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Umbagog Lake Fishing Report

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

Umbagog Lake: a 7,850-acre interstate lake on the Maine-New Hampshire line, unstocked, with salmon, brook trout and smallmouth as its main fisheries.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~44 F est.
Air / High
40 / 47 F
Wind
SW 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Umbagog Lake asks for patience today: short windows, precise presentations. Today brings cloud cover, wind SW around 5 mph, rising pressure near 1002 hPa and a high of 47. Water sits around 44 F for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:08 PM-1:08 AM and 10:44 AM-12:44 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Northern pikeGood

Ice season: tip-ups with live bait near weed beds; where water stays open, slow live-bait presentations.

Yellow perchGood

Ice season. Perch stay active under the ice in both shallow and deeper water, so small jigs or spoons tipped with live bait over known winter areas are the usual approach.

Rainbow troutGood

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

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.

Smallmouth bassFair

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

Largemouth bassFair

Below about 50°F feeding slows sharply, Iowa DNR notes; use small, slow baits near deep cover and fish the warmest part of the day.

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.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 41 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

New Hampshire requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $45.00 for residents. What a New Hampshire licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with NHFG before you keep anything. The season dates for New Hampshire, read off the agency, are on the New Hampshire 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 temp40 F
High / Low47 / 34 F
WindSW 5-10 mph
Pressure1001.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 13%
Sunrise / Sunset06:33 / 16:22
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 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Umbagog Lake this week

The best day on Umbagog Lake this week looks like Friday Nov 13, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Friday, Nov 13 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Nov 9 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
11:08 PM-1:08 AM and 10:44 AM-12:44 PM
Minor period
6:48 AM-7:48 AM
Sun
06:33 to 16:22
Moon
New Moon, 0% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 12 mph
Rain chance
13%

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

Species guide

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

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.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. Ice season: tip-ups with live bait near weed beds; where water stays open, slow live-bait presentations.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Ice season. Perch stay active under the ice in both shallow and deeper water, so small jigs or spoons tipped with live bait over known winter areas are the usual approach.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. Below about 50°F feeding slows sharply, Iowa DNR notes; use small, slow baits near deep cover and fish the warmest part of the day.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

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.

When to come: the Umbagog 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
Smallmouth bass
Northern pike
Yellow perch
Largemouth bass
Rainbow trout
Brook trout
Lake trout
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 Umbagog 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. Northern pike led the card at good. High of 41 F, wind to 9 mph.

Sat, Nov 7

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Northern pike led the card at good. High of 49 F, wind to 10 mph.

Fri, Nov 6

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Northern pike led the card at good. High of 62 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

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

Regulations

Maine or New Hampshire license: Maine says licenses issued by either state are recognized on lakes lying partly in both. Interstate general laws plus Umbagog exceptions: brook trout 1 a day, 18-inch minimum; smelts by hook and line only; live bait allowed; no ice fishing north of the Spillman/Glassby Coves-Molls Rock line. Under the interstate general laws, landlocked salmon may not be taken through the ice and trout, salmon and togue must be released Oct. 1-Dec. 31.

Access

MDIFW lists two boat launch sites, both in New Hampshire: a northern one from Route 16 via the Androscoggin River and a southern one from Route 26 between Upton and Errol.

About this water

A 7,850-acre lake straddling Oxford County, Maine, and Coos County, New Hampshire; the Androscoggin River flows out of it.

Fishing Umbagog Lake: the full guide

A shallow border lake

Maine's Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) lake survey map places Umbagog Lake in Magalloway Plantation and Upton, Oxford County, Maine, and in Cambridge and Errol, Coos County, New Hampshire. It lists 7,850 acres and a maximum depth of 48 feet, describing a shallow lake with two small deep basins. The Rapid River enters from the Richardson Lakes on the east side and the Magalloway River near the outlet, where the Androscoggin River begins and flows west into New Hampshire.

The fishery

MDIFW names landlocked salmon, brook trout and smallmouth bass as the principal fisheries and says the lake is not stocked. Its species list also includes lake trout, rainbow smelt, largemouth bass, yellow perch, northern pike and chain pickerel; bass and pike arrived through illegal introductions and are now established. MDIFW notes that salmonids do poorly in the lake against heavy competition, and that most salmon and brook trout move into the inlet rivers in summer to escape warm water. The survey dates from 1958, was redone in 1993 and was last revised in 1998.

Interstate rules

Umbagog follows the Maine-New Hampshire interstate water laws with lake-specific exceptions in Maine's law book: smelts may be taken only by hook and line, live baitfish and live smelts are allowed, and the brook trout limit is one fish with an 18-inch minimum. The part of the lake north of a line between a red marker on the point between Spillman and Glassby coves (Maine) and a red marker at Molls Rock (New Hampshire) is closed to ice fishing.

Common questions

Which license do I need on Umbagog?

Either one: Maine recognizes fishing licenses from Maine or New Hampshire on lakes lying partly in both states, and lists Umbagog among them.

Is Umbagog stocked?

No. MDIFW says the lake is not stocked; salmon, brook trout and smallmouth are its principal fisheries.

Can I ice fish Umbagog?

Yes, south of the marked line between the Spillman-Glassby Coves point and Molls Rock; the area north of it is closed to ice fishing, and salmon may not be taken through the ice.

Is fishing good at Umbagog Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Androscoggin River4 miRapid River5 miMooselookmeguntic Lake17 miRangeley Lake22 miFirst Connecticut Lake25 miKennebago Lake28 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.7600, -71.0500 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.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
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 text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was 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.