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There are several structures there (I'm sure you fish them too), that have everything one could ask for in a smallmouth spot. My results have been the same - keepers are a rarity. I got turned onto it by a friend that grew up ice fishing for trout there, and indeed my best catches there have been several fat rainbows on a Roboworm DS.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reel Northern Bass
Yes there seems to be a real problem over that way with lakes that should hold good fish but rarely do. Mostly due to a lack of nutrients for forage. So as a side caveat but actually relates to this, forever ago when I did a college internship and worked doing fisheries for F+G I found old reports from the 20's and 30's where they used to dump cow manure in certain bodies of water to increase the fertility of the lake. Not sure if silver was one of them but Granite Lake was one of them that caught my eye as I used to fish there. Haha can you imagine that happening in this day and age.....
Haha that's definitely interesting. Granite Lake is another place I've been to several times with less than great results. Couple of 3+ lbers but mostly rats. Now that being said, we did go out there this summer and my buddy Andrew lost an absolute giant smallmouth right at the boat. Just that one fish so far that had me excited about that lake. Most of the smaller lakes that also have lake trout in them have yet to produce numbers of quality bass for me, but I'm also dealing with some small sample sizes in a few cases so the jury is still out on them.Quote:
Originally Posted by A Wood
The way Gorham is built, I imagine all those "camps" on the shore contributed mightily to the productivity. I'd bet that NH's practice of insisting on conforming septic systems when properties change hands has put a dent in the food chain, especially on these waters without a defined inflow. Add in the improved control on non-point sources like shoreline development and fertilizer...Quote:
Originally Posted by A Wood
Got on the Merrimack around 2:30, started in the oxbow. Lots of green, cheesy algae mats neat the confluence. Plenty of bites on a spinnerbait, the better fish came flipping wood. I skipped the 393 backwater again, as the level was down and it appear to still be covered w/ algae bloom (I'd be interested if anyone's been getting bit in there over the last 3-4 weeks?). Returned to the main river as a 6-8 boat club was taking out. NH F&G page says it was the Granite State Bass Hunters - anyone here fish it? Spoke w/ one guy - he said it was won with around 22.5# on 5 fish, anchored by a 7+! Damn! I fished the obvious wood and got a 4.62# on a squarebill (I'm sure that girl had seen some s^&t all day!). Rain was falling, I wussed out on a run and took out.
Decided to avoid the wind, and launched at Powdermill around 2:00 on Sunday. A couple of duckhunters kayaked up, so I fished the first upriver backwater (no bites), worked my way downriver and got a 3# flipping the outside grassline. Fished all the way down to the bogs, several more on the spinnerbait and got another 3# flipping wood. Pattern had evolved to be outside bends/areas getting current with a little more depth. Worked an upriver bend with the right stuff but no bites, then the wood-filled oxbow. Took my time in the trees w/ the spinnerbait, squarebill and flipping a Woolly Bug for nada. Picked up two more on the cutbank above, and another in the main river. Hard to believe there were no bites in those logjams :/ Fished 'til sundown, ended up with 8 keepers. Didn't see or hear a duck all day, so I think I did the right thing. Spinnerbait got the numbers, 'Bug for size. Water temp was 59.
Nice work buddy. I know of a NH Bass Hunters but not the Granite State Bass Hunters, tried looking them up but didn't find anything.
We fished a two day tournament in Vermont over the weekend on Lake St Catherine and Lake Bomoseen. Day 1 was St Catherine and we managed 20.22 lbs on our 5 fish, and I had lunker on the day with a 5.36 lb largemouth. Jigs on the outside of weed lines, 12-20 feet was the ticket, though we did get a few others on a dropshot but nothing that stayed in the well for the end of the day. Day 2 was Bomoseen, we had 20.50 lbs anchored by a 6.28 lb largie by my buddy Andrew that was only the 3rd biggest fish of the day, lunker ended up being 6.48 lbs that my buddy caught. Good enough for 3rd overall out of 16 boats. Felt good to get back into some bigger fish again after having an absolutely horrible stretch fishing only in NH the last 2 months. Each of our first fish caught on Saturday went a hair over and a hair under 4 lbs, and we both caught a tank. The old Ranger held up just fine for the long drive and long days so I'll be fishing out of state the remainder of the year whether it's in this boat or when I finally get my boat back.
