A Shoutout for NH Fishermen!!!

[jaystraw]

Did you guys get a chance to go and have any luck?  

I'm thinking of heading up to Bellows Falls and trying for some Walleye just below the dam.  I hear there is a good amount of shore fishing from there.

If anyone has gone before, please let me know how it was.

If it gets a little warmer today I'm going to hit the Contookook again and see how it goes.

[llPa1nll]

I have been out the last 2 Sundays caught fish both days. This past Sunday was better than the first water temp was 41°F. I bagged 5-6 bass, one being the Smallie kicker weighing in at 3lbs 4oz. I also snagged a decent brown trout on a jerk bait was about 10-12in long. its starting to warm up cant wait to get out again.

[baboosicbass08]

Good to hear u guys are getting out there again supposed to be 70s by the end of the week still some of the local ponds/lakes around here are ice but not for long. What are you guys using this early to catch bass i've never really been able to get bit this early in the year, and suggestions, lures, where to fish...? thanks

[telecaster]

If the weather stays warm,I'll probly stick the crawdad in the water this weekend.I've just been a couple times so far,I should be out there now..This week I'll be out in the afternoons after work,I'm actually pretty busy lately at work,Good thing, it keeps me out of trouble.

jim

[jaystraw]

I'm going to hit the Contoocook and maybe the Wilton Reservior if it is ice free this afternoon.

Wish me luck!  I'll let you know how I did.

[baboosicbass08]

Let me no if u can get into the wilton reservoir down that road because i live 5 mins from there

[jaystraw]

Yep, it's open water.  I only bank fished for about an hour at lunchtime, and did not have any bites.

But, it was fun to be out there.  I really need to catch a fish though!!

[llPa1nll]

Good to hear u guys are getting out there again supposed to be 70s by the end of the week still some of the local ponds/lakes around here are ice but not for long. What are you guys using this early to catch bass i've never really been able to get bit this early in the year, and suggestions, lures, where to fish...? thanks

Well bites are hard to come by for sure. what I got my most fish on were jig head with plastic, either a creature bait or tube. I also got some bites on a jerk bait with extra long pauses. hope this helps GL and tight lines...

[telecaster]

I caught a couple of pikeral this afternoon,then had another fish on and my line broke clean off.Thats what ya get for not retying after a couple of pikeral

[telecaster]

I got a couple ok fish today,missed several.I was wacky rigging BallBreakers on those Gammy 2/0 weedless circle hooks,and sometime I miss fish with those hooks.I switched to T-rig with a wide gap and was able to hook-up on a few.Not too bad, it was a beautiful day,and I was just bank-beatin in between jobs.

have fun jim

[wagn]

Went out today on the piscatequog river in goffstown. No luck at all. But it was my fault for trying to fish to shallow I think. I got tricked into thinking the bass would be up on the shore with the warm weather, and my fishfinder was broken so i couldn't figure out how warm the water was. Mostly fished a jerk bait, crankbait and senko. Hopefully I'll start catching something soon. I need to slow down and fish some t-rigged plastics or jigs i think.

The good news is I got my boat in the water and got to go fishing on a beautiful day. As a side note, I almost always have thursday's free, so if anyone is ever looking for a partner for a day, your boat or mine, just let me know. The best way to get better is to fish with other people as often as you can

[jaystraw]

hey everyone. I've been hitting the river myself, but no luck. The high water level has made it tough at my favorite spots, and hard to get to some of the other favorites.

I think I'm going to try a little trout and bass fishing tomorrow early morning and see how it goes.

editred to add that it went very slowly!  LOL! I did have a nice bite, which I lost.  I guess its just a matter of time.

[jaystraw]

Finally caught my first fish of the year! A nice 2.5-3 pound LM on a t-rigged senko. Prettty shallow water near a big rock in the early morning.

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[wagn]

nice job Jay.

[jaystraw]

Thanks!

