What are the top 5 lakes for ice fishing?

[Bobber Bob]

Looking to plan a weekend in February. Last year we went to Newfound lake and the fishing was slow. Long Pond in Pelham was good. Lake Waukewan was very slow. Every year we try somewhere new. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I fish Pawtuckaway in the summer but never tried it in the winter. What are peoples top 5 lakes in NH?

[chilly-willy]

Since I am not from nh and I have no clue what lakes are good. I will give some advice find lake and check them out now !!  either canoe or by boat.. mark the weed edges were the water drops off and the weeds disappear.. I usually do this in spring right after ice out cause the fish are still in there wintering areas..  I mark weed lines close to deepset  spots in the lake for crappie.. reason is those fish will  move from deep to shallow and you have to find a funnel down point in the lake bottom were all the fish will come from... lets say suspended 12 foot down in the deepest part of the lake and move in to were the first drop is or were the weeds stop at close to the deep water... but you got to look for horse shoe shapes in the weeds and bottom structure  like on maps.. cause the smaller fish like minnows will hide in the weed on the weeds side and the crappie will move in this is called bait out crappie in.. and hit the points in between the two like the end of a horse shoe like the side you dump the luck out of  is the deep water end.   you can find the drops now cause the weeds are growing now but it good to look for little small fish activity in spring... but you get to the mouth of the horse shoe were the two land or shore points under water structure are  close together making a funneling down  point between a bay and deep water..

Now perch you got to find the very edge of muck and gravel  that's were they tend to lay and spawn.. in the spring.. and tend to be there guarding there spawning beds in winter..

Pike  use the weed edges remember that bait is on one side and deep water is were pike are suspended  so they more feed shallow and live deep and will chase small fish on to bottom humps trying to trap them so they can eat...the weeds are called flats on the weeds side and deep water is just what they term it as.. 

Walleye are predator fish so they tend to follow what pike do same with bass

Then there is mr. Trout they tend to live deep were water is warmer and tend to follow the shore in and out in smaller lakes and pounds  they follow the shore looking for food then head deep to warm there fins up...

If you under stand this you will be able to catch tons of fish this was all gathered from in fishermen's book ice fishing secrets.. If wondering..lol's any how do the research early presentation is the only think that should be lacking at this point .. if the presentation is poor fish will not eat if it good they will eat..but do get out now and check lake some years are good some bad depending on weather and temp in the lake basin... there's do many variables I would get that book I mentioned and figure out how andvwere to find  the fish.. but that me and what I know..and do the scouting early  cause it's hard to find the correct drop when there's ice and snow on top of the water.. aka gps it...

[chilly-willy]

I sure your a good fisher men and I am sure that writing that was not a waste of time even if you did not need it... maybe some one new to the sport could if you see what I am saying it was never a waste of time may to read it but that up to you not me lol's  but for sure do some early scouting is needed see the warm weather send fish deep like in winter and the fish in the winter go deep... they feed and hunt the same winter or high heat summer so it is a good time to scout every year I do it cause you never know if the erosion from dying weeds or environmental erosion or even shore erosion and so on  from the lake will move the fishing 1-15 foot or even 100 foot from were it was last year ... some lakes I have been on are only like 15 foot deep what I noticed is the fish will gather in little dimples on the bottom here and there making it hard to target them in the winter so I cross those lakes off my list early when you notice clumps of fish sitting in a 15 foot pit that's 3 foot round and you see this every 20 or so feet that's when i cross lakes off my list when there is not a section of the lake that's 30 or even 40 foot deep there's just no were for the fish to hide or seek winter shelter... and creates a real had to fish environment in the winter cause you got to find those deep pits In the lake at 15 foot 3 foot round were the fish gather and are 20 - 50 foot apart make for a bad time finding fish noticed this I think it was on green lake up by traverse city Michigan so do get out and scout!! also low fishing pressure in summer gives good winter lakes  mainly if a lot of people on that lake practice catch and release with in reason we all know about fish over population and growth...

[jethro]

So you have targeted both warm and coldwater fisheries in what you listed above, so what do you like to fish for?

[chilly-willy]

If your talking to me crappie and trout ..

[jethro]

Well, I was talking to Boober Bob really, in an effort to help him find a place to fish this winter, but he has gone dark.