RagingOwl

I wonder how many folks will unwittingly confess to fishing without a license in this thread.

I bought a package of hooks labeled "bass assortment". Most of which I recognize. But I have a couple (one small, one really big wide gap) where the tip of the hook and the eye are not aligned. In other words, if you lay the hook on a table, it would not be flat. What are these used for? they don't seem to "fit" any plastics I have

It's been my experience here that fishing vocabulary is somewhat "loose". So in that spirit, i'm going to tinker with the definition of "fishing". In my opinion, putting live bait on a hook, attaching a bobber, and waiting for a fish to bite, is not fishing. That's fish-trapping. Sorry if this offends anyone, but I consider that to be "kid-fishing". It's not very fun to me. So, with that in mind.....is Front Park in Auburn (lake massabesic) a good place for fishing? Or for fish-trapping?

How do you access this for shore fishing? Parking?

I've been thinking the same thing. I'm new to fishing and for the life of me I can't get anyone to tell me exactly where to go to catch fish. Mostly folks will just name bodies of water, like "Merrimack River". Well the river is 3000 miles long and it's not exactly self-evident where a person on foot might be able to access the shore and fish comfortably. I've mostly been forced to just go exploring and so far I've found the following spots that seem reasonable, but would really like more intel if possible. 1) Naticook Lake, Merrimack NH - I've fished from obvious/visible openings along the shoreline near the boat launch behind veteran's park. I've had more success fishing this lake from the beach at Wasserman park. 2) The bridge on Tinker Road in Merrimack. Right near a 4-way intersection there is a bridge across the Pennichuck brook (I think?). Roadside parking available and fishing is possible on both sides of the bridge. 3) Horseshoe pond Merrimack - There is a boat launch on Island road with lots of room to fish. 4) Mines Falls Park Nashua. There is an extensive network of trails and much of them are adjacent to water. I could use some more intel for this place as it's not exactly clear to me which areas of this park might be best. I'm also not sure what kind of fish are in these waters, or what bait to use. I did get some nibbles on a worm while fishing in the waters just to the west of "Purple-25" 5) Some fishing App I have suggested "honey pot pond" in Amherst. However, I went on a reconnaissance mission and couldn't find a spot where a member of the public could access the shore. Please advise. 6) I did find something called "little honey pot pond" nearby. I found a place to park next to a small opening in the shoreline brush. Google earth has it at 5 waterview drive Amherst. 7) There is a canoe-launch area along the soughegan river just past Soughegan high School on Boston Post Road. Has anyone caught anything here?

So I finally caught some fish with a plastic worm. Senko. One with a texas rig, one carolina rig. One bass, one pickerel. I had been trying for a while. And when I was a kid, I tried ALOT to catch fish with anything besides live bait and had zero, I mean zero, success. I was kind of thinking that live bait was really the only way to go, and the rest of it was just a scam to make money. It's good to know this stuff actually works. Gotta work on feeling bites, and setting hooks. I definitely got the attention of more than two fish. Would be nice to catch a few more. I'm having some trouble figuring out when I'm getting a nibble, and when I'm just pulling my bait through some leaves/grass on the bottom. Related question: What's the deal with those "trout bites". The little neon marshmallows in a jar. I've tried them a lot of places, including places where there should be trout, and had not even had a nibble. I mean absolutely nothing.

Thanks for the invites and goodwill thus far. But I'm still not getting the info I'm looking for. Let me ask this a different way.... I'm going to texas rig a few different plastic baits to a 4/0 hook. I'm going to cast it out as far as I can, then let it sink to the bottom. Then "hop" it back to myself slowly. Where should I be standing when I do this?

Thanks. I don't have a boat. And I'm 38. And I'll probably take you up on the offer. In the meantime, I think I've done enough youtube watching and website reading to have an idea what to do. For example, from my online education, I know how to set up and use a texas rig for bass fishing. I just need some local knowledge to actually put it into practice. I've tried a few times, and not felt very successful. A lot of those times, my tackle just got snagged on some underground log or something and I had to cut if off. Other times I just cast and reel and nothing happens, which makes me wonder if I'm doing something very wrong. I can live with it if the fish just aren't biting. But if they aren't biting because I'm screwing up....what's the point of fishing? Alot of my fishing expeditions thus far have ended with me walking away feeling more lost and confused than when I got there. I would feel alot better about not catching fish if I knew that I was at least in the right place, at the right time, with the right gear, doing the right things. So I'm hoping someone can just spell it out in explicit detail. "Go to X. Park at Y. Use this hook size. Use this line test. Rig it this way. etc etc etc."

I fished as a kid with live worms and a bobber. Then I didn't fish for like...a whole lot of years. Just this month I've decided to give it a try and it's going ok. I can still catch fish with live bait. Perch mostly. Never really caught a bass, or a trout, but I would like to. I've also never caught a fish with anything made of plastic or metal, but I would also like to do that. I've found a few places to fish. I get there, but I don't know what's in the water. I don't know what it eats. I don't know how to catch it. So it's a giant guessing game to me. I've done a lot of searching, and app downloading, and youtube watching, and yet I still feel lost. So I need some folks here to talk to me like I'm a five year old and spell things out in explicit detail please. I live in Merrimack, work in Manchester, and visit Milford often. Where could I go locally if I want to catch bass and/or trout? Address? Where to park? Specific tackle tips? I'm also interested in back country fishing. I do a lot of hiking/backpacking. Does anyone know of ponds/rivers/brooks in the White Mountains that are far from a road where I can catch fish and eat them? I know Greely Ponds is stocked with trout, but camping is illegal there. Other options?