Double digit bass in NH? 2024

NEBasser101 reply :

I live in southern Nh just over the border into Mass. A little over 30 years ago, there was a 15.8 pound largemouth caught in Mass. Does anyone think there is a double digit bass somewhere in NH?

MassBass reply :

10 lb fish in Winnipesaukee?

WRB reply :

New Hampshire state record is listed as 10 lbs 8 oz in 1967.

When you consider the age of that record catch and the number of bass anglers on the water today, if there is another potential DD bass it will be caught by someone.

Tom

"hamma" reply :

some waters there when they cycle right im sure will hold one, will it be caught ? who's to say,... most of the excellent bass waters,.. arent mainstream, or accessable by boat

Mainebass1984 reply :

I definitely believe there is a 10 lb largemouth in NH. Last year a 10 lber was posted on the NH thread in the Northeast forum. A 10 lb bass is a very rare catch anywhere in New England. A very old, once in a lifetime fish.

JG233 reply :

How old do you think a New England 10 lber is?

Mainebass1984 reply :

On 5/31/2016 at 7:26 AM, JG233 said:

How old do you think a New England 10 lber is?

In 2013 I caught a 9-1. I had a dorsal spine and scale aged. The dorsal spine which is the more accurate of the two was aged at 19+ years with "a high likelihood" of being older by the bass biologist for the state of ME. The scale was aged at 16 years old. The scale was aged by a VT fisheries biologist. He said that as the fish grew the growth rings became more difficult to read which is very common with older fish. He said it was "most likely" a few years older then the 16 growth rings he could clearly see. I would guess a 10 lb class fish would be 15 - 20 years old in New England.

BaitMonkey1984 reply :

I am in the same are as you, in fact I am last town in MA. 5 minutes and I am in southern NH. Fish MA and NH. There are 10lb bass around. However I don't think there are a lot. And, as mentioned above those DD bass are old fish. I am a firm believer that big bucks and big fish don't get that big by being dumb. IF you get one, make sure you treat it right and put it back.

MassYak85 reply :

I'm in Mass and there are definitely lakes capable of holding double digits. If it's still possible to beat the state record I imagine it's swimming around in the Quabbin somewhere. But in New Hampshire, I'd have to imagine that there is at least one double digit fish in Winnipesaukee.

Mainebass1984 reply :

I think that smaller harder to reach places that receive little fishing pressure have a better chance at producing trophy bass then the more popular easy to access big bodies of water. A double digit bass in New England would have to be a very old fish, a place that receives little fishing pressure that is very hard to get to would provide a better place for them to get old.

JayKumar reply :

I've had the good fortune to fish all over the U.S. for bass. Still my biggest is a 9.5 in a NH pond that the locals swore had no fish in it (+1 on the little fishing pressure). There were at least 6 fish that big or bigger in there. For sure there's a DD in NH!

yosef reply :

someone had caught a 9lber at spot pond in stoneham theres some big fish in there...boat access is allowed but only if you rent their boats

Mr. Aquarium reply :

the problem with NH is that all the bass ponds get pounded! with MA theres so many limited access and private ponds that barely get fished. but the remote ponds in NH are trout havens instead of bass!
but i do think theres a shot of a 10 in one of the big deep lakes like winni! if someone were to toss a swimbait i think thats the best shot at getting a truly once in a life time giant!

as far as MA goes! theres a lot more 10s in MA then we think! ive personaly have hooked,seen fish swimming and had some follow and hit my baits that i was shocked at how big the were! ive got a good numbers of 6s and 2 over 7 in my life and these fish were so much bigger then these fish!
the growing season up there is quite short! ice out doesnt happen till april! while down here some years we dont even have ice! i fished on my kayak all winter long. also the amount of food places a big roll as well!
thers so many factors that play in growning a giant in the northern states

Mainebass1984 reply :

There are plenty of ponds in NH that have bass that don't get pounded. Some of the ponds are relatively unknown except by the locals. The harder they are to get to the less pressure they get. A small, hard to get to pond has the best chance for a 10 in my opinion. A good food base such as big golden shiners, rainbow smelt, yellow perch or stocked trout is a must. The size of the bass population in relation to the amount of forage available plays a huge role. The waterbodies with the best growth rates tend to have a smaller population.

Mr. Aquarium reply :

On 6/14/2016 at 5:00 AM, Mainebass1984 said:

There are plenty of ponds in NH that have bass that don't get pounded. Some of the ponds are relatively unknown except by the locals. The harder they are to get to the less pressure they get. A small, hard to get to pond has the best chance for a 10 in my opinion. A good food base such as big golden shiners, rainbow smelt, yellow perch or stocked trout is a must. The size of the bass population in relation to the amount of forage available plays a huge role. The waterbodies with the best growth rates tend to have a smaller population.

wow i didnt know that? ive been going to NH my entire life and i always thought those remote ponds were trout! but the area i go to is the white mnts. so im sure there are better bass lakes down in southern NH.
theres a lake very close to the MA and NH boarder that had a 9.5 weighed in. caught a few months ago

nhbassin reply :

A few years ago I downloaded the annual stocking report that NH fish and game uploaded to their site which lists the number of trout stocked in each lake throughout the year. I then looked up the acreage of many lakes in southern/central NH that were on the stocking list and also were home to largemouth. From these two pieces of data I got the number of trout stocked per acre of water, for lakes in NH that hold largemouth. There were 3 that were significantly higher than the rest, so I spent much of my time that summer focusing on those bodies of water and it resulted in 3 fish between 6.7 - 7.1 pounds. I am pretty confident that those bodies of water held larger fish too.

The point of this is that I agree with Mainebass that there is likely a 10 pound largemouth in NH right now and its probably in a smaller body of water that has a large food source, such as stocked rainbow/brook trout.

P.S. One of those lakes with a high stocked trout per acreage ratio was Pleasant Lake in Deerfield, which was surprising because that is a good sized lake.

Nashua Nev reply :

There are no 10 lbers+ in NH waters, go fish in another state. ------ i agree , there is def a new state record swimming around. the growing season is smaller , will def be an old , smart fish to get to double digit. small water , big water , i think both. I have my ideas including the Merr and Nashua rivers.

Mwvbass reply :

I think up north where trout fishing is king, there are definitely some really big bass hiding. 10+ lbs is possible.

Mainebass1984 reply :

A 9-4 was caught a couple weeks ago in the southern area of the state. It was 24" long with a 20" girth.

PourMyOwn reply :

On 6/14/2016 at 5:00 AM, Mainebass1984 said:

There are plenty of ponds in NH that have bass that don't get pounded. Some of the ponds are relatively unknown except by the locals. The harder they are to get to the less pressure they get. A small, hard to get to pond has the best chance for a 10 in my opinion. A good food base such as big golden shiners, rainbow smelt, yellow perch or stocked trout is a must. The size of the bass population in relation to the amount of forage available plays a huge role. The waterbodies with the best growth rates tend to have a smaller population.

Big golden shiners-exactly. These things are like sausages with fins, easy to digest compared to the fins and bones of yellow perch.

There certainly are 10+lb bass here in NH, I've seen at least 10 largemouth over 8lbs-there are surely some larger ones out there. My guess is the flooded swamp/bog ponds with dark water and tons of pads and hyacinths. These ponds are nearly impossible to fish thoroughly, and very few people have the equipment/desire to fish the heavy vegetation.

KenP reply :

Old mill dams that have limited or terrible access are great spots for old bass. I'm sure suckers and carp are high protein like trout. A large bass may only need to eat once a day or less. Some guy broke the RI record this year, patience and dedication will payoff.

Janderson45 reply :

I'll tell you what that Massachusetts record blows my mind... It beats state record largemouths in 30+ states almost all of which are south of the Carolinas.. Florida strain largemouth... Also, the mass state record was supposedly taken through the ice, so add another 2lbs or so to her if he caught her post spawn in the spring.. 17.5-18lb northern strain largemouth?? Blows my mind.

