Open water anyone? By now and after a long hardwater season some of you may be longing to get in a few casts! While drifting a smelt/shiner in the current off some of the marina docks of Lake Winnipesaukee are weeks away if you so desire there are open water options just south of the border!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Joe from Granite State Rod and Reel Repair in Nashua has been steering winter-weary anglers south of the border where open water abounds! Walden and White Ponds in Concord Mass hold good numbers of rainbows and brown trout, are open, and casters are reconnecting with atrophied muscles! The mighty Merrimack River is no slouch either and downstream of the Lawrence Dam is free of ice and reports are that pike and white perch are cooperating!
Dick from The Tackle Shack in Meredith told me that in spite of good ice, Meredith Bay has more Bobhouses dotting the shoreline now than in the bay! Apparently, some are experiencing ice fishing fatigue! That’s a shame because cusk are cooperating in Paugus Bay (by the Burger King), Leavitt Park, and between Meredith Bay and Center Harbor.
Tim Moore of TimMooreOutdoors has been vacillating between19 Mile Bay as well as Alton Bay while whipping white perch with smelt/tip-ups with the catch also consisting of lakers and smallies. As typical of March, he’s fairly certain that it will only get better!
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Increasingly bass are becoming part of the Downeast catch according to Scotty of Dag’s Bait & Sportgoods in Auburn. Thompson Lake is touted for togue but also gives us some fairly nice largemouth! Smallmouth bass and largemouth bass are increasingly becoming a factor in East Pond, Tripp Pond, and Norway Lake. East is especially known to hold good numbers of 3 – 4 pound largemouth bass!
Zach from Saco Bay Tackle Company said that Kennebunk Pond has been good for both brown trout and brook trout. Regarding brown trout, file this one away from the summer – the Saco River salter brown trout fishery is on the uptick! Last year the Ogunquit River, Mousam River, Saco and Webhannet all made noise on the sea run brown trout front. Some of those corker trout were even caught on a live mackerel! From Maine IFW Fisheries Resource Supervisor Jim Pellerin comes reports of rainbows from the Stanley and Range Ponds while the Sand Ponds and Hancock are hotter for browns.
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New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
It’s a sweet irony that as the fishing gets better in March, angling effort drops off! Cusk are cooperating in Paugus Bay with a fresh dead shiner/smelt on the bottom the preferred bait. Owing to their superior olfactory senses, low light is when they are most active. White perch along with smallmouth bass are stirring in 19 Mile Bay as well as Alton Bay. Bass are also increasingly become a factor in East Pond and Tripp Pond. While we have a ways to go before open water becomes universal some are taking the trip to Walden and White in the Bay State to get in a few casting licks and maybe catch a trout while they are at it. Regarding trout and casting, it’s never too early to conspire to catch a sea-run brown trout from one of the booming Downeast runs. After all, it has been said that “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”.
Good Multi state report Ron.Spring fishing is almost here, but with a little bit of driving effort we might be able to scratch the itch!