Warmwater Fish Species

Smallmouth Bass

All bass are spring spawners, with nest-building occurring in mid-May when the water temperatures are in the high 50s and low 60s. Spawning smallmouths are found in areas with gravel and boulder bottoms. In the summer, they will stay in deeper water than largemouths because they like the cooler temperatures. Look for smallmouths along rocks near drop-offs. On summer nights, smallmouths will head to shallow water looking for crayfish.
Several methods may be used to take smallmouths, including fly casting with floating bugs, and trolling or casting with a plug or spinner. The most common and successful method is still-fishing with live bait, such as worms, minnows, hellgrammites and crayfish. Fall brings them back into shallower water, which awakens a drive to eat and put on weight for the winter.

Largemouth Bass

Largemouth bass thrive best in warm, shallow, mud-bottomed lakes, ponds or streams with plenty of weeds. It is a solitary fish. Most of its time is spent lurking among aquatic vegetation, beneath an overhanging branch or under a brush-covered bank, waiting for prey to swim by. Its diet consists of frogs and bait fish, though almost anything can become a meal: snakes, mice, snails and worms.

Not as spectacular a fighter as the smallmouth, the largemouth is best caught by fishing the open places among lily pads, around sunken logs or stumps or along a stream bank. Surface poppers and plastic worm lures probably take most bass, but live minnows and crayfish, artificial flies and streamers, and trolled lures will all work.

Pickerel

Any quiet, shallow water with a mud bottom, an abundance of aquatic vegetation and food fishes is ideal for the chain, or Eastern, pickerel. Their optimum water temperature is apparently 80 to 90 degrees. Pickerel like to hide in weeds waiting for a meal to swim by.

The chain pickerel is a voracious carnivore. Its diet includes golden shiners, brown bullheads, yellow perch and sunfish. The pickerel’s popularity peaks during the winter, when considerable numbers are taken with ease through the ice. Most ice anglers fish with a “tip-up” device, using a live minnow. Pickerel fishing in open water is also profitable. Trolling, still fishing with a live minnow or frog, or spincasting with plugs, spinners or spoons all produce good results.

Horned Pout

The horned pout, also known as “brown bullhead,” is found chiefly in small lakes, ponds and the sluggish parts of streams and rivers. It also inhabits large lakes, where it is most abundant in sheltered bays.
A horned pout prefers a mud bottom, but does well with or without vegetative growth. It is a hardy fish and can survive extreme conditions that cause other fish to perish, such as water temperatures of 90 degrees and oxygen levels as low as one part per million.

The horned pout can be caught by any angler, skilled or unskilled, using most any type of tackle. Earthworms are probably the most common bait. Live minnows, crayfish, corn kernels, hellgrammites and dough balls are also good, if fished near the bottom. Fishing in the evening, at night or early morning hours is usually best. <

White Perch

The white perch is a determined fighter when hooked, and is one of our tastier and more popular panfishes. It is an easy fish to catch and will accept most any kind of bait: worms, live minnows, pork rind, artificial flies, and spoons. White perch fishing is best at dusk, when schools of feeding fish tend to move into shallow water near shore. This fish, unfortunately, often becomes overcrowded and stunted in fresh water. Handle these fish with care; the spines on the back are sharp.

Northern Pike

The northern pike is a fast-growing, voracious predator that is highly prized as a sport fish. They can only be found in a few select water bodies in the state.
A northern pike, like the pickerel, eats other fish. As the pike gets bigger, other animals, such as frogs, ducklings, and even small muskrats, are also consumed. Although the northern pike prefers cooler waters than the pickerel, both fish are usually found in quiet, shallow, weedy areas. Northern pike are generally fished in the same manner as chain pickerel.

Walleye

Both lakes and streams serve as walleye habitat. It thrives best in clean water and prefers areas with a firm bottom, such as gravel or bedrock. It is a nocturnal fish, moving onto sandbars or rocky shoals at night to feed and remaining in deeper water during the day.

Walleye are found only in select New Hampshire water bodies, and are prized by successful anglers. Fishing methods include still fishing with live minnows or by trolling or casting almost any artificial lure, spoon, spinner or minnow and spinner combination. The most productive fishing is generally in the evening and early morning.

Black Crappie

Introduced recently to New Hampshire, black crappies are found in few bodies of water, mostly in the southern part of the state. It inhabits quiet, weedy areas of lakes, ponds and streams. As its range grows, the crappie is becoming an important panfish in New Hampshire. Small jigs fished in open water or through the ice are successful crappies lures.

Bluegill

Not a New Hampshire native, the bluegill, sometimes called “kibbee,” has extended its range into the Granite State. The bluegill is at home in quiet, warm, weedy waters similar to those inhabited by other sunfish, such as the pumpkinseed.
This is a much esteemed and highly valued panfish throughout much of its range. Like other sunfish, the bluegill is easily caught with simple tackle. Small flies, panfish poppers, and live bait such as grubs and worms all work well.

Yellow Perch

Yellow perch are a schooling fish and can be located in relatively shallow, weedy water. They spawn in April or early May in sheltered coves and backwaters. These fish feed mainly on small aquatic insects, crustaceans and small fishes.
They are not difficult to catch and can be taken year round. In the summer, an artificial fly, spinning lure, trolling spoon and live minnow work well. In winter, the tip-up or handline with live minnows are good methods for catching yellow perch. Fishing for yellow perch is fun and encouraged. They often compete with game fish for habitat and need to be harvested to keep numbers manageable.