New Hampshire Beginner

[RagingOwl]

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?

 

 

 

 

[kroberts9]

welcome to the site raging owl, Do you fish from a boat or shore?

bass fishing in my opinion is far better then any other species.

Let's start with this, how old are you?

the reason I ask is I have  small vessel and a few great spots for bass fishing and maybe I can get you out there and show you a few things.

 

YouTube is pretty good for learning many methods. I suggest starting there as well as utilizing this site for great guidance. I fish a lot opens and I can say there is always someone on the site that can help you with almost any techniques.

 

shot me a message some time maybe we could meet up and fish Massabessic or Patuckaway.

[RagingOwl]

4 hours ago, kroberts9 said:

welcome to the site raging owl, Do you fish from a boat or shore?

bass fishing in my opinion is far better then any other species.

Let's start with this, how old are you?

the reason I ask is I have  small vessel and a few great spots for bass fishing and maybe I can get you out there and show you a few things.

 

YouTube is pretty good for learning many methods. I suggest starting there as well as utilizing this site for great guidance. I fish a lot opens and I can say there is always someone on the site that can help you with almost any techniques.

 

shot me a message some time maybe we could meet up and fish Massabessic or Patuckaway.

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."

[JQ-92]

1 hour ago, RagingOwl said:

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."

Raging owl, I live in Amherst so not far from Milford at all. I do a fair amount of bank fishing and could help you out as well. PM me and I can share with you some great shore fishing spots in the area and could meet up with you and show you what works for me. 

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard! This is what BR is all about  

Good luck and catch some bass!

[RagingOwl]

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?

[redmexican5081]

Cast it towards something. Rocks, weeds, fallen trees, etc. will all increase your chances of hooking up with a fish.  When fishing from shore, I catch more fish when casting parallel to the bank then when casting out towards the middle of a pond. 

Don't get discouraged yet.  The water is still cold around our area.  Some fish are being caught but the numbers will begin increasing soon.

In Manchester, try Pine Island Park off of Brown Ave by the airport. Veterans Park Naticook Lake is in Merrimack.  Mine Falls Park in Nashua has good shore fishing too.

[je1946]

2 hours ago, RagingOwl said:

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?

I think your making this a lot more complicated than it really is.  What do you mean where should you stand?  On land at the waters edge obviously.  The technique you mentioned above is fine, with occasional pauses, hold your rod high and when you feel a tell tale bite which can be a little tap to a pick up and run, lower your rod and reel up the slack and set the hook hard like your trying to break the line but of course you set your drag properly and won't do that.  As you set the hook, reel enough to keep slack out of the line.  Remember when you set the hook you have to do it hard as your driving the hook thru the bait and into the fishes jaw.

 

As far as places to fish you could talk to a wildlife/conservation officer for the area and he/she will point you to a place where you can fish from shore.  remember the season is still early and the fish are sluggish, slow and steady wins the race, if you read some of the comments lots of people striking out so don't get discouraged.  Try joining a club and attending some meetings and see who would be willing to work with you.  

[GrumpyOlPhartte]

@RagingOwl:  I spent a lot of time shore fishing and, to me, the best change I ever made was to buy a pair of waders (although I don’t use them unless the water is cold) but my point is that even a pair of old sneakers and shorts or swimming trunks can really expand your “shore fishing” to a new dimension. 

 

Typically a shore fisherman man will start at any point with a few casts while standing back a few feet from the chosen spot to see if anything is up close at that spot. Then he moves up into position and perhaps target likely cover. Or, he may fan cast the area from one side to the other. 

 

In my locale that left left a lot of tempting overhanging brush and some shallow lay downs unfished. Shoreline brush interfered with my casting, particularly to the right. In my case cover to my right was almost never fished.  But, by wading out into the water just a few feet I could cast parallel to the shoreline and, for me, this resulted in several nice bass.  OK, there was an occasional leech to be removed, but a cheap pair of nylon wind pants corrected that issue.

 

Don’t know if it’s your cup of tea to get your feet wet but it certainly did increase my numbers.  Just a thought.

[RagingOwl]

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.

 

 

[IneedAnewScreenNae-5165165]

hey raging owl, I don't know for sure if you are using a spinning reel or not, but I'm going to go about the rest of this post assuming you are..

 

1.) I read your post above about getting snagged, this should almost never happen with a texas rig because it's weedless, just make sure you're doing what' called "texposing", there's a link to a video right there to show you but it's just threading the plastic all the way through the worm and then tucking the hook point into the outer side of the soft plastic. Hypothetically this should make you completely weedless, and give you the best hook up ratio. 

 

2.) It's spring time right now and we're still in pre-spawn, soon fish will be sitting on beds which is the perfect time for you to get a hang of the senko technique. If you are not familiar with bed fishing, it's just the process of seeing a male bass guarding a bed (a slightly lighter circle on the ground) and casting about a foot or two past the bed and working your senko until it's directly on it. A male bass will eat an empty beer can if you threw it on the bed so it's the perfect time to practice feeling what a bite feels like because spawning happens up shallow where you can usually see what the bass is doing. 

 

3.) Also I don't know if you are rigging it weightless or not but at this time of year (I fish it weightless primarily, any time of year) it is usually a better set up for me. Without getting too deep into rod action and power, reel, and line you're using in general a 3/0 hook is what I primarily use for rigging senkos. 

 

4.) This one isn't as important during spawn but super important for the rest of the year:

• Muddy/Murky Water: Dark colors- black and blue, junebug
• Stained Water: Watermelon with some flake, I like red but it doesn't matter
• Clear Water: Green Pumpkin, but also works very well in almost all water types, if i could only have one it would be GP.

5.) Feeling the bites. This takes time to get used to but I can give you some tips. First, it sounds obvious but always watch your line, any movement that did not come from you or the wind is something either bumping it or eating it. Sometimes its a *tap tap* other times it's a single tap, and sometimes you don't see a tap at all and your line just starts moving left, right or toward you. In all of those instances set the hook. Hook sets are free and the more you to it the more you'll get a feel for what is and isn't a bite.

 

6.) Setting the hook is also tough to get used to when fishing the t-rig. Make sure you when you feel a bite point the tip of your rod directly at the fish (or where you think it is) then reel down until you just barely start to feel the weight of the fish and then set the hook in an upward motion. 

 

To answer your question the trout balls are Powerbait. The idea is those little neon balls are synthetic dough bait. The original premise of the bait was Powerbait was used to feed the stocked trout while on the fish farm and when they are released anglers would have something that smelled exactly like the food they've eaten their whole lives. 

 

Typically people fish it with an egg sinker above a pivot swivel attached to a snell. But I never liked this type of trout fishing. What I would suggest to you is grab a variety pack of micro spinners. Some popular brands are blue fox, rooster tail, and Panther Martin. 

 

It's super simple just cast it out and bring it in retrieve. Also it's a great lure for everything that swims. I've caught bluegill, pickerel, largies, sallies, rock bass you name it. I would suggest getting some as something to tie on as a lure that can help you find fish, and once you've located them then switch to the senko. 

 

Sorry for the information overload I just remember starting out and how confused I was so I wanted to be thorough. I live in the concord area so if you ever wanted to fish somewhere I am always on the pond and could show you a few spots. Best of luck to ya, hope to hear from you soon

 

tight lines