Fishing Report July 7, 2025
With the hot weather and intense boat traffic over the past long weekend, reports have been hard to come by. Those fishing big lakes and the coast reported decent fishing, but slower due to increased boat traffic. We have heard several reports of thermoclines setting up in lakes, such as Sebago and Winnipesaukee. Mackerel seem to be more prevalent in most places. Haddock fishing is good on Jeffreys and Stellwagen. Flounder reports have screeched to a halt, but we started hearing of fluke reports. Smallmouth bass and other warmwater fish have become a preferred target species for many anglers who enjoy their predictability these days.
Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago said there wasn’t as much going on last week.“I don’t think as many people have been fishing with the heat and holiday boat traffic. We are supposed to get some cooler weather this week, but I have seen some pictures of some nice smallmouth from Sebago. People are complaining about the lake trout population being down, but we may be spoiled after years of catching 50 fish each trip. One of the guides told me that they are catching a lot of small salmon, which is good for the outlook. The small ponds are still producing a lot of nice crappie and white perch, so if the cold-water fishing slows down, that’s a good option,” he said.
CJ Harmon of Burnt Meadow Guide Service in Brownfield furnished the following report: “The summer patterns are still holding strong this week and keeping up with the fish is a challenge for sure. We fished Trickey Pond and our focus this week was on splake. Mid-water column and deeper was where we found the fish to be holding. Northeast trollers, dodgers and lake trolls were key to success again. Orange and silver colors seemed to be best for us. This time of year, we up our leader size to be able to land the fish faster and get them back in the water as quick as possible with the surface temps reaching that 70+ degrees. You may catch a few less fish, but their chances of survival increases significantly! There are still some good pockets of lake trout to be found on Sebago, but the fish have definitely spread out a lot. Covering water and paying attention to your fish finder is important right now! Once you find them stay on them to produce numbers. Remember, never leave fish to find fish.”
Levi at Saco Bay Tackle in Saco told us that there wasn’t much going on at all over the past week. “The fishing has just been alright, nothing to brag about. The stripers are out on the beaches now. I still haven’t heard anything about mackerel. Most people are still using a lot of white paddletails and live eels at night,” he told us.
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. The air temperature warm but not too warm, the sea state was perfect, there wasn't much tide to speak of and the anglers knew what they were doing or learned very quickly. The catching was excellent if you included the dogfish. Landings were fair to good. Everyone caught legal fish but the fish, on average, were small. Legal landings included 20 cusk, 26 haddock, 38 pollock, 17 redfish, over 58 mackerel and a whiting. Released fish included about 131 dogfish to my count (I'm sure I missed a few), 7 small cod, one 5-pound cod, 20 sub-legal haddock, over 150 small pollock and 5redfish. We drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked about the same.”
“Art Kemler, Jr. (PA) was high hook with the most legal fish. He had the largest pollock at 5-pounds. His biggest fish was a 7-pound cusk, the second largest fish of the trip. Caileb Stanley (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5-pound cusk. The third largest fish was a 6.25-pound cusk caught by Tess Sapone (DC).”
“Other Angler Highlights: Randy Clark (VT) caught the biggest haddock about 4.5 pounds. I didn't weigh it. He also caught the biggest cod. It weighed 5 pounds. Ali Laflamme (ME) caught the second largest pollock at 4.5 pounds and the only whiting, just shy of 2 pounds.”
New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee told us that after a rough couple of weeks of fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee, due to wildly fluctuating weather and bug hatches, things are turning back around. “It seems as though the bug hatches are beginning to finish up and thermoclines are setting up nicely. The fish are getting fatter and feeding with more predictability. Orange, silver/blue, and pink Tommy Gun and Top Gun spoons have been working well. We are catching most of our fish down around 30 feet, but this latest stretch of hot weather should push them down a bit,” he said.
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Tilton reported an uptick in fishing on Winnipesaukee and Winnisquam. “It looks like the fishing is picking up pretty good. I’m seeing a lot of nice rainbows. There’s a nice thermocline developing, and things seem to be kicking into gear. Around 35 feet down has been good for me. The Blood and Guts and Governor Aiken have been good color spoons. Fire smelt and Blood and Guts have been hot streamer flies,” he told us.
Jason Brewster at Brewster’s Bait and Tackle in Portsmouth furnished us with the following report: “The Piscataqua continues to deliver with the usual honey hole behind Peirce Island and the drift in front of the prison. Loaded with guides and charters the birds are showing the way in the mornings. Clams dominated the week as top bait out the door.”
Massachusetts:
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle Says that it was a busy week in the store, but not a ton of reports coming back. “I didn’t hear much over the weekend, but I had some good reports this morning. I had someone bring me a few fresh mackerel he caught off the beach. Another guy said they were getting schoolies off of Parking Lot 1. The July 4th weekend is always tough due to all the boat traffic, but I did have several guys come in and tell me they saw a lot of birds working baitfish. They didn’t see much action underneath and if they did, they had a hard time getting the stripers to focus on anything other than the baitfish. The larger spook topwater lures, like the Doc and big Yo-Zuri have been catching pretty good,” she said.
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everrett says that the fishing has been great around Boston Harbor. “We have a great fluke bite in the Pines River right now. They’re in there pretty good. The striper bite has been good too. Castle Island and off the piers in South Boston and East Boston. They’re catching them good at night with Vella Rigs, clams or sea worms. Tube and worm troll along the shorelines have been good too. There have been some pogies out by Castle Island and mackerel off of Nahant and the BG Buoy. They’re smaller, but there are stripers with them. There has been a good topwater bite early in the morning in front of Deer and Castle Island. They are getting a lot of haddock off the northwest corner of Stellwagen in about 250 feet of water.