Fishing Report September 29, 2025
While this is the final report of 2025, fishing opportunities are plentiful for anyone who wishes to keep fishing. As we move into fall, anyone still fishing is reporting some excellent fishing, with a few exceptions. Salmon fishing has slowed down on Winnipesaukee, which is typical for this time of year, as the fish are preparing to spawn. The fishing on Sebago, however, is still great for salmon and lake trout. Bass fishing is heating up and this is one of the best times of the year to fish for panfish, such as crappie, and yellow and white perch. Most anglers regard fall as the best time of the year to fish. Striped bass are still heavy along Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The heaviest of the fall run has yet to begin, so there are lots of opportunities seemingly everywhere. Once the fish begin migrating south, there will be some great opportunities to catch some trophy stripers. Thank you to all who contributed reports again this year, and to all of you who read and support this report. We will see you in January. Here’s hoping for ice!
Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago reported that “there’s not a whole bunch of people fishing, but the fishing isn’t bad. They are still fishing all the same places, but it seems like the guys’ fishing bait are doing a little better. The population of lake trout is down a bit by design and it appears that it is having a positive effect on the smelt population, which is a great thing. October is always a great time to fish the lake. The bait moves to the surface and all you have to do is look for birds diving and feeding. There’s always salmon and lake trout under them. You can’t keep salmon after September 30, but you can still fish for them, and you can keep lake trout year-round,” he said.
Captain Tim Tower of the Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing in Ogunquit posted the following report on their website: “The fishing was good overall. We had a lot of tangles even when the day became much more productive. So, it was no better than good. The catching was very good once we got out of the deep water. Landings were good overall. I am very thankful for a good rating after the morning I made for myself and our anglers. There was a time when I was wondering if we would fill two totes by the end of the day. My worries were over after 11:00 AM.”
“Most legal fish landed were pollock by far. Legal landings also included 6 cod, 21 cusk, 16 haddock and 24 redfish. During the good fishing, it was hard to get through the pollock to catch anything else. We also had a couple of spots where we couldn't get away from the mackerel. So, we kept quite a few of them as well. Released fish included 14 sub-legal cod, 13 sub-legal haddock, 40 or more sub-legal pollock, 5 small redfish and 5 blue sharks with jewelry. We also released quite a few mackerel. We didn't see a single dogfish today.” “I could not tell you who was high hook. Phil Wilson (TX) and Erik Grove (ME) did the best. They fished in the bow pulpit all day, using jig sticks, casting and never getting a single tangle. It's always a wonderful compliment to me to have anglers that are so good at jig fishing. Erik's best fish was a 12.25-pound pollock. Phil caught some nice pollock but not as big as Erik's. Phil's best fish was a 10-pound cod. They caught a tote or more of fish between them.”
“Darlene Chin (VT/FL) also fished in the bow. She only had a couple of tangles. But the most impressive part of the day for her was not seeing a dogfish caught on the boat today. This was a first for her. Darlene has been my lucky charm this season. She has also been one of my best anglers, in the top 3!”
“Nick Kirychuk, II (CT) caught the largest fish, a 16.25-pound cod. He did not enter the boat pool for the largest fish. But he did enter the boat pool for second largest fish, which he did win with this biggest fish of the trip! This is the largest cod that he has caught in years. It's also the sixth largest cod of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. His biggest pollock weighed 10.5 pounds. Chris Silver (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 13.5-pound pollock. Donnie Jones (MD) won the boat pool for the third largest fish, a 13-pound cod.”
“Other Angler Highlights: Derek Thomas (NY) caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool, a 6.5-pound cusk. Later, he caught pollock that weighed more. Rob Trottier (NH) caught the first legal cod weighing in at 6.5 pounds. Brian St. Saviour (ME) landed a 9-pound pollock and a 9.25-pound pollock. Barry Ano (NY) caught a 6.5-pound pollock when the pool leading fish was still 6.5 pounds. His largest fish ended up being an 11-pound pollock. The real Joe Sinkler (NY) caught a 10.5 pound pollock, his best fish.”
New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee was winding up the last couple of days of salmon and lake trout season on Lake Winnipesaukee before turning his attention to black crappie trips and live bait fishing for smallmouth bass, the later being a new offering this year. “The fishing has slowed down and I am hearing of people seeing salmon and rainbows staging up in the Winnipesaukee River in Laconia. I know for us, we went from double digit salmon numbers to just a few fish per trip, combined with some nice rainbows. Streamer flies are still hot for me and still down 30 and 40 feet. The water is still around 68 degrees on the surface. Although salmon and lake trout season close on Winnipesaukee after September 30, you can still fish for warm water fish (bass, crappie, perch) but you cannot troll, at all, not even for bass. There are also closed areas on the lake to be aware of. I know I will be out there for at least the next month. This is my favorite time of year to fish. The fishing is excellent and the scenery is unbeatable. Thanks to everyone who came out trolling this year. I did over 100 trips just trolling,” he said. Tim shared the following closed areas on Lake Winnipesaukee for those who wish to keep fishing it: “The areas of the lake that lie within 500 feet of Gunstock River, Poor Farm Brook, Melvin River, Merrymeeting River, Mink Brook, and Smith River (outlet of Crescent Lake), and the lake area of Lake Winnipesaukee 500 feet on either side of the Main Street bridge in Wolfeboro, are closed to all fishing from Oct. 16 to Dec. 31.
The following two areas of the lake are closed to all fishing October 1 through March 31:
1) The area of Paugus Bay which lies between the railroad trestle at its south end and the Lakeport Dam in Laconia.
2) The area of open water (the area not normally covered by ice in winter) at Weirs Channel.
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Tilton said that reports have slowed due to hunting season, but a lot of people were still targeting salmon and lake trout until the end of the season. “I’m hearing that the trolling bite has slowed down a bit, but a couple customers said they saw salmon and rainbows in the Winnipesaukee River in downtown Laconia. I don’t think anyone is really catching many, but the fish are there. That probably explains the slowdown trolling. Those fish are moving toward the rivers. We have a lot of great trout ponds that are open all year and we’ve done really well in October fishing places like Crystal and Manning Lake in Gilmanton, and Waukewan in Meredith. If people read this before Wednesday, I would try in front of Ellacoya or some of the known salmon rivers. Just don’t fish in front of those rivers after Tuesday. There’s always crappie and bass in the fall. That’s always productive,” he said.
Dana Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton Bay wanted to thank everyone for reading reports and all those who came into the shop this year. She says the state launch in Alton Bay has been very busy every day. “There are a ton of people heading out to take advantage of the last of salmon and trout season on Winnipesaukee. It’s great to see. The bass are creeping back in toward shore in the morning and evening and we are seeing a lot of shore anglers getting into them. There’s always a bunch of people who keep fishing in the fall, but a lot of folks turn to hunting season and put their fishing gear away. There is a lot of great fishing left to be had from the trout ponds with no closed season to all the warm water bass and panfish ponds,” she said.
Massachusetts:
Martha at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island says that the night bite for stripers is still the hot bite, but the boat guys are still finding some big fish during the day. “We are having a lot of people coming down from southern Maine to buy eels, so there must be a lot of fish up there still. Down here there are a bunch of people slinging eels from the beach and from boats. The water is still warm. We have some storms coming later this week which will churn things up. As much as we hate the storms for the rough seas and all the seaweed they bring, the fishing has been excellent in the days after all summer. As soon as that water cools down we should see a good influx of fish moving through. I’m doing my best to keep eels and fresh mackerel in stock,” she said.