Skip to main content
New Hampshire

Freshwater Fishing

Freshwater Fishing

Interstate Waters

New Hampshire • Maine

Licenses

All New Hampshire and Maine fishing licenses are valid for the taking of fish from New Hampshire-Maine interstate waters listed below.

Waters Include:

  • Umbagog Lake in Errol/Cambridge, NH, and Upton, ME, which includes the waters of the Androscoggin River downstream to the Errol Dam, the waters of the Magalloway River upstream to coordinates 44.795602° -071.062732° to 44.795602° -071.061793° using WGS84 map datum within New Hampshire and the waters of the Rapid River upstream to the marker at Cedar Stump in Maine.
  • Province Lake in Effingham/Wakefield, NH, and Parsonsfield, ME.
  • Balch Pond in Wakefield, NH, and Acton/Newfield, ME.
  • Horn Pond in Wakefield, NH, and Acton, ME.—The northern terminus of Horn Pond will be delineated by signage.
  • Great East Lake in Wakefield, NH, and Acton, ME.
  • Milton Watershed in Milton, NH, and Lebanon, ME (Milton Watershed includes all of the Milton Three Ponds—Northeast Pond, Milton Pond and Townhouse Pond, beginning at the dam in Milton to the influx of the Branch River and the Salmon Falls River).
  • Lower Kimball Pond in Chatham, NH, and Fryeburg, ME.
  • Spaulding Pond in Milton, NH, and Lebanon, ME.
  • Salmon Falls River in Wakefield, Milton, Rochester, Somersworth and Rollinsford, NH, and Acton, Berwick and South Berwick, ME, including the upper reach of the Salmon Falls River beginning at the outlet dam of Great East Lake, also known as State Line Canal, to a point downstream marked by signage delineating the northern terminus of Horn Pond.

Dates

Whenever a period of time is named during which an act is permitted or prohibited, both the first and second dates named are included within such period.

Ice Fishing Restrictions (NH • ME)

Fish may only be taken through the ice from January 1 through March 31 in lakes and ponds (except cusk and salmon).

It is unlawful to:

  • Use more than five (5) lines; except on Great East Lake where no more than two (2) lines can be used.
  • Take, sell or possess for use as bait any of the following fish, dead or living—pickerel, goldfish, yellow perch, white perch, bass, sunfish, crappie, horned pout, carp or any spiny-finned fish.

Ice Fishing Shacks

No person who owns any shack or temporary structure used for ice fishing shall place, or allow to be placed, the shack or structure on the ice more than 3 days before the waters on which shack or structure is located are open to ice fishing.

All ice fishing shacks, while on the ice, must have the name and address of the owner on the outside in 2-inch letters.

Ice fishing shacks shall be removed from the ice within 3 days after those waters close to ice fishing.

Open Water Restrictions (NH • ME)

It is unlawful to:

  • Have more than two (2) lines in use;
  • Take, sell or possess for use as bait any of the following fish, dead or living—pickerel, goldfish, yellow perch, white perch, bass, sunfish, crappie, horned pout, carp or any spiny finned fish;

New Hampshire – Maine General Interstate Rules

Species

Season

Bag Limits and Minimum Lengths

Important Notes

Black Bass

(Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass)

January 1 – March 31

2-fish daily limit; only 1 fish more than 14 inches

April 1 – May 14

2-fish daily limit; only 1 fish more than 14 inches

May 15 – June 30

Catch and release only

Artificial lures and flies only

July 1 – December 31

2-fish daily limit; only 1 fish more than 14 inches

Brook Trout

January 1 – September 30

2 fish daily limit; Minimum length 6 inches

Catch and release only October 1 – December 31

Rainbow Trout

January 1 – September 30

2 fish daily limit; Minimum length 10 inches in lakes and ponds and 6 inches in rivers and streams

Catch and release only October 1 – December 31

Brown Trout

January 1 – September 30

2 fish daily limit; Minimum length 10 inches in lakes and ponds and 6 inches in rivers and streams

Catch and release only October 1 – December 31

Lake Trout

January 1 – September 30

2 fish daily limit; Minimum length 18 inches

Catch and release only October 1 – December 31

Landlocked Salmon

April 1 – September 30

2 fish daily limit; Minimum length 14 inches

Catch and release only October 1 – December 31

Chain Pickerel

Open year round

10 fish daily limit; no length limit

Smelt

Open year round

2 quart daily limit

Angling only

Cusk

April 1 – December 31

None

All other species

Open year round

None

Exceptions to New Hampshire – Maine General Interstate Rules

Waterbody

Exceptions

Great East Lake

No more than 2 lines during ice fishing season; lake trout minimum length is 16 inches; No smelt may be taken in tributaries

Lower Kimball Pond

Use of dip nets not over 18 inches in diameter shall be permitted between sunset and 12 midnight during the open water season for smelt

Salmon Falls River

Open year round, except closed to taking fish through the ice

Umbagog Lake

That portion of Umbagog Lake north of a straight line between Molls Rock, Errol, New Hampshire and the red post between Spillman and Glassby Coves, Magalloway Plantation, Maine shall be closed to ice fishing; brook trout minimum length is 18 inches; brook trout daily limit is 1 fish

New Hampshire • Vermont

Connecticut River Regulations

For that portion of the river between New Hampshire and Vermont. “Connecticut River” means all waters of the river including the bays, set backs and tributaries, only to the first highway bridge crossing said tributaries on the Vermont and New Hampshire sides.

