging streamers with sinking fly line in 17-19 feet of water and catching salmon in 75-degree water. There were schools of bait on humps and there were salmon in there feeding on them. People think that 75-degree water will kill them, but they can tolerate it long enough to go up in and feed and then head back to deeper water to re-oxygenate their blood. I couldn’t believe how many salmon were swirling on top, too. There was a hex hatch going on. Someone else reported seeing the same thing down below Frye Island on the surface over that deeper water. They’re still catching lake trout out here trolling and jigging. I had a father and daughter head up to Tricky and waylaid the smallmouth on wacky-rigged Senkos. There are a lot of tourists dunking worms and catching panfish. I’ve had quite a few people fishing the Muddy River Bridge, up in the locks, and down off the Sticky River trestle,” he said.
Zach at Saco Bay Tackle in Saco told us that the fish are still holding in the river, but a lot of fish are moving out. “There are still a lot of fish holding in the estuaries and the mouth of the river and a lot of fish holding in deep water way offshore. We found schools on the move up on top 2 ½ miles out. The beaches seem to have died out, but the boat people are finding stripers. There is a ton of bait around. The Gravity Tackle paddletails and the Savage paddletails have been really good, either in pink or a natural color. The Striper Maniac Needle Fish has been doing really well 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 excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were nearly so- the best day we have had in two weeks. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. In fact, the pollock were so savage, we hardly caught the numbers of dogfish, haddock or cusk. The second most prevalent species was haddock. Legal landings also included 11 cusk, four redfish and 9 mackerel. Released fish included 41 small cod, 3 cod of 6 pounds or more, three sub-legal haddock, 63 small pollock, 36 dogfish, a wolffish and a couple of mackerel. We also saw several and lost one blue shark. And we lost what seemed like a porbeagle shark that jumped like a great white? Weird. We drift fished all day. The drift was perfect. It's the first trip of the year where we didn't use the anchor. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.”
“Art Kemler, Jr. (PA) was high hook with the most legal fish, one of the highest counts of the year. Four of these fish were haddock, a few cusk (five) and mostly pollock, of course. His largest fish was a wolffish that weighed 10 pounds. Jeff Corey (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. This is Bunny Clark's second-largest pollock of the fishing season so far. Marc Riendeau (VT) won the boat pool for the second-largest fish, a 12-pound pollock. This is Bunny Clark's fourth-largest pollock of the fishing season so far. The third largest fish was an 11-pound cod caught by Ben Heath (VT). This is Bunny Clark's sixth-largest cod of the season so far.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Phil Devereaux (MA) caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool, a 5.5-pound pollock. He also caught a 6-pound pollock right afterward. His largest fish was an 8-pound pollock. He caught 6 legal haddock weighing 4 pounds. Nick Dulac (VT) caught the second fish I could weigh for a boat pool, a 5-pound pollock. After a while, I didn't weigh any pollock unless they were over 8 pounds. Grant Reed (VT) caught a lot of fish, probably the second most visual angler behind Art, fishing in the stern and Jeff Corey and Nick Longo, who were fishing from the bow. It seemed that Grant had a fish on every time I looked at him. He caught a nice-sized haddock I didn't weigh. His largest fish was a 6.75-pound pollock. Fred Graves (VT) caught a 10-pound pollock, his best fish. Mike Perry (NH) landed a 10.15-pound pollock.”
New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service told us that between the heat and the holiday, he spent a little more time at home last week. “I didn’t fish as much. One day, we did pretty well and thought we were onto something, and the next day it was a struggle again. It has been very inconsistent for some time now. The thermocline has set up around 40 feet down and as the warm water extends further down, the thermocline should heat up. I had a 78-degree surface temp on my last trip out in the Broads on Winnipesaukee. Orange spoons and flies were my go-to last week, which is about the only typical thing happening right now,” he said.
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Tilton reported good fishing in Winnisquam and Squam, and okay fishing in Winnipesaukee. “The fish are down a little bit more. I think the thermocline was down around 42 feet, so I would start fishing deeper now. It’s definitely an early morning bite. Firesmelt flies are still good. Wonderbread and silver/copper spoons were most popular spoons,” he said.
Massachusetts:
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island said that the river is beginning to clear up, but the weekend was slow due to sewage from an upriver treatment plant. “The beaches and parking lots are beginning to open back up now. I’m hearing of more fish along the oceanfront and I heard of some shad caught off the beach. There are a few mackerel still out chasing underneath the sand eels. I think the only reason I haven’t heard of more striper catches because less people fished over the weekend. I also heard of squid right outside the mouth of the Merrimac, which is really weird. I also had one guy who caught a blue fish off the jetty. Things should improve quickly now, though. For lures, I would say the Dark Matter Astro Spook in their bunker color. That has been very popular this season,” she said.
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett says the striper fishing is really good around Boston Harbor right now. “The mackerel are thick outside the harbor. Nahant is loaded with a big school of pogies outside as well, with bass here, there, and everywhere. Some days, there is good action inside the harbor off the airport, Deer Island and Spectacle Island. Other days it’s the deep water between Graves Light, B Bouy, and Nahant trolling x raps or live mackerel on Mystic Mojos, Niner Rigs, and Massacre Rigs inside at high tide,” he said.