Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 2-28-2013

Late-Season Ice Bite Turns On

If the sloppy snow and the soggy conditions in your neighborhood are making you consider mothballing the ice-fishing gear, then it may be time to reconsider. To the north and out west the talk is of a foot-plus of ice, pre-spawning fish that are on a tear, and anglers that are shedding layers and gloves and enjoying what many consider the best ice fishing of the year.

Hard water all across northern New England seems to have awakened from winter lethargy and catch rates are soaring. Some species such as perch, pike and cusk are showing pre-spawn characteristics and this often leads to a stellar bite. Rod from Flagg’s in Orange told me of patrons who are making multiple bait runs during the day because the feeds are frenzied. Pressured water bodies such as Lake Mattawa are suddenly giving up holdover brown trout and broodstock salmon. With run-off and the thinning of shoreline ice, fishy activity in many cases has shifted closer to the shore. Lake Rohunta is red hot for panfish and largemouth bass up to 5 pounds. A 4½-pound “pin-sized” pickerel was iced from Lake Wyola; in fact, in many water bodies “slime dart” encounters are being supplanted by trophy pickerel. Now is the time to revisit “tired” water, you may find them totally reinvigorated.

Jim from J.C.B. Bait in Cheshire heard from one of his three sons who actually took a momentary respite from their ice shanty, and he reported not only an improved pike bite but physical signs that the fish are beginning to behave “amorously.” Double-digit pike are beginning to move into the shallows, especially those that have stumps/vegetation and these fish are hungry. They have been having success from Lake Buel, Pontoosuc, Cheshire and Onota. Some who have been seeking smelt from Onota have been frustrated with the lack of fish. In a number of environments, from Quabbin Reservoir to Boston Harbor to Great Bay, smelt numbers are down this year. A DMF biologist who is a specialist in anadromous species told me that the lack of snow/cold/high-water last year probably resulted in poor rainbow smelt recruitment. This year we should fare much better; hopefully next season we’ll see the fruits of this.

The way Chad from Dover Maine described it, Lake Winnipesauke is a whole different world! Alton, Wolfeboro and Meredith Bays look like shantytowns as the white perch, cusk and lake trout action improves. For largemouth bass he suggests Swains Lake and for crappie look for suspended fish in Bellamy Reservoir. All is not lost for the open-water outdoorsman, there are catch-and-release stretches of the Cocheco, Isinglass and Lamprey rivers that provide fine sport fishing for trout and sections should be open about now.

The Granite State’s panfish pro Tim from Suds N’ Soda crushed the crappies as the pressure and rain fell on Wednesday morning in Greenwood Pond in Kingston.  A portable Clam shanty helped Tim deal with the elements and the jigs/spikes took care of the rest. The fish were suspended 20 feet down in 24 feet of water and the subtlety of 2-pound test and micro tungsten jigs mattered. For far more powerful panfish, Tim suggests targeting big white perch in 19 Mile Bay and Spindle Point in Lake Winnipesauke. If you get into a school of 2-pound slabs (which is a real possibility) you will never forget it.

Dylan of Dag’s told me that it is cusk time in many deeper water bodies in Maine that harbor these freshwater cousins of the cod. Expect them to be in spawning/hungry mode about now between 10 and 20 feet of water in muddy/soft bottom. Drop down a dead baitfish or entrails from a filleted fish and it’ll be time to ring the dinner bell for these unique fish, which can grow to over 15 pounds and like cod make for fine table fare.  Check out the cusk action at Sebago, Thompson and Crystal Lakes. Of course there’s a sinister toothy presence that is really beginning to stir in many watersheds as pike begin feeding with purpose. Last weekend’s statewide pike derby resulted by many accounts in phenomenal catches of northerns. Some anglers tallied double-digit numbers of toothies. The pike that took first was a rather paltry 22-pounder (considering the participation level) out of the Androscoggin River by the Turner Boat Ramp. Those big pike have big appetites now and should be migrating from channels, flats and bar-cuts into skinny water. If there was ever a time to reach for that personal-best pike, it will be over the next few weeks. Other likely pike lairs are Long Lake and Big Lake in the Belgrade Lake Region.

Ken from Saco Bay Tackle Company has had patrons putting in some serous hours pounding panfish and having great luck. The hot lure is a white 1/8-ounce Kastmaster, and these things are accounting for salmon/trout/crappie and perch from Little Ossipee Lake, Moose Pond and Mousam Lake. The mass of smelt have moved farther upstream in the southern Maine estuaries putting them within reach of such camps as Leighton’s, James Eddy and River Bend. Reports of 60- to 80-fish tides make a trip worth considering.

Fishing Forecast

If you’ve tired of making the haul out to western hardwater or across the border, it’s time to reconsider—the fish are turning on almost universally. Bring plenty of shiners if you target Lake Rohunta or spend some time in the shallows of Mattawa for salmon or maybe a holdover brown trout. Double-digit pike are being encountered with increased frequency from such hardwater honey holes as Cheshire Lake, Pontoosuc and Lake Buel. In New Hampshire the panfish action is fine in Bellamy Reservoir of Greenwood Pond. For a bigger quarry, there’s slab white perch, cusk or lakers in Winnipesauke 19 Mile Bay. If you’ve all but abandoned hopes of some smelt in the Maine smelt camps, it might be time to revisit upstream outfitters as a slug of fish seemed to have moved in. But don’t eat all those sweet-eating smelt, save some for toothies that are tearing up the Turner Boat Ramp area in the Andro as well as in the Belgrade Lakes.