Physical therapists recommend a good warm up before any vigorous activity. While most consider May as the unofficial kick-off of the fishing season, there are a few April alternatives to help you limber up.
New Hampshire
AJ from AJs in Meredith said that there is that rare second week of April combination of both openwater and hardwater opportunities. The bridges to the islands of Winnipesauke are increasingly spanning swaths of open water. Landlocked salmon have a penchant for swimming at the edge and just under ice, which makes those sections perfect platforms to tempt a salmon. Streamers, spoons, smelt and shiners will all catch a salmon if one happens to be cruising within view of your offering. The many marina docks are another open-water/salmon alternative. Conversely there are still hardwater opportunities along with anglers taking advantage of them. AJ suggests Opechee Lake for a mixture of nearly every cold water species which swims in New Hampshire. Shallow Pemigewasset Lake gets the nod as a promising warm water species lake. Then there’s Webster Lake which has a nice balance including brown trout.
Roland from Suds ‘N Soda said that unsafe local ice is putting the kibosh on most any angling aspirations. He hadn’t heard of any flounder stirring yet among the muddy bottom of Hampton and Rye harbors. However, the blackbacks have begun feeding among similar habitat in Massachusetts so it might be worth a go. I would pick as late an outgoing tide as you can fish on a sunny day; that warmer, ebbing flow should wake up the flounder which usually migrate inshore to spawn sometime in late March/early April. With water temperatures below 40 degrees don’t expect a sterling bite, but persistence matters since sooner or later the fish have to feed!
Southern Maine
Scotty of Dag’s said that anglers are breaking out that time-worn Downeast tradition of “conduit fishing.” They haul sections of PVC pipe conduit down to open shorelines on water bodies that are by and large still covered with ice. They snug on a rubber band or a downrigger clip at the tip of the conduit, attach their line to it with a smelt or shiner, and feed the joined sections under the ice. Once fully extended under the ice, the conduit contraption is given a jerk, freeing the line and the baitfish under the ice! Owing to a landlocked salmon’s propensity for cruising just under the ice this can be a very effective method to catch a fish. Scotty said that this method is best suited to water bodies which have a steep drop-off from the shoreline such as Lake Auburn. Of course Sebago and other deep water bodies are ideal for this sort of fishing also.
No word on flounder from Downeast but I can’t help but wonder if fish are waking up a bit in the Webhannet area. According to the folks at Webhannet River Bait & Tackle last year was a better blackback season than in years. It just might behoove you to soak some sandworms or clam strips off docks or piers in this area. If nothing else you’ll catch some fine scenery and if the weather forecast is accurate, the first spring like weather of the year!
Fishing Forecast
The second week in April is hardly the high life for fishing in Northern New England but that’s no excuse for staying home. Landlocked salmon are cruising within open water stretches among bridges and marinas of Lake Winnipesauke. There’s not enough room to slip a boat in there just yet but a shore fisherman can float a shiner or smelt into the strike zone. Some Mainers are making a trip to their bait shops and the hardware store for “conduit fishing” for salmon. You can partake of this quintessential Maine tradition wherever salmon swim and there is a sloping shoreline toward deep water. For those who prefer the salt life, flounder should be stirring among Hampton and Rye Harbors and possibly the Webhannet River.