New Hampshire, Maine & Vermont Fishing Report – April 27, 2017

Those who shook off the chill from the incessant rains warmed up pretty quickly battling landlocked salmon on Winnipesaukee, Squam Lake and Newfound Lake. It’s a simple case of find the spawning smelt find the fish. The Inland Fisheries and Wildlife folks have been busy restocking many Maine water bodies, making many places worthy of another look!

New Hampshire Fishing Report

Al from AJ’s in Meredith said that the trigger for better salmon and rainbow fishing has been pulled in not only Lake Winnipesaukee but Squam, Newfound Lake and other cold water lakes. Namely it all boils down to spawning runs of not only smelt but suckers. Seek out tributaries of these places and troll live bait, spoons or streamers for the salmon while the trout might be more inclined to gulp down salmon eggs. Recent strong reports have been trickling in from Gilford Bay, Smith Cove, Saunders Bay, Meredith Bay and Alton Bay. You can now expect quantity to go along with quality as accounts of double-digit salmon outings increase! Al got out and did well with purplish spoons such as those made by Top Gun.

Chad from Dover Marine said that anglers letting the weather conditions call their shots for them are catching the most consistently. Raw, drizzly days are tops for salmonoids but a definite buzz kill when it comes to black bass. For the latter, seek out sun-swept coves, especially those with compounded structure such as emerging weeds, blowdowns and brush. A soft plastic crawfish imitator crawled along the bottom or a lipless crankbait ripped and dropped through grass should prove too much for “Sally’s and Larry’s” to ignore, providing that water temperatures are rising. For trout, Chad is steering customers towards Lucas Pond and Barbados Pond.

Joe from Granite State Rod and Reel Repair told me of the unexpected “trophy” trout which have occasionally been caught in the Nashua River. Since there is no stocking in the Nashua evidentially these fish are Massachusetts migrants and can usually be found by the dam. One of these wayward trout was a 3 1/2 pound brook trout! “Normal” fare such as black bass have also been stirring throughout the Nashua River as well. Joe has been hearing good things about trout at Beaver Lake, Cobbett’s Pond, Canobie Lake, Silver Lake and Dublin Lake.

Jason from Suds ‘N Soda said the fresh reports of alewives surging throughout Great Bay should wake up holdover stripers. I wasn’t aware that there were holdover stripers big enough in the bay to make a meal out of a river herring! Apparently with fish that big holding over, among the tributaries of Great Bay it is never too early to begin live lining herring! There is no news on flounder as of yet but the shop is expected to carry seaworms soon for those willing to try. Past early season flounder spots have been Hampton Harbor, Rye Harbor and Wentworth Harbor. The haddock haul continues to be hot on top of Jeffrey’s Ledge with the catch shifting towards redfish when anglers target rockier areas.

Southern Maine Fishing Report

Scotty from Dag’s in Auburn said that the still chilly water temperatures – 44 degrees – on Thompson Lake has been taking the starch out of the salmon bite. Look for a surge in the catch rate this weekend with the predicted warm spell. When they are fussy it’s best to downsize your leaders and increase their length to as long as 30 feet. The shop is carrying what for salmon is dinner – smelt! Look for the strike zone to be between 10 and 20 feet down. The stocking trucks have been busy with another batch of brookies and browns; if you’re honey hole seemed depleted check it out again, you may find it’s been reloaded with fresh fish! Attention among the Androscoggin River wanes once ice is out but the change in conditions can be a catalyst for opportunistic pike. According to Scotty, honorable mention to the toothies in the Andro should go to crappie. Crappie are evasive and don’t make for an easy northern snack, making it a fish which does quite well in pike dominated watersheds.

Brandy from Webhannet was just beginning to wipe the cobwebs off her shop when I roused her. Not surprisingly not much at all going on but just like spring, hope is eternal. Locally last year it could have been called the year of the flatfish! More winter flounder were caught in the Wells area and surrounding environs than in quite a while. And in deep water there were more halibut incidents than in previous years as well. In the real odd species category, tautog were turning up as well as the occasional Black Sea bass. However the biggest news was the enormous schools of pogies which invaded Southern to mid-Maine late last summer. And that preferred prey of the beloved striped bass, attracted a whole lot of big fish! Coastwide estimates have pogy numbers on an upward trend so with any luck, history will be repeated and you folks are going to have big bass in your midst again!

Maine, New Hampshire And Vermont Fishing Forecast

Like arguably no other time of the year, our fishy fortunes in late April are tied to water temperatures. The predicted warm-up over the weekend should shove salmon fishing into the stratosphere whether you’re trolling Thompson Lake in Maine or Newfound in New Hampshire. Trolling near tributaries where smelt are busy making other smelt is the trick. Some shops such as Suds ‘N Soda are immersing themselves once again into the saltier side of things and will be stocking seaworms for anglers looking for that first inner harbor flounder. The other option is to hop aboard a headboat and head out to the haddock grounds which are among the shallower areas of Jeffrey’s Ledge allowing anglers to downsize their gear and upsize their fun!