Fishing Report May 25, 2026
We hope you had a great Memorial Day Weekend and got some time to fish! From most accounts, feeling fishy wasn’t too difficult. Stripers are here in droves, and some nice fish too. Salmon fishing on Sebago has been excellent this season. Flounder are feeding in the harbors, trout are biting in rivers, ponds, and lakes, and bass are in spawning mode. This coming week, we should see more stripers moving north and into rivers and estuaries.
Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago told us that the past week of salmon fishing on Sebago has been insane. “One of the guides called me Sunday and they caught 20 salmon over off the Dingley’s. We got salmon right on top on streamers over deep water the other days. The one that did the best for us the other day was a tandem Sportsmen’s Say, I couldn’t believe it. The Magog Smelt and Gray Ghost were good too. It’s surprising how many people are still catching fish right on top. If you find bait down deep, don’t drop down to the bait. Stay up above it. I’m not hearing much from other places, because the fishing has been so good on Sebago. My buddy caught 7 salmon up on Long Lake the other day. I heard of some decent fishing from Little Ossipee, but haven’t heard anything from Tricky or Hancock,” he said.
Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit posted the following report on his website: “The fishing was excellent. The drift was better than perfect, there were zero tangles and there was plenty of room, as the lines stayed pretty much straight up and down. The catching was nothing short of excellent; a fish or two a drop for everyone. Landings were excellent. We had the total boat bag limit of haddock by noon. We didn't keep any legal haddock under19 inches. The average-sized haddock was over 5 pounds. Legal landings also included 14 cusks, 17 pollock, two redfish and four mackerel. Released fish included 93 legal sized haddock to 9 pounds, one sub-legal haddock, 38 sub-legal pollock, 6 cusk, 11 small cod and one cod of 10 pounds. We drift-fished the whole day. Bait worked best.”
“Jason Ridolfi was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with the most legal fish and he won the boat pool for the largest fish, an 11.5 pound pollock. He caught the pollock as part of a double with another pollock of 6.5 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. The bigger pollock is the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the fishing season so far. He caught the first fish I could weigh to start the boat pool, a 5.5-pound haddock.”
“The big story of the day, with Jason, was his boating five Maine state trophy haddock! This ties the most trophy haddock caught by a single angler on any one trip during the 44 years that Bunny Clark has been taking anglers fishing. Only Jim Koplar (CT) has duplicated that feat. And that happened in May of 2024. No angler on the Bunny Clark has ever caught four trophy haddock on one trip. In the past we have had three anglers who caught three trophy haddock on one trip. That was the record before Jim made his mark in 2024. Those anglers who held the three trophy records included Gil Bonvie (MA), who achieved this feat on May 9, 2002; this was tied by Marc Holland (MA) on April 29, 2003, and was tied again by Jeff Frisby (NY) on April 23, 2010. Last season, Karl Day joined the honored second group by catching three trophy haddock during a trip on May 29, 2025. So, Jason catching five on one trip is pretty special. And he stopped fishing for the last hour of the day after he caught his last one!”
“Jason's largest haddock, weighing in at 9.75 pounds, is this season's largest Bunny Clark haddock. It wasn't particularly long, but it had a girth of 18 inches, a minimum of two inches more than any other haddock we have caught this season. This fish was the third-largest fish of the trip. His other trophies included a 7.1-pound haddock, a 7-pound haddock, a 7.75-pound haddock and an 8-pound haddock. Collectively, it's the most weight in trophy haddock caught by any angler aboard the Bunny Clark in it's 44-year history for a single trip. Some of his other good fish included a 7-pound cusk and two haddock of 6 pounds each. He, of course, had many other good-sized haddock.”
“Jason Kenyon won the boat pool for the second largest fish, a 10-pound cod. This was the largest cod of the trip by 5 pounds. It's also Bunny Clark's second largest cod of the fishing season to date. His best fish was a 9-pound Maine state trophy haddock. This is the largest haddock he has ever caught and a tie for the second largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. There is a slim chance that Jason was high hook. But Ridolfi stopped fishing for the last half hour of the day. Jason actually caught the 9-pound haddock after the bag limit was caught. Some of Jason's other great fish included a 6-pound haddock, two haddock of 6.5 pounds each, two cusk of 6.5 pounds each and a 6.25-pound haddock.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Mike Mendola caught two Maine state trophy haddock of 8 pounds each. These are the two largest haddock that Mike has ever caught. [That's also the size of the largest haddock that I have ever caught as well!] Some of Mike's other good catches were a double that included a 6.1-pound haddock and a 6-pound haddock, two other haddock of 6 pounds each and a 6.5-pound haddock. Aaron Fox caught a 7.75-pound Maine state trophy haddock, his largest fish. He also caught another Maine state trophy haddock of 7.5 pounds. Jim Smith (NY) caught a 6-pound haddock and a 6.5-pound haddock, his two biggest fish. Dan Wincenciak caught a 6-pound haddock, two haddock of 6.5 pounds each and a 6.25-pound haddock. These were his best fish. I fished for a little bit myself. I caught two haddock of 5 pounds or more, two cusk and I suspect that I lost a small halibut. It acted like a haddock, but I don't think there is a haddock left in the ocean that big. I didn't fish much. I was too busy. Danny is very protective of his fillet table. But he did let me fillet 32 fish today, a record number for a trip this year so far.”
New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service reported another up-and-down week of trolling for salmon and trout. “It’s been a strange bite this year. We’re catching fish, but just when you think you’ve found them, they’re gone. We’ve had to do a lot of searching. The key to numbers has been sticking with an area once we land a fish, especially if we find one near a key area, such as anear a hump, on a reef, or over a large basin. Colors have been all over the place. Mini BB Gun and BB Gun spoons with yellow and pink on them have been good, as have Top Gun spoons. Golden Demon and Salty Special streamer flies have been good this week. Surface water temps in the main lake hit 57 degrees, but I’m sure the rain and cooler weather kept it closer to 51. Depths have been all over the place. Some mornings the fish are right on top. Most days the fish are scattered from 5 to 35-feet down. I’ll be glad when the thermocline sets up,” he said.
Ki at Dover Marine/Covered Bridge Sports told us that flounder fishing has picked up. “I’ve had good flounder reports from Hampton Harbor. Sea worms have been the hot bait from what I’ve heard. The striper fishing is unbelievable right now. The ocean front and Piscataqua River is loaded with big fish, with new sea lice covered fish showing up every day. The topwater bite has been great. Paddletails have been good too,” he said.
Massachusetts:
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island reported tons of stripers everywhere. “We had high tide and sunrise and the fishing was crazy down the river, which doesn’t make sense. It’s not usually like that. The boat guys are doing well, the surf guys are doing well, and the fish are all the way up into Lawrence. I’m seeing too much mishandling of fish. People need to take better care of the fish we have or there won’t be any. I have heard of fish in Plum Island Sound and the Parker. Along the beach has started to pick up, but the recent winds made things a little weedy. Sea clams have been the hot bait, then sea worms, and we just started getting our hands on some fresh mackerel. For lures, anything paddletail. Literally anything paddletail. The Berkley Chop Block glide bait has been doing well too,” she said.
Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett furnished the following report: “Flounder are thick at Deer Island, Peddocks, Hospital Shoals, Lynn Harbor and loaded from Marblehead to Beverly Harbors, especially off Browns Island. Zobo Rigs with sea worms are working, and chum helps. They’re catching flounder up to 3 lbs. They’re getting tautog from Chelsea Creek to the Deer Island pier and everywhere in between, again on zobo rigs and seaworms. Stripers are thick from the casino to Graves Light, to Nahant. Trolling Santini tubes along the harbor islands in close or pull Mystic Mojos, Niner Rigs or Boston Massacre rigs out deeper. Topwater action is good on red and white Cornell pencil and white/green shads early in the morning. Haddock is good on the northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. Brook, brown, and rainbows out of Walden and Whites on shiners, crawlers, and power eggs.”