Anyone Have Any Luck In Southern Nh Yet? (4/6/12)

[MattyG1981]

I read the posts on here but first time actually posting. I love that everyone is helpful with tips on what to use and spots to go. I live in Nashua and I’m a huge bass fisherman. I mainly fish the Nashua River and have got a few decent 3-4lbers there on frogs and sencos. Looking for a new spot to get a 6+ lber close by. I mainly use a kayak and don’t hit to many huge lakes because I don’t know where they are. If you want to share a secret spot to get some monsters I would love it. I don’t mind hiking into the woods to get to a place in the middle of nowhere 

[nhbassin]

On 9/15/2018 at 11:25 AM, MattyG1981 said:

I read the posts on here but first time actually posting. I love that everyone is helpful with tips on what to use and spots to go. I live in Nashua and I’m a huge bass fisherman. I mainly fish the Nashua River and have got a few decent 3-4lbers there on frogs and sencos. Looking for a new spot to get a 6+ lber close by. I mainly use a kayak and don’t hit to many huge lakes because I don’t know where they are. If you want to share a secret spot to get some monsters I would love it. I don’t mind hiking into the woods to get to a place in the middle of nowhere 

The Nashua River may be one of your best options for a big fish in the Nashua area, and this is one of the best times of the year to catch large bass. I have had great luck with largemouth in the fall by throwing a chatterbait with a rage craw trailer (pictured below), on days that have some wind and clouds. That may help entice some of the larger fish for you. If you give it a try, make sure to vary your retrieve. Most of my good fish on this combo have come when reeling in then pausing to let the bait fall a few feet. Good luck. 

[MattyG1981]

Yeah I generally fish the Nashua River and have gotten some good fish from there. I was hoping to hit some place new. 

[mrcimon]

Guys, I’m up on the border of Lebanon ME and Rochester NH this weekend. I’m looking for a good spot with shore access for a few people to fish this weekend. Any recommendations? 

[JQ-92]

Fishing has been pretty good lately. Caught these two over the past couple weeks. 

[Hiteck22]

On 9/18/2018 at 9:26 PM, MattyG1981 said:

Yeah I generally fish the Nashua River and have gotten some good fish from there. I was hoping to hit some place new. 

What is your definition of close? From the ramp on the Nash to Turkey Pond and Stumpfield Marsh, both in Concord and about 5 minutes from each other, it is 45 min. Both places hold big fish and aren't too big of a body of water. Nothing daunting for kayaking. Everywhere else in the immediate area, Robinson Pond (minnows post above not withstanding ?), horseshoe pond and naticook in Merrimack, are full of small fish. Heald pond in Pepperell, which is pretty small but gets pretty d**n deep for a body of water its size, around 40', has some big fish. I've witnessed boatmates pull out 5'ers a few times and saw a 6+ through the ice there. I pop in there from time to time to mix it up. I once saw a small bird land on a branch of a lay down and a 4+ looking bass launch out of the water to take the bird and branch it was on lol.

[Nashua Nev]

There is a lot of water in Southern nh.... for yak and big boats..... within 1 hour there is 50 ponds to fish....... For starters with a yak.... Horseshoe pond in Merr has some really nice fish. I have several over 5 in the past 2 summers ,  Naticook has some nice 3 lbers but it seems like it is still on a rebound and fish are in a growing stage.   a lot of under 2lbers.  There must be a big few --- dream pond in amherst , lincoln pond milford , crooked pond loudon , horseshoe pond concord. , nutts pond manchester and stevens pond manchester.........  .   .all of these places hold some really nice fish.   You gotta put in the time and find them.   all of these are small , quiet , relaxing places........ except for stevens which has a lot of noise from cars.    Nashua river is a goldmine.   I have 2 at 6-8. and my 7-2 from nashua river.    

[Hiteck22]

2 hours ago, Nashua Nev said:

Horseshoe pond in Merr has some really nice fish. I have several over 5 in the past 2 summers 

d**n I guess I have been doing it wrong haha. I live 5 minutes from here and have spent a lot of time on the water here over the years and never had anything over 3 other than a 17lb carp that I hooked by accident. First time I ever went there after moving into town and I didnt know there were carp in there. For about 30 seconds I thought I was catching the biggest bass I will ever catch for the rest of my life ?? If you dont mind me asking did you catch them in the deep hole or were they cruising the shallows?

