This week, news from the fish stocking experts: More than a thousand big brood stock Atlantic salmon are being released this month for your fall fishing pleasure, along with thousands of rainbow, brook, and brown trout -- many of which you can expect to pull up through the ice later in winter!
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Fall Fishing for Brood Stock Salmon By Matt Carpenter, Fisheries Biologist, Anadromous Fisheries Restoration Program
October and November are prime months for fall salmon fishing in New Hampshire. In early October, Fish and Game will stock the Merrimack basin with 1,100 brood stock Atlantic salmon, averaging 2.5 pounds each. While the average is 2.5 pounds, there is a wide range in size, with some fish approaching 4 pounds. We just finished tagging these fish and we hope to have them stocked by the end of September. I was amazed at the quality of fish produced this year by the US Fish and Wildlife Service staff at their Nashua Hatchery. These fish are very large for two-year-olds. They are all strong and healthy looking. So strong, in fact, that some fish were nearly impossible to hold onto during the tagging process. Any angler who hooks into one of these fish will be in for quite a fight.
The two stocking sites will be below the Eastman Falls Dam in Franklin and the Ayers Island Dam in Bristol. All salmon caught from October 1 through March 31 must be released immediately. To fish for brood stock salmon, you need a current N.H. fishing license and an $11 brood stock salmon permit; both are available at www.FishNH.com or from license agents statewide. Get out and enjoy the fall foliage while catching the King of Fish!
Trout Stocked for Winter Anglers By Robert Fawcett, Fish Culture Operations Supervisor
Winter anglers in New Hampshire will have some trout stocked especially for them once again this fall. New Hampshire Fish and Game stocks trout every year during the fall months, mostly to bolster the winter ice fishery, which should translate into some exciting action for winter anglers this year.
Anglers going after trout can find lists of waters that remain open to the taking of trout year round on the Fish and Game website:
Rules for waterbodies with special regulations are listed in the N.H. Freshwater Fishing Digest, available from license agents or on the Fish and Game website.
During the fall of 2007, Fish and Game will stock trout into a total of 24 New Hampshire lakes and ponds managed for trout with no closed season -- putting in more than 11,230 rainbow trout, 6,000 eastern brook trout yearlings and 2,950 brown trout.
Following is a list of New Hampshire lakes and ponds that will be stocked during the fall of 2007 (please note that the list below is the plan for 2007; an earlier list showed some waters that are not actually part of the plan, though they may receive surplus fish. There are many more N.H. waterbodies are open for year-round fishing than are included on this list):
Beaver Lake, Derry
Massabesic Lake, Manchester
Opechee Lake, Laconia
Waukewan Lake, Meredith
Winona Lake, Center Harbor
Chocorua Lake, Tamworth
Wentworth Lake, Wolfeboro
Crystal Lake, Gilmanton
Akers Pond, Errol
Cedar Pond, Milan
Martin Meadow Pond, Lancaster
Sunapee Lake (Little), New London
Stinson Lake, Rumney
Pearl Lake, Lisbon
Laurel Lake, Fitzwilliam
Silver Lake, Madison
Mountain Pond, Northwood
Needless to say, fall stocking is welcomed by winter anglers. In addition, biologists sometimes mark trout and then perform creel surveys to determine what percentage of various species of fish are caught through the ice. Winter creel survey data has shown that up to one-fourth of the winter trout harvest is made up of fall-stocked trout.
I, for one, am already looking forward to getting out and enjoying the upcoming ice-fishing season, and not only because of the fall stocking. I'll use my 2007-model homemade smelt-fishing rigs and hammock rope-harnessed pack (made from a small plastic drum) to carry my equipment. Last year, I decided I wanted to use something a little bigger than a 5-gallon bucket to get my gear out on the ice - though I like to travel light and keep it simple! I enjoy making my own equipment and fishing by tidbits of knowledge and experience, without the aid of electronic fish finders that seem to be the rage these days, or power augers. I do confess to using a high-tech design hand chisel that out-performs the old handmade one I once loaned to a friend and haven't seen since...
ANGLERS - HELP STOP THE SPREAD OF "ROCK SNOT"
If you're fishing New Hampshire's rivers, keep a sharp eye out for the aquatic nuisance algae known as "Didymo" or "rock snot." This nasty invader has been discovered in the northern reaches of the Connecticut River and potentially is on the move in New Hampshire. Dydimo can infest new areas by even just one cell of the alga breaking off and drifting downstream. It is very easily spread by waders, fishing gear, paddles and any equipment that touches the bottoms of streams in infested areas, so it is critical to check and clean your fishing gear. Do your part to protect New Hampshire's waters.
If you observe Didymo in New Hampshire, contact Amy Smagula at the N.H. Department of Environmental Services: 603-271-2248 or asmagula@des.state.nh.us.
REMINDER FOR LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE BASS ANGLERS:
N.H. Fish and Game continues to count on help from anglers for an ongoing study of the movement of largemouth and smallmouth bass after bass tournament release. Angler captures of tagged bass are the major source of information for this study. Bass are being tagged upon release from tournament weigh-ins at Ames Farm Inn on Lake Winnipesaukee, identified with a numbered yellow tag at the base of the fish's dorsal fin. IF YOU CATCH A TAGGED BASS - PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THE TAG!!
Bass Movement Study contact: Gabe Gries, Fish and Game Warmwater Fisheries Project Leader: NHFG Region 4, 15 Ash Brook Court, Keene, NH 03431; phone 603-352-9669; fax 603-352-8798; or email ggries@nhfgd.org.
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