I looked them up too - I think they had a name change (except on the NH F&G tournament permit page). The last post under the GS name was 2018.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reel Northern Bass
Attachment 534062
Nice work crushing the big ones!
Went to Webster lake Saturday and the bite was way off. Caught 7 bass with biggest being 2 1/2 lbs.
My aunt lives on a private lake in Douglas ..in the late 70’s and 80’s you could paddle your boat through cows wading in the water at one end of the lake … giant groups of them and you could Pat the cows as you paddled by .. but it also stunk horrible on that end of the lake as they would poo while wading around cooling off … I’ve still not to this day seen blue gills or perch as big as that lake had (that was more of what I caught as a kid ) giant schools of bait fish everywhere .. huge crawfishQuote:
Originally Posted by A Wood
All the adults would always fish down in the cow pasture … still try to get on that lake every year
Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboat1
That's a nice limit for sure.
Nice job Snover :thumb up2:
My NH fishing this year wasn't the best either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboat1
I grew up fishing Gorham pond. It always had some nice fish.
Probably 10 years or so ago they went after the millfoil. The water went crystal clear and the bigger fish seemed to dissappear. Haven't been in a few years.
Finally made it out over the weekend.
Fished silver lake in tilton on Friday. Slow day in the rain.
Managed a couple decent smallmouth and some huge pickerel.
Water temp was 67.
Sunday I fished little sunapee. Same deal. Got a couple decent smallmouth and one 3+ lg and again some giant pickerel. Water temp was 63 I think.
Monday I fished winnisquam. A couple 3 pound smallmouth is all I could do.
Water temp.was 65
I was in my pelican so I could only go so far looking for them.
It was nice to get out for a couple days.
Lots of pondweed now, but no milfoil.Quote:
Originally Posted by TMG
Good to hear you made it to a few places. I haven't done much damage to the smallmouth population this year.
Had a couple hours to spare - so back to the river for 4:30. Water level was quite low/slow, temp is 58. Fished wood for an hour, couldn't get bit on the squarebill. Got 4 small keepers on a Yum Wooly HawgCraw (digging this thing for flipping - stays on a screwlock really well ). Sun dipped below the treeline, switched to a spinnerbait on the backside of the bar - nothing. Moved to the 12' water in the oxbow and found the crappie stacked up. Fished an Owner Rip'n minnow 70 (dives to 7'-8') and was getting bit 2 out of 3 casts. Probably landed 20-25 before I bailed at 6:30. For such a small bait, it shows up on FFS really well.
Nice job. Glad you got out. I have to get back there, it's a nice place.
Except all the people that have to park at the launch instead of the parking lot so they can go walking.
NHTI has been doing a good job roping off enough space for probably 10 trailers + some cartops. The athletic fields have gotten much busier than a few years ago, so there's that too. The school had the entrance coned off and an attendant there to move them & approve entry last weekend.Quote:
Originally Posted by TMG
Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboat1
That's great news :thumb up2:
Well…Russ and I always go to Long Pond in Henniker near or at the end of the season. For those who haven’t been there it’s a smallish lake with lots of pads and a bit of rocky shoreline. There are about 6 houses on the lake due to the out side being very swampy in some areas. Anyway we pull into the ramp road and Two signs (one at entry,one by water) saying Private road no trespassing or vehicle may be towed. We pulled in and the ramp was leaf covered and not rutted( it’s usually rutted this time of year) so we left . Went to Keyzar in Sutton and caught 4 before wind drove us off. Water in high 50’s
Water temp still hovering 59-60 in mass ..getting tons of action up shallow on moving baits and decent action on the jig in what’s left of pads ..last weekend they were on every piece of wood on the lake this week off tue wood
Man, it sucks losing another one! I've hauled a kayak into there, down a short tote road off Rush road. Even that has it's challenges (launch, paddle, climb out and drag some more). Glad you cut your losses and got a few.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phrog Phil
Eric,saw F&G come out of that little path/lane a few years ago. The sad thing was the ramp looked unused. Online I noticed one of the houses very near the boat ramp is for sale for a cool $487,000.
