Maine's Early Summer Fishing Hotspot - Stripers, Haddock, and Bluefish Sizzle on the Atlantic Edge

Artificial Lure here, bringing you the latest from Maine’s salty Atlantic edge for Friday, June 20th, 2025. We’re waking up to prime conditions for anglers along the coast—sunrise hit us at 4:59 AM, and sunset’s out there waiting at 8:25 PM, so there’s a long window for the bite to get hot. Tidal swings in Portland have the morning high at 6:34 AM, dropping to low at 12:44 PM, with another high rolling in at 7:05 PM. These healthy tides are setting up classic Maine structure and moving bait—just what you want for active early-summer fishing.

Striped bass are the headline, with schools moving from the rivers and estuaries to the open ocean, thanks to the inshore bait rotation shifting—herring dropping off and mackerel taking over. On The Water reports striper action up and down the coast, and there have been verified catches of trophy-sized fish over 40 inches right here in Maine waters. The rips off Scarborough and the ledges around Cape Elizabeth are both holding quality fish, especially around those key tide changes. Mackerel-imitating lures like silver/blue DB Smelts have been drawing violent strikes, and fly anglers are doing damage with red and grey Ghost streamers. If you’re soaking bait, live or fresh-cut mackerel is king, but chunked pogie and surf clams are also effective, especially tight to shore structure and at dusk[1][5].

Offshore, groundfishing is downright excellent. Haddock in the 5-10 pound range are still steady over the rails on party boats running out of Portland and Saco—the bite is described as “reminiscent of better years” by reports from On The Water. Bring squid strips or clams for bait, and don’t overlook a white artificial grub on a high-low rig for bonus cusk and pollock[4].

Bluefish action has picked up with cocktail-sized fish (2-5 pounds) chasing bait balls from the river mouths all the way out to the ocean front. Metal spoons and poppers are the ticket—cast into surface commotion for your best chance of a hook-up. And don’t ignore the chunk bite for bluefish after the sun gets higher.

A couple of hot spots: the rocky points around Two Lights State Park are producing big stripers and blues on a moving tide, and the mouth of the Saco River is another reliable producer, especially close to slack water. Offshore, the lumps off Cape Porpoise are loaded with haddock and the occasional big cod, so that’s your groundfish destination.

Weather-wise, we’re enjoying cool, clear mornings with a light breeze switching southeast by midday, and afternoon highs in the upper 60s—absolutely perfect to keep fish and anglers active and comfortable[6].

That’s the report for today, Friday June 20th. Thanks for tuning in—remember to subscribe so you never miss the daily bite report. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.