Double digit bass in NH?

[NEBasser101]

I live in southern Nh just over the border into Mass. A little over 30 years ago, there was a 15.8 pound largemouth caught in Mass. Does anyone think there is a double digit bass somewhere in NH? 

[MassBass]

10 lb fish in Winnipesaukee?

[WRB]

New Hampshire state record is listed as 10 lbs 8 oz in 1967.

When you consider the age of that record catch and the number of bass anglers on the water today, if there is another potential DD bass it will be caught by someone.

Tom

["hamma"]

some waters there when they cycle right im sure will hold one, will it be caught ? who's to say,... most of the excellent bass waters,.. arent mainstream, or accessable by boat

[Mainebass1984]

I definitely believe there is a 10 lb largemouth in NH. Last year a 10 lber was posted on the NH thread in the Northeast forum.  A 10 lb bass is a very rare catch anywhere in New England.  A very old, once in a lifetime fish.

[JG233]

How old do you think a New England 10 lber is?

[Mainebass1984]

4 minutes ago, JG233 said:

How old do you think a New England 10 lber is?

 In 2013 I caught a 9-1. I had a dorsal spine and scale aged. The dorsal spine which is the more accurate of the two was aged at 19+ years with "a high likelihood" of being older by the bass biologist for the state of ME. The scale was aged at 16 years old. The scale was aged by a VT fisheries biologist. He said that as the fish grew the growth rings became more difficult to read which is very common with older fish. He said it was "most likely" a few years older then the 16 growth rings he could clearly see. I would guess a 10 lb class fish would be 15 - 20 years old in New England.

[BaitMonkey1984]

I am in the same are as you, in fact I am last town in MA. 5 minutes and I am in southern NH. Fish MA and NH. There are 10lb bass around. However I don't think there are a lot. And, as mentioned above those DD bass are old fish. I am a firm believer that big bucks and big fish don't get that big by being dumb. IF you get one, make sure you treat it right and put it back.

[MassYak85]

I'm in Mass and there are definitely lakes capable of holding double digits. If it's still possible to beat the state record I imagine it's swimming around in the Quabbin somewhere. But in New Hampshire, I'd have to imagine that there is at least one double digit fish in Winnipesaukee. 

[Mainebass1984]

 I think that smaller harder to reach places that receive little fishing pressure have a better chance at producing trophy bass then the more popular easy to access big bodies of water. A double digit bass in New England would have to be a very old fish,  a place that receives little fishing pressure that is very hard to get to would provide a better place for them to get old.

 

[JayKumar]

I've had the good fortune to fish all over the U.S. for bass. Still my biggest is a 9.5 in a NH pond that the locals swore had no fish in it (+1 on the little fishing pressure). There were at least 6 fish that big or bigger in there. For sure there's a DD in NH!

[yosef]

someone had caught a 9lber at spot pond in stoneham theres some big fish in there...boat access is allowed but only if you rent their boats

[Mr. Aquarium]

the problem with NH is that all the bass ponds get pounded! with MA theres so many limited access and private ponds that barely get fished. but the remote ponds in NH are trout havens instead of bass!  
but i do think theres a shot of a 10 in one of the big deep lakes like winni! if someone were to toss a swimbait i think thats the best shot at getting a truly once in a life time giant! 

as far as MA goes! theres a lot more 10s in MA then we think! ive personaly have  hooked,seen fish swimming and had some follow and hit my baits that i was shocked at how big the were! ive got a good numbers of 6s and 2 over 7 in my life and these fish were so much bigger then these fish! 
the growing season up there is quite short! ice out doesnt happen till april! while down here some years we dont even have ice! i fished on my kayak all winter long. also the amount of food places a big roll as well! 
thers so many factors that play in growning a giant in the northern states

[Mainebass1984]

There are plenty of ponds in NH that have bass that don't get pounded. Some of the ponds are relatively unknown except by the locals. The harder they are to get to the less pressure they get. A small, hard to get to pond has the best chance for a 10 in my opinion. A good food base such as big golden shiners,  rainbow smelt, yellow perch or stocked trout is a must.  The size of the bass population in relation to the amount of forage available plays a huge role. The waterbodies with the best growth rates tend to have a smaller population.

[Mr. Aquarium]

15 hours ago, Mainebass1984 said:

There are plenty of ponds in NH that have bass that don't get pounded. Some of the ponds are relatively unknown except by the locals. The harder they are to get to the less pressure they get. A small, hard to get to pond has the best chance for a 10 in my opinion. A good food base such as big golden shiners,  rainbow smelt, yellow perch or stocked trout is a must.  The size of the bass population in relation to the amount of forage available plays a huge role. The waterbodies with the best growth rates tend to have a smaller population.

wow i didnt know that? ive been going to NH my entire life and i always thought those remote ponds were trout! but the area i go to is the white mnts. so im sure there are better bass lakes down in southern NH. 
theres a lake very close to the MA and NH boarder that had a 9.5 weighed in. caught a few months ago

[nhbassin]

A few years ago I downloaded the annual stocking report that NH fish and game uploaded to their site which lists the number of trout stocked in each lake throughout the year. I then looked up the acreage of many lakes in southern/central NH that were on the stocking list and also were home to largemouth. From these two pieces of data I got the number of trout stocked per acre of water, for lakes in NH that hold largemouth. There were 3 that were significantly higher than the rest, so I spent much of my time that summer focusing on those bodies of water and it resulted in 3 fish between 6.7 - 7.1 pounds. I am pretty confident that those bodies of water held larger fish too. 

The point of this is that I agree with Mainebass that there is likely a 10 pound largemouth in NH right now and its probably in a smaller body of water that has a large food source, such as stocked rainbow/brook trout.

P.S. One of those lakes with a high stocked trout per acreage ratio was Pleasant Lake in Deerfield, which was surprising because that is a good sized lake.  

[Nashua Nev]

There are no 10 lbers+ in NH waters,  go fish in another state.      ------  i agree , there is def a new state record swimming around. the growing season is smaller , will def be an old , smart fish to get to double digit.   small water , big water ,  i think both.   I have my ideas including the Merr and Nashua rivers.

 

[Mwvbass]

I think up north where trout fishing is king, there are definitely some really big bass hiding. 10+ lbs is possible. 

[Mainebass1984]

 A 9-4 was caught a couple weeks ago in the southern area of the state. It was 24" long with a 20" girth.

[PourMyOwn]

On 6/13/2016 at 5:00 PM, Mainebass1984 said:

There are plenty of ponds in NH that have bass that don't get pounded. Some of the ponds are relatively unknown except by the locals. The harder they are to get to the less pressure they get. A small, hard to get to pond has the best chance for a 10 in my opinion. A good food base such as big golden shiners,  rainbow smelt, yellow perch or stocked trout is a must.  The size of the bass population in relation to the amount of forage available plays a huge role. The waterbodies with the best growth rates tend to have a smaller population.

Big golden shiners-exactly. These things are like sausages with fins, easy to digest compared to the fins and bones of yellow perch.

There certainly are 10+lb bass here in NH, I've seen at least 10 largemouth over 8lbs-there are surely some larger ones out there. My guess is the flooded swamp/bog ponds with dark water and tons of pads and hyacinths. These ponds are nearly impossible to fish thoroughly, and very few people have the equipment/desire to fish the heavy vegetation.

[KenP]

Old mill dams that have limited or terrible access are great spots for old bass. I'm sure suckers and carp are high protein like trout. A large bass may only need to eat once a day or less. Some guy broke the RI record this year, patience and dedication will payoff.

[Janderson45]

I'll tell you what that Massachusetts record blows my mind... It beats state record largemouths in 30+ states almost all of which are south of the Carolinas.. Florida strain largemouth...  Also, the mass state record was supposedly taken through the ice, so add another 2lbs or so to her if he caught her post spawn in the spring.. 17.5-18lb northern strain largemouth??  Blows my mind. 

[KenP]

9 hours ago, Janderson45 said:

I'll tell you what that Massachusetts record blows my mind... It beats state record largemouths in 30+ states almost all of which are south of the Carolinas.. Florida strain largemouth...  Also, the mass state record was supposedly taken through the ice, so add another 2lbs or so to her if he caught her post spawn in the spring.. 17.5-18lb northern strain largemouth??  Blows my mind. 

I've always wondered if a Florida strain bass could be released up here and grow just as big and just as quick. The farm born most likely cannot spawn but it would be awesome if they did release some goliaths.

[HeavyDluxe]

So, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this from a statistical/probability standpoint since the thread started.

I'm curious about this, though:  I know some fish can make it through the winter even if they get frozen in the water.  However, I'm not sure that's true re: LMB.  So, while I think smaller, less-targeted waters would be the places to find big fish, I wonder whether a lot of the small bogs, etc would actually be able to sustain a large fish through the colder months.

Thoughts?

[Nashua Nev]

per Mainebass earlier in the thread....

In 2013 I caught a 9-1. I had a dorsal spine and scale aged. The dorsal spine which is the more accurate of the two was aged at 19+ years with "a high likelihood" of being older by the bass biologist for the state of ME. The scale was aged at 16 years old. The scale was aged by a VT fisheries biologist. He said that as the fish grew the growth rings became more difficult to read which is very common with older fish. He said it was "most likely" a few years older then the 16 growth rings he could clearly see. I would guess a 10 lb class fish would be 15 - 20 years old in New England.

 

Right conditions , excellent food source , great oxygen levels , good cover , a lot of luck lots and lots of luck , for the fish as well as for the fisherperson catching it. 

 

I have my ideas,  there are many places that those big girls could be. Some ponds that get a lot of pressure produce some big fish,  and everytime those fish are caught and throw back in they get smarter........  older and wiser.