The quintessential New England Ice Fishing Derby – the Great Meredith Rotary Ice Fishing Derby – takes place this weekend in the Lake Winnipesauke area this weekend and for many there is no other place they’d rather be! In Maine pike activity has picked up and this year continues to be far better one for the smelt camps than the last few years.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
There’s a bit of a big deal going on in the Lake Winnipesauke area this weekend. Namely the annual Greater Meredith Rotary ice fishing derby. There’s a Bob-house-load of prizes throughout the derby including the $15,000 grand prize. Some anticipate this event more eagerly than spring. For the 411 on this special weekend, click on: http://www.meredithrotary.com/Derby_Information.html
For a window into Winnipesauke and some other nearby water bodies I went right to “the source”, namely AJ of AJs in Meredith. He said that big bows were on a tear throughout the bays, in fact many of these fish are topping 5 pounds! As usual set your traps close to the shoreline and saturate areas near tributaries/rivers/inlets. Smelt are superb bait and best fished just below the surface. Something also can be said of salmon eggs which are fished best resting on the bottom. There’s all kinds of lakers up to 8 and even 9+ pounds being jigged up with a jig/sucker strip combo from deeper water. Cusk are spawning and active in only 20 feet of water. A dead sucker on the bottom will work as will the same jig/sucker rig which lakers relish.
One of the more remarkable fish in this diverse, healthy environment is white perch which grow to an amazing 2 ponds plus! And they have become aggressive. I asked Clam’s Tim Moore of Tim Moore Outdoors for a tip or two about this fish which he specializes in. He sent me a picture of some he recently caught which had me wondering if somehow schoolie stripers got in there! Tim’s finding those mighty whiteys in 35’ of water in Braun Bay. White Clam blade jigs tipped with grubs are killing them. Those perch don’t tend to stay put so you have to keep on the move to keep up with them. One tool which has helped Tim immensely is Clam’s Auger/Drill Conversion Kit which converts a cordless drill into a lightweight hole punching machine. When you watch the average gas auger owner too often they drill their required holes and that’s it – the sheer bulkiness of them inhibits more effort. Not so with the Clam auger/drill convertor. Tim sold me on its merits and now it’s all I use! Other Granite State options are Pemigewasset Lake for warm water species, especially yellow perch and Winona Lake which is another white perch and rainbow trout honey hole.
Jason of Suds n Soda said that the snow drifts are intimidating many which is resulting in less pressured conditions for the intrepid. Unquestionably access can be tough but once on the ice, the gusts have blown much of the snow off making the going comfortable. The crappie catch from the Taylor River, the Lamprey River and Bellamy Reservoir make forging the snow drifts well worth the effort. Taylor also has some terrific pickerel while Larry the largemouth lurks in the Lamprey. Bellamy Reservoir is known for crappie but if you downsize your presentation and target weedlines you may find some bull ‘gills there as well. Sadly Great Bay remains a bust for smelt.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
If you yearn for smelt then point your ride toward the smelt camps in Maine. Nothing to write home about here but unlike the last two years, anglers stand a really good chance of leaving with some sweet-tasting smelt from the Merrymeeting/Kennebec River area outfitters. Brady from Dag’s in Auburn said he tallied 39 smelt the last time he tried at a relatively new camp – Moxie Guides, on the Kennebec. He had his luck on the low tide. Sebago Lake has finally completely locked up and the togue tally is terrific in 60-90 feet of water on Jordan Bay. Bucktail Jigs or jigging spoons sweetened with a sucker strip are doing the most amount of damage. After a slow start Sabattus has picked up at the timber-laded northern side of the lake. For a smelt/pike combo a unique fishery exists downstream of the Sea Dog Brewery on the Androscoggin River. Anyone with even a glancing knowledge of the Androscoggin River knows about the pike opportunities here. And some of these even exist in tidal locations where smelt can be caught. Some drag their own shanty out on the ice, jig up some smelt, set some out on their traps and then catch pike!
New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
If you prefer your hardwater with companionship, camaraderie and just maybe congratulations, than the annual ice fishing derby which takes place this weekend in the Winnipesauke area is for you! If you’d rather eschew the crowds and prefer keeping company with crappie than check out New Hampshire’s Taylor River and Lamprey River. After a slow start, the pike bite on the northern end of Sabattus has picked up. The same could be said regarding smelt catches among the camps of the Merrymeeting Bay/Kennebec River area. There aren’t many talking in terms of banner outings but compare to the dismal fishing of the last two years there’s reasons to be hopeful!