It may seem hard to believe with signs of winter still present throughout the state, but New Hampshire anglers will get their first shot at open-water fishing for landlocked salmon and lake trout in less than a week from today.
“It looks like we will experience a late April “ice out” in the central lakes region, with North Country lakes a good week and a half after that. With the deep snowpack, our tributary streams will benefit with increased flows, attracting spawning smelt, the prime forage fish for landlocked salmon. Fall netting (2013) revealed a strong, age-3 year-class of salmon in Sunapee and Winnipesaukee lakes, which will dominate the catch. There will also be some trophy-sized salmon available in Big Squam Lake,” said NH Fish and Game Large Lakes Biologist Don Miller.
New Hampshire Fish & Game’s 14 managed lakes for landlocked salmon and lake trout include:
- Big Dan Hole Pond
- First and Second Connecticut Lakes
- Conway Lake
- Lake Francis
- Merrymeeting Lake
- Newfound Lake
- Ossipee Lake
- Big and Little Squam Lakes
- Sunapee Lake
- Lake Winnipesaukee
- Winnisquam Lake
New Hampshire fishing licenses for 2014 can be purchased online at www.fishnh.com, or from any Fish and Game license agent. Annual resident fishing licenses are $35. Resident one-day licenses are just $10. Annual nonresident fishing licenses are $53. One-, three- and seven-day nonresident licenses are also available.
To read the full press release from New Hampshire Fish & Game, click here.