[mhtranger]

Just moved up to Manchester this year and reading this recent post about horseshoe pond. Only about ten minutes from me.  Any parking issues? Can I put my bass boat in there or is it kayak only?

[Hiteck22]

3 hours ago, mhtranger said:

Just moved up to Manchester this year and reading this recent post about horseshoe pond. Only about ten minutes from me.  Any parking issues? Can I put my bass boat in there or is it kayak only?

There are no restrictions for bass boats and I have seen plenty of of them in there. The ramp isn't paved, it is just sand and a relatively shallow grade so you will have to back you vehicle up until the doors are practically in the water to get your boat to float off. But it is definitely doable. I launched my 12' aluminum boat there 1,000,000 times although I haven't tried it yet with my new bigger boat :-). If you are standing at the "ramp" looking out at the water there is a bit more water to your left than right so aim your trailer in that direction. You will basically have to back your boat into the pads a little bit. There isnt much parking there but if there isnt any room on the ramp there is room to park on the side of the road that the ramp is off of. It is a mostly private road with only traffic from a few houses that are on the peninsula.

 

There is more vegetation on the inside of the horseshoe than the outside. I have always had the most success on the edges of that than the edges along the outer shore. And primarily right at the apex of the horseshoe than the ends of it so to speak. 3/4 of the way around the horseshoe you will see a huge rock on the outer edge of the shoreline and in front of that is where it gets deepest. It wont be hard to imagine when you see the slope of the shoreline there, it basically follows down into the pond. When you launch your boat and start heading out there is a huge pad field off to your right, stuck a few frog fish there. Good luck.

[mhtranger]

Hey thanks for the info. I ventured out there this afternoon since it was so nice. As you said the launch is tough. Managed to get a few today. Lots of pickerel but a real nice 2.5-3 lber. Everything came on a dropshot for me. Never made it around the bend since I was short of time. Definitely will go back since it’s so close. But will bring someone with to help load the boat. 

[JAB50]

Massasecum is right down the street from stumpfield. It's excellent. And there is Gorham Pond too. 

[badenglishihave]

On 9/27/2018 at 2:09 PM, Hiteck22 said:

There are no restrictions for bass boats and I have seen plenty of of them in there. The ramp isn't paved, it is just sand and a relatively shallow grade so you will have to back you vehicle up until the doors are practically in the water to get your boat to float off. But it is definitely doable. I launched my 12' aluminum boat there 1,000,000 times although I haven't tried it yet with my new bigger boat :-). If you are standing at the "ramp" looking out at the water there is a bit more water to your left than right so aim your trailer in that direction. You will basically have to back your boat into the pads a little bit. There isnt much parking there but if there isnt any room on the ramp there is room to park on the side of the road that the ramp is off of. It is a mostly private road with only traffic from a few houses that are on the peninsula.

 

There is more vegetation on the inside of the horseshoe than the outside. I have always had the most success on the edges of that than the edges along the outer shore. And primarily right at the apex of the horseshoe than the ends of it so to speak. 3/4 of the way around the horseshoe you will see a huge rock on the outer edge of the shoreline and in front of that is where it gets deepest. It wont be hard to imagine when you see the slope of the shoreline there, it basically follows down into the pond. When you launch your boat and start heading out there is a huge pad field off to your right, stuck a few frog fish there. Good luck.

This is my exact experience in the couple of times I have been to Horseshoe in Merrimack. In August I did catch a handful of dinks around the outer bend in the ample wood and brush using a dropshot and texas rig, but most of the fish including a couple OK ones near 2lbs came on the inside of the "bend". I've also had some success really shallow right after you launch near those pads.

[nhbassin]

I got on the water with a buddy yesterday in Southern NH and fished for about 3 hours. It was very cloudy with light wind and the water temp was 63. The first hour and a half we fished spinnerbaits, top waters, senkos and soft plastics on drop offs and rocky structure. With only 2 fish to show for our efforts, we decided to go to the opposite side of the lake and fish a large shallow flat that is covered in lilly pads and various vegetation. We ended up with over 30 largemouth in the last hour and a half, most coming on a chatterbait with rage craw trailer. Most were 11-13 inches long and none of the fish were over a pound and a half, but it was still good to catch a bunch.

 

Has anyone got on fall patterns and caught any picture worthy fish lately?  

