New Hampshire and Southern Maine
As if on cue with the trout theme, Tim Moore of Tim Moore Outdoors on Thursday sent me an awesome account, with pictures, of gorgeous broodstock brook trout taken from some high elevation water bodies in Northern New Hamsphire. While understandably keeping his spot close to the vest, it shouldn’t take much homework to research online where the NH Department of Fish and Game has stocked broodstock brook trout recently! He did say that the fishing was a hardwater version of “sight fishing” with the bite happening in 18” of water just under gin-clear ice. He could actually see the brookies bearing down on his offering. The brookies belted Clam’s new blade bait lure tipped with Maki’s new fish heads. Go light if you want to tempt one of these trophy trout, Tim downsizes to 3-pound P-Line.
Dylan of Dag’s in Auburn Maine told me that the ice is tenuous in Southern Maine with the hard ice of a few days ago weakening significantly during the last two days ago, but if the weather forecast is accurate he’s betting it should tighten up again by this weekend. If and when it does, Dylan suggests some put-and-take brook trout water such as Little Pennesseewassee Lake, Worthley Pond and Little Ellis Pond which is farther north and because of that a better bet for a sure freeze. For brown trout consider Hobb’s Pond as well as the four Otter Ponds near Sebago Lake.
Fishing Forecast
Brookies rule in Worthley Pond and Little Ellis Pond and there are higher elevation honey holes in northern New Hampshire where the aesthetics of the environment are only topped by the colors of the broodstock brook trout!
Little Ellis Pond (in Byron) is closed to ice fishing….Ellis Pond (in nearby Roxbury) is open to ice fishing
Why is there no mention of salt water fishing. The bay polock have been hitting like crazy. Took my limit in about an hour of a dock about two weeks ago. Will probably go back out later this week on a high tide. Using cut shrimp. They are sure good eating.