Just an FYI to all the Ice fishermen!! Recently I was down at the lamprey river in Newmarket/Durham and noticed that TU has closed of a part of the lamprey river to flyfishing only for the winter months!(They got a public water way closed to recreational fishermen who pay for licenses.) They are catching some awesome fish out of there so I asked a guy were they were getting the fish from? They told me that they were purchasing them from a private hatchery. But after a longer conversation I found out that these fish were brood stock coming from one of the northern hatcheries!!!! These fish that they are stocking for this elite group(3+ pound Browns) are the brood stock that they were stocking in lakes like Tewksbury last year. The TU group is the same group that wanted to open our salmon lakes to fall fly fishing!!! These are fish that us as sportsman have paid for and now they are stocking them in a river were only a handful of people fish. It is amazing what money and politics will get you. So say goodbye to the great trout fishing that we had last year so that this little group can have what they want!!!

The lampry is stocked every fall,winter, and spring by the state with trout, browns, rainbows, and brookies. The state also puts in large browns in the month of DEC. TU also puts hundreds of trout in the river as well from the donations of there members. They also try to put in large trout. I'm not a TU member but they're not steeling trout from your ponds and lakes. There's plenty of fish out in our lakes and ponds to ice fish for.

Thanks Dan should have read that first before I responded. I recant my previous statement.

Cough Cough b*llsh*& I'm sory did I say that out loud? C'mon Leave my fish where I can catch em'

i never quite understood the fly fishing only. i can see artificial only if it benefits the fishery, but excluding fisherman who dont fly fish doesnt make sense to me. and this is from someone that fly fishes alot.

Good point Fishless. It seems to be part and parcel of the unfortunate but consistently arrogant culture of the fly fishing only / trout unlimited crowd. And god forbid you "kill" a trout by keeping and eating one -- "they" (fly only fisherman) all supposedly release everything they catch. I don't event bother trying to talk to some of those people anymore, takes the fun out of it for me. And I want to learn to fly fish, just not with THEM.

Maybe we can do something about that, what's good for the Goose, etc. Numbers wise, I think we pay allot more in total revenue than the chosen few.

But on the other hand, for the good of the Salmon fishery, what little I know, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to fish after say October 15th. until the ice is on the Lakes. And I'm not sure "all" Lakes should be open for Ice fishing, a few that are closed produce some really nice Salmon, etc. the next year.

Certain areas are closed on some Lakes now, like Sandwich beach area on Squam, I think it closes October 15th, but I'm not positive on thje dates, or if it's closed til April 1st, or only until the ice season starts for Trout, etc..

Don't get me wrong please, but I know some Squam locals that never fish during the spring or summer, not until it's ice season and they are not worried about "what" comes out of the hole. I also know a few guys from Mass that take whatever they catch through the ice on Winni during the Derby, etc.

I'll put my helmet on now as I'm sure many don't agree with me, be gentle please..

John S.

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Replying to:

Good point Fishless. It seems to be part and parcel of the unfortunate but consistently arrogant culture of the fly fishing only / trout unlimited crowd. And god forbid you "kill" a trout by keeping and eating one -- "they" (fly only fisherman) all supposedly release everything they catch. I don't event bother trying to talk to some of those people anymore, takes the fun out of it for me. And I want to learn to fly fish, just not with THEM.

I fish both soft and hard (ice) water and personally don't eat salmon (Hate the taste) and but for taking a salmon home once in a while for a friend, I release all I catch. I am not quote "a fly fisherman only" basically just a dub. BUT ice fishing is what I love the best, and the members on this site can hate me for what I am about to say sobeit but I am going to say it non the less and that is, I feel that Salmon are put in the waters for all anglers. they are not just for the spring and summer anglers or at least shouldn't be. I also feel that ice fisherman respect the value of the salmon as well as the trout, just as much as the summer angler. I also understand that salmon are easier to catch through the ice. so why shouldn't the ice angler be allowed to take home a salmon if he wants? I am not in support of any type of special fishing beit TU or spring and summer fishing. I find they all discriminate against the ice fisherman. If there is a two fish limit per day then it shouldn't matter what type of water your fishing on, with the exception of spawning time. If they are worried about the depletion of the salmon and not having enough for the spring and fall, then stock more salmon and less rainbows. well I'm rambling on but you get my point good night

Hi Forry, I def. agree to a certain extent, i also love to Ice Fish, if you can attend the gathering in the spring, and listen to the presentation that our wonderful John Viar gives to all of us, You'll appreciate more what fish and game does for us and You'll be able to see Why? they can only stock certain numbers of Salmon in our good old winni or any of our other great salmon lakes. He show's us the technology used to measure the smelt/white perch/ and other bait fish populations that are in our lakes which in turn basically tells F&G what to stock as far as numbers go. If they stock way to many salmon and there is not enough baitfish? then the quality/size of the fish we love to catch will take a bad turn for the worse. I understand what You are saying as i used to feel that way too until i heard his presentation. Personally i think F&G does a great job at handling our resources with what they have to work with. Just my .02 worth though!!! Take Care God Bless and Dreaming of 4/1/07 LOL Dave From up North

that is why I said replace the rainbows with salmon.Don.t the eat the same thing and the same amount? I would think that a salmon caught through the ice would taste even better than the ones caught in the summer too. I also would like to know how many of the salmon that are caught,correction take the bait on tip-up and are hauled to the surface after a long battle actually survive since the angler has to liberate them immediately without removing any hooks and without even trying to revive them. Are we then going to stop ice fishing completely on the lakes we have salmon in? you want to talk about TU I think that would be even worse. I still don't think it is right or fair. But that is just me venting again.