I forgot to mention I saw a ton of big bass just cruising around in a really shallow area of the pond. They were not interested in anything of mine, but there were a lot of them. I've never seen so many bass at one time. If I had a net, I would have had a good day.

;D

[SenkoBasser]

The males. They are getting ready to spawn. Nice catch Jaystraw. I've been hitting up the Salmon Falls River but its too high and the current is too strong. I can't catch a thing.

[jaystraw]

AJ..Do you think it was makes looking for spawning spots/nesting females? It seems so early still...I cannot imagine the water temp was even 50 degrees.  Not arguing, just suprised.

My friend saw the same behavior yesterday afternoon in a small channel just off of Massesecum Lake by a bridge.

It was cool, but really frustrating!!   Trout fishing this afternoon!

[Bass Tard]

I just registered today and hope to meet some people and share some ideas. Went to Crystal Lake in Gilmanton today and found out it was way too windy to fish!!! Caught nothing...........the boat was being pushed all over the place. Does anyone here fish for stipers on Great Bay?

[llPa1nll]

Welcome aboard Bass Tard, I have had a decent day out in the fall on that lake. I wasnt able to get out las weekend but I am looking forward to getting out sunday. hoping for a hot bite out on the home waters. Tight lines all, happy to see you guys sticking some fish....

[Bass Tard]

Anybody try Parade Dam in Barnstead? Awesome fishing there. I'm going to try my luck there tomorrow. Their seeking out warmer water and are in alot shallower spots sunning themselves. The top water action is getting close! Can't wait!!!

[Bass Tard]

Parade Dam was pretty good today. Caught 2 bass and 3 pickeral. Anybody else have any luck today?

[jaystraw]

So, I went fishing at my local smallmouth honey hole which still had ice on it on Tuesday. Well, the smallies were ready for me!

I caught 18 fish in under 4 hours. All the fish were smallies between 2-3 pounds, and one Larry that looked 3+pounds. I only caught one pickeral, so it was a good day.

All the fish were caught around rocks in shallow water, but adjacent to much deper water. Most were caught on a silver F-9 Rapala, one fish was caught on a Shad Rap and one fish was caught on a new bait for me. It was a Berkley Minnow on a small jig head. The smallie that hit it absolutely nailed this bait. I never got another hit on it though.

Finally I had to leave because I lost my F-9 due to poor knot tying and had to make sure I hit the bait shop for another for tomorrow!!

Here is a link to all the fish I caught. I did not take pictures of about 3 fish, but I had to document this crazy day!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jaystraw/Fishing42508

[jaystraw]

I wnet back yesterday and had a repeat performance. the moring bite was pretty slow, but things started heating up around 10.

I kept catching multiple fish in the same area, with serveral fish following it back to the boat. The smallies must be gearing up for spawn because they were pretty agressively eating anything that looked like a silver shiner.  The Shad Rap in silver and Smithwicks Rattling Rouge in silver RULED the day.

I cannot even buy a bite on a seko right now , but I'm not complaining. I love crankbait fishing!

[jaystraw]

Got back brought back to reality yesterday fishing with wagn in Bow.  He did great, catching 3 nice sized larry's and some pickeral.  

I managed to catch a couple crappie, a couple pickeral, and one tiny bass.  Nothing of any size, but we had fun anyway.

No pattern to the fish except in deeper water.  The larrys were all caught on senkos just as it stopped raining yesterday.  After that, the bite dried up for the most part.

[wagn]

As Jay said, we went out to a small pond in Bow called turree. I FINALLY caught some fish. A couple of nice LM's.

We were orginally going to go to Turkey in Concord but I realized that the ramp is so bad my car can't back the trailer down. That's what I get for selling my truck and getting something smaller. Guess I can cross that lake of the list for this year

I was suprised that the fish were biting with the air in the high 50's and with a cold rain. After a week in the 70's i figured the fish would have pulled back to deeper water. I'm not complaining, i'm just glad to start getting bites again