There was a tournament on Webster 2 weeks ago. Don't know if it was team or individual.(Southern NH Bass) 15 boats 3 fish limit. Nobody had limit at weigh in. Been very tough lately.
Had some replacements and new gear to test, and just a couple of hours - so off to the river again Saturday.
Attachment 534431
First of all, that Bill Lewis ATV squarebill is the real deal. I'm pretty sure you could cast it in your garden rosebushes and get it back. Could only get one smaller guy on it, in wood. I think that pattern may be dead for the year. Maybe it's the low flow, and the fish are off somewhere else (or they're just getting tired of my sh*t)??
Dragged a 3# LM out of heavy cover in the main stem, then went into the oxbox to hassle the crappie some more. Livescope + that little Owner jerkbait are a deadly combo. Sniped a couple LM on it in open water. Picked up several more out of snags, on the Wooly Craw (including another 3#). Made the run down to Manchester Street for just one bite - the biggest of the day, a 3#-3oz smallmouth on a KVD Flatside. Overall, about 8 or 9 bass for a 13#-14# limit.
Went for a changeup Sunday and got to Island Pond around 2:30. Water's down a foot-ish, no problems launching (more on that later). Tried to feed them a crankbait on main lake rock points and outcroppings - zero. Picked up a spinnerbait, moved in, and started getting bit just outside the remaining grass. That turned out to be the right choice, as they were blasting it. Saw a large school of big bait (GS?) moving on the shallow flat just outside the narrows, and the bass were on 'em. Caught 6 in 10 minutes out of 2'-5' including this #4.82.
Attachment 534430
Hit some adjacent structure that matched and got one good one. Doubled back to the flat - the bait was still there and I picked up another 2 (hoping for another big). Same pattern was working inside the narrows, but not beyond. Headed back out to the main to fish some good rocks with grass for nothing. They matched the pattern, except being farther from the 15' basin. Got out while the pine tops still had a little sun on them. Probably a 20 fish afternoon - had a couple 3#s in there and plenty of 2#+ so a darn good outing.
How do you know you're an old fart in training? You pull a new Stanley spinnerbait out of the box, and it's got a flat rubber skirt on it! That... and not beaching your boat far enough, and having to wade out to retrieve it:ohwell:
Water temp took a huge dive here ..60s last week was 54 yesterday
3 of my top five big fish this year came from over there. All after dark.Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboat1
Well last weekend i fished Pawtuckaway both days. Saturday was awesome. Sunday was slower due to wind. Decided this past Saturday to go back. Guess I should have gone to another lake if I wanted to catch bass. Luckily the jumbo crappie were biting so that made the day okay. Our 3 bass we caught, their combined weight weighed less than my buddies 2.28 slob donkey of a crappie.
https://i.postimg.cc/Y4syfxcx/73959.jpg
On a side note here is a close size comparison between island pond average crappie vs what we were catching at Pawtuckaway. Wonder if alewives have anything to do with that????
https://i.postimg.cc/47R2SxdK/73964.jpg
No bites off the red marker boulder nearby. Lack of grass, I guess?Quote:
Originally Posted by A Wood
Been out 6 times in the last 2 weeks, Tacoma, Torsay, Togus and the stream. The pike Dennis caught in Torsay Tuesday is his personal best so far. Catching a lot of bass in the 2 lb range at the other places. Yesterday I was at a spot on Togus where I and Phil caught 15 - 18 bass in the 2-3 lb range in an hour and a half. It's been a good two weeks up here.
Attachment 534624Attachment 534625
Rode the struggle bus at Massasecum Saturday - had the place to myself, so that excuse won't fly. Finished the afternoon with nine rods out, three bites, and one fish landed. Dumped a decent smallmouth boatside, on a Silver Buddy. Hooked a decent one with the first cast w/ a Carolina rig, and landed a 2+ on the same a few minutes later. All bites were in 18'-22', on flats near 40'. Plenty of bait hammered to the bottom in 20'-25' (probably juvi perch?). Some bait balls - grown fry most likely. I did not see a gamefish on sonar off the bottom at any time. Maybe I messed up by not fishing the pads behind the island?.. or up top... had I gotten any shallow bites, I would have. Temp was 55.
