While Mother Nature continues to make ice, the nemesis is the calendar as soon water bodies such as Lake Winnipesaukee will be closed for the ice fishing season in spite of plenty of hardwater. However there is no need to panic just yet, not when paunchy trout are chasing smelt in close in big water environments from Winnisquam to Moosehead.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
According to Harold of AJs in Meredith the general consensus is that the ice is going to outlast the season on Lake Winnipesaukee as it all ends at the end of March! Pre-spawn smelt are cruising ever closer to the shoreline, as well as near inlets, attracting a host of salmonoids and white perch. Meredith Bay has been good for rainbows which are beginning to resemble balloons, they are so fat! Harold recently saw an especially nice 21” fish which fell for a medium shiner not far from Mills Falls. For a chance at larger fish, stick to medium-sized baitfish as opposed to worms or salmon eggs.
Lakers have been cooperating at Center Harbor with the offering of choice being a perch or chartreuse AJ jig tipped with a sucker strip.
Silver Lake is a nice option for warm water species as well as the possibility of getting into some brook trout up tight against beaches.
Smelt among the Squamscott River have really picked up with some anglers achieving their limits! Both Dover Marine and Suds ‘ N Soda have confirmed this! Those shops also have customers doing well on crappie from Bellamy Reservoir and as for big water/bigger fish, Squam Lake, Merrymeeting Lake and Winnisquam have all been winners in the lake trout category!
Southern Maine Fishing Report
The point of owning a bait shop is to remain busy and considering that I had to make a second call to free up a few seconds from Wayne at Sebago Bait bodes well for the shop’s success! Success is also in the cards out on Sebago as patrons are enjoying a run on double-digit lake trout up to 18 pounds! Wayne’s best bet is the “Big Side” of Sebago and when asked for specifics he mentioned Sate Park Shoals as well as the back of Frye Island.
Although Maine still has a ton of ice, some species are feeling the thaw and it’s energizing them. Moosehead Lake is one example as big brookies have become willing in close on sandy bottoms. Scotty’s current jig crush is the Acme Hyper-Glide. It’s a different look than lakers and other salmonoids have been seeing and this late into a pressured season, something new can make a big difference.
This has been a better smelt year among the camps than in a while! Bakers camp as well as others are giving up 200 smelt outings per tide! That’s a figure which rivals the “good old days”! With that kind of score you can pack away plenty for dinner as well as bait!
Fishing Forecast for Maine and New Hampshire
While it may still feel like winter, fish on the feed are a signal that they are sensing the change! The game has become a close-to-shore contest in Winnipesaukee where rainbows and white perch shadow smelt schools in Meredith Bay and near Mills Falls. Meanwhile in Maine, big lakers are on a tear in Sebago as they pummel schools of smelt. Speaking of smelt, the bite is on among the camps of Southern Maine with the haul big enough that both the bait side and the dinner side can be satisfied!
Thanks for the helpful reports.