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Damariscotta Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 11, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

A midcoast Maine lake: Damariscotta holds salmon, bass and a famous alewife run.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~66 F est.
Air / High
59 / 73 F
Wind
W 9 mph

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

Satellite view
Friday
11
September 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.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Damariscotta Lake sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind W around 9 mph, falling pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 73. Water sits around 66 F for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:32 PM-1:32 AM and 11:32 AM-1:32 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Landlocked salmonExcellent

Transition depths: work 15-30 ft along drop-offs and points with trolled smelt imitations, or find them where cold tributaries enter. Early morning is the honest window.

Brook troutExcellent

Prime pocket-water fishing. Work upstream with an attractor dry or a dry-dropper, hitting every seam behind boulders and the head of each plunge pool. Short casts, quiet feet.

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Lake troutGood

Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Tomorrow: Similar at 71 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 12, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Maine requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $25.00 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.

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.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp59 F
High / Low73 / 56 F
WindW 9-22 mph
Pressure1011.2 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:12 / 18:55
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~66 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 11 · Clear, 73/56 F, wind 13 mph, rain 0%

Fair or better. A 13 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

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

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Best: ice-out through June, and September

Atlantic salmon that never see the sea: smelt-chasing acrobats of Maine and New England lakes, and the reason ice-out is a holiday up north. Transition depths: work 15-30 ft along drop-offs and points with trolled smelt imitations, or find them where cold tributaries enter. Early morning is the honest window.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Best: May-Jun and Sep-Oct

North America’s native char: a small-stream specialist that demands cold, clean water and repays it with the prettiest fish in the woods. Prime pocket-water fishing. Work upstream with an attractor dry or a dry-dropper, hitting every seam behind boulders and the head of each plunge pool. Short casts, quiet feet.

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Best: ice-out and fall turnover

The char of the deep: 40-year-old predators patrolling the cold basins of glacial lakes, from the Finger Lakes to the Rockies. Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: May-Oct

Current and rock. Finds gravel flats, boulders and drop-offs, and fights far above its weight. Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

When to come: the Damariscotta 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 66 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 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 Damariscotta Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 10

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 83 F, wind to 15 mph.

Wed, Sep 9

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Sep 8

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 78 F, wind to 10 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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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. Landlocked salmon and bass are size- and season-regulated: check the current MDIFW law book for lake-specific rules.

Access

Public boat launch and town access near Jefferson and Damariscotta Mills.

About this water

A 4,400-acre midcoast lake draining through Damariscotta Mills to tidewater, Lincoln County, Maine.

Fishing Damariscotta Lake: the full guide

A lake with a fish ladder

Damariscotta Lake covers about 4,400 acres in Lincoln County, midcoast Maine, draining through Damariscotta Mills to tidewater. It is best known for the alewife run that climbs the historic stone fish ladder there each spring, one of the oldest sustained runs in the country, and the lake itself holds landlocked salmon, smallmouth and largemouth bass, white perch and pickerel.

Salmon and bass

Landlocked salmon are stocked and trolled near the surface at ice-out and again in fall, deeper through summer. Smallmouth are abundant and hold the rocky shorelines, points and shoals, giving excellent light-tackle fishing through the warm months. Largemouth work the weedier coves and shoreline cover.

The alewife run

Each May, hundreds of thousands of alewives climb the ladder at Damariscotta Mills from the sea into the lake, a run restored and maintained by the local community and worth seeing in its own right. The run feeds the whole system, and the presence of that forage is part of why the lake grows fish well.

Lincoln County logistics

A public boat launch serves the lake with additional town access, near Jefferson and Damariscotta Mills, and the midcoast towns provide services with Portland about an hour southwest. The lake is quieter than the big western Maine waters and makes a good option for anglers based on the coast.

Common questions

What is the alewife run?

Hundreds of thousands of alewives climb the historic stone fish ladder at Damariscotta Mills each May from the sea.

Is the bass fishing good?

Yes: smallmouth are abundant on the rocky shorelines, points and shoals through the warm months.

Is it crowded?

Quieter than the big western Maine lakes, and a good option for anglers based on the midcoast.

Is fishing good at Damariscotta Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

China Lake24 miCasco Bay49 miSebago Lake57 miKennebec River69 miSaco River82 miRangeley Lake85 mi
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