CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire anglers will find both good and bad news in the new Fish and Game rules that take effect the first of the year.

Some waterways will be opened to year-round fishing, but the size and number of black bass that can be taken during ice fishing season will be reduced.

Fish Pond in Columbia, Bean Pond in Ossipee, Little Pond in Sandwich and Hildreth Reservoir in Warren will be open to fishing year round. They previously were closed to fishing six months of the year, from October to April.

A section of the Pemigewasset River in Bristol from the Route 104 bridge downstream to Ayers Island Dam will be open to ice fishing. It previously was closed to ice fishing.

The number of black bass an angler can keep from ice-in to ice-out on most lakes and ponds is being limited to two fish, and only one can be longer than 16 inches.

Steve Perry, chief of the inland fisheries division for the Fish and Game Department, said large bass have a tendency to congregate in wintering areas and that the larger fish tend to be females that spawn earlier in the season.

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“We’re trying to limit the number of large bass being taken through the ice,” Perry said. He said the goal is to provide enough time for the young fish to reach a good size before their first winter.

Those four lakes and ponds considered prime spots for catching “trophy” bass will have even stricter ice-fishing limits.

On Clement Pond in Hopkinton, Grassy Pond in Rindge, Warren Lake in Alstead and Gregg Lake in Antrim, from ice-in to ice-out, the daily limit is three black bass and only one can exceed 20 inches. Also during this time, no black bass between 15-20 inches may be taken from those waters.

On rivers and streams, from Jan. 1 through March 31, the limit on black bass also will be two fish, and only one can be longer than 16 inches.

Only a single hook can be used when trolling for lake trout and salmon on many of the state’s larger lakes to cut down on hook wounds to fish that are caught and released.

“These regulations are geared to trying to minimize injuries that might be caused to fish by minimizing the number of hook points,” Perry said.

Perry said anglers are encouraged to cut the line rather try to remove the fish or the hook, especially if fish fall within the release limit.

 


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