Fishing Report January 5, 2026
This is exactly the kind of report we have been hoping to kick off the season with. There is good ice in places from Connecticut up through Maine, with anglers out in force catching just about everything that swims under the ice. River smelt fishing is happening in Maine, splake in Tricky Pond, lake trout, rainbow trout, and yellow perch in Winnipesaukee, and most small ponds are producing. We ran out of live bait over the weekend but are restocked now. Come on in and get geared up!
Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago says that there has been some ice forming in Jordan’s Bay on Sebago, but nothing fishable. “I had reports of 7 inches of ice on Tricky from Saturday and Hancock had at least 7 inches. They’re driving wheelers on it. They’re catching a bunch of largemouth and smallmouth bass up to Hancock. Some nice ones too. You can catch a cusk now and again there too. Yesterday I weighed a 5.08-pound splake from Tricky and a friend of mine caught a really nice salmon up there this past weekend. Some guys are catching crappie at Brown’s Pond, but nothing huge. They’re still catching brook trout at the Otter Ponds on small jigs. A lot of guys are jigging for them,” he said.
Vern at Cobbossee Bait reported excellent conditions on all their local lakes. “We have fishable ice with people running equipment (ATVs and snowmobiles) on everything. The Jewel of Kennebec County (Little Cobbossee) looked like there was a fishing derby out there over the weekend. There must have been 200 people out there. Everyone is catching fish and about 1/3 of my customers are reporting better than average fishing. Smelt have been easy to come by and they look really good,” he said.
James Eddy Smelt Camps in Dresden reported online that they have outgoing tide shacks on and they are fishing. Hopefully, more info next week, but they are fishing!
New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee reported that there is ice in all the bays of Winnipesaukee and a lot of people are fishing. “I haven’t started running guide trips yet because I have a bunch of maintenance stuff to get done before I start. I’m hearing some great reports and managed to drop a line while scouting ice conditions and had a bit of activity, but I was mostly focused on covering as much area as I could to check the ice. We have really good ice and it is building by the day. Hopefully, things stay this way and we continue to make more ice,” he said.
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Tilton says things are popping off more by the day in his area. “The broads on Winnipesaukee are catching and then opening up, playing that game right now, but everything else is frozen and they are fishing all over. There are a lot of lake trout being caught. Nothing of any size. There are a bunch of bob houses off Gilford Beach and a lot of people fishing out there. I’m seeing a lot of nice rainbows being caught all around the lake. I also saw a 15 inch crappie yesterday. Overall, I’m seeing a lot of bass, pickerel, and crappie. White perch will be next. The smelt look really nice this year and the price went down $1, at least for now.
Lon Berry at Berry’s Bait in Alton Bay reported a very busy opening weekend. “It was insanity in here over the weekend. We sold out of almost all our bait and a ton of product. We had to get restocked with smelt this weekend and we just got a new order from AJ’s Custom Products because we sold out of that stuff. A lot of fish are being caught. I saw some really nice rainbows and a lot of lakers. Just like last year, people are complaining that the lake trout are skinny right now, but there are a ton of them to catch. They caught a ton of yellow perch in Alton Bay, with some nice eaters and some jumbos. I had a couple of guys limit out on crappie on Saturday and came in for more bait for Sunday. AJ’s bucktails in perch and wonderbread have been good, the Leech Flutter Spoon in wonderbread and golden shiner, and a lot of small tungsten jigs have been good,” he said.