Share your catch
US

Chesuncook Lake Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Maine’s third-largest lake: Chesuncook holds brook trout and togue in the North Woods.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~44 F est.
Air / High
33 / 43 F
Wind
WSW 5 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
9
November 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Chesuncook Lake asks for patience today: short windows, precise presentations. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 5 mph, rising pressure near 999 hPa and a high of 43. Water sits around 44 F for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:01 PM-1:01 AM and 10:37 AM-12:37 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Lake troutGood

Winter: Vermont says most of its lake trout fishing is done through the ice, and Michigan anglers jig spoons tipped with cut bait in deep Great Lakes bays.

Brook troutFair

Below 50°F is the fall spawning band (40-50°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

Smallmouth bassFair

Fish hold in slower, deeper water; fish slowly and expect fewer bites until spring warming.

Landlocked salmonSlow

Right after ice-out salmon are near the surface; through the ice, Maine IFW advises fishing the first 15 feet below it. Wild fish spawn in tributaries from mid-October to late November.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 37 F with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Nov 10, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Maine requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $30.00 for residents. What a Maine licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing landlocked salmon here? Check the size and bag limits with MDIFW before you keep anything. The season dates for Maine, read off the agency, are on the Maine seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovNov, ~44 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp33 F
High / Low43 / 32 F
WindWSW 5-8 mph
Pressure999.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain4% cloud, 5%
Sunrise / Sunset06:29 / 16:12
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~44 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Chesuncook Lake this week

The best day on Chesuncook Lake this week looks like Wednesday Nov 11, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Wednesday, Nov 11 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Nov 9 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
11:01 PM-1:01 AM and 10:37 AM-12:37 PM
Minor period
6:46 AM-7:46 AM
Sun
06:29 to 16:12
Moon
New Moon, 0% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 12 mph
Rain chance
5%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Chesuncook Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Spring and fall near the surface, deep in summer, and under the ice in winter

Landlocked salmon are Atlantic salmon that complete their whole life in fresh water, feeding mainly on rainbow smelt in cold lakes of Maine and the Northeast. Right after ice-out salmon are near the surface; through the ice, Maine IFW advises fishing the first 15 feet below it. Wild fish spawn in tributaries from mid-October to late November.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. Below 50°F is the fall spawning band (40-50°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Spring and fall in shallow water, deep in summer, and through the ice in winter

Lake trout are slow-growing chars of large, deep, cold lakes, native from Alaska and northern Canada to New England and the Great Lakes, and introduced in many western lakes. Winter: Vermont says most of its lake trout fishing is done through the ice, and Michigan anglers jig spoons tipped with cut bait in deep Great Lakes bays.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Fish hold in slower, deeper water; fish slowly and expect fewer bites until spring warming.

When to come: the Chesuncook Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Landlocked salmon
Brook trout
Lake trout
Smallmouth bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 44 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovNov, ~44 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Chesuncook Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Nov 8

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 39 F, wind to 13 mph.

Sat, Nov 7

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 46 F, wind to 12 mph.

Fri, Nov 6

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Lake trout led the card at good. High of 61 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Maine requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Maine license. Brook trout, togue and salmon are size- and season-regulated and special rules apply in the region: check current MDIFW law book.

Access

Logging roads through the North Maine Woods checkpoints (fees apply) or by float plane; camps and lodges on the lake.

About this water

A 26,000-acre remote lake on the West Branch Penobscot, Piscataquis County, Maine.

Fishing Chesuncook Lake: the full guide

A remote lake in the North Woods

Chesuncook Lake covers about 26,000 acres in Piscataquis County, Maine, the state’s third-largest lake, formed on the West Branch of the Penobscot and surrounded by working timberland with Katahdin visible to the east. It holds native brook trout, lake trout that Mainers call togue, landlocked salmon, whitefish and cusk in genuinely remote country.

Brook trout and togue

Brook trout hold the cold water, the inlets and the spring holes, taken on streamers, wet flies and trolled hardware, best in spring after ice-out and again in fall. Togue hold the deep basins and are trolled or jigged. The lake is large and complicated: local knowledge or a guide substantially shortens the search.

Getting there and the season

Access is by logging road through the North Maine Woods checkpoint system, with fees and registration required, or by float plane. Chesuncook Village on the lake is one of the most remote settlements in the state. Ice-out comes late, often into May, and the season is short: plan around it.

Piscataquis County logistics

Camps and sporting lodges serve the lake, with Greenville and Millinocket the nearest towns of any size, both hours away by road. Cell service is absent. Carry spare fuel, tools and food, tell someone your plan, and treat the logging roads with respect: loaded trucks have right of way.

Common questions

How do I get there?

By logging road through North Maine Woods checkpoints, with fees and registration, or by float plane.

When is ice-out?

Late, often into May: the season here is short, and spring after ice-out is prime for brook trout.

Is there cell service?

No. Carry spare fuel, tools and food, and leave a plan with someone before you go.

Is fishing good at Chesuncook Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

West Branch Penobscot River18 miMoosehead Lake34 miPenobscot River69 miKennebec River72 miEast Grand Lake80 miKennebago Lake92 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 46.0500, -69.4000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.