Anyone have any luck in SOUTHERN NH yet?

[Shane J]

Welcome, BM! Are you guys gonna make it out with us on the 27th?

[Triple D]

Just my 2 cents on the keeping of bass. I have a friend and his father that will keep bass some times and they double deep fry them. There suprisingly good tasteing. However i myself always catch and release. Not sure about the guys you saw but i do know of some that like to eat them. 

[BucketMaster]

Welcome, BM! Are you guys gonna make it out with us on the 27th?

Thanks! Yea I'm hoping I'll be able to go out with BassMaster.

[NHBASSMASTER]

Shane, as I said in the other posting, I'm moving this week so it depends on how much we get done this week. We both really want to go and if we can then we'll bring my boat. I'll keep you posted.

[spin king]

C'mon guys. Give me a break with the catch and release rants. If someone wants to keep a bass to eat (or stuff for that matter), it is their choice to do it, and it is perfectly legal to do so. There are PLENTY of bass out there, and people keeping a few here and there does virtually nothing to the population. I can't remember the last time I went bass fishing and got skunked (that's not a testament to my ability, but rather the amount of bass that are out there). I keep less than 1% of the fish I catch, but every once in a while a LMB on the grill is pretty good. Rants like this sound more like the comments I hear from my Trout Unlimited friends. Pretty soon, I'll be reading about the evils of those who don't use single point, barbless hooks.

[BucketMaster]

C'mon guys. Give me a break with the catch and release rants. If someone wants to keep a bass to eat (or stuff for that matter), it is their choice to do it, and it is perfectly legal to do so. There are PLENTY of bass out there, and people keeping a few here and there does virtually nothing to the population. I can't remember the last time I went bass fishing and got skunked (that's not a testament to my ability, but rather the amount of bass that are out there). I keep less than 1% of the fish I catch, but every once in a while a LMB on the grill is pretty good. Rants like this sound more like the comments I hear from my Trout Unlimited friends. Pretty soon, I'll be reading about the evils of those who don't use single point, barbless hooks.

I respectfully disagree, it does hurt the population (granted in the case of a large lake not nearly as much) but if someone takes a large mature LMB out of a 30 acre pond it definatly has an impact on population.

More so however, now nobody can catch that fish again nore its potential hundreds of off spring. Bass are indeed a sport fish, (much like a trout) but their a hardy fish and can deal with some rough handling. Unlike trout, who'm if you so much as breath on it wrong it'll be dead. I can understand the trout fanatics to a degree with the barb-less hooks and such being that their such a delicate fish.

Anyway there just isn't any reason to kill a nice LMB their certainly not the best fish to eat and other than eating one there isn't any other reason to kill one.

Catch and release. 'nuff said.

[badcrawdad]

Welcome to the boards Bucket!

You and NHBASSMASTER seem to breaking that boat in nicely. sounds like you're finding them with ease. What types of lures are you guys using? I fish mostly softplastics and have been doing rather well with Quality fish but the quantity hasn't been there lately.

[badcrawdad]

C'mon guys. Give me a break with the catch and release rants. If someone wants to keep a bass to eat (or stuff for that matter), it is their choice to do it, and it is perfectly legal to do so. There are PLENTY of bass out there, and people keeping a few here and there does virtually nothing to the population. I can't remember the last time I went bass fishing and got skunked (that's not a testament to my ability, but rather the amount of bass that are out there). I keep less than 1% of the fish I catch, but every once in a while a LMB on the grill is pretty good. Rants like this sound more like the comments I hear from my Trout Unlimited friends. Pretty soon, I'll be reading about the evils of those who don't use single point, barbless hooks.

I respectfully disagree, it does hurt the population (granted in the case of a large lake not nearly as much) but if someone takes a large mature LMB out of a 30 acre pond it definatly has an impact on population.

More so however, now nobody can catch that fish again nore its potential hundreds of off spring. Bass are indeed a sport fish, (much like a trout) but their a hardy fish and can deal with some rough handling. Unlike trout, who'm if you so much as breath on it wrong it'll be dead. I can understand the trout fanatics to a degree with the barb-less hooks and such being that their such a delicate fish.

