Greetings, anglers! This Saturday, May 24, is
Hatchery Open House at New Hampshire Fish and Game's six
state fish hatcheries. The open house -- from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
-- is a great chance to make a family field trip. There will be
guided tours of the facilities, where Fish and Game raises trout
and salmon stocked in streams and lakes throughout the state, and
educational programs where you can learn all about the art and science
of raising fish. For
details, click here.
You may also want to mark your calendar for N.H.
Free Fishing Day on June 7 -- If you have a friend you'd like
to cultivate into a "fishing buddy," this is his or her
chance to ply the waters without a license. (One exception: anglers
fishing for brood stock Atlantic salmon in the Merrimack and lower
Pemigewasset rivers still need a fishing license and a special permit.)
Want to get this list by e-mail?Click
here to sign up. If you have photos or stories you'd like to
share from your fishing adventures, please email them to Liza Poinier
at lpoinier@wildlife.state.nh.us.
And don't forget to buy your license -- you can
even do it online at www.nhfishandgame.com!
Large trout sign of good survival and growth By Robert S. Fawcett, Supervisor of Hatcheries
Three quarters of the Milford Hatchery trout
have been distributed, and anglers say they're pleased with the
quality of this year's fish. The usual large yearlings, plus the
two- to four-pound surprises from the rainbow pond, are out there
waiting to be caught. Dublin Lake fishing for Eastern brook trout
is more exciting this year after the experimental fall stocking
of larger fish. (That is, if you like large trophy trout...) There
is an angler survey underway to evaluate the fishery this year,
so don't be surprised if someone wants to ask you questions about
your fishing experience.
There are a few more surplus brood fish out there
than in the last couple of years, as we have built up the New Hampton
Hatchery brood lines of Eastern brook trout of both the Rome and
Kennebago strains. The anglers at Archery Pond are enjoying those
large trout a lot. Surplus broodfish get transferred to Powder Mill
Hatchery after spawning in the fall and are distributed to waterbodies
in Regions 2 and 3 (central and southeast N.H., respectively) to
meet the target numbers for management.
Bob Nicolson and his
6-pound rainbow trout from Crystal Lake.
There are reports of some large holdover fish
being caught, which is always a good sign of survival and growth
of the hatchery trout stocked in previous years. Bob Nicolson, of
Jones Road in Enfield, caught a rainbow trout over 6 pounds. He
was fishing from shore in Crystal Lake, Enfield late last month
in the evening. That fish was raised at the New Hampton Hatchery
and stocked as a yearling an unknown number of years ago. It is
a beautiful trout, with vivid reddish coloration on the sides and
the gill cover, and a mature hooked jaw (kype), reminiscent of other
pacific salmon species in the genus Oncorhynchus. Note the spots
all over, including its tailfin. I can imagine what a thrill it
must have been to land such a fish.
The angler's mantra: What are they eating?
We don't know for sure how much of the pigmentation is due to today's
improved trout feed quality, compared to how much came from the
food web in Crystal Lake. If it is from the food web, I wonder if
the yellow and pink scud (freshwater shrimp) and egg fly patterns
would be effective? The effectiveness of a fly pattern or a lure
pattern can change from day to day or even during the day, which
is why many anglers use the strategy of "matching the hatch."
Some rainbows, though, will just be cruising the shallows along
the shoreline (probably futilely) following their spawning urges.
Some say the fish are not really feeding at that time of year, and
of their life cycle, so they must be enticed into striking out of
habit or irritation. Keeps things exciting!
All of the hatchery trout are well-colored from
the 50 ppm pigment (Astaxanthin) level in the Vigor trout finisher
feed. The old paradigm of being able to tell wild fish from hatchery
fish by the color is no longer true.
At the start of a day on the water, I usually
talk with the locals to see how the fishing's been. My strategy
is generally to keep it simple, using a few proven flies or lures,
depending on where I am. I like brown, olive and black for dominant
colors, and believe that the mix of chartreuse or the little dash
of red in a pattern seems to make a difference.
New Hampton Hatchery lower station must be empty
by June 1 so the dam can be repaired. The Dam Safety Engineers are
concerned that erosion from the leak might create a void under the
road surface of Route 132, so it must be fixed as soon as possible.
That means more fish released faster than usual.
Profile Lake is stocked with NEW HAMPSHIRE'S
NATIVE EASTERN BROOK TROUT ONLY, no rainbows or brown trout here!
You may want to use a canoe for better access to their resting places.
The lake receives yearlings, two-year-olds and three-year-olds (surplus
brood fish from Berlin Hatchery broodfish population). The profile
may have changed a bit, but the trout fishing is still great, thanks
to Fish and Game's fish culturists, substituting hatchery capacity
for the lack of natural capacity to have adequate numbers of trout
and salmon there for your recreational fishing opportunity.
A
User-Pay, User-Benefit Program Researching and managing fisheries and teaching people
about aquatic ecosystems are funded by your license dollars and by the
Federal Aid in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program. Your purchases of
fishing equipment and motorboat fuels make a difference to New Hampshire's fisheries.
Click here to learn more.
