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Lake Sunapee Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

New Hampshire’s clear jewel: Sunapee holds landlocked salmon, lake trout and the trout that bears its name.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
52 cfs
Air / High
76 / 77 F
Wind
NW 11 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01152500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Lake Sunapee lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. The river is running 52 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 11 mph, rising pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 77. Water sits around 66 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Landlocked salmonGood

Transition depths: work 15-30 ft along drop-offs and points with trolled smelt imitations, or find them where cold tributaries enter. Early morning is the honest window.

Brook troutGood

Prime pocket-water fishing. Work upstream with an attractor dry or a dry-dropper, hitting every seam behind boulders and the head of each plunge pool. Short casts, quiet feet.

Smallmouth bassGood

Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Lake troutFair

Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 72 F with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from Sugar River at West Claremont (outlet drainage).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01152500.

618310452 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp76 F
High / Low77 / 58 F
WindNW 11-17 mph
Pressure1009.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain21% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset06:15 / 19:18
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~66 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Showers, 77/58 F, wind 11 mph, rain 1%

Fair or better. A 11 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Sunapee: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Best: ice-out through June, and September

Atlantic salmon that never see the sea: smelt-chasing acrobats of Maine and New England lakes, and the reason ice-out is a holiday up north. Transition depths: work 15-30 ft along drop-offs and points with trolled smelt imitations, or find them where cold tributaries enter. Early morning is the honest window.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Best: May-Jun and Sep-Oct

North America’s native char: a small-stream specialist that demands cold, clean water and repays it with the prettiest fish in the woods. Prime pocket-water fishing. Work upstream with an attractor dry or a dry-dropper, hitting every seam behind boulders and the head of each plunge pool. Short casts, quiet feet.

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Best: ice-out and fall turnover

The char of the deep: 40-year-old predators patrolling the cold basins of glacial lakes, from the Finger Lakes to the Rockies. Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: May-Oct

Current and rock. Finds gravel flats, boulders and drop-offs, and fights far above its weight. Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

When to come: the Lake Sunapee calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Landlocked salmon
Brook trout
Lake trout
Smallmouth bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 66 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Sunapee today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 72 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 67 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

New Hampshire requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

New Hampshire license. Landlocked salmon and lake trout seasons and limits per current NH Fish and Game regulations.

Access

State ramps at Sunapee Harbor and Georges Mills; Mount Sunapee State Park beach access.

About this water

A 4,100-acre lake beneath Mount Sunapee in Sullivan and Merrimack counties, New Hampshire, over 100 feet deep.

Fishing Lake Sunapee: the full guide

A mountain lake

Lake Sunapee covers 4,100 acres in western New Hampshire beneath Mount Sunapee, clear and deep at over 100 feet. It is one of the state’s premier coldwater fisheries: landlocked salmon, lake trout and smallmouth bass, plus the historic Sunapee golden trout, a rare char that once made the lake famous and persists only in a few waters today.

Salmon and lakers

Ice-out in April brings landlocked salmon near the surface, where trolling streamers and smelt imitations in the top twenty feet produces the year’s best fishing. Lake trout hold deeper, 50-100 feet through summer, taking trolled spoons and jigged tubes. Fall stages salmon near the inflows and brings both species shallower again.

Smallmouth and clarity

Smallmouth bass work the rocky points, islands and drop-offs from June onward, and the exceptional clarity demands lighter line and longer casts than most anglers expect. The clear water also makes low-light periods disproportionately productive. Yellow perch and other panfish fill the shallows for anglers wanting steady action.

Sunapee logistics

State ramps at Sunapee Harbor and Georges Mills serve the lake, with Mount Sunapee State Park providing beach and shoreline access. The area is a year-round resort destination, so summer weekends are busy on the water. Newbury, Sunapee and New London provide services, with the ski area adding winter traffic.

Common questions

What is a Sunapee golden trout?

A rare char historically native to the lake that made it famous: the strain persists in only a few waters today.

When is salmon fishing best?

The weeks after April ice-out, trolling near the surface, with a second window in the fall.

Does the clarity matter?

Considerably: lighter line, longer casts and low-light periods all matter more here than on stained lakes.

Is fishing good at Lake Sunapee right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Newfound Lake23 miConnecticut River23 miWhite River30 miPemigewasset River32 miSquam Lake36 miLake Winnipesaukee38 mi
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