Fishing Report March 9, 2026
In just a week, the weather turned from winter to spring. It does look like some slightly more seasonal weather is coming later this week. While many anglers hate to see warm weather eating away at their ice, many others know that all the melting ice oxygenates the waters and kicks the fish activity up a couple of notches. Late winter is a time ice anglers hate and love at the same time. They are either over ice fishing for the season, or they can’t get enough and love the incredible fishing that takes place during late ice.
Maine:
Greg Cutting at Jordan’s Store in Sebago said that the fishing on Sebago hasn’t picked up as much as he thought after the Sebago Lake Trout Derby. “It’s been slow. I mean, some guys are catching fish, but maybe there just aren’t as many people fishing. Then again, I’m looking out here in front of the store. The shiner trapping has picked up, so the lake trout fishing usually picks up around the same time. I heard of some huge salmon that were incidentally caught. Really big ones that bode well for the spring fishing. I’m looking forward to that now. It’s always anyone’s guess when the weather gets this warm as to how long the ice will hold up. We have some cooler weather at the end of the week, so that might extend things a few extra days. If the ice holds, the fishing should get really good with all this melting and some rain coming,” he said.
James Eddy Smelt Camps in Dresden wrapped up their season last week. They never got their incoming tide shacks on, but they more than made up for it with the incoming tide shacks. We heard of some great catches there this season. Thanks to them and we hope to have reports from them in 2027.
New Hampshire:
Tim from Tim Moore Outdoors/Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Guide Service on Lake Winnipesaukee reported another busy week and improvements on the white perch, lake trout, and cusk bites. “We have seen a significant increase in fish numbers, both on the ice and on the fish finder. Just a ton more activity. We have been seeing more white perch and more on the jig too. Overall, the jig bite was very slow most of the season. Most of the fish we caught came from live smelt on tip ups. The lakers are still skinny, but still fun to catch. The burbot (cusk) fishing has picked up. There are cusk lines all over the lake it seems. I spent the night out on the lake and did quite well jigging for them. I was using a ¼-ounce white glow Clam Blade Spoon with a single hook and a strip of sucker belly meat in 19 feet of water. I caught fish best during the first two hours of darkness and the last two hours of darkness,” he said.
Alan Nute at Winnisquam Country Store in Tilton says that things are winding down, but he hears that the ice is still pretty good on Winnipesaukee. “People should be out fishing with this nice weather. It was gorgeous over the weekend. I know things are getting slushy, but that should be gone in a day or two. Hopefully, the ice holds up. Bucktails and tubes are still working well for lakers. One of my new yellow glow bucktails has been working really good. I haven’t heard much about metals. This decent weather should kick things into gear for that late season bite. We should have plenty of suckers for people who want it the rest of the season,” he told us. Ki at Dover Marine/Covered Bridge Sports in Dover says that the ice conditions are fading. “There’s a lot of water on the ice. Our southern ice won’t last long with 60-degree weather. The fog has been bad and I heard some rain coming too. Crappie are still biting well in all the usual spots. Fly fishing stuff is starting to go out the door. They have been hitting the Cocheco and Lamprey in the catch and release barbless hook areas and catching trout, but many ice fisherman are already thinking of spring,” he said.