The wind forecast had me concerned, so back to the river for Sunday. Got a couple of bites around matted grass inside the bar, that the rising water had washed up - could have been slimedarts though. Got a couple off wood in the oxbox flipping, but the right answer was a spinnerbait. The rain washed the stagnant water out of the backwaters, and the cool rising river shoved them back there. Finished out with close to a dozen, including a couple of 3#ers. Lots of crappie on screen, but they weren't playing. Finished the afternoon on a pair of pickerel @ 24" and 25"- gators! Temp was 53.
Took a high sticking penalty Sunday. Two minutes in the box and a $160 fine:crying:
Attachment 534770
:laugh: very entertaining article, sorry about the rod. :thumb up2:Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboat1
Went out with a friend in his boat yesterday since I still don't have mine, and was also concerned about the wind, didn't want to fight it all day without spot lock. Ended up at a new pond none of us have been to in northern Vermont, landed 20+ between the three of us and had a little over 18 lbs on our best 5, no giants though. Average was great, throw out the two rats I caught and we were averaging close to 2.75 lbs on our fish. Pretty good results given we'd never been there before. The fish were in a mood though, had well over 100 fish follow our baits in that didn't eat them. Any idiot that says FFS is cheating is just that, an idiot. :laugh: We had 5x the number of fish caught, not bite a damn thing, and we threw the kitchen sink at them for 9 hours. Most were suspended, and despite finding fish in almost every nook and cranny we searched, only two spots produced fish that would actually bite. Steep rocky point and every bite was in 15-25 feet of water, with the deeper 40+ foot hole on the outside edge. Most of the bass were close to schools of smelt, we watched dozens of schools in other spots that had 1-2 bass blowing them up, but only got one bass out of that scenario.
Highlight of the day was on by-catches. Dropped one of the biggest yellow perch I've ever seen right at the boat, that would have been cool to get. Then later, we trolled right over the top of a tree so I just casually dropped a jig down on it, and got thumped by a 1.5 lb rainbow trout. Not at all what I expected but a cool surprise for sure.
Alabama rigs (Vermont legal, 2 real hooks and 3 dummies) and Open Water Sniper jig from Beast Coast Fishing did all of the damage for us. Water temps up there still 58 degrees, lake is about 300 acres and a lot of that is 30-50 feet deep.
VT been treating you pretty good:smile:Quote:
Originally Posted by Reel Northern Bass
Outside of that trip, it definitely has been treating us very well. Was hoping to spend a lot more time up in Maine this year, only made it up to Little Sebago and the blew my motor before I could get back up there, so I'll do my exploring out there next year. I'll spend the rest of the year fishing in NY, VT or CT and hopefully get a new PB smallie, that's all I care to try and get this winter. Though I think we're going to Oneida this weekend, just as long as the wind cooperates. Good chance at some big largies there.Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboat1
Sean,Quote:
Originally Posted by Reel Northern Bass
You need to get up in my area next year.
That was the plan for this year, but it will definitely be in the mix for next year!Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Al
Gentlemen, I noticed that walmart is selling original zman chatterbait. Too my knowledge zman doesn't sell Tungsten or any non-lead chatterbait. Soooo are they now legal in NH with lead? What about Megabass "okashira", same question are they ok?
Okishera heads are awesome but lead but also awesome. Lead still off limits but once those Loon stocks rebound who knows :sweating:
"Current state law prohibits the use of lead sinkers and jigs with a total weight of one ounce or less in all fresh water in New Hampshire, including lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Lead sinkers and lead jigs shall not include lead fishing related items including but not limited to lead core line, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, spoons, poppers, plugs, or flies.
The law also prohibits the sale in New Hampshire of lead sinkers and jigs weighing 1 ounce or less."
https://www.wildlife.nh.gov/fishing-...0and%20streams.
Chatterbaits appear to be OK
Thankyou: I was misreading this, shall not include lead fishing related items including but not limited to lead core line, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, spoons, poppers, plugs, or flies.Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboat1