Maine Ocean Fishing Report: Fluke, Stripers, Tuna, and More

Artificial Lure here with your fresh Atlantic Ocean, Maine fishing report for Sunday, August 17, 2025.

Let’s start with conditions. Sunrise hit at 5:46 this morning, and sunset rolls around at 7:39 tonight. Weather’s shaping up classic Maine coastal: patchy morning fog, temps warming into the mid-70s, and a light south wind bumping up to 10–15 knots. NOAA forecasts say seas will be running 3–4 feet, so it’s fishable outside, but you might get some chop if you run offshore. Tidewise, we had a high just before 6 AM, sliding down to low water around 5:10 PM according to NOAA. If you’re fishing the mouths or inlets, work that outgoing.

Now, on to the fish. Fluke (summer flounder) are the main event right now, with most big ones sliding out of the bays and lighting up inlets and nearshore reefs—Bangor ledges, Old Orchard reef, and Saco Bay wrecks have all put up keeper fish in the last week. Several folks reported three to five solid fluke per trip, with a few true doormats topping 7 pounds. Bucktail jigs trimmed with Gulp! Swimming Mullet (chartreuse is hard to beat) are the ticket, but don’t sleep on fresh local squid or strip baits for tempting larger fish. On a moving tide, they’ll be staged at the dropoffs.

Striped bass continue to feed well at first light through dusk along the southern Maine shoreline. The Kennebunk River mouth and Scarborough Marsh edges have given up multiple fish in the 22–30 inch range. Mackerel chunk baits are dynamite, but a topwater Spook or a white paddle tail soft bait draws epic strikes on a calm morning. If you’re after numbers, drifting live eels has put some real cows on deck this week.

Offshore, it’s all about bluefin tuna. Charters running off Portland and out by Jeffreys Ledge report bluefin action heating up, with several recreational-sized fish plus a few bigger models tagged and released these past few days, according to FishingBooker reports. Most hookups are coming on live mackerel or bluefish, but large silver and pink RonZ soft baits fished deep are producing when the bite’s tough. Trolling rigged ballyhoo or spreader bars is putting a few yellowfin and bigeye in the mix out past the ledges.

Lobster traps are full, with good numbers still showing in 50-75 feet near Pemaquid and Winter Harbor—Maine’s lobster fleet, per National Fisherman, is winding down race season and turning attention back to hauling.

For those on the jetty or surf, fresh-cut squid or clams are drawing mixed-bag action, with a few legal black sea bass and the odd tautog (blackfish) as bycatch. Flounder fillets and sea worms will pick up scup and schoolies close in.

Hurricane Erin is sending some long-period swell up the coast, so surf may be bumpy by midweek—if you’re wading, mind your footing and always check conditions.

For hotspots, put your time in at Higgins Beach at sunrise for stripers or the rocky ledges off Prouts Neck for larger blues. Offshore hunters should aim for the west edge of Jeffreys Ledge for tuna, especially around the new moon tide change.

Thanks for tuning in to your 2025 Maine ocean fishing report. Don’t forget to subscribe for more tips and local news. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.

Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn