A Shoutout for NH Fishermen!!!

[llPa1nll]

Back to defend Bow and give some help on what/where has been working for me....

First, Bow lake can be brutal, but once you've figured it out, the fishing can be outstanding.  This time of year the smallies are in two spots.  The far side of the islands (from the ramp) drop quickly into 35-60+ feet of water and the smallies stack up there in cooler weather/water.  Silver buddies are the ticket there still.  Don't pay attention to the water temp.  Your brain tells you to fish the flats, but this spot holds pigs year-round.  The other spot, ironically, is a huge flat that begins as a sand bar and continues for several hundred yards, ending at a shoal conecting the shoreline with an island.  This spot is as far opposite from the ramp as can be.  There is a large island in the NW part of the lake.  Go east from there and you'll find the sand bar.  The flat continues eastward.  Don't overlook the 3 main inlet coves either.  Larries like it there.

As far as this Spring, it's not been my best either, but I have had some great days and a few great fish.  Jigs (w/spider grub trailers) have produced my best fish in general.  Black/blue has worked so far.  Chatterbaits have been a consistant choice.  Black/blue or white, depending on the sky.  Jerkbaits for sure.  Gold has outperformed silver.  Silver buddies rule the Spring.  If you aren't comfy w/bottom bumping them, simply jig them off the bottom right under the boat.  Don't be afraid to us them in DEEP water, even now.  I jigged up a 4 1/2 lb. smally just last week in 40 feet of water at the foot of a steep break.  And finally, scum frogs, particularly the Spro Bronzeye frog.  I've only had 2 good frog days this Spring, but how good they were!  Nothing beats topwater fishing when it's on.  Look for a warm spell before you pull them out.  Since it's cooled a bit, they've not worked nearly as well.  

Good fishin' to y'all.

Good tips thanks Walkingboss, to be honest I have troubles at the popular lakes and do better at the lakes people dont go to that say they are difficult, Go Figure. Bow, Pawtuckaway, Deering Res. are the top three that give me trouble. Now giving myself credit only been to Bow once, havent been back yet. Pawtuckaway I have been to 3 or 4 times. I was getting fish but they were few and far between. Lastly Deering Res. my friend raves about that place but when I go the fishing was down right tough.  The only pattern I could find was ending up dead sticking Senkos in 10-15ft of water and catching 10 inch Smallies. Anyway just thought Id share the lakes I have problems on.

[Yakfish]

My brother and I got onto Potanipo for a few hours yesterday and the bass were just not in the mood. My brother got skunked but got a lot of tugs on plastics and some bumps on spinners. I managed two feisty pickerel on senkos and one that held onto the leg of a ribbit before letting go as I lifted him out of the water. Fortunately he bailed OUTSIDE of the yak. We saw a school of bass cruising a flat as we were paddling in but couldn't get their attention either. Jigs, chatterbaits, jerk baits, spinners and even plastics just haven't been doing it for us around here yet but the season is young. Hopefully things start heating up soon because the bass are kicking my azz so far.  

[wagn]

going to a small pond, hot hole pond in Loudon/concord NH, on tues or wed. It's supposed to be a trout pond, but i've heard that for a little place it has good smallies. Anyone ever fished there and if so, have any advice on the place. Thanks

[nhbassin13]

has anyone ever fished pleasent pond or deering resevoir?

[llPa1nll]

has anyone ever fished pleasent pond or deering resevoir?

I have fished Deering Resevoir. It is a good fishery with plenty of smallies too. I however each time I go with someone who raves about it we struggle to get bit with some decent size fish. There is some great structure to the lake. Shoreline to the right offers some real steep dropoffs. and out on the left are some humps that come up close to the surface. My only advice is get there early there is limited parking so it tends to fill up fast and your out of luck if there isnt a spot left. Hope that helps good luck...

[llPa1nll]

Anybody get out yesterday? I was out on the lake for 9hrs and boy it was a tough go of it. The Fishing early was decent and picked up a handful real quick but as each progressive wave of showers/rain came through the bite got harder and harder. With the ending coming as a front bringing through some thunderstorms forced us off the water. I caught 9 bass none of any size all on plastics and jigs in shallow water. We were fishing Last lake in Groton Ma, anyone have any better success?

[wagn]

went out to Turee pond over in bow. Was only out for a couple of hours. My nicest bass was caught on a bandit crankbait. Should of had more then i did. Missed alot of hits today trying to get them throught the weeds. The weather was great and I had a very relaxing time. I'm going to go out tomorrow as well and see if I can have a better day.

[telecaster]

Whats up with yooze guys this weekend,fishing anywhere? I think my Brother and I are gonna put the Crawdad in the Powwow on Friday.The first time I,ve had it in the water this season.Hoping for nice weather and big fish.Have a good memorial Day and catch some fish 8-)

[Walkingboss]

Got up to Merrymeeting on Sunday.  Rained all day and the water was only 52-54 degrees, but I did well on the smallmouth.  Caught 17, biggest being 4lbs. 6oz.  Even though the water was cool, most fish were caught in 10-15'.  My best however, was caught in 45' on a silver buddy.  Just goes to show you.......

May not be around the board as much as I'm working the next few weeks in central Maine.  I'll let you know how it is up there when I get a chance.

My next tourny is on Shirley Res. in Leominster, MA.  Anybody fished it?

[telecaster]

finally got my boat out this year..We did ok at Powwow considering we didnt get on the water till 10 and hadda leave by 1oc.2 fish spawned out females I'm assuming( long and thin)pushing 4# one 3 11 ,the other 3 6.. and a bunch of dinks and pickeral. It was a hot son of a gun out there today we were looking for shade as much as the bass I'm sure.. I'll probably hit Greenwood on Sunday.We have to get the NH group together sometime before to long..

[wagn]

Went out in bow again and did pretty well on topwater baits, zara spooks and poppers. Nothing is as fun as watching a bass explode on a topwater bait

[sikkibass]

HELLO 2 all N.H. fishermen Im new 2 this board and new 2 N.H. lakes. I've gone 2 big island pond abouy 6 times now I hear good things,just havent seen them!I was out last sat,the bite was slow,alot of little ones some hanging rite in the sun the water temps were anywere from 58-62 degrees tried some drop off and nothing little ones on banks under trees butt nothing big? I was throwing 7" worms texas riged and weightless,5" senkos texas riged and weightless both plastics all colors,spinners 1/8 oz to 3/8 oz bleeding white, chart,red shad and some swim baits. so what gives? any bip pros on here? am i missing any thing.

[Walkingboss]

Regarding BIP, it's not my favorite, but there are some good fish there.  You'll find them deeper than you might think.  Look for access to deeper water if you're fishing shallow.  Jigs rule this pond.

O.K., that being said, let me tell you that this weekend kicked major butt.  Fished Winni on Sat., despite the wind, and cleaned up on smallies out in open water.  Everybody else was banging the shoreline, but my wife and I fished a boulder flat which dropped into 50+ feet of water and killed them with X-raps.  This jewel of a spot was at least a 1/2 mile from any shorline.  If you want to know where, just remember the number 13.  Any of you with a map of Winni might know what I'm talking about......

Sunday was the best day of fishing I've had in over 20 years.  Went to fish Spofford Lake, but the ramp was full and we didn't feel like waiting for a boat to come in so we could launch.  Went the the CT River instead and let me tell you, it was a great decision.  I caught over 15 smallies and a walleye before 10 a.m., but my wife was skunked and p-o'd.  She wanted to call it a day, much to my dismay, until I stumbled across some beds.  We tied-on white jigs and stopped counting at 25 fat smallmouth in under an hour.  Biggest was 5 lbs. 3 oz.!!!!!!  Nearly every fish we yanked off the beds was 3 lbs. or better  She'd never had this treat before and is now sold on bed fishing.  It was a great day, but I did snap my $380 G. Loomis Glx setting the hook on my biggest fish.  That sucked, but Cabella's is replacing it.  Thank God....I'd become pretty close to that rod.....even named it.

Go out and get them while the gettin's good.  A lot of water here in SW NH is all done as far as spawning is concerned, but a lot of the lakes North and West have still yet to wrap-up.  I'll be on a very clear lake located SE of Alton Bay next Sat. and I promise you the smallies will be on the beds.  I feel there is a good chance of landing a 6 lb.+ fish.  When I land this fish it will be a merry-meeting....get it?

Good luck to all.....

[big bug]

your absolutely right about the spawning in the southern part of the state, big island on sat. all empty beds, alot of small fish, big ones went deep, nashua river, monday, empty beds, small fish in the shallows up tight to banks, biggest fish was 2.5 in laydown trees in 12' of water,,  the conn river is my next tourney so i would assume that the big ones will be deep by the 24th of june, considering we will be getting 4 to 5 days of rain in the next week. any suggestions as to a game plan would be appreciated.  thanks.

[llPa1nll]

Well glad you guys got into them smallies up north. I fished the Nashua R. in the Groton stretch yesterday. Dear lord was that a mistake, I couldnt buy a bite. A good friend has begged me to get a Ma. Lic., I finally did this year and Im glad I fish and live in NH. So the Groton stretch looks like a great fishery. We were out on the water fishing out of my friends boat 7hrs he caught 4 bass and 4 crappie. The bass were probably 7-10inches, 1 was a little bigger it might have weighed 1lb. I dropped 2 tiny bass at the boat that was it. We moved onto Forge pond I caught 2 tiny bass on a spinnerbait. So altogether 10hrs out on the lake and I caught 2 dinky fish, very disappointed.

[telecaster]

Well glad you guys got into them smallies up north. I fished the Nashua R. in the Groton stretch yesterday. Dear lord was that a mistake, I couldnt buy a bite. A good friend has begged me to get a Ma. Lic., I finally did this year and Im glad I fish and live in NH. So the Groton stretch looks like a great fishery. We were out on the water fishing out of my friends boat 7hrs he caught 4 bass and 4 crappie. The bass were probably 7-10inches, 1 was a little bigger it might have weighed 1lb. I dropped 2 tiny bass at the boat that was it. We moved onto Forge pond I caught 2 tiny bass on a spinnerbait. So altogether 10hrs out on the lake and I caught 2 dinky fish, very disappointed.

     If ya want to get more miles out of your Ma. licence try putting your boat in the Merrimac at the N.Chlemsford ramp and fish around Tyngs Island.My brother and I have allways had pretty good luck fishing around there,and its not too far a ride from here.I was hoping to get out today but my truck is going in the shop >

[bassbob08]

dont give up on Ma. fishing you have to find the right pond.

[llPa1nll]

Hey thanks guys. 2 trips into ma. arent going to sour my spirits. The running joke is no matter what state where ever he suggest and takes me its always a tough day. Well looking at the calender I have a wedding this weekend in York Pa. and the weekend after that is Fathers day looks like Im gonna be busy for awhile before I get after them again. Good luck and tight lines everyone...

[wagn]

went out today to a small pond in new-boston and boy was it worth it. I only had a couple of hours to fish but on my first cast I landed a 4 pound smallie and it only got better. In 2 and a half hours I had caught 4 smallies over 2 pounds and 4 others that weighed in at over a pound. I didn't even count the dinks that I caught. What's funny is that the only thing that the fish would eat was a watermelon senko. I knew the fish were biting so i tied on almost one of everything else, tubes, x-rap, topwaters, crankbaits, other color senkos, you name it I threw it out there just to see what else I could get a hit on, and the only bites at all were on that one color. Needless to say that i stopped fishing everything else and stuck with the senko. My only regret is that I only had a couple of hours of time free, definitely going back out to new boston again soon.

[baboosicbass08]

hey wagn what pond was that in new boston? has anyone ever fish lake Skatutakee in harrisville im going to fish it sometime soon for pike any suggestions???

[Walkingboss]

your absolutely right about the spawning in the southern part of the state, big island on sat. all empty beds, alot of small fish, big ones went deep, nashua river, monday, empty beds, small fish in the shallows up tight to banks, biggest fish was 2.5 in laydown trees in 12' of water,, the conn river is my next tourney so i would assume that the big ones will be deep by the 24th of june, considering we will be getting 4 to 5 days of rain in the next week. any suggestions as to a game plan would be appreciated. thanks.

