NHBassMaster2

Most bodies of water down here are iced out. Went out on Potanipo and Rocky Pond today. Surprisingly, Potanipo has some ice on the left side of the pond, but extends only 10ft off of shore, rest is open. It's been slow, but caught a few so far. Good luck!

Went out to Southern VT this weekend to visit a co-worker and got some quality fishing time in. Fished Gale Meadows Pond in Bondville. Quite a few fish early in the morning. All the cookie cutter 1.5-2lbs Buckets. One 4lb found it's way to my Spinnerbait. Then fished Townshend Dam, which is quite high at the moment. A few Smallies, nothing to brag about. We went a little farther up into the river and saw huge Rainbows/Brookies. Tied on some spinners and went home with 2 18" Brookies! Made a good lunch. Sunday I fished Somerset Reservoir, huge lake, 5miles from one side to the other. Slammed the Smallies. Most were still on the beds, with some off for about 1-3 days. Tube and 4-8" Crankbait just killed them. Lost count of fish. Most were the cookie cutter 1.5-3lbs. Had a blast. Have to admit, without fishing Champlain or any of the other bigger VT lakes, I prefer NH bass fishing.

Had a pretty good weekend out. Was up in Maine with the Wife's family and fished from sun up to sun down Friday, Saturday and Sunday until about 5pm. Hammered them. Caught another 5lb Smallie, as well as a Bucket in that weight class. Caught more fish than I can count. They're still on beds up there so it's like shooting fish in a barrel. But d**n is it fun! Monday I fished Contoocook Lake, in Jaffery as well as Potanipo Lake for some time. Fishing at both was sub par to say the least. Caught only 6 Buckets between two of us in about 4hrs, and only 4 Buckets at Potanipo in about 1.5hrs. We ended the day at Franklin Pierce Lake, the lake was really busy. A lot of cruising boats tubing, water skiing, etc. As well as a ton of sailboats and jet skis. We fought through the chop and ended up catching about 20 fish, mostly Smallies in about 6hrs of fishing. Some were good sized, but I believe that lake gets a lot of pressure. And with all the boats on the water I'm sure it had them quite finicky. Anyone confirm on the amount of pressure there? Overall, pretty good weekend full of fishing! How did you do? I'm still trying to figure out how to put pictures on, once I do I'll update.

Nice fish WTRDOG! Hogs! I'll be heading up to the Waterville area, my Wife's family is from there. I always fish East Pond and do very very well there. Any idea what the fishing is like in that region right now? Water temp? Spawn? Etc. Thanks in advance!

Hit a few smaller locations on Saturday. Rocky Pond in Brookline was first, quite a few smaller 1-2lbr's, could see a lot of nice fish cruising the shallows, no beds, pre-spawn mode, just couldn't get them to hit anything. My bro-in-law caught a nice 2lb Smallie, which I didn't even know were in there. Never caught one there before. Then we went to Otter Lake (Greenville State Park), I had fished there before and all of the fish seem to be 1-2lbs, occasionally a 3lb'r. Weird. But still fun to catch about 40 fish between the two of us. Sunday we woke up at dawn and drove to Spofford Lake. I see fmoore talking about it all the time and it's only about a 40min drive for me, so I figured I'd check it out. I'm glad I did! We fished the shore to 5ish feet of water and landed a sh#t ton of Rock Bass and smaller 1-2lb Buckets/Smallies. Fun, but get's old after awhile. About an hour in we could see some beds and fish on them, so we changed tactics and cruised around until we saw a bed. Like shooting fish in a barrel, but a ton of fun. Ended up catching my new PB Smallie at 5.74lbs, as well as a few 4lb Buckets. I was very happy. I'll have a picture up shortly of the Smallie.

I'll have to remember that. Thanks for the help! I figured the fish have smartened up to some of the baits being thrown. I'll try it at some point. Really wish I could throw my tin boat in there!

I drive by there everyday and I've never fished it. I figured it was over fished with the amount of people I see there. Maybe I'll try it some day on the way home. Sorry to hear about your fish you lost. You'll get em again!

Fished Pawtuckaway Lake this past weekend as I was camping there. Excellent campground by the way, if you are looking for a place to camp. Our campsite was right on the water, so I didn't have to pull my boat out, which was nice. As far as the fishing, caught about 25 LMB over 2 days. Mostly smaller fish, one nice fat 3lb'r, that was about it. Saw a nice LMB cruising the shallows, probably 6+ lbs. Was a very nice fish. Couldn't get it to hit anything. I read that there was SMB in that lake, but I didn't catch a one.

I know the Merrimack River has some great Smallies. You can put your boat in in Penacook or Boscawen and float down. It's a good stretch. Also, the Contocook River has some good Smallie fishing. Haven't fished either this year, but we always do a couple floats a Summer. Hope it helps!

Hoit Road Marsh is a dump, or atleast it used to be. Full of Pickeral and Sunfish. I've caught bass there before, but they were dinks. A LOT of people fish that place from shore, so it get's quite a bit of pressure. As far as Hothole Pond, I am quite certain that it's Trout only. I know that you can slam Trout in there, but I do not believe there is any good bass fishing there. I think when you look at the Bathymetric map it says "Trout Waters". Hope it helps. Could save you a trip. If your in that area, I would suggest Turtle Pond. It's got a good launch, parking lot, etc. Bass fishing is pertty good in there. Again, that place gets A LOT of pressure as well. Hope it helps!

Nice fish all! The Bass do seem to be getting more active, though I would still say that it's slow fishing. Been fishing a private lake in Boscawen, so I've been kind of spoiled lately in the bass department. Had a pretty interesting Mothers Day fishing outing with my Brother in law. We put in at dawn at Webster Lake in Franklin. The Bass fishing was slow, only caught a few dink Smallies and Buckets. My bro in law was throwing a 3" Rainbow Trout patterned Rapala, fishing a point and he caught a nice 10" stocked Rainbow! Up close in maybe 2-3" of water, in between rocks! We couldn't believe it. We continued to Bass fish, fishing all of the normal Spring locations and nothing. All small fish and few and far between. We could only fish until about 11am, due to a Family get together. So we said screw it and tagged out on Brown and Rainbow trout. If the lake throws you Trout, go Trout fishing! They were tasty!

Anyone ever fished Naticook Lake in Merrimack? I know it's really shallow from the Bathymetric map, figured it might be warmer than other locations. Have a buddy who lives on the lake and wants to go out fishing. Any tips?

Been out only a few times so far, on Potanipo and Melendy Pond. Water temps were cold and so wasn't the fishing. A few LMB at each place and they were few and far between. Most with a slow cranked crankbait in 5-10ft of water. Really hoping for some warm weather soon. Early reports show next week to be a better weekend. A good idea with the scent fmoore, hadn't thought of that. Can't hurt to try it at this point. This rain is killing my fishing spirits with not being able to go out. But as they say, April showers bring May flowers!

I would be game for pushing it back. Water temps are quite low here as well in Southeastern part of the state. A few more weeks and they should warm up considerably.

I third, Salmon. Good catch! Didn't know those were even back there. Nice work!

I will be there with my bro-in-law in my tin boat. Can't wait!