Fishing Report September 1, 2025

Great fishing continues, even though many have turned their attention to hunting seasons. Bear season and some small game seasons are open in some areas, and deer season will be here before you know it, leaving many getting ready for that. Those who are still fishing know the value of late season. Short days and cooler water fire things back up to what most fall anglers consider the best bite of the year. That said, our annual Septemberfest event is going on now. Stop in for great deals, giveaways, demos, and more now through September 7.

Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago reported another week of good salmon and lake trout fishing on Sebago. “Not a lot has changed from last week. All the usual spots are still producing fish. The west side of Frye’s Island is still producing a lot of fish. A lot of guys are jigging lake trout in 50 feet of water. The lake trout tournament is this Saturday. They are still catching a lot of really big salmon. The water is cooling off, so the bait and fish should start moving up now. It’s almost time to break the sinking fly line back out. I love crappie fishing this time of year. The small ponds should be producing well now and it will only get better.

Captain Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit posted the following report on their website: “The fishing was good. The drift was a little too fast for most, there were more tangles than normal in the deeper water while anchored but there were very few dogfish and only a couple of blue sharks that bothered. The catching was good. Landings were fair to good. Most legal fish landed were redfish, by far. Legal landings also included 20 pollock, 9 cusk, 5 haddock, 2 whiting and 12 mackerel. Released fish included a 25-pound cod, a 13.5-pound cod, 7 small cod, 12 sub-legal haddock, 9 small pollock, 7 small redfish, 9 dogfish, 1 blue shark and 3 mackerel. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. Cod flies and jigs caught the most fish.”

“Mark Talarico (NY) was high hook with the most legal fish, mostly redfish. The largest fish was a cod that was 25 pounds or more caught by 12-year-old Orry Blake (ME). We, unintentionally, released it beside the boat after he brought the fish to the surface. It would have been the Bunny Clark's largest cod of the fishing season to date. Orry did win the boat pool for the largest fish with the third largest fish, a 13-pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 13.5-pound cod caught by Darlene Chin (VT/FL). Darlene never gets in the boat pool. Darlene's biggest pollock was 8 pounds. And she caught a 2.5-pound whiting.”

“Other Angler Highlights: Dylan Daly (NH) caught an 8-pound pollock, his biggest fish. Christian Platon (NH) caught a pollock that weighed 10 pounds. Bob Hensley (NH) boated an 8.5-pound pollock and a 9.75-pound pollock. Dana Decormier (NH) landed a 10-pound pollock and a pollock that weighed 8 pounds. Dana was the one who lost a blue shark and his jig with it. Dan Dorr (ME) was high hook for most of the morning. His largest fish was an 8-pound pollock.”

New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee reported another good week of trolling. “I was away for a few days on vacation, but I am hearing that not much has changed, except the water temperature. Surface temps are down into the 60s, so we will be breaking the sinking fly line back out very soon. Yellows and oranges still dominate, with green and blue catching fish here and there. The jig bite in the southern end of the lake still stinks. It’s disappointing. I’m still scouting around for new spots when I have time, but the season is winding down and I don’t want to waste too much trolling time. It won’t be long before we are on to catching crappie,” he said.

Dana Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton Bay reported mostly tourist customers in the shop over the Labor Day weekend. “We have had mostly tourists stopping in for local pond fishing. The trolling guys are still coming in, but we don’t have as much time to hear from them. A lot of people are gearing up for hunting season, but I did have quite a few people in getting geared up to go white perch fishing,” she said.

Jason Brewster at Brewster’s Bait and Tackle in Portsmouth furnished the following report: “It's the calm before the storm on the Piscataqua, with the bait fish thinning out and the stripers slowing down before the big push. Expecting a solid push south soon and even though this is the last report we will be open through mid-October. Last of the season seaworms are going out the door and topwater 24/7 needle plugs a close 2nd. Have a great fall run and we will see you next spring!”.

Massachusetts:
Liz at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island was hopeful that the hurricane having stirred things up would have brought more fish in around the beaches and into the Merrimack, but they are still waiting. “They’re catching some fish, but we were really hoping the hurricane would have stirred things up and brought more stripers in. There are a few fish being caught, but it’s still a little slow. There were reports of a few bluefish caught last week, but they are gone now. The refuge is open to night fishing with a permit now. You can’t drive on, but you can get a permit to fish there at night as long as you are on the refuge before the gate closes in the evening. You can buy a pass at the main office or at a kiosk at the gate,” she said.

Pete Santini at Fishing Finatics in Everett said the fishing continues in and around Boston Harbor, with tautog showing up in better numbers. “There was a big bite with big fish between Nahant and Marblehead over the weekend. There were some 50-inch fish caught. There are still fish inside the harbor in all the normal spots, around most of the islands. Trolling tubes in tight at high tide is working good. There are a lot of tautog around. They are catching them in the rock piles on sea worms and around the pilings in Boston Harbor. Mackerel were thick off of Nahant at the number 2 can. Bluefish have disappeared. They’re catching cod right out between Graves and B Buoy. There are some big cunner, up to 14-inches in all the rock piles,” he said.