UTERJanuary
Groundfish on the deep ledges when the weather lets you
Party boats to the deep ledges for haddock (check NOAA — seasons and cod rules are tight); winter weather calls most days.
Boston to Eastport
Gulf of Maine fishing fishing
What's biting in Gulf of Maine fishing in October: Atlantic bluefin tuna, Atlantic cod and haddock at their peak, with bluefish, striped bass and blue shark around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 10 fish here month by month, from Boston to Bar Harbor.
Stripers leave; tuna and groundfish carry on
Cold, deep, rocky water: Massachusetts Bay and Stellwagen Bank, the North Shore beaches and Plum Island, the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers, the Isles of Shoals and Jeffreys Ledge, and the long ragged Maine coast of rocky points, islands and tidal rivers (Saco, Kennebec, Penobscot) out to Platts Bank and Tillies.
BostonGloucesterNewburyportPortsmouthPortlandBoothbayBar Harbor
Updated
Now · October
Stripers leave; tuna and groundfish carry on
The last stripers head out early in the month; bluefin until the weather turns; haddock and pollock on the ledges.
Atlantic bluefin tunaHaddockPollockAtlantic codStriped bass
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakPeakLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingAround
Atlantic bluefin tuna
Atlantic cod
Haddock
Pollock
Bluefish
Striped bass
Leaving — the last schools head out of Maine early in the month.
Blue shark
Atlantic mackerel
Black sea bass
The water
The tide here
Semidiurnal, 8–18 ft
Big tides — nine feet at Boston, eleven at Portland, eighteen and more Down East. The rivers and estuaries drain hard; fish the river mouths on the dropping tide and the ledges where the current hits.
Structure that matters
Ledge / hard bottomArtificial reefWreckBeach / surfPass / inletChannel edgeFishing pierDock / pilings
After a cold front
The water here is cold all year — a front matters less to the ledge fish than to the stripers in the rivers, which drop deeper and sulk for a day. Big seas close the ledges more than the cold does.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Deep-water haddock, weather permitting
Clams on a hi-lo in 200+ ft; watch the season dates.
March
Haddock closed in March; a quiet month
Gulf of Maine haddock is closed in March (2026 rules); not much else inshore.
April
Haddock reopen; cod spawn in Ipswich Bay
Haddock on the ledges again; Ipswich Bay's spawning cod are protected by a closure — check NOAA; first flounder in the harbors.
May
First stripers into the rivers; mackerel arrive
Schoolies into Boston Harbor, the Merrimack and the Piscataqua late in the month; mackerel off the docks for bait; haddock and pollock on Jeffreys.
June
Stripers on herring and mackerel; groundfish on the ledges
Live mackerel off the Maine ledges and Plum Island for stripers; haddock and pollock on Stellwagen, Jeffreys and Tillies; the first giant bluefin.
July
Giants on Stellwagen; river-mouth stripers in Maine
Live mackerel and herring for giant bluefin on Stellwagen and Jeffreys; stripers on the dropping tide at the Kennebec, Saco and Scarborough marsh; big pollock on diamond jigs.
August
Bluefin, pollock and the odd chopper
Tuna on the ledges and the banks; pollock and haddock on the party boats; choppers in Boston Harbor in the years they come.
September
The fall feed — big stripers, bigger bluefin
Big stripers on pogies in Boston Harbor and the Maine rivers; the largest bluefin of the year; cod seasons are short and change yearly (eastern GOM listed Sept–Oct in 2026) — check NOAA.
October · now
Stripers leave; tuna and groundfish carry on
The last stripers head out early in the month; bluefin until the weather turns; haddock and pollock on the ledges.
November
Late bluefin and the groundfish boats
Party boats to the ledges; the last tuna for the hardy.
December
Winter on the ledges
Weather windows only; haddock on clams in deep water.
Fish guides for Gulf of Maine fishing
When, where and what to use, fish by fishAtlantic bluefin tunaAtlantic codAtlantic mackerelBlack sea bassBlue sharkBluefishHaddockPollockStriped bassWinter flounder
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