03 September 2025
Maine Coast Fishing Report - Mackerel Blitzes, Stripers, and Offshore Groundfish Action
Atlantic Ocean, Maine Fishing Report - Daily
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Artificial Lure here with your Atlantic Ocean, Maine fishing report for Wednesday, September 3, 2025. Sunrise painted the glass-calm waters at 6:08 this morning, with sunset coming up tonight at 7:12. Weather today’s been ideal—crystal clear skies most of the day, temps in the low to mid-70s, and a gentle breeze off the water, keeping things comfortable out on the boats. No heavy humidity, and visibility’s been top notch.
Tides for the Maine coast saw a high just after 5:00 AM and again near 5:45 PM, with low tides late morning and again tonight. That means this afternoon’s incoming tide and the prime golden hour near sunset are spot-on for anglers looking to pick up the late bite. These are the times locals swear by when targeting inshore and nearshore species.
According to today’s Atlantic Ocean, Maine Daily Fishing Report podcast, mackerel made a strong showing at first light, especially in the harbors and along tidal rips off Cape Elizabeth and Richmond Island. Live mackerel or Sabiki rigs tipped with small bits of bait put big smiles on early risers; a few anglers reported quick limits before breakfast. Stripers are still prowling the river mouths at Pine Point and Saco Bay—several fish in the low to upper slot today, biggest pushing 39 inches, fell to soft plastics, with the white paddle-tail shads being the top producer this week. Clams and live eels worked well for those soaking bait, especially around the Scarborough Marsh edges at dusk, and a few quality schoolies even took flashy spinners mid-morning.
Offshore, the groundfish bite is heating up. According to Bunny Clark Charters, pollock and haddock were coming over the rail steady all day with only a handful of dogfish and almost no downtime. Most keepers were pollock, but today’s run brought in 12 keeper haddock, three dozen decent mackerel, plus cusk, whiting, and a couple of cod—the cod slot just reopened for the fall, so now’s the time. Jigs paired with teaser flies out-fished bait for both quantity and size. Captain Ian on the podcast reminds folks to pack chartreuse and pink jigs for the best results offshore, and don’t overlook a bucktail tipped with Berkley Gulp for haddock.
Bluefish are trickling in off Higgins Beach and Biddeford Pool, slicing up mackerel schools in the surface blitzes. Metals like Kastmasters, and topwater plugs if you like an adrenaline rush, have been the ticket for these gator blues. A few football-size school tuna were spotted outside Jeffrey’s Ledge, though most are window shopping—chunking and casting swimbaits can at least get your blood pumping, but bring heavy gear just in case.
Hot spots today? No-brainer: Richmond Island led the striper scorecards this morning, and Saco Bay’s inner channels are reliably stacked with bait and linesiders late in the day. For offshore fans, the peak just south of Boon Island continues kicking out groundfish for anyone who can run the extra miles.
Quick rundown on tackle—the best lures this week are white or bone-colored soft plastics for stripers, Sabiki rigs for mackerel, and 6- to 10-ounce jigs in chartreuse or pink for bottom species. Don’t skip the sandworms or clams for natural bait, especially if you’re hitting dawn or dusk tides. Heavy leaders are a must if you pull into a bluefish blitz.
To everyone getting out today, keep an eye on the weather—the Atlantic hurricane season’s been quiet near Maine this week, but always check marine forecasts before heading offshore.
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Tides for the Maine coast saw a high just after 5:00 AM and again near 5:45 PM, with low tides late morning and again tonight. That means this afternoon’s incoming tide and the prime golden hour near sunset are spot-on for anglers looking to pick up the late bite. These are the times locals swear by when targeting inshore and nearshore species.
According to today’s Atlantic Ocean, Maine Daily Fishing Report podcast, mackerel made a strong showing at first light, especially in the harbors and along tidal rips off Cape Elizabeth and Richmond Island. Live mackerel or Sabiki rigs tipped with small bits of bait put big smiles on early risers; a few anglers reported quick limits before breakfast. Stripers are still prowling the river mouths at Pine Point and Saco Bay—several fish in the low to upper slot today, biggest pushing 39 inches, fell to soft plastics, with the white paddle-tail shads being the top producer this week. Clams and live eels worked well for those soaking bait, especially around the Scarborough Marsh edges at dusk, and a few quality schoolies even took flashy spinners mid-morning.
Offshore, the groundfish bite is heating up. According to Bunny Clark Charters, pollock and haddock were coming over the rail steady all day with only a handful of dogfish and almost no downtime. Most keepers were pollock, but today’s run brought in 12 keeper haddock, three dozen decent mackerel, plus cusk, whiting, and a couple of cod—the cod slot just reopened for the fall, so now’s the time. Jigs paired with teaser flies out-fished bait for both quantity and size. Captain Ian on the podcast reminds folks to pack chartreuse and pink jigs for the best results offshore, and don’t overlook a bucktail tipped with Berkley Gulp for haddock.
Bluefish are trickling in off Higgins Beach and Biddeford Pool, slicing up mackerel schools in the surface blitzes. Metals like Kastmasters, and topwater plugs if you like an adrenaline rush, have been the ticket for these gator blues. A few football-size school tuna were spotted outside Jeffrey’s Ledge, though most are window shopping—chunking and casting swimbaits can at least get your blood pumping, but bring heavy gear just in case.
Hot spots today? No-brainer: Richmond Island led the striper scorecards this morning, and Saco Bay’s inner channels are reliably stacked with bait and linesiders late in the day. For offshore fans, the peak just south of Boon Island continues kicking out groundfish for anyone who can run the extra miles.
Quick rundown on tackle—the best lures this week are white or bone-colored soft plastics for stripers, Sabiki rigs for mackerel, and 6- to 10-ounce jigs in chartreuse or pink for bottom species. Don’t skip the sandworms or clams for natural bait, especially if you’re hitting dawn or dusk tides. Heavy leaders are a must if you pull into a bluefish blitz.
To everyone getting out today, keep an eye on the weather—the Atlantic hurricane season’s been quiet near Maine this week, but always check marine forecasts before heading offshore.
Thanks for tuning in to the report. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an update. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn