Big water coves are beginning to lock up and with that the promise of trophy trout and roaming schools of white perch. Meanwhile anglers are taking advantage of smaller ponds which at the moment come with a fleeting phenomenon—black ice!
New Hampshire Fishing Report
I know when Harold of AJs picks up the phone than I’ll be getting a report that’ll make me want to pack up my traps and head to the Winnipesaukee area! While the big lake has a way to go yet, what’s encouraging is that coves of Winnisquam have already “caught.”
For a different sort of catching, there is solid black ice and good reports coming from Winona Lake and Hawkins Pond. The former is quite a fishbowl with brook and rainbow trout as well as largemouth and smallmouth bass to choose from while the latter is exclusively a warm-water species spot with the nod going to largemouth bass and pickerel.
Those in Southern New Hampshire are also indulging in some early ice fishing activity according to Joe from Granite State Rod and Reel Repair. On average the smaller water bodies are featuring 3 to 4 inches of black ice. Mill Pond and Rocky Pond are two that anglers have been fishing on. Joe recommends that in addition to your bait, traps and auger, you take along with you a goodly dose of common sense and caution regarding ice safety, especially at this time of the year. If you don’t mind making a trip, Joe has heard good things regarding rainbows from Highland Lake in Andover.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
The word from the Southern Maine Smelt Camps is that there are no plans to set up those shacks until after the first of the year. Scotty from Dag’s had no shortage of consolation options when we spoke, leading with Lake Sabattus which has caught and has plenty of ice fishermen taking advantage of the early freeze.
If you want to fish a place with potential for numbers of pike as well as the possibility of a real corker than you could do a lot worse than fish this place! The recent freeze has piled up 10 inches of ice on the Androscoggin River making most of the river navigable to the ice fisherman.
If to you, ice fishing is all about members of the trout family than check out Worthley, Beals and Brettuns Ponds. One place to keep an eye out for when it freezes is Moosehead Lake. Sound management practices such as liberalizing the lake trout limits and increasing minimum size limits for brook trout have resulted in a boon in big brook trout. The emphasis here should be on the word big! Open water, hard water and biologists netting results have revealed a true trophy fishery with many brookies achieving weights of 4 pounds or more and the colors/girths of these fish are unreal!
Fishing Forecast for Northern New England
Every season has its moments; soon it will be all about larger lakes and more robust hardwater opportunities. Now is the time to take advantage of smaller ponds which will be largely ignored soon enough. But why wait? New Hampshire’s Mill Pond, Wicwas Pond as well as Maine’s Lake Sabbattus and Brettuns Pond are calling, hardwater hopefuls should head that call!
Hello. Looking for recommendations for a summer guide fishing trip for lake trout. Thank you.