There’s lots of open water on the Upper Valley’s lakes, rivers and ponds. Boats are coming out of shrink wrap, and kayaks are already cruising on Mascoma Lake. For anglers who don’t ice fish, this is go time.
I caught up with Charlie Muzzey, of Enfield Center, on the shoreline of Mascoma recently. He was casting a silver spoon for trout off the boat launch by the bridge. Muzzey has already landed an 18-inch brown trout, but he would not divulge the location of his catch. (Of course, most anglers are reluctant to reveal their hot spots, including me.)
One of Charlie’s specialties is fishing the small creeks and streams for native brook trout. The native brookie is actually a member of the char family that breeds naturally in New Hampshire. The appearance is strikingly different from stocked brook trout.
Perhaps the most beautiful fish found in the Granite State, native brookies are grayish with colorful spots. Muzzey flashes spinners and spoons to tempt them. They are also my favorite fish for the table. Just scrape the scales, cut off the head, clean out the innards and fry them whole in butter. The bones soften, so you can eat them whole.
The limit on brook trout is five fish or five pounds. Since natives usually run less than 10 inches, it would be hard to total five fish at a pound each. Although brookies have been declining in numbers due to habitat loss and environmental factors, they are still out there.
When the lake heats up, the warm-water species begin to awaken. The best bet for early season fishing is the Eastern chain pickerel. This relative of the Northern pike is a voracious, toothy critter and a hard fighter taken by many ice anglers during the winter. They inhabit shallow, grassy areas but can also be caught before the vegetation grows up.
Find a location that will eventually sport thick growths of aquatic plants. The pickerel will move into these areas while they are still bare. Use a spinner, crank bait or jig. Hungry pickerel hit just about anything thrown in their direction.
Of course, the big draw for warm-water anglers is the black bass, both largemouth and smallmouth. When the ice is gone and the water hits a temperature of around 57 degrees, the bass are on the move, seeking areas to feed and spawn. From May 15 to June 15, all bass species are catch-and-release and can be pursued only with artificial bait.
During this period, bass will also go on the bed, fanning a large circle to lay eggs. The big females can be caught this time of year, although they must be returned to the bed. Although this is legal, I have stopped fishing for nesting bass because they don’t fight hard and I believe they should be left alone while making little bass. After they females have laid their eggs, the smaller males move in to protect the eggs from other fish that might disturb them.
After June 15, anglers may keep up to five bass with no size limit. If you do have a hankering for a tasty bass meal, keep five little ones and release the larger fish. This is called recruitment and insures a healthy bass population.
Early spring bass can be found in sandy areas on the western shorelines of lakes and ponds that catch the rising sun from the east. They will hit a variety of lures, including topwater. There’s nothing more exciting than seeing a bass attack a surface bait. This is also the best time of year to catch bass from shore.
With all the rain and runoff from melting snow and ice, spring rivers tend to run high, which can make it hard for early season trout anglers. And there are no insect hatches to invigorate trout until the mayflies arrive. However, holdover rainbows, browns and brookies can be caught by presenting wet flies that are bounced off the bottom. The best time to fish a spring river is when it has started to fall.
Panfish of all types provide a lot of action in May. Rock bass tend to gather under docks and around rocky structures. Rockies are also a good indicator of rising water temperature. When I see rockies in the shallows, I know it won’t be long before the bass are biting.
Huge schools of perch, both white and yellow, may be found in shallow bays where they spawn. Sunfish also come in to fan small circular beds like their bass cousins. This is a good time to fish with the kids because the action is fast and furious.
So clean out the tackle box, change your line and get ready for the best fishing of the year.
Coleman Stokes can be reached at stokecoles@gmail.com.