Anyway there just isn't any reason to kill a nice LMB their certainly not the best fish to eat and other than eating one there isn't any other reason to kill one.

Catch and release. 'nuff said.

X2

If someone really wants to take a bass for dinner then keep 1 or 2 of the smaller ones. That could actually help the fishery. While there are usually plenty of bass in a particular body of water, its a small percentage of them that are trophy size  It takes years for a bass to reach 5lbs in this area of the country. I've never eaten a bass but have never heard of them being very tasty. So why wouldn't we want to preserve the big ones for other fisherman to catch again. It is simply selfish to keep a nice LMB.

[BucketMaster]

Welcome to the boards Bucket!

You and NHBASSMASTER seem to breaking that boat in nicely. sounds like you're finding them with ease. What types of lures are you guys using? I fish mostly softplastics and have been doing rather well with Quality fish but the quantity hasn't been there lately.

Thanks! We tend to fish a range of lures, I used to be more of a hard plastics / top water guy, though BassMaster has recently got me hooked on soft plastics. I've been fishing soft plastics almost exclusively lately, however I did slam that decent large mouth on a top water hard plastic in the picture in the above post. I've also been fishing a swim jig lately, no real success on it yet but I've yet to really get to fish it in water thats more suitable for it.

BassMaster has been cleaning house with his spinner baits lately, he about doubled my accumulative weight last weekend with two good 5lb'rs I only had that one respectable 3lb'r or so on that top water all day, the other few were only 2lbs or so. Not dinks but surely nothing to write home about.

[nashua fisherman]

I figured I'd try Ottarnic Pond, since I was close and curious. Man, what a mistake, should have stayed at home. Not only were there white caps on this small 30ish acre pond, but the milfoil and coontails have eaten this place alive! The board said that they did some weed killing recently and I can honestly say that it did nothing.

otternic is a million times better than it was two years ago. it used to be 2/3 weeds and you couldnt even run a prop out there. i havent got skunked there yet since the weed kill. i caught a 3.9# two weeks back. i bet the fishing will improve over the next few years now that the water is open. where did you see the millfoil? to the left of the launch? i have my best luck from the right of the launch to the trailer park. look for the dropoffs.

[NHBASSMASTER]

spin king, I'm going to have to agree with the others who posted. I didn't write that post to start a flame war about keeping or not keeping a LMB. You are 100% correct in saying that if someone wants to keep a big LMB than they can. I agree with that completely, but more along the lines of if they are going to eat it. You said that occasionally you like to keep one and grill it, thats great, I have zero issues with that.  If the person is going to get it mounted, then I don't agree. With the technology now, all you need is a picture of the fish on both sides, the length and the girth of the fish. From that they can create an almost EXACT replica of the fish. They no longer need the actual fish to get it mounted. A fish of that size takes years to mature to that size in this constantly changing weather we have. All that said, I only meant to portray my opinion on someone keeping a bass of that size. You don't see a lot of people eating LMB.

[NHBASSMASTER]

I figured I'd try Ottarnic Pond, since I was close and curious. Man, what a mistake, should have stayed at home. Not only were there white caps on this small 30ish acre pond, but the milfoil and coontails have eaten this place alive! The board said that they did some weed killing recently and I can honestly say that it did nothing.

otternic is a million times better than it was two years ago. it used to be 2/3 weeds and you couldnt even run a prop out there. i havent got skunked there yet since the weed kill. i caught a 3.9# two weeks back. i bet the fishing will improve over the next few years now that the water is open. where did you see the millfoil? to the left of the launch? i have my best luck from the right of the launch to the trailer park. look for the dropoffs.

It seemed to be all over. I couldn't even see 6" down in the water, really murky. There was floating coontails and milfoil all over the place. I caught a yellow perch, a pikerel and a small dink bucket and that was it. In the location your talking about, from the right of the launch to the trailer park. The white caps on the water weren't helping my case either.

[NHBASSMASTER]

Welcome to the boards Bucket!

You and NHBASSMASTER seem to breaking that boat in nicely. sounds like you're finding them with ease. What types of lures are you guys using? I fish mostly softplastics and have been doing rather well with Quality fish but the quantity hasn't been there lately.