[JQ-92]

19 hours ago, nhbassin said:

I got on the water with a buddy yesterday in Southern NH and fished for about 3 hours. It was very cloudy with light wind and the water temp was 63. The first hour and a half we fished spinnerbaits, top waters, senkos and soft plastics on drop offs and rocky structure. With only 2 fish to show for our efforts, we decided to go to the opposite side of the lake and fish a large shallow flat that is covered in lilly pads and various vegetation. We ended up with over 30 largemouth in the last hour and a half, most coming on a chatterbait with rage craw trailer. Most were 11-13 inches long and none of the fish were over a pound and a half, but it was still good to catch a bunch.

 

Has anyone got on fall patterns and caught any picture worthy fish lately?  

Fished a a decent size pond in Manchester on Wednesday. Fishing was pretty slow for me. Texas Rigged 5 inch yum Dinger is what I caught all my fish on. Caught 4 In about 3 hours from shore. All probably around a pound. Had some great blowups on my frog but they missed it a bunch. Yesterday fished a small local pond and caught 7 bass in about 2 hours. None of size really but they were hammering the frog and didn’t really care for my weightless Texas rigged worm which is usually money. In the small pond they were definitely very active chasing bait and shallow. As for the bigger lakes I couldn’t really figure it out. I was fishing on shore so limited access to deep water. Don’t know if that helps at all. Goodluck! 

[je1946]

On 10/4/2018 at 12:26 PM, nhbassin said:

I got on the water with a buddy yesterday in Southern NH and fished for about 3 hours. It was very cloudy with light wind and the water temp was 63. The first hour and a half we fished spinnerbaits, top waters, senkos and soft plastics on drop offs and rocky structure. With only 2 fish to show for our efforts, we decided to go to the opposite side of the lake and fish a large shallow flat that is covered in lilly pads and various vegetation. We ended up with over 30 largemouth in the last hour and a half, most coming on a chatterbait with rage craw trailer. Most were 11-13 inches long and none of the fish were over a pound and a half, but it was still good to catch a bunch.

 

Has anyone got on fall patterns and caught any picture worthy fish lately?  

I don't know if the fish are in a fall pattern yet?  Water is still warm for this time of yr.  Was on Quabbin yesterday and temps were 66 in the morning and 68 in the afternoon.  We fished hard all day and only managed a few dink smallies

[salmotrutta]

A few from the past couple months.5-3

[JQ-92]

Has anyone been out recently? With the cold nights into the 30’s I’m wondering if the bass will still be shallow on fall patterns or starting to head out deep. 

[redmexican5081]

21 hours ago, JQ-92 said:

Has anyone been out recently? With the cold nights into the 30’s I’m wondering if the bass will still be shallow on fall patterns or starting to head out deep. 

I was out Sunday morning.  Almost all of my fish were shallow and tight against the wind blown shore of my local small pond.  Caught them on weightless senkos and Texas rigged chigger craws. Couldn't buy a bite on spinnerbaits or on topwaters that crushed them a week ago.

[Janderson45]

Headed out to Squam on Saturday I believe, will be interesting to see where the fish are located (if I can find em).  I’m guessing water temps tomorrow in mid to high 50s but really not sure.  Winni was 64-66 when I fished it 3 weeks ago.

[JQ-92]

Appreciate the feedback guys. I’ll be heading out Saturday I’ll let you know how I do. 

[JQ-92]

Skunked Saturday not even a bite. My brother fished a smaller body of water that morning and caught tons of bass on a black and blue 1/2 oz chatter bait with a craw trailer. I tried jerk baits, chatter baits, Texas rigged worm. Couldn’t find the fish from shore unfortunately. Just winterized the boat might try taking the kayak out sometime this week but the nights are getting pretty cold. Anyone have better luck? 

[redmexican5081]

Tried mid afternoon on Saturday for an hour.  My kid had a bday party to go to so I fished while my wife took him inside.  We were a few towns over and it was an unfamiliar body of water for me.  Got about a 4" pumpkinseed when I set the hook on a tap, poor guy got my 3/0 stuffed into his side.  Beyond that, not much going on but I only tried the stuff I "forgot" was in the wife's car, 2 piece medium moderate spinning rod with 6lb flouro twitching a 4" senko weightless.

[Mainebass1984]

Fall patterns are in full effect. Fish are feeding ! Water temps have been 49-50 degrees. Now is the time to catch big bass !

[salmotrutta]

4lb 3oz x 20"

9" Slammer

10-27-18