Trout Fishing In New Hampshire

Trout fishing in the "Granite State" is all about variety. Whether your passion is a multi-colored brook trout, a leaping rainbow or the determined fight of a brown, there's a trout pond or stream within reasonable driving distance for most New Hampshire anglers. Trout are prized by anglers because they can be a challenge to catch, and fishing for them is one of the traditional rites of spring.

New Hampshire boasts a number of trout ponds that are managed strictly for trout and are closed to ice fishing. Ponds managed for trout may be stocked with one or more species, including brook, rainbow and/or brown trout, with age classes ranging from yearlings (8-12 inches) to 2-year olds (12-15 inches), with weights up to 1-1.5 pounds!

Stream trout fishing is very popular and over 12,000 river miles are available for trout anglers to try and "match the hatch" or simply dunk a worm or toss a spinner to hungry trout provided by our generous stocking program. Back country wild trout do exist and await the angler who is willing to "walk the thin blue lines" on a topo map.

Anglers looking for a true wilderness experience will enjoy visiting one of the nearly 50 remote trout ponds that N.H. Fish and Game annually stocks with fingerling brook trout via helicopter. These fingerling brook trout often grow to 8-10 inches by their second growing season, and it's not unusual to pull in brookies 15 inches or longer. Trophy, remote-pond brook trout (three or more years old, some in excess of 17 inches) can be caught in select backcountry waters.

So take advantage of New Hampshire’s varied trout fishing opportunities, you won’t be disappointed!