Maine Coast Fishing Report: Stripers, Bluefish, and Offshore Groundfish Action

This is Artificial Lure coming to you with your Friday, August 8th, 2025, fishing report for the Maine coast and the Atlantic just offshore. Let’s dive in—rod in hand, boots on the rocks.

We're rolling into a near-perfect stretch of summer fishing weather. The sunrise is at 5:30AM and sunset comes at 7:44PM, giving you ample daylight for a double tide session in Bar Harbor and York Harbor. Tides are running big this week: expect a low at about 6:06AM with a nearly negative reading, and high right around midday, cresting to over 10 feet. That means moving water, strong currents, and plenty of fish moving in and out of the coves and off the beaches according to tide-forecast.com.

Ocean conditions are holding calm, with coastal winds staying modest thanks to a high-pressure ridge over New England, says the forecast from Ocean Weather.gov. No rough stuff, just a pleasant chop—prime conditions for small crafts and folks looking to run out to the reefs or among the islands.

Striped bass remain the headline grabbers. The night shift and pre-dawn hours are delivering solid action, with local anglers reporting stripers prowling sandy beaches and rocky outcrops, especially around the Kennebunk River mouth and the backside of Wells Beach. Early risers are connecting with stripers just after sunrise, hitting topwater plugs and soft plastics—think the classic white Zoom Fluke, or a bone-colored Spook at first light, as reported by On The Water.

Live bait lovers are quietly slipping eels or mackerel under the docks and scoring keepers, with some fish pushing over 32 inches. If you like soaking fresh bait, sandeels and herring chunks have both been strong. Lobster-molt time means stripers are keying on molted crustaceans and chasing baitballs—so a bucktail tipped with pork rind or a bold Gulp! swimming mullet will draw their attention.

Bluefish are pushing into the bays and outer ledges too, flashier lures like Kastmasters and metal spoons can pull vicious strikes, especially mid-tide while schools are churning bait within casting range.

Groundfishers heading offshore out to Jeffreys Ledge and the deeper shoals are hauling up a classic mixed bag: pollock, cusk, and dogfish have all been bending rods, with the occasional keeper haddock still in the mix. Big jigs and hefty teasers in chartreuse or white have gotten mentioned in the shops, usually tipped with squid strips or Gulp! curly tails.

The warm bottom is making fluke and sea bass more active. Good reports coming from the reefs south of Portland and the sand patches around Saco Bay: fluke are taking bucktails and squid strips, sometimes with a teaser above for double hookups, while sea bass are hammering on leadhead jigs along the wrecks.

In the lobster world, hauls are slightly slower compared to peak June, as noted in the Maine Department of Marine Resources updates. Traps still coming up chunky, though, especially along the deeper runs off Cape Elizabeth. Keepers are fattened with the warm, clean water.

For those interested in exotics, the late-summer push has started bringing in bonito and occasional Spanish mackerel in the eastern Sound—small metals moving fast or a flashy olive and silver minnow spoon are the tickets there.

Your hot spots for the day:
- Try the jetties at Pine Point for stripers and blues at dawn and dusk.
- Head offshore to Tanta’s Ledge if you have the boat and the nerve—groundfish and pollock action is strong on moving tides.
- Inside Portland Harbor, bridge abutments are holding stripers tight at night and dawn.

That’s your bite update for today—thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more local insight. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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