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Lake Winnipesaukee Fishing Report

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

New Hampshire’s big lake: 44,000 acres of islands and deep water holding landlocked salmon, lake trout and smallmouth.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
338 cfs
Air / High
79 / 79 F
Wind
WNW 10 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01081000, 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 Winnipesaukee sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. The river is running 338 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind WNW around 10 mph, rising pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 79. 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. 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 Winnipesaukee River at Tilton (outlet).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01081000.

347414480338 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp79 F
High / Low79 / 65 F
WindWNW 10-15 mph
Pressure1008.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain21% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset06:12 / 19:15
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 · Overcast, 79/65 F, wind 10 mph, rain 1%

Fair or better. A 10 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Winnipesaukee: 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 Winnipesaukee 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 Winnipesaukee 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 70 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 72 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

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 have specific length limits and seasons: check current NH Fish and Game rules before keeping fish.

Access

Public ramps at Glendale (Gilford), Alton Bay, Meredith and Wolfeboro; numerous marinas around the lake.

About this water

A 44,586-acre lake in Belknap and Carroll counties, New Hampshire: the state’s largest, with 250 islands and deep coldwater basins.

Fishing Lake Winnipesaukee: the full guide

The Granite State’s inland sea

Lake Winnipesaukee covers 44,000 acres in central New Hampshire, with 250 islands, deep basins past 180 feet and a shoreline that has been a summer destination since the 1800s. Beneath the recreational traffic lies a serious coldwater fishery: landlocked salmon stocked and managed by New Hampshire Fish and Game, lake trout that reach genuine size, and one of the state’s better smallmouth bass populations along the rocky shorelines and island drops.

Salmon and lakers

Ice-out in April starts the salmon season: troll streamers, smelt imitations and small spoons in the top fifteen feet along the Broads and around the islands, when fish hunt smelt near the surface. As the lake stratifies, salmon and lake trout move to 40-80 feet, requiring downriggers and lead core through the summer. Fall brings salmon shallow again. Winter ice fishing for both species is a New Hampshire institution when conditions allow.

Smallmouth on the rocks

The smallmouth fishing is excellent and undersold: rocky points, island edges and drop-offs hold fish from spring through fall. Topwater at dawn, tubes and drop-shots as the sun climbs, with clear water demanding lighter line and longer casts. Largemouth hold in the weedier bays, and the lake also gives up pickerel and white perch in numbers for anglers who want steady action.

A busy lake, fished around the edges

Public ramps at Glendale, Alton Bay, Meredith and Wolfeboro serve the lake. Summer recreational traffic is heavy from late June through Labor Day: fish dawn, fish weekdays, or fish the shoulder seasons when the lake belongs to anglers. Navigation among islands and shoals requires charts: the rock hazards are numerous and well marked, but only if you are looking.

Common questions

When is the salmon fishing best?

The weeks after April ice-out, when fish feed near the surface and can be caught trolling shallow, and again in the fall as water cools.

Is the smallmouth fishing good?

Very: rocky islands and points hold healthy numbers, and the fishery gets far less attention than the salmon and lake trout.

How busy does it get?

Extremely, in midsummer. Early mornings, weekdays and the May and October shoulders give anglers the lake back.

Is fishing good at Lake Winnipesaukee 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

Squam Lake14 miPemigewasset River19 miNewfound Lake22 miSaco River30 miLake Sunapee38 miSebago Lake43 mi
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