KenP reply :

On 9/1/2016 at 9:41 AM, Janderson45 said:

I'll tell you what that Massachusetts record blows my mind... It beats state record largemouths in 30+ states almost all of which are south of the Carolinas.. Florida strain largemouth... Also, the mass state record was supposedly taken through the ice, so add another 2lbs or so to her if he caught her post spawn in the spring.. 17.5-18lb northern strain largemouth?? Blows my mind.

I've always wondered if a Florida strain bass could be released up here and grow just as big and just as quick. The farm born most likely cannot spawn but it would be awesome if they did release some goliaths.

HeavyDluxe reply :

So, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this from a statistical/probability standpoint since the thread started.

I'm curious about this, though: I know some fish can make it through the winter even if they get frozen in the water. However, I'm not sure that's true re: LMB. So, while I think smaller, less-targeted waters would be the places to find big fish, I wonder whether a lot of the small bogs, etc would actually be able to sustain a large fish through the colder months.

Thoughts?

Nashua Nev reply :

per Mainebass earlier in the thread....

Right conditions , excellent food source , great oxygen levels , good cover , a lot of luck lots and lots of luck , for the fish as well as for the fisherperson catching it.

I have my ideas, there are many places that those big girls could be. Some ponds that get a lot of pressure produce some big fish, and everytime those fish are caught and throw back in they get smarter........ older and wiser.

"hamma" reply :

The place noted on the states record page is incorrect. The record fish was caught in a different body of water. Actually the site it was caught at is even shallower than Sampsons Pond. Talk about is,...Walter didnt want the real site pounded by every bass angler around. He did catch it thru the ice, and he knew It was in there. He also figured Sampsons pond would handle the beating it was about to receive much better than the true pond. AGAIN, thats the "gossip",...and we all know how gossip is.

But it makes sense tho ,...think about it,... If you knew where a record fish was, and planned on targeting it thru the ice, wouldnt you already have ideas and thoughts as to whats about to go down?

As far as shallow vs. deep ponds holding big fish? both have the chance, as long as the forage/cover base is up to it. It takes longer up here than fla, of course. I have fished some exclusive ponds and lakes since I heard of the true nature of the record fish. And over those twenty+ years, I can say that there are many 10+ bass down here in Massachusetts.,.Much more than anglers would believe. As far as Ice freezing fish? All a bass needs is about five to eight feet of depth to survive a winter. Actually I know a small pond that isnt even 5 feet deep thats been holding fish for as long as I can remember.

These fish aren't caught often as they are smart, exclusive, and don't hold up a white flag, showing themselves to anglers as their younger less intelligent siblings might. Another factor to it is , alot of the ponds holding such fish aren't accessable to everyone. A few have "ramps" but they are elusive enough to disguise themselves. Anglers wouldn't believe there's big fish in there, but there are. Due to these lakes cover and structure most savy bass anglers dont even "waste" their time thinking of fishing there. It just doesn't appear to be a good place to fish.

Like Walter,...I dont want these places pounded either, hence my silence per locations and names. I personally don't "pound" these waters myself. Do I fish them? Yeah I do. But not consistently, or exclusively. I fish them occasionally. Do I know any ponds like this in NH? Yeah,..a few, and again,..places no one would even think there's big fish in there. I do beleive the NH record can be beat, and some day the Massachusetts one may as well.

Mr. Aquarium reply :

i know the place that the record was caught out of! i fish it alot! i know ive hooked bass 8 plus in there! seen and heard rumors of 10s! i agree with everything keith said! find the spot you know the fish lives in and fish it hard! it will make a mistake sooner or later!

Mainebass1984 reply :

I wonder if anyone on here has caught (and weighed) a 10 lber in New England ? Some pictures of 10 lb plus New England bass would be awesome. I know a few guys have got 9s.

Nashua Nev reply :

I am stuck at 6 1/2

"hamma" reply :

On 9/4/2016 at 12:41 AM, Mainebass1984 said:

I wonder if anyone on here has caught (and weighed) a 10 lber in New England ? Some pictures of 10 lb plus New England bass would be awesome. I know a few guys have got 9s.

My pb was 12.5 in sept 1994, the next spring a guy weighed in on a certified state scale a "skinny" 11+ from the same lake,...on the so. shore somewhere. As for a pic I dont know if they took one. I didnt, I was so freaked out i was hyperventilating, remembering to breathe was a issue,...lol

Mainebass1984 reply :

On 9/5/2016 at 6:08 AM, Keith "Hamma" Hatch said:

My pb was 12.5 in sept 1994, the next spring a guy weighed in on a certified state scale a "skinny" 11+ from the same lake,...on the so. shore somewhere. As for a pic I dont know if they took one. I didnt, I was so freaked out i was hyperventilating, remembering to breathe was a issue,...lol

You got a 12.5 and didn't take a picture ? I would have taken a dozen pictures, weighed her several times, measured the length and girth before releasing her back. I would be ecstatic to catch such a fish. It would be a state record in every New England state except for Mass.

Mr. Aquarium reply :

On 9/5/2016 at 6:08 AM, Keith "Hamma" Hatch said:

My pb was 12.5 in sept 1994, the next spring a guy weighed in on a certified state scale a "skinny" 11+ from the same lake,...on the so. shore somewhere. As for a pic I dont know if they took one. I didnt, I was so freaked out i was hyperventilating, remembering to breathe was a issue,...lol

im going to PM you cuz i think i know where you caught it

bigbill reply :

The 10lb+++ bass are in ever state I believe. Who's restocking the supply of fry? It's these big gals. Fish 24/7, fish harder.

JayKumar reply :

My PB is a NH 9.5 -- and several fish at least that big were swimming in that pond, one the locals said had no fish. The DDs are there!

Mainebass1984 reply :

On 9/6/2016 at 8:05 PM, JayKumar said:

My PB is a NH 9.5 -- and several fish at least that big were swimming in that pond, one the locals said had no fish. The DDs are there!

That's a huge bass for NH. Can you post a pic ? Id love to see it.

"hamma" reply :

On 9/5/2016 at 9:22 PM, Mainebass1984 said:

You got a 12.5 and didn't take a picture ? I would have taken a dozen pictures, weighed her several times, measured the length and girth before releasing her back. I would be ecstatic to catch such a fish. It would be a state record in every New England state except for Mass.

When you are in that moment?,.... your nerve's are almost fried as you've seen the fish , prayed it doesnt get off, and when you get your hand on it, its a different feeling than one can really describe, but I will take a shot at it.

Your heart is beating a mile a minute, your shaking, your amazed at its shear size and cant believe at that moment such a thing exisits. Its in your hands and your thoughts are "OMG, omg, omg!" (I did make sure that I held it properly as to not break its jaw). You get that "ying, ying, ying" ringing in your head and your thoughts seem scrambled. Your doing all you can to make sure you don't drop it, but then yet, you think it may die if you keep it out of the water too long. All of this happens within a few seconds, Then Jay spun back around with the scale, we weighed it, and realized it wasn't the state record we thought it was while I was fighting it. Then we discussed what to do, bring it somewhere to be officially weighed, Nope we had no livewell and it would die,. and we had just started fishing. Plus,..i was prefishing for a tourney, Think it would be lunker,..LOL,... Then I decided "screw it, I aint killing this fish" and let her go.

Reluctantly Jay agreed I did the right thing. We were both so ramped up we didnt even think of a pic til later in the day on the way home. All we discussed the rest of the day was,.."I wonder if there's more pigs in here" ,.."12.5 is gunna be hard to beat",.." should I have kept it? naw she was to epic",..."If I catch that in the tourney that would be awesome" was probably 2 hours before I started to settle down to a normal heartbeat. I was riding a natural high like never before., A feeling that I have acheived my goal in bassfishing and whats next was a sobering thought, but it was overshadowed by the sheer excitement of what had just occured.

This was 20 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday, I may be missing some thoughts on the rest of the day, but this is the jist of it.

Before that moment happened? I had imagined many times what I would do If I caught a huge bass. Believe me,..all that goes out the window when you are unexpectedly put in that situation, and your physical reaction, is one of extreme mayhem. Thought? is no longer a prerequisite.

Ya know those nightmares that you wake up from that are so real that when you do wake up your sweating, and in full belief that it was real, and your hearts rate has skyrocketed? thats kinda what I went thru when I caught that fish.

Mr. Aquarium reply :

thats the same way when i caught my PB smallie! 6.9. you cant believe you caught the fish of a life time! all your worries have been washed away. you cant breathe you cant stop smiling you cant stop shaking and you cant fathom what just happened. this is why i love fishing! i love the high i get when i catch a monster! every 5lbs bass i catch i get high! every deer,hawk eagle,racoon, coyotes i see or here i get high!

deaknh03 reply :

I caught a 9.5 from a local pond...25 years ago, before the cell phone pic taking convenience. I wish we had cell phones then..plenty of pics I wish I could have. I did weigh it with one of those old style spring scales, so coulda been 9.25 or 9.75, who knows, they weren't like the digital scales we use now. Been chasing the large ones in that pond ever since, there are a couple of 10+ in there, I am positive of that.

Dead Bait Dave reply :

If there is it's a trout eater!

MikeOGNR reply :

On 9/4/2016 at 12:41 AM, Mainebass1984 said:

I wonder if anyone on here has caught (and weighed) a 10 lber in New England ? Some pictures of 10 lb plus New England bass would be awesome. I know a few guys have got 9s.

I don't think there was a scale put there's this picture of someone who caught a 10lb+ bass outta a trout pond in NH I can't say what it actually weighed but it looks huge. Also my cousin caught this big largemouth in NH it was about 7.5 and my gramps caught 2 bass back in the day the hold the northwood lake record in NH at 8lbs 14oz and 8lbs even is there other mounted fish

deaknh03 reply :

On 9/30/2016 at 7:02 PM, MikeOGNR said:

I don't think there was a scale put there's this picture of someone who caught a 10lb+ bass outta a trout pond in NH I can't say what it actually weighed but it looks huge. Also my cousin caught this big largemouth in NH it was about 7.5 and my gramps caught 2 bass back in the day the hold the northwood lake record in NH at 8lbs 14oz and 8lbs even is there other mounted fish

I see your gramps was intercontinental champion back in the day, nice.

MikeOGNR reply :

On 9/30/2016 at 7:12 PM, deaknh03 said:

I see your gramps was intercontinental champion back in the day, nice.

deaknh03 reply :

On 10/1/2016 at 7:42 PM, MikeOGNR said:

??

The championship belt hanging on the wall.

MikeOGNR reply :

On 10/1/2016 at 8:49 PM, deaknh03 said:

The championship belt hanging on the wall.

ohh horseshoes man that was his game

Dmacster1 reply :

My personal best that I set in mid September was a 9.8 caught out of a kayak in a pond that ranged from 12-17 feet deep that is actually fished by a lot of people but only from the one side that is accessible from the bank.worst part was is that I was by myself and had no way to get a picture of me holding the fish to actually show the scale of the fish, but I have pictures of it that I will post. Also measured 24 inches even.

Dmacster1 reply :

Excuse my inability to talk in the videos, you probably wouldn't be able too either. The forum won't let me post the pictures by itself, so I have to paste the links instead.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wn8Z4ecleCS6vOR6IngOrzxX17_zBHiy4Q

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1huuuRvHDnB02mj-eAjAMWgqpNPmnbvlSIg

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wn8Z4ecleCS6vOR6IngOrzxX17_zBHiy4Q

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VIgFw_72W-htWU6NbLtXMLnlofVheNn56g

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A6QPG8O35Rs3iuOkzcOV7MvcakmK4GYizg

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SokjJ3mtHXmGB7vdCr-iFWB0kwkJviwdTg

kroberts9 reply :

in 2002 I caught one in Carlisle MA close in a pond behind a very prominent private school that was 24"long and close to 20" girth weighted 9.8

last year in raymond nh I pulled one out of the lamprey river that was over 6lbs my avatar pic is her she was 22" long and 17" girth. so yeah there are huge bass up here for sure.

Auburn nh tower hill pond if you have a way in its like a .8 mile hike in but my buddy caught a few there over 6

I'm sure Winnie has some monsters swimming in there

RoLo reply :

A 10-lb bass is a rare fish even in Florida. To give you some idea, a good friend of mine who is also a pro guide

in Florida & New York, 'never' boated a 10-lb bass in his life! It's hard to wrap your head around

a 10-lb bass coming out of New England

Bass have a longer growing season and a faster growth rate in southerly climes, but on the other hand,

they live significantly longer in the north where there's no thermal stress (e.g. Pushing a plant with grow lights).

But even a 6-lb bass coming from New Hampshire has got to be one very old lady!

Roger

Mainebass1984 reply :

On 2/20/2017 at 11:27 PM, Dmacster1 said:

Excuse my inability to talk in the videos, you probably wouldn't be able too either. The forum won't let me post the pictures by itself, so I have to paste the links instead.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wn8Z4ecleCS6vOR6IngOrzxX17_zBHiy4Q

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1huuuRvHDnB02mj-eAjAMWgqpNPmnbvlSIg

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wn8Z4ecleCS6vOR6IngOrzxX17_zBHiy4Q

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VIgFw_72W-htWU6NbLtXMLnlofVheNn56g

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A6QPG8O35Rs3iuOkzcOV7MvcakmK4GYizg

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SokjJ3mtHXmGB7vdCr-iFWB0kwkJviwdTg

That does look like a good fish. You said it weighed 9.8 lbs... The mouth in the second link looks especially small for an almost 10 lb fish. Usually if a fish is 7 lbs plus you should be able to fit almost both hands in its mouth. I do realize I sound like a hater. Sorry if that offends you but I have a heard time believing that fish is almost 10 lbs. I would recommend buying a better scale.

Dmacster1 reply :

On 3/1/2017 at 10:20 PM, Mainebass1984 said:

That does look like a good fish. You said it weighed 9.8 lbs... The mouth in the second link looks especially small for an almost 10 lb fish. Usually if a fish is 7 lbs plus you should be able to fit almost both hands in its mouth. I do realize I sound like a hater. Sorry if that offends you but I have a heard time believing that fish is almost 10 lbs. I would recommend buying a better scale.

My previous personal best was a six and that was nowhere near that size, it is very possible that I could need another scale, but it was a brand new scale that was one of the certified ones. But I do agree that it had a small-ish mouth, but I believe it looks that way because of the way it was being held. No offense taken.

Deeare reply :

On 2/26/2017 at 10:48 AM, RoLo said:

A 10-lb bass is a rare fish even in Florida. To give you some idea, a good friend of mine who is also a pro guide

in Florida & New York, 'never' boated a 10-lb bass in his life! It's hard to wrap your head around

a 10-lb bass coming out of New England

Bass have a longer growing season and a faster growth rate in southerly climes, but on the other hand,

they live significantly longer in the north where there's no thermal stress (e.g. Pushing a plant with grow lights).

But even a 6-lb bass coming from New Hampshire has got to be one very old lady!

Roger

The gold pin bass in mass was 9 5oz last year. Year before that it was 9 2oz. They are out there for sure.

catchinghogs NH reply :

I know there is at least one big girl its hard in nh due to the fact they can only grown in part of the year with winter unlike Florida and California where there is no resting time for giants also they have different genetics. A big bass will make a mistake sometime ive hook an 8lber but my biggest is 6lbs 5oz in NH. I forget the name but in the middle/ northern nh there is a private pond or lake that you have to lived there to catch fish but there was a 15lb bass electrofished within the last 5-10years its crazy to think about! my friend caught a 7lber last year so there is a couple big ones out there its hard for a bass toget 10lbs it would take prob 20 years+ to get that old.Lots of place people kill 6lbers and mount them stop killing bass and we will get a state record!

BassB8Caster reply :

I'm in western Maine about an hour and a half from nh. I agree. They are out there. Not a lot but there are some big old girls to be caught. I'm dedicating this year to big swimbaits to target the biggest fish of the waters I fish. I agree with catch and release of the big ones. It's imperative to pass those genes on.

Smagz reply :

8.3 on a BOGA in oct. 2017...southern NH

MassYak85 reply :

Part of me enjoys having the smaller sized fish here in new england. It makes that elusive 10lb fish that much more enticing/rewarding to chase after.

12994

Double digit bass in NH? 2024

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