No longer the sole province of a bunch of gruff buddies taking to the ice, fishing lately is evolving into a family-friendly affair. Shop owners are telling me that after months of frozen fun for just a few, folks are now inviting one and all to experience the great New England pastime of ice fishing.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
Embodying that family-inclusive philosophy are the folks from Berry’s Bait in Meredith. Lon told me that he often sees bicycles in the summer as kids are taking to fishing in a big way. The shop often hands out free gear as well as knowledge to neophytes and has become a drop-off spot where elder anglers seek to repurpose gear they no longer find useful. That same goodwill applies to ice fishing, as was evident this past weekend as hordes of anglers of all persuasions took to the ice to compete in the state-wide derby. If there was a pattern, it was that Alton Bay proved heavy on lake trout and cusk while Center Harbor took the cake for white perch and crappie.
Joe told me that a customer of Granite State Rod and Reel Repair in Nashua fared exceptionally well during that derby. The big rainbow the angler caught, Joe believes, was taken at Lake Sunapee, tight to the shoreline off of a gravelly bottom. As to what the big bow ate, Joe laughed and said, “They’ll hit most anything – worms, shiners, salmon eggs, Power eggs, you name it!” Anglers are taking advantage of a frozen Nashua River where they are finding 10” on the coves and bass twice that length. Four-pound bass have been pulled out of Potanipo Pond as well as Beaver Lake. The twin Cs – Canobie and Cobbett – are fishing well for trout.
Of course, it’s hard to top the trout fishing in the Connecticut Lakes Region – just ask TJ from TJ’s Bait in Pittsburg, on Lake Francis. Smelt and shiners are getting it done for brook trout and pickerel in Lake Francis, while the first lake is more inclined to give up lakers. As to T.J.’s personal pick for lakers he recommends AJs bucktails augmented with a strip of sucker.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Andrew from Sebago Bait and Tackle said that with Sebago Lake all locked up and the derby taking place this weekend, there’s a lot going on there. Preliminary reports put solid togue following alewife schools at Raymond Beach. Big NastyJigs of all sorts, embellished with sucker skin, are killing it. That same combination has been working well at the Rockwood section of Moosehead Lake for togue and cusk. Smelt in the tanks are dropping eggs, which means that the main body of smelt in the estuaries may be harder to locate as spawning urges compel them to move more upstream. That’s not to insinuate that smelt can no longer be caught from the camps, it’s just that the bite now is more hit or miss than it had been.
Mike from Dag’s Bait & Sportgoods in Auburn commented on Sebago and because of the derby expects to have his finger on the pulse of the movements of the togue post-derby. His gut is telling him the Standish side might be special. Sabattus is looking like one big party as groups of fishers, family, and friends take to the ice, making a day out of it and making memories. The fact that the pike bite has been good doesn’t hurt. Thompson Lake has similar crowds with the cold water species the target there. Mike said that most any water body in his area of Maine has the potential of giving up a solid smallmouth bass, which is always a bonus regardless of what is targeted.
New Hampshire And Southern Maine Fishing Forecast
The latest big lake to “ice in” completely is Sebago, and with the derby scheduled this weekend, the timing could not be better. Reports of a solid togue bite in the Raymond Beach area, as well as Standish, hold promise. Lake Sunapee is giving up a mixed bag of salmonoids, with shallow-swimming rainbows especially robust. The iconic Winnipesaukee white perch are hitting well on the Center Harbor side of the big lake, while lakers and cusk are more of a possibility at Alton Bay. Not all is big lake or bust, however, as smaller water, such as the coves of the Nashua River, as well as Beaver Lake, may be small in stature but big on grins.