Licenses

All New Hampshire resident and Vermont resident fishing licenses are valid for the taking of fish from the Connecticut River as defined above. All other nonresidents with a N.H. nonresident fishing license shall only take fish east of the Vermont low water mark while on the Connecticut River.

Season

Open to fishing all year, except no fishing Oct. 16 – Dec. 31 from the confluence of the Upper Ammonoosuc River and the Connecticut River in Northumberland, NH, to the northern boundary of the town of Canaan, VT.

Devices

No more than 6 ice fishing devices are allowed. When fishing in open water, no more than 2 lines may be used.

Species Rules

The rules below apply during the open season for fishing.

  • American Shad: Catch and release only.
  • Atlantic Salmon: No open season for Atlantic salmon until declared by the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission.
  • Black Bass (Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass): The daily bag limit for black bass is 2 fish, of which only one may be greater than 16 inches, from January 1 through March 31.
    • The daily limit for black bass from April 1 through May 14 and June 16 to June 30 is 2 fish.
    • Between May 15 and June 15, all black bass shall be immediately released unharmed, at the site of catch, to the waters from which taken.
    • The daily limit for black bass from July 1 through December 31 is 5 fish.
    • During the period beginning May 15 and ending June 15, black bass shall be taken only by artificial lures and flies.
  • Black Crappie, Yellow and White Perch, Sunfish, Horned Pout (Bullhead): The daily bag limit for each species shall be 25 fish and the aggregate daily limit shall not exceed 50 fish.
  • Trout: The season for taking trout by all legal methods shall open on January 1 and close October 15.
    • Through open water, the daily limit is 5 fish or 5 pounds (whichever limit is first reached), except the daily limit is 1 fish from the Samuel Moore Dam downstream to the Rte. 18 bridge.
    • Through the ice, the daily limit is 2 fish, except the daily limit is 1 fish from the Samuel Moore Dam downstream to the Rte. 18 bridge.
    • From the Pittsburg, NH-Canaan, VT boundary downstream to the bridge that crosses the Connecticut River from West Stewartstown to Canaan, VT, from January 1 through March 31, all trout and salmon shall be immediately released unharmed and fishing will be permitted with barbless, single hook lures and flies only.
  • Carp: May be taken by any legal method and by bow and arrow with cord attached, in that part of the river beginning at the point on the northern boundary of Grafton County in New Hampshire which is directly opposite the town of Concord, VT, south to the Massachusetts border.
  • Chain Pickerel: The daily limit is 10 fish.
  • Northern Pike: The daily limit is 1 fish; minimum total length 28 inches.
  • Round Whitefish: Round whitefish (Prosopium cylindraceum) taken by any method shall be immediately released back into the waters from which it was taken.
  • Walleye: No person shall take walleye 16 to 18 inches; the daily limit is 4 fish, of which only 1 can be larger than 18 inches.

Special Exceptions

From a point 1,600 feet upstream from the bridge in North Stratford upstream to a point 250 feet below the Lyman Falls Dam in North Stratford, and marked by a sign, the following restrictions apply: Fishing shall be permitted by artificial lures and flies only. All lures and flies shall have barbless hooks or shall have all barbs pinched so they will not interfere with removal of the hook from the fish. All fish are to be immediately released unharmed.

Fishways Closed

Vernon Dam in Vernon, VT, and Hinsdale, NH shall be closed to all fishing to a point 150 feet below the dam. Wilder Dam in Wilder, VT, and Lebanon, NH shall be closed to all fishing to a point 150 feet below the dam.

New Hampshire • Massachusetts

Licenses

All New Hampshire and Massachusetts fishing licenses are valid for the taking of fish from NH-MA interstate waters listed below.

Waters Include:

  • Bent Pond in Winchester, NH, and Warwick, MA.
  • Long Pond in Pelham, NH, and Dracut, MA.
  • Lake Monomonac in Rindge, NH, and Winchendon, MA.
  • Robbins Pond in Rindge, NH, and Winchendon, MA.
  • Tuxbury Pond in South Hampton, NH, and Amesbury, MA.

Seasons

There are no closed seasons for taking any species, by all legal methods.

Species

For all species: see Lakes & Ponds: General Rules.