While conditions have been less than favorable we do have some good groundfishing news regarding haddock and other deep water dwellers. Salmon is the top ticket among sweetwater pursuits and Winnipesaukee appears to be the early season winner!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Captain Andy from Adventure and Catch Charters is off to a rip-roaring start to the groundfishing game as he’s finding plenty of haddock up to 32”, big redfish, pollock and for the as-of-now-closed cod season, keeper brown bombers as well! The “top” of Jeffrey’s has proved successful as has Platt’s Bank. If the skipper could pick a sweet spot it would be in 225’ of water.
Michael from The Tackle Shack in Meredith said that the salmon season kicked off in fine form on Lake Winnipesaukee as anglers have trolled up salmon up to 7 pounds and rainbows up to 7 pounds! The hot spot has been Meredith Bay with the best bait – smelt! With smelt still running, it’s a matter of finding the bait and odds are that the predators will be in tow. For an option other than Winnipesaukee consider Squam Lake which just lost the last of its ice!
From Tim Moore of TimMooreOutdoors came word of a better spring salmon bite than the last few years in Alton Bay and Center Harbor. In addition to bait, Tim’s targeting them with streamers as well as smelt!
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Scotty of Dag’s Bait & Sportgoods in Auburn took a busman’s holiday from the shop and caught an 18” brown trout! If you snoop around you’ll find no shortage of ponds and lakes stocked with brown trout. Scotty’s tip is to sew on a smelt and stick to 15-20’ depths! A shop customer did catch a 24” salmon from Lake Auburn, also on a sewn smelt. Right behind the shop in Taylor Brook while working a jerk bait, Scotty came tight to a big fish which broke him off. It could have been a pike or a big bass but a sticky drag prevented him from ever knowing. Scotty did admit that due to winter-time inactivity he was a little rusty and should have double-checked the drag, don’t let that happen to you!
Zach from Saco Bay Tackle Company has not been hearing much regarding GOM groundfishing but he did say that historical hot spots for haddock have been Tantas Ledge and Platts Bank. He did have better intel on Sebago Lake where the salmon fishing has been good for anglers trolling DB Smelts 10-15’ down. The polar opposite of that has to be black bass fishing in ponds. One angler trolled up a 7-pound Larry from one of the Otter Ponds on a 7” broken back sinking swimbait!
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Scotty from Webhannet Bait and Tackle/Boatyard said that the shop is just now breaking free from hibernation. About the only word he has on groundfishing is that big cod were on top of Jeffrey’s Ledge. The hunch is that he’ll have a bead on where the haddock are by next week!
New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
Trolling on top with smelt or DB Smelt spoons is a best bet for a salmon in Meredith or Alton Bay in Lake Winnipesaukee. Lake Auburn is a nice Maine alternative as is Thompson Lake. Pre-spawn bucket mouths are starting to stir with some “trout” water such as the Otter Ponds holding some big fish looking for a big swimbait! Saltwater angling is just beginning to take off with haddock the main game in the GOM, with New Scantum, Old Scantum and Platt’s Bank among the better bets.