March Ice on the Squamscott River

[Coalman]

03-09-19
It has been a long time since we have had ice to smelt fish in March.

Teamed up Saturday with the Rivah Keepah and the Marsh Indian to drown a few worms.

Although the best bite has been at night with such a gorgeous late winter day we went to a spot on the river where we used to catch smelts in the daytime. The fish didn't let us down.

This was our Men's Town and My Exeter! Good friends, good food, good times. 
                                                   

                                               

                                                 

[zwiggles]

Awesome report! I am sick today and home from work, and stopped by the river on the way back from the Drs. I don’t think it’s going to last long with the warm weather, but I’m tempted to try and make it down there before it disappears.

What was the bait of choice? We always did well with bloodworms.

[Roccus]

OMG... wind must be blowing east for you to venture so far from face book.. glad you got out Dave hope all is well.

[800stealth]

Sounds like good times, nice report.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Wow! Dave’s on shanty 

[green shack]

I've seen the house out there for a few weeks.  Glad you got them.  I used to love doing that, hopefully this weeks warm weather down our way doesn't ruin it for you.

[Coffin Dodger]

Wow! Dave’s on shanty 

[Roccus]

Don't get too excited that is post # 5 since 2008.

[Coffin Dodger]

Don't get too excited that is post # 5 since 2008.

Gotcha. 

[Roccus]

Gotcha. 

It's good to see that he got out, he hibernate like an old bear once deer season ends.

[Coffin Dodger]

It's good to see that he got out, he hibernate like an old bear once deer season ends.

Yes Joe. Hard to keep a river man off the river, though.
More smelt caught this year than I've heard in a while.
I'm curious to see if they'll make a serious comeback in NH?

[Coalman]

I may not post...but I do read. I don't do much ice fishing. I like reading about your adventures from a warm room.

Exeter had a sewer force main pipe rupture Sunday morning and untreated sewage went into the river. Fish now at your own risk. Seaworms were the bait of choice. Defiant Lobster in Hampton has them.

I grew up on Wheelwright Creek a tributary of the Squamscott River. We could walk from our hood to the smelt shack cities of old.

This was a good year. The fish are back. Personally I don't think they really went anywhere. F&G measured and took scale samples of our fish. The run of fish in the picture below was mostly females loaded with roe.

The catch Saturday was mostly males. We asked about the age of the 10" females we caught from the photo (upper left) and they told us at least five years old. My theory of limited fish the past few years was limited ice and the wrong tides to fish when we could get on.

Lots of limits (4 quarts, approx. 60 fish) came off the river this winter. I was able to re-establish a very old tradition of fried smelts for the Super Bowl. Neither the fish flavor nor the New England Patriots let me down.

Night tide 03-02-19
                                             


Super Bowl Smelts
                                                       

[Roccus]

Glad to see you post, warm weather has the bear on the prowl..Get yer  bug traps ready!

[Roccus]

I haven't smelt fished since my Dad died and I lost my shack when one of the nice officers threatened to throw me in jail if I went over a fence to get it.
Glad to see that they are doing well, I aggree with the lack.of ice contributing to the low catch, the exploding seal population hasn't helped either.

[Troutsniffer76]

Raw sewage, nasty

[Roccus]

Raw sewage, nasty

It's happens more often than you might think,it happens in the Merrimac just about every big rainstorm,  it is my understanding that there is an allowable amount the EPA allows before it needs to be reported to the public.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Don't get too excited that is post # 5 since 2008.

Lol!

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Looks tasty David!

[rcdelude]

Glad to see you post, warm weather has the bear on the prowl..Get yer  bug traps ready!

Back when smelting on the big bay was an annual thing, you knew it was time to check your gear when the occasional shanty sitting on a 1/8 acre piece of ice would round Fox Point heading to Portsmouth.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Back when smelting on the big bay was an annual thing, you knew it was time to check your gear when the occasional shanty sitting on a 1/8 acre piece of ice would round Fox Point heading to Portsmouth.

LOL! True story