><> North Country

As New Hampshire anglers watch the calendar turn to August, some serious
adjustments are made in order to be successful. If you are a trout
fisherman, middle to late summer is when your skills and talents are really
put to the test. Water temperatures have been at levels that make coldwater
fish seem to disappear. One of the greatest challenges to fishing at any
time of the year is finding fish and predicting their movements. Preferred
habitat now is deep, well-oxygenated, and cool water. Finding all three is
rare, so fish will settle for one or two of these refugia. Once these areas
have been identified, you may have to employ additional tactics like fishing
early in the morning or at dusk. To complicate matters even further, fish
like trout and salmon will decrease their energy expenditures when they are
under stressful conditions. A brook trout, for example, will be less likely
to aggressively rise for food in these warm water months. If you hope to
fool one with a
delicate, lifelike presentation, you could be doing battle with a fish who
may not even want to feed. Good luck.

August is still one of the best months to fish in Northern New Hampshire.
They daylight is still quite lengthy and conditions on the water can be very
comfortable for fishermen. If the deerflies don't carry you away, you can
spend an entire weekend trying to figure out where fish are and, more
importantly, where they are not. – Andy Schafermeyer, Regional Fisheries
Biologist

><> Lakes Region/White Mountains

Sorry folks, no report this week but I’ll be back next week. – Don Miller,
Regional Fisheries Biologist

><> Monadnock/Upper Valley

Night sampling has been keeping me busy and away from fishing for the past
few weeks, but reports I have received at the office from anglers have been
promising. Rainbow trout are still being caught with regularity in Spofford
Lake (Chesterfield; some up to 22”), Swanzey Lake (Swanzey), and Silver Lake
(Harrisville). I have also heard of some very nice landlocked salmon and
lake trout being caught at Nubanusit Lake (Hancock/Nelson). Bass anglers
have been having a banner summer in southwestern NH. Reports of nice
largemouth have come in from Highland Lake (Stoddard), the Connecticut River
(Hinsdale), Warren Lake (Alstead), Crescent Lake (Acworth), and Laurel Lake
(Fitzwilliam). For smallmouths, I would try Swanzey Lake (Swanzey), Dublin
Lake (Dublin), Stone Pond (Marlborough), and the Connecticut River
(Chesterfield/Westmoreland). If the bass aren’t biting in the shallows, try
the deeper water off of reefs, deep shorelines, and secondary points. – Gabe
Gries, Regional
Fisheries Biologist

><> Southeast NH/Merrimack Valley

While there are many public boat ramps and shoreline access points for
saltwater fishing, shoreline fishing opportunities on freshwater can be
difficult to find in New Hampshire. Most shorelines are privately owned and
access to many lakes and ponds is limited. However, if you look hard enough
you can find some excellent fishing spots in southeastern New Hampshire.
Swains Lake, in Barrington, can be accessed along France Road. The two small
bridges are good places to cast for largemouth bass and yellow perch. The
Cocheco River is known for its brown trout. It can be accessed, at a number
of points, by an unpaved road that runs along the left side of the river
looking downstream from the Watson Road Dam in Rochester. The Cocheco River
is one of three rivers in southeastern New Hampshire that have extended
catch and release seasons for trout. The other two are the Lamprey River,
downstream of the Wiswall Dam to the first Railroad trestle downstream of
Packers Falls, and the
Isinglass River, from the Route 125 bridge to its confluence with the
Cocheco River. More warm water fishing (for bass, pickerel, and sunfish) can
be found on the section of the Isinglass River that parallels Route 126 and
eventually crosses under Route 202 in Barrington.

The black crappie in the lower Lamprey River are best approached through the
ice, or by canoe, but there is shoreline access along the back side of a
graveyard in Newmarket, near the confluence with the Piscassic River. If you
would prefer a little peace and quiet, Northwood Meadows State Park contains
a small pond with bass fishing and trout in season. Although it is not
technically a shoreline access site, the UNH Rec Center on Mendums Pond, off
of Hall Road in Barrington, has very reasonable rates for canoe/kayak
rentals, which provide access to a smallmouth bass population that gets
relatively little fishing pressure. I could go on, but the best way to find
new shoreline fishing opportunities is to go for a drive. With respect for
private property and careful attention to "no trespassing" signs, check all
the places where a road crosses a river or runs along the shoreline of a
lake or pond. With patience you might stumble onto a new fishing spot that
is too good to
share. – Matt Carpenter, Regional Fisheries Biologist

><> Seacoast Area

Well, of course the day that I write there are bluefish is the day they
disappear. One of the headboat companies reported hooking into a school of
them last week, but we have not heard a thing of them since. Striper fishing
hasn’t been too bad, still most of the catching has been out in the ocean,
not much going on in the rivers. One thing of note on the groundfishing
front this week, a lot of white hake (a member of the cod family) was
brought in over the weekend. The time is approaching again with incoming
tide happening at dawn and dusk, check those tide tables and get out
fishing, don’t let the summer disappear without visiting the coast! –
Rebecca Heuss, Marine Biologist

><> Federal Aid: A User-Pay, User-Benefit Program

Researching and managing fisheries and teaching people about aquatic
ecosystems are funded by your license dollars and by the Federal Aid in
Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program. Your purchases of fishing
equipment and motorboat fuels make a difference to New Hampshire's
fisheries. Visit http://www.wildnh.com/SFWR_program/sfwr_program.htm.

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Copyright 2010 New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive,
Concord, NH 03301. Comments or questions concerning this list should
be directed to jane.vachon@wildlife.nh.gov.