Fishing Report June 29, 2026
Hot weather is upon us and many fish will be sliding into their summer patterns. Many deem July to be a lull month for fishing, but anglers willing to adjust how they fish, and follow fish as they move deeper, will do well. Striper fishing is still hot, with late spring-like weather pushing the striper patterns a little later. Haddock fishing has picked up off of Jeffrey’s Ledge and Stellwagen Bank. Trout fishing has slowed down for most southern waters, but smallmouth and largemouth bass anglers are reporting good fishing.
Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago reported slower salmon fishing on Sebago in the past week, but better lake trout jigging. “The fishing on Sebago has slowed down a bit, but the lake trout fishing has picked up. I’m going to be switching over to some jigging. Everyone is seeing more fish on bottom in deep water and they are picking up lake trout trolling Flatfish. There’s quite a bit of bait on the southern end of the Shoals still and off the inside shoal off of Ward’s Cove. I mark fish, but can’t get them to bite. The bass fishing is really good on Tricky right now. We went out for crappie and white perch recently and did very well. We troll spinner rigs that we make until we find schools of fish. Then we cast small plastics to them,” he said.
Weston at Saco Bay Tackle in Saco reported that the stripers have mostly moved out of the rivers and to the ocean front, with the beaches producing a lot more fish now. “They are definitely getting more fish from the beaches now. We’re seeing a lot of big schools of fish. Up near Higgins Beach there are a ton of mackerel in now. Herring are scarce, so the mackerel are welcomed,’ 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 on the first stop but only good to very good for the rest of the trip. The tide was just too strong after that. The anglers could handle it, no problem. But the bite dropped off dramatically after the tide picked up. The catching was very good, bordering on excellent. Landings were good, much better than Tuesday but not as good as Fred or I wanted it to be. It looked like it was going to be excellent during the first hour of fishing. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included 33 cusk, 47 pollock, 9 redfish and 2 whiting. Released fish included 44 small cod, 3 cod over 6 pounds, 14 cusk, 3 sub-legal haddock, 9 small pollock and 18 dogfish. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. Each method had its time. All terminal gear had its time, but bait worked best overall.
I believe that Mark Girard (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. This is a value judgement on my part, with consultation with Danny and input from customers, Jim Feeney for one. Jim Feeney (MA) and Fred Kunz (NH) were close or could have been high hook. Fred has a dead accurate count of his legal fish, but no one else does. Steve LaPlante (CT) and Steve Selmer (NH), both fishing in the bow, were close as well. Mark won the boat pool for the second largest, a 13.5-pound Maine state trophy cusk. This is Bunny Clark's largest cusk of the fishing season to date and might be Mark caught the first haddock big enough to weigh. It was 5.5 pounds. He also caught the first weighable pollock at 5 pounds.”
“Dick Lyle (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 28-pound cod, the last fish caught today. This is Bunny Clark's largest cod of the fishing season so far. It's also the largest cod we have seen caught since Lewis Hazelwood (MA) caught a 30.5-pound cod on October 14, 2021! Dick has been one of my best anglers in the history of the Bunny Clark and one of our best cod fishermen of all time. It didn't surprise me that he was the one to catch the big cod. I was just glad I was here today to see it!”
“The third largest fish was a 13-pound Maine state trophy cusk caught by Steve LaPlante. This cusk is the Bunny Clark's second largest cusk of the fishing season to date. He also caught the largest haddock of the day, a Maine state trophy of 7.5 pounds. Steve always catches something special that I can write about.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Fred Kunz (NH) caught an 8.75-pound cusk. At the time, it was the third-largest fish. His total legal fish count was 27. Steve Selmer caught the second-largest cod at 12.75 pounds. This is also the second-largest cod caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. He had the most haddock today, with a count of 12 legal. Jim Feeney caught the most cusk doubles. I believe that he had four.”
New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Servicesays that things are finally starting to improve on Lake Winnipesaukee. “Finally, some better fishing. We ended the week with a full moon, which I could do without, but despite that, we had better catches. The water is finally starting to warm up and the thermocline should be well defined within days of this report. We are already seeing better salmon and rainbow numbers. Some really nice rainbows have moved into the area I fish. Most of our fish are coming down 30 or 35 feet, but that will likely change. Oranges have been the best. Top Gun spoons in the Guide Pumpkin and Blood and Guts colors, and streamer flies in Canopache, Maynard Marvel, and Firesmelt have been good. Some days most fish come on lead core and some days most on downriggers,” he said.
Massachusetts:
Nick at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island said that the fish have moved down from upriver and the fishing is very good right now. “Everything has been picking up. The fish are moving out of the river and transitioning between a lot of different types of bait. There is a lot of mackerel around and a ton of sand eels. Top water action has been heating up, and soft plastics are doing good. Slug-Gos and Gravity Tackle Eels have been selling well. Some metals have been doing okay as well,” he said.