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Home › Waters › Maine › Saco River
Estuary · Southern Maine, York County, the river mouth and jetty at Camp Ellis between Saco and Biddeford · Maine

Saco River Fishing Guides

The mouth of the Saco at Camp Ellis, where southern Maine's largest river meets the Atlantic and stripers stack against one of the longest jetties on the coast.

Low marsh grass and open water on a southeastern tidal river

Map of the Saco River

56 numbered points: 14 access points, 5 campsites, 1 outfitter, 14 bridges, 11 parks and conservation areas, 1 regulation section limit, 8 hazards, 1 spring, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 26, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Access / boat ramp (14)
  • Campsite (5)
  • Outfitter / canoe rental (1)
  • Bridge crossing (14)
  • Park / conservation area (11)
  • Regulation section limit (1)
  • Dam / hazard (8)
  • Spring (1)
  • USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

Open the printable map
All 56 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1Reach limit - Maine / New Hampshire border, Fryeburg
upstream end of the Maine reach		Regulation section limit44.00439, -70.99661Where the centreline crosses the state line into Fryeburg. The state’s single Saco reach runs from here down to the Cataract Dam in Saco; the New Hampshire river has its own sheet.
2ME 113 bridge
River Street, Fryeburg		Bridge crossing44.01689, -70.98987
3Westons Beach
Fryeburg		Park / conservation area44.01789, -70.99121
4Swans Falls Dam
NID ME00038		Dam / hazard44.03807, -70.98276
5Swan’s Falls Campground & Saco River Access Facility
Fryeburg		Campsite44.03861, -70.97880The main managed put-in for the Fryeburg canoe reach.
6Canal Bridge Campground
Fryeburg		Campsite44.06506, -70.95058
7Nathan Desjardins Memorial Bridge
Fryeburg | formerly Canal Bridge		Bridge crossing44.06417, -70.94714
8Menotomy Preserve
Upper Saco Valley Land Trust		Park / conservation area44.06005, -70.90883
9Walkers Bridge (US 302)
Fryeburg		Bridge crossing44.02906, -70.92044
10Walkers Bridge canoe access
US 302		Access / boat ramp44.02895, -70.92020
11Pleasant Pond Floodplain Forest
Upper Saco Valley Land Trust		Park / conservation area44.00872, -70.90356Three OSM polygons carry this name on the same reach; one point shipped.
12Woodland Acres Campground
Brownfield		Campsite43.95612, -70.88847OSM spells it "Woodland Acrs".
13Brownfield Bridge canoe access
Brownfield		Access / boat ramp43.95513, -70.88343Tagged leisure=park in OSM; re-typed to access on the name.
14Charles E. Hill Bridge (ME 160)
Brownfield		Bridge crossing43.95553, -70.88219
15River Run Canoe and Campground
canoe livery and campground, Brownfield		Outfitter / canoe rental43.95511, -70.87608
16On The Saco Family Campground
Brownfield		Campsite43.96339, -70.87194
17River Run Saco canoe access
Hiram		Access / boat ramp43.88093, -70.80391
18ME 5 / ME 113 bridge
Pequawket Trail, Hiram		Bridge crossing43.87870, -70.80432
19Merrill Park
Hiram		Park / conservation area43.87681, -70.80689
20Hiram Falls Dam
NID ME00037		Dam / hazard43.85265, -70.79708
21ME 5 / ME 117 bridge
Cornish - Limington		Bridge crossing43.80716, -70.78119
22Saco River Access, CornishAccess / boat ramp43.80638, -70.78268Tagged leisure=nature_reserve in OSM; re-typed to access on the name. The Cornish gauge 01066000 sits at this crossing.
23Jagolinzer Preserve
Francis Small Heritage Trust | Limington		Park / conservation area43.78895, -70.76120Permissive access.
24Goulds Island
Francis Small Heritage Trust		Park / conservation area43.79549, -70.72144
25Cold Bowling Spring
Limington		Spring43.78238, -70.66049Untreated - treat before drinking.
26ME 25 bridge
Ossipee Trail, Standish - Limington		Bridge crossing43.73352, -70.65261
27Bonny Eagle Recreation Area
Standish		Park / conservation area43.73115, -70.65508
28River Road landing, Standish
unnamed in OSM		Access / boat ramp43.70394, -70.64067Named from its access road by reverse geocode.
29New River Channel Dam
Bonny Eagle | NID ME00036S001		Dam / hazard43.69202, -70.60993
30Bonny Eagle Road bridge
Standish - Buxton		Bridge crossing43.69006, -70.60768
31West Buxton Dam
NID ME00035		Dam / hazard43.66692, -70.60306
32West Buxton Bridge
Buxton - Hollis		Bridge crossing43.66629, -70.60292
33Bar Mills landing
Hollis | unnamed in OSM		Access / boat ramp43.61288, -70.55406Slipway above the Bar Mills Dam; reverse geocode returned only the snowmobile trail that reaches it, so it is named for the village.
34Bar Mills Dam
NID ME00034		Dam / hazard43.61236, -70.55293
35ME 4A bridge
Bar Mills, Buxton - Hollis		Bridge crossing43.61276, -70.55180
36US 202 / ME 4 bridge
Narragansett Trail, Buxton - Hollis		Bridge crossing43.59647, -70.55374
37Pleasant Point Park
Town of Buxton		Park / conservation area43.59060, -70.55321
38Skelton Dam boat ramp - above the dam
Dayton		Access / boat ramp43.56927, -70.56167
39Skelton Dam
NID ME00033		Dam / hazard43.57110, -70.55785
40Skelton Dam boat ramp - below the dam
Dayton		Access / boat ramp43.56804, -70.55318
41Homestead By The River Family Campground
Dayton		Campsite43.54272, -70.51509
42ME 5 bridge
New County Road, Dayton - Buxton		Bridge crossing43.54004, -70.51488
43Maine Turnpike bridge (I-95)
Biddeford - Saco		Bridge crossing43.49888, -70.48806
44Rotary Park boat ramp
Biddeford		Access / boat ramp43.50078, -70.47802
45Irving Street boat ramp
Saco		Access / boat ramp43.49925, -70.46014
46Diamond Riverside Park
City of Saco		Park / conservation area43.49999, -70.46043
47US 1 Elm Street bridge
Saco - Biddeford		Bridge crossing43.49862, -70.45169
48Bradley-Springs Island Dam
NID ME83030		Dam / hazard43.49829, -70.45160
49Pearl Point Park
Saco		Park / conservation area43.49617, -70.45328
50Cataract West Dam
Saco - Biddeford		Dam / hazard43.49557, -70.45239The Cataract Dam is the downstream end of the state’s single Saco reach, which begins at the Maine/New Hampshire border in Fryeburg. Below here the river is tidal.
51Mechanics Park
Biddeford		Park / conservation area43.49243, -70.44870
52Front Street boat ramp
Saco		Access / boat ramp43.49478, -70.44288
53Edgewater Lane landing, Saco
unnamed in OSM		Access / boat ramp43.48029, -70.41282
54Marblehead boat launch
Maine Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry		Access / boat ramp43.47421, -70.40987OSM spells it "Marrblehead".
55Camp Ellis landing
Bay Avenue, Saco | unnamed in OSM		Access / boat ramp43.46281, -70.38206
56USGS gauge - Saco River at Camp Ellis
site 432742070225401		USGS gauge43.46163, -70.38170The tidal station this water page reads. The freshwater gauge upstream is 01066000 at Cornish.

