SmalljawNH

You should, they're fun. First one is on Massabesic on May 2nd. I hope to get my structure scan up and running in mid April so I can prefish it.

Wanted to share a couple photos of the largemouth I caught while targeting crappie a couple of weeks ago. 2# test line on a light jig rod. No scale with us, it was 21 1/2" on the tape. First bass of 2015. On a side note, I'll definitely be fishing some tournaments this year. I fished club tournaments in 2014 out of my Skeeter and hope to fish a few more tournaments this year. Looking at getting into the NH Bass Caster Draw and Midweek tournaments. The melt is definitely on and I'm psyched.

Fished a tournament on the CT River last Saturday and placed fourth. Tough day, two fish for 4lb 3oz. My first tournament ever and it was a BLAST!! Didn't get bit until we got in some clearer waste. Both smallmouth were caught with in five minutes at around one o'clock. Glad we stuck it out. Pics from Sunday. Better day, four fish total was 11.2lbs. Lunker was 3.6lbs. The fish moved up really shallow, 1 to 3 fow in milfoil. Water temp was the warmest in the lake at 51 - 52 degrees. All the fish seemed to be positioned on a wind blown bank. I was fishing an 3/8 oz chatter bait with a Keitech Swing Impact 4" trailer over the tops of the milfoil. Three of the fish hit it after I tore it free from the grass. Definitely a better day last Sunday. I want to fish both days this weekend too. Wondering where everyone else will be. I have a tournament scheduled for Mother's Day on Newfound. Can't wait, should be a good time to fish for smallies.

I'm in. Sounds like fun.

Stevens Pond in Manchester should be open in the next few days and Canobee is open. I fished the Bow power plant and the water was pretty swift last weekend. 2.5 mph current according the GPS. Tough bite with no warm water.

Edges are pretty open by the pumphouse. It shouldn't take long with this weather. Wind and rain would help.

May 15 to June 15 is artificial bait only. That's also the catch and release only timeframe.

I fished the Merrimack in Bow yesterday and today. There were a lot of boats all competing for position yesterday. The guys with the live bait were doing pretty well. I managed to get a couple keepers on a shaky head with a Missile Baits Fuse 4.4 in candy grass. The weather today wasn't as pleasant, I was the only one fishing. The current was decent but not dangerous, no bass this time but I ended up landing a few really big white suckers. I was yo-yoing a lipless bait of bottom. Has anyone found the bass clear out when the suckers show up?

I fished it in the fall and found smallmouth on sharp breaks next to two deep holes. I caught them on a drop shot on 30 f.o.w. That was before the winter draw down. I never fished it in the spring but plan to this year. I'm going to cruise around the lake looking for potential spawning areas near deep water. Unless I have electronics, I'll target the areas that look the best and cover as much water as possible. I'll do this hoping to locate them and build on that clue. The north end looked to have a really soft mud bottom but the islands in the central portion of the lake had some sand and gravel. I may start looking there during the pre-spawn and spawn. Hopefully I will have electronics to eliminate some water. Sometimes you just have to go fishing.

Found bassresource.com after watching YouTube videos over the past year. I'm from Manchester and decided to join up after reading through the posts. I'm tired of ice fishing and want to fish the Merrimack. I drove to the power plant in Bow and think I'll launch the kayak in the next few weeks. Does anyone have any advice, especially safety advice for this area? Are the conditions usually predictable, is the current typically strong or mild? I plan on having some jigs and a drop shot rigged. Thanks!