Thanks! We tend to fish a range of lures, I used to be more of a hard plastics / top water guy, though BassMaster has recently got me hooked on soft plastics. I've been fishing soft plastics almost exclusively lately, however I did slam that decent large mouth on a top water hard plastic in the picture in the above post. I've also been fishing a swim jig lately, no real success on it yet but I've yet to really get to fish it in water thats more suitable for it.

BassMaster has been cleaning house with his spinner baits lately, he about doubled my accumulative weight last weekend with two good 5lb'rs I only had that one respectable 3lb'r or so on that top water all day, the other few were only 2lbs or so. Not dinks but surely nothing to write home about.

d**n you Bucket! Giving away our secrets!  > J/K!  ;D Throughout the past few months, with the serious lack of rain we have been having around here, we've been throwing T-Rigged soft plastics of whatever matches the body of water. The wacky rigged Senko in the Baby Bass and white flecked colors have also produced quite well. The spinner baits I'm throwing are usually Double Colorado bladed, and a color that'll match the bait fish in the body of water.

[spin king]

spin king, I'm going to have to agree with the others who posted. I didn't write that post to start a flame war about keeping or not keeping a LMB. You are 100% correct in saying that if someone wants to keep a big LMB than they can. I agree with that completely, but more along the lines of if they are going to eat it. You said that occasionally you like to keep one and grill it, thats great, I have zero issues with that. If the person is going to get it mounted, then I don't agree. With the technology now, all you need is a picture of the fish on both sides, the length and the girth of the fish. From that they can create an almost EXACT replica of the fish. They no longer need the actual fish to get it mounted. A fish of that size takes years to mature to that size in this constantly changing weather we have. All that said, I only meant to portray my opinion on someone keeping a bass of that size. You don't see a lot of people eating LMB.

Yeah, no desire for a war here either. I was responding more to the comment by UNHBass that there's no reason to kill a bass period, and he would have voiced his opinion. My point was that bass fisherman don't need the stereotype applied to them that a lot of trout fisherman have (condescending, nose in the air, etc.). If someone wants to keep a fish, regardless of motive, I say (like you did), "To each his own." The fact is that most people don't keep them, and those that do are doing extremely little to effect the population (as evidenced by how many there are around).

[NHBASSMASTER]

spin king, I'm going to have to agree with the others who posted. I didn't write that post to start a flame war about keeping or not keeping a LMB. You are 100% correct in saying that if someone wants to keep a big LMB than they can. I agree with that completely, but more along the lines of if they are going to eat it. You said that occasionally you like to keep one and grill it, thats great, I have zero issues with that. If the person is going to get it mounted, then I don't agree. With the technology now, all you need is a picture of the fish on both sides, the length and the girth of the fish. From that they can create an almost EXACT replica of the fish. They no longer need the actual fish to get it mounted. A fish of that size takes years to mature to that size in this constantly changing weather we have. All that said, I only meant to portray my opinion on someone keeping a bass of that size. You don't see a lot of people eating LMB.

Yeah, no desire for a war here either. I was responding more to the comment by UNHBass that there's no reason to kill a bass period, and he would have voiced his opinion. My point was that bass fisherman don't need the stereotype applied to them that a lot of trout fisherman have (condescending, nose in the air, etc.). If someone wants to keep a fish, regardless of motive, I say (like you did), "To each his own." The fact is that most people don't keep them, and those that do are doing extremely little to effect the population (as evidenced by how many there are around).

I do agree. It's the rights we have as being outdoors men. It just hurts a little seeing such a large bass being taken out of the environment for who knows what. Again, as I said, I was assuming he wasn't going to eat it. 

[NHBASSMASTER]

I've been staring at the topo for awhile and I figured I should ask here. Anyone know of any good fishing locations near the Milford area? I'm moving to Milford this week and I can start looking maybe a little farther west than the Nashua area. Any ideas? Thanks.

[nhbassin13]

i live in milford and i can say there are some nice ponds in this area but lots of them are no access. Baboosic in amherst is really good fishing but there is no public access. i find that i have to travel a little ways towards nashua or head a little west to find some nice ponds.