Guides on the Saco River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

Order on this page: premium and outfitter plans first (labelled Premium placement), then claimed free profiles, then unclaimed — one published price, no bidding for position. How placement works

About the Saco River

The Saco River runs about a hundred and thirty miles from the White Mountains of New Hampshire across southern Maine to the Atlantic at Camp Ellis, between the cities of Saco and Biddeford. The gauge at Camp Ellis reads tidal elevation at the river mouth. The upper Saco is a well known canoeing and trout river; this entry concerns the estuary, which is a different fishery entirely.

The mouth is dominated by the Camp Ellis jetty, a stone breakwater built by the federal government beginning in the eighteen sixties and eventually extended to roughly sixty-seven hundred feet. It is one of the longest on the New England coast and it defines the fishing. Current sweeps along it on both tides, bait piles against the rocks, and fish work the structure from the beach out to the end.

Striped bass are the main quarry from late May through October, taken from the jetty, the beach and from boats working the mouth and the tidal river above. Bluefish arrive in mid-summer and can be aggressive around the jetty tip. American shad run the river in spring, American eel are abundant, and brown trout are present in the freshwater river well above the head of tide.

Access at Camp Ellis is good, with parking, a pier and the jetty itself walkable in reasonable conditions, though the outer rocks are hazardous in swell and are not a place to take chances. There is boat access upriver in Saco and Biddeford, and the tidal reach above the mouth fishes well on a moving tide.

The jetty is the main attraction and the main danger. Waves break over the outer section without much warning in swell, the stones are uneven and slick with weed, and people have been swept off it. Fish the inner third in anything but calm conditions, wear a flotation device, and treat a rising sea as a reason to leave rather than a challenge.

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1. What you give us

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4. Withdrawing the license

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5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Camp Ellis - the gauge site, with the jetty, pier and beach access at the river mouth.
Camp Ellis jetty - the long breakwater, the central structure of the fishery.
Saco River tidal reach - the estuary above the mouth, boat and kayak water.
Ferry Beach State Park - shoreline access north of the river mouth.
Biddeford Pool - the tidal pool and shoreline south of the river.
Hills Beach - the south side of the river mouth at Biddeford.
Cataract Falls - the head of tide at the Saco and Biddeford dams.

Seasons

Spring: American shad run the river and the first striped bass arrive in late May.
Summer: the peak, with stripers on the jetty and bluefish around the mouth.
Fall: strong fishing into October as bass stage before moving south.
Winter: the estuary is done, with no meaningful fishery until spring.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Saco River?

Anglers target American Eel, American Shad, Bluefish, Brown Trout, Striped Bass on the Saco River in Maine.

Are there fishing guides on the Saco River?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Saco River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Saco River?

Camp Ellis - the gauge site, with the jetty, pier and beach access at the river mouth. Camp Ellis jetty - the long breakwater, the central structure of the fishery. Saco River tidal reach - the estuary above the mouth, boat and kayak water. Ferry Beach State Park - shoreline access north of the river mouth. Biddeford Pool - the tidal pool and shoreline south of the river. Hills Beach - the south side of the river mouth at Biddeford. Cataract Falls - the head of tide at the Saco and Biddeford dams.

When is the best time to fish the Saco River?

Spring: American shad run the river and the first striped bass arrive in late May. Summer: the peak, with stripers on the jetty and bluefish around the mouth. Fall: strong fishing into October as bass stage before moving south. Winter: the estuary is done, with no meaningful fishery until spring.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Saco River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Maine agency site: https://www.maine.gov/dmr/fisheries/recreational