Prime Tide Stripers and Offshore Groundfish Action Heating Up Along the Maine Coast

Artificial Lure here with your Saturday, June 21st, 2025 Atlantic Ocean, Maine fishing report.

Today, sunrise hit at 5:03 AM and we’ll have daylight until sunset at 8:25 PM. Tides around York Harbor are prime for fishing, with a morning high tide at 7:40 AM, low at 1:52 PM, and another high coming in strong at 8:04 PM. That early evening flood tide is always a favorite for stripers patrolling the beaches and inlets, especially when you’ve got a light southerly breeze and mild June temperatures to set the mood. Water temps have climbed nicely—just right for kicking fish activity into high gear. Skies are partly cloudy with balmy conditions expected through dusk, ideal for both inshore and offshore action.

Striped bass are the headliners right now. From Saco Bay down to Ogunquit and Wells Beach, we’re seeing some real big bass—fish over 45 inches have been landed just this week, with plenty of keeper-sized stripers in the 24-30 inch range cruising the troughs and sandbars. Inshore beaches and rocky shorelines are producing, especially around dawn, dusk, and at night. Eels by night and live mackerel by day are the top baits, but don’t sleep on topwater action: Cotton Cordell Pencils and Yo-Zuri Mag Poppers are triggering explosive strikes in the low light hours. When the sun’s up, white 10-inch Hogys, Zinger Flukes, and Albie Snax XL soft plastics have all been hot, especially around river drop-offs where herring are still trickling out.

If you’re hunting groundfish, the offshore ledges are on fire—Jeffrey’s Ledge and Platt’s Ledge continue to churn out excellent numbers of haddock, with a few quality pollock mixing in. That offshore bite is unusual for late June but cold water temps offshore are keeping it rolling.

Mackerel have become more accessible, schooling thick by the inshore islands. Flounder fans will find good numbers in the York River, and for those looking for multi-species action, try chunking mackerel off the Camp Ellis jetties or throwing sandworms around Pine Point and the Saco Bay marshes.

For best results today, plan your sessions around the moving tides—hit the beaches and jetties at sunrise and just before sunset, then slide upriver during slack water or low tide transitions. With all the options right now, you can’t go far wrong.

Hot spots to circle on your chart: Wells Beach for big bass on the night tide, Parsons Beach for steady slot stripers, and Jeffrey’s Ledge for offshore groundfish.

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