[nhbassin13]

you could always do potanipo. its got good bass in it still. just make sure to go on a weekday and try to get a calm day.

[unhbass37]

I've been staring at the topo for awhile and I figured I should ask here. Anyone know of any good fishing locations near the Milford area? I'm moving to Milford this week and I can start looking maybe a little farther west than the Nashua area. Any ideas? Thanks.

Not sure if you have a MA fishing license or not, But there are some great lakes and pond to hit there. Worth the extra dough in my opinion.

[unhbass37]

C'mon guys. Give me a break with the catch and release rants. If someone wants to keep a bass to eat (or stuff for that matter), it is their choice to do it, and it is perfectly legal to do so. There are PLENTY of bass out there, and people keeping a few here and there does virtually nothing to the population. I can't remember the last time I went bass fishing and got skunked (that's not a testament to my ability, but rather the amount of bass that are out there). I keep less than 1% of the fish I catch, but every once in a while a LMB on the grill is pretty good. Rants like this sound more like the comments I hear from my Trout Unlimited friends. Pretty soon, I'll be reading about the evils of those who don't use single point, barbless hooks.

I disagree. Bass should all be catch and release, Thats my opinion and I stand firm on it. If I see someone keeping one I have every right to voice my opinion and will.

[unhbass37]

Moving forward. I started this thread a little over a year ago and would like to keep it to sharing pictures of you catches, places you like to fish and any ideas to help others out there. If you have anything other then that please start your own thread. Thank you. 

[NHBassfishing]

Since I don't have a boat, I fished the dam at Beaver Lake in Derry.. It was upsetting to see the Asians there everyday with their white 5 gallon bucket keeping everything they catch..

Ticks me off as it somewhat of a decent place to fish, but theres nothing to catch there now..

[jaystraw]

Since I don't have a boat, I fished the dam at Beaver Lake in Derry.. It was upsetting to see the Asians there everyday with their white 5 gallon bucket keeping everything they catch..

Ticks me off as it somewhat of a decent place to fish, but theres nothing to catch there now..

It sounds like they are breaking the law to me. Maybe you should drop Fish and Game a line. These people did not make out well:

Fishermen charged in 'Operation Panfish Plunder'

By PAT GROSSMITH

New Hampshire Union Leader Staff

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010

CONCORD Three men are facing federal charges accusing them of operating a commercial fishing business that relied on overfishing the Connecticut River in Vermont and New Hampshire and selling the catch in New York.

The men were arrested at the conclusion of a federal and interstate investigation nicknamed "Operation Panfish Plunder."

Richard Webster of Rutland, Vt., Ronald Martel and Garth Martel, both of Whitehall, NY were arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court on charges they violated the U.S. Lacey Act Wildlife Trafficking provisions and for conspiracy to violate the U.S. Lacey Act.

Special Agent Bryan Landry of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said the investigation began in New Hampshire after recreational fishermen complained to state Fish & Game about the men fishing as a group, exceeding the 50-fish a day limit and operating a commercial business.

According to state Fish & Game, during the past ice season between December 2009 and April the trio participated in the illegal commercialization and gross over-limit fishing of recreational freshwater fish from New Hampshire and Vermont waters.

The men caught black crappie, yellow perch, white perch and sunfish (bluegill) - collectively referred to as panfish - from the Connnecticut River in excess of fishing limits, according to indictments.

They then allegedly transported the fish to New York where they sold it to Honey's Sporting Goods in Whitehall.

Landry said the men allegedly operated the business over several ice fishing seasons.

According to poststar.com, on May 6 officers from at least five agencies searched the bait and tackle store as part of the interstate investigation into illegal fish sales.

The joint investigation involved U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, New Hampshire Fish & Game, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Hampshire

[Waylo]

Did the NY sporting goods store sell them as bait or someting?

[fmoore]

Did the NY sporting goods store sell them as bait or someting?

Food. In most other parts of the country panfish are a popular food fish.

Went freshwater fishing today for the first time in almost 3 weeks. Caught about a half dozen bass and this walleye while prefishing for a tourney on sat. I caught 2 that were around 3 pounds and the rest were dinks. That measuring board is a little more than 22"