I had to go up to N. Haverhill, NH today for a graduation and the CT there was very stained and high from last night's rain.  This week won't help, but who knows?  By the 24th she might be clear and at pool...That's river fishin'....I wish I could give you some tips on deep water CT River bass, but I'm in the same boat as you.  I'd have to say some deep running cranks and jigs around long blow downs (there are a lot of newbie trees in the water after this past storm)....work the shear bluff drops....and look for boils in mid-river.  

O.k., now for the braggin'......I suggested in my last post that the smallmouth on Merrymeeting Lake would be bedding this weekend and boy, did I call it.  I only had 4 hours to fish on Sat. (my wife wears the pants  :-[) but managed to yank an even 40 pigs out of the lake.  Fish, no crap, averaged 3 - 3 1/2 pounds, my biggest 6-4.  Wife left the memory chip for the camera in the computer, so no digital proof, but I wouldn't lie to y'all.  She did get an earfull when I got home....ON TIME mind you.

That being said, I feel really bad about the whole day.  Honestly, you could have laid your dink on the beds and they'd have bit.  I got turned around after landing one and caught it again thinking it was a different bed.  I could tell because of the fresh hook mark and I was the only gut on the lake not salmon fishing.  It was so easy it was stupid.  I can't say that 40 jumping, pumping fat piggies weren't a blast to handle, but come on.....Anybody else feel what I'm sayin'?  I'm worried about bad karma from the fish gods..... :-/

[llPa1nll]

Hey guys, wondering what this left over tropical storm Barry will do to the fishing. I havent been out lately and have got the shakes to get out on the water. This weekend doesnt look great either with it being Fathers Day. Hope you guys are sticking them good.

That being said, I feel really bad about the whole day.  Honestly, you could have laid your dink on the beds and they'd have bit.  I got turned around after landing one and caught it again thinking it was a different bed.  I could tell because of the fresh hook mark and I was the only gut on the lake not salmon fishing.  It was so easy it was stupid.  I can't say that 40 jumping, pumping fat piggies weren't a blast to handle, but come on.....Anybody else feel what I'm sayin'?  I'm worried about bad karma from the fish gods..... undecided

I dont go out hunting for bedding fish on purpose but if they bite I'll stick them. Usually the way these northern lakes work is there will be 2 waves of spawning fish. Depending on the Full Moons and temps in May and June. Personally going out looking for bedding bass and just sitting on a bed and actively trying to pester a bass into biting for 5-10 mins isnt much of a challenge to me. There isnt anything wrong with it. I also agree that a day with smallies isnt going to happen like that all the time either so take it when you can get it.

If I know the bass are up on beds when Im going thru some spawning areas I'll just fancast the area and not concentrate on just the beds. That way your usually just going to pickup the more aggressive male most of the time. Just my thoughts.

[Av8r]

I hit Masebesic to day from around 6:30 to 8:30.  Caught 6 LM and 1 SM.  Nothing too big but 2 were over 1.5 lbs.  It was just nice to stay busy on that lake.  I've fished there for a month before and not caught 7 fish.  Good times.

[Vernal]

Hey

I was on Massebesic last weekend and had a pretty good day as well.  They were off the beds already so hitting the points and drop offs worked pretty good.  Caught most of the fish off a 4 inch rapala type lure from Cabelas!!!  Worth every penny for $2 bucks!!!

Love fishing Massebesic.  Where else can you go for a big lake that's undeveloped!!!

[llPa1nll]

Hey Guys,

Got out on the water yesterday looking for big numbers and quality fish. Someone I guess forgot to tell the fish that. We had a rough go of it on Sunday. We got out on the lake around 9:10am got back too the launch at 8:00pm, I caught 6 partner caught 7, I easily dropped 5 more . These fish from what I could see were not hungry at all, short striking most lures. I had trailer hooks on my spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, somehow a good portion of these managed to come unbuttoned at the boat. I only got 1 bite on the jig the rest were on spinnerbiats. I hope you guys had better luck than I did.