2025 Fishing Report

The 2025 fishing season started early with ice out in Moosehead Lake in late April. Early May saw good flows on the East Outlet and very good and consistent salmon and brook trout catches. Streamer patterns, nymphing, and some may fly dry flies all worked well, and the combination of a rainy spring and cold water temperatures made for great fishing. However by early June the water releases started to dramatically drop and water temperatures rose. Normally, I guide on the East Outlet through June, but as releases dropped to 1,200 cfs and then to 1,000 cfs, I moved up to the West Branch of the Penobscot for my guiding trips. Mid June and early July saw very good fishing on the Penobscot with lots of smaller and mid size salmon being caught and released and consistent brook trout fishing. The West Branch has a strong caddis hatch, and both emergers and dries were bringing fish to the net. When fish weren’t rising, an attractor dry fly like a stimulator or PMX with a nymph dropper was the ticket. By late July and August, the bigger salmon moved upstream near the big eddy, and 18” plus salmon were being caught on nymphs, dries, and emergers. We started our camping/ fishing trips in late August and into September, and we had 18 trips in a row with an 18” or better salmon caught. We had a great evening fishing on BWOs, a variety of Caddis flies, and also klinkhammers and emergers below a dry fly. Also, small purple haze dry flies and parachute Adams in 16 and 18 were very successful. When fish weren’t looking up, weighted streamers were picking up fish, and patterns like the orange blossom and green rubber leg woolly buggers worked well. Thats it for the 2025 fishing report. Contact us if you have any questions