Forry, I think the thinking on closing the salmon fishery during the winter is they are supposedly a lot more vulnerable. Not sure about NH, but in ME they do allow salmon ice fishing on certain lakes. have A reasonable compromise might be reducing the creel to 1 fish / day and using bracketed size limits to protect the most important age classes to sustain the fishery. I know salmon are different than the lakers in that regard. I think Adrien said that when they get a certain age / size they are ready for Logan's run (ready to die). Maybe a reverse bracket (16-18" ok, no keepers from 18-23 or so, >23 ok). Just an idea, though unlikely to fly with others and F&G.

Me personally, I love eating salmon. I always obey the rules and try to improve my catch and release technique, but there are few things I enjoy more than catching and cooking my own fresh salmon. Nothing better. Of course that puts me on the trout unlimited "wanted" list...

I agree with you about the one fish limit, I think that would be a fine and fair way to go. But to just completely refuse us any salmon during ice fishing to me is unfair. As far as the TU boys go, I think that they shouldn't be treated any different than the soft water or the hard water angler (there should be NO Favorites) but money and politics go hand and hand.I wish Fish and Game could be seperated from the legislature but in New Hampshire that is not going to happen. I would love to see a breakdown as to where all the sportsmans dollars are going. All the monies spent on sports, if it went to support the fish and game like it should I think the lakes and ponds would be teaming with fish and boat ramps for all to enjoy. But I bet most monies don't even see the projects that even relate to fish and game. As far as boat ramps go If the state stocks any kind of fish in a pond or lake then the state should have a public boat ramp and a good one. Why don't they take the land by eminent domain If they needed a highway they would. Take the land and build Boat ramps and charge people to launch (not twenty dollars, A FAIR PRICE) but put that money back into fish and game. Why let these people bilk people twenty dollars to launch thier boats, Why because it is all political and should not be tolorated. You may be on the trout unlimited wanted list but I am probably on everyones wanted list. just me venting again

I wonder how much of Fish & Game budget is spent on search and rescue.Didn't they put in a law that if you did not have a fishing or hunting license and you were out hiking and got lost you would have to pay for your rescue.I don't know if we need users fees or what,but in this time of budget crisis at F&G that someone else should be footing the bills for s&r.We licensed sportsmen pay our users fees,how about the rest of the public kicking in their fair share for their use that falls under F&G responsibility.Also,how about license plates ,who funds go strictly to F&G and lottery tickets with funds that go to F&G.Works in Maine and other states.Didn't Directer Perry come from Maine F&G.JUST MY 2CENTS.I feel so much better now.

Mine is mine and yours is mine! Divide & conquer! Funny how one group of sportsman think that their needs outweigh others.

I ice fish, open water fish, fly, bait; salmon to bluegills...

Ice fishing vs Open water: I have caught (2) 29 inch salmon from Squam Lake while ice fishing, let both of them go. I have to tell you it took a lot of skill to catch both those fish, frozen hands, fingers, keeping the line free (thought I had huge lakers on) ... Released so they could be caught by an open water fisherman. Is this fair?

BASS vs Ice Fishermen: Years ago I figured out how to catch trophy largemouth ice fishing...then comes along BASS with their policy to place severe restrictions on keeping bass caught through the ice...here in ME we are now permitted to keep one bass caught by ice fishing yet up to five during open water. Is this fair? A dead fish is a dead fish whether caught by ice fishing or open water. What I can't believe is the bass tourmaments held during the pre-spawn and when the bass are bedding. Take bass off their beds, run them to the other end of the lake and release them after weigh in. Once those fish are removed from the beds; those beds are dead! If bass are protected during the pre-spawn and spawning season they will do just fine maintaining their population.
Or how about placing smallmouth bass in the live well during the summer when surface water exceeds 75F (which is about max for smallmouths)taking them to the other end of the lake and releasing them, stessed, away from their territory...I fished Saunders Bay one summer on Monday after the tourmament that was run out of Silver Sands and every smallmouth we caught that had been caught and released had fin rot on their dorsal fins, the flesh between the spines had rotted away...

Fly fishing vs... having grown up fly fishing I can tell it is a myth that flies don't injure fish, I caught many brookies that have inhaled the fly, gill hooked; or hit so that the fly turns into their eye, as a sportsman those fish are promptly dispatched and kept for dinner.

Anyway...human nature being what it is...

I guess I'll throw my two cent in for what its worth. I love to ice fish too, but I usually target warmwater species with my ice fishing. I'll occasionally chase a laker or two, but I'd rather get a mess of yellow or white perch given the chance. I just think that the salmon are too valuable to yank out of a hole onto the ice....I'd much rather see them tailwalking in May than flopping in Feb. Just my opinion.
As for as the TU guys making waters inaccessable by fly fishing only regulation, remember that FFO waters are accessible to all for the cost of a cheap fly rod. Just think how much it costs to access the salmon fishery in Winni.....An awful lot of money goes into managing a salmon fishery for a fairly small number of fishermen(women) who can ante up the cost of a boat, riggers, specialized tackle....the list goes on. I could look like I fell out of an Orvis catalog for much less than my salmon boat costs me each year!! Other than a couple of weeks in the spring when shore-based anglers can reach the salmon, it takes a lot of expensive equipment to chase salmon on the lake. This puts the salmon fishery out of reach of many of the anglers in NH. I'll bet the TU guys might feel that those salmon $$ would be better spent stocking rivers with brookies and rainbows.....It just seems a little more clear if you try to see it from both sides of the coin.

Well, I guess we are all right and all wrong at the same time, so I guess Fish and Game should continue to call the shots, listening to inputs from all of us.

Allot of very good points by all,

John S.
"Who's waiting for ice so I can watch the boys do thier thing, from a spectators view, too **** cold fer me"