By Tim Moore:
Fall is here and so are fall fishing opportunities. The striper fishing will pretty much be over along the New Hampshire coast, but there are several other opportunities taking their place. Fall is great for two reasons: many species begin schooling and feeding aggressively to prepare for winter, and the weather is more tolerable. Look for Northern pike, walleye, and crappie to be on the top of our to-do list this month.
Northern pike fishing can be addictive. Pike are built for speed and they use every bit of it when they hit a lure. Plus, they get big. The pike will be spending more time along shallow structured shorelines feeding. Inline spinners such as the Juice Mini 8 from Bigtooth Tackle, soft plastics like my signature series Whisperer from Daddy Mac Lures, and spinnerbaits will catch pike. Stealth is key as big northerns will look to sun themselves in the shallows. They spook easy so sneak up on them and don’t cast directly at sunning or cruising fish or you will spook them. We already have a bunch of pike trips booked, but there is still space if you want to hook into one of New Hampshire’s toothy beasts, some as big as 40 inches.
Crappie are going to be stacked up over lake basins. When I say stacked up, I’m not kidding. Some days it is all-day action. The Salmo Chubby Darter or Live Baby Shad from Lake Fork Trophy Lures are my go-to crappie lures in the fall. We catch some of the biggest crappie of the year in the fall. It’s an absolute blast from a kayak.
The walleye bite on the Connecticut River will continue to be good this month. Pitching ¼ ounce jigs with Berkley Gulp Jigging Grubs into weed lines adjacent to setbacks will catch fish early, or you can troll the same areas with bottom bouncer/crawler harness rigs. Once the sun rises high in the sky fish deep water structure and drop a ¼ ounce jig head with a piece of crawler and hang on. Just bring plenty of jig heads with you because you will lose plenty. Walleye are one of the best eating fish in New Hampshire and you can bet I will be catching a few for supper.
FORECAST BY: Tim Moore is a nationally recognized professional angler and a licensed NH hunting and fishing guide. He is the owner of Tim Moore Outdoors LLC, offering ice fishing charters, fresh and saltwater kayak fishing charters, and freshwater boat charters. He is a member of the New England Outdoors Writers Association and the producer of Tim Moore Outdoors TV.