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Squam Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Squam Lake: a 6,791-acre New Hampshire lake managed under Fish and Game's lake trout and salmon rules, with new 2026 lake trout limits.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
56 / 57 F
Wind
NNW 8 mph

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

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 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.

Squam Lake feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 8 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 57. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:19 AM-11:19 AM and 9:49 PM-11:49 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Landlocked salmonGood

Spring after ice-out and the fall cool-down are the surface seasons, with fish near shore and at stream mouths feeding on smelt: troll or cast streamers and smelt imitations.

Lake troutGood

Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

Tomorrow: Similar at 60 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

New Hampshire requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $45.00 for residents. What a New Hampshire licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing landlocked salmon here? Check the size and bag limits with NHFG before you keep anything. The season dates for New Hampshire, read off the agency, are on the New Hampshire seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp56 F
High / Low57 / 33 F
WindNNW 8-12 mph
Pressure1027.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:10 / 17:49
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Squam Lake this week

The best day on Squam Lake this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:19 AM-11:19 AM and 9:49 PM-11:49 PM
Minor period
3:41 AM-4:41 AM
Sun
07:10 to 17:49
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 10 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

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

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Spring and fall near the surface, deep in summer, and under the ice in winter

Landlocked salmon are Atlantic salmon that complete their whole life in fresh water, feeding mainly on rainbow smelt in cold lakes of Maine and the Northeast. Spring after ice-out and the fall cool-down are the surface seasons, with fish near shore and at stream mouths feeding on smelt: troll or cast streamers and smelt imitations.

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Spring and fall in shallow water, deep in summer, and through the ice in winter

Lake trout are slow-growing chars of large, deep, cold lakes, native from Alaska and northern Canada to New England and the Great Lakes, and introduced in many western lakes. Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

When to come: the Squam Lake 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
Lake trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 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 Squam Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Landlocked salmon led the card at good. High of 65 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Landlocked salmon led the card at good. High of 59 F, wind to 8 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Landlocked salmon led the card at good. High of 67 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

NH Fish and Game Lake Trout and/or Salmon Lake (2026): trout, lake trout and salmon 15-in. minimum; combined trout limit 2 a day; lake trout 2 a day; salmon season Apr. 1–Sep. 30; trout, lake trout, salmon and whitefish closed Oct. 1–Dec. 31 and no trolling then; ice fishing only Jan. 1–Mar. 31. Barville Brook area (500 ft) closed to all fishing Oct. 16–Dec. 31.

Access

Public ramp listed by NH Fish and Game; speed and other boating restrictions apply.

About this water

A 6,791-acre lake in Holderness, Center Harbor, Moultonborough and Sandwich, New Hampshire, designated a Lake Trout and/or Salmon Lake.

Fishing Squam Lake: the full guide

A designated lake trout and salmon lake

New Hampshire Fish and Game lists Squam Lake at 6,791 acres, bordered by Holderness, Center Harbor, Moultonborough and Sandwich, and designates it a Lake Trout and/or Salmon Lake. Those lakes are managed for lake trout and landlocked salmon and are open all year under their own restrictions; for other species the general lake and pond rules apply. Little Squam Lake (454 acres, Ashland and Holderness) carries the same designation.

The 2026 rule changes

For 2026 Fish and Game lowered the lake trout minimum on these lakes from 18 to 15 inches and now states the lake trout limit separately: two lake trout a day, alongside a combined daily limit of two fish for all trout species. Trout, lake trout and landlocked salmon must be at least 15 inches and kept with head and tail intact on the water.

Seasons through the year

From April 1 to September 30 all species are open, except that no smelt may be taken from March 15 to June 15; landlocked salmon may be taken only in that April–September window. From October 1 to December 31 the taking of trout, lake trout, salmon and whitefish is closed and trolling is prohibited. From January 1 to March 31 fishing is through the ice only, with two ice fishing devices per angler.

Squam's own rules

On Squam the area within 500 feet of Barville Brook is closed to all fishing from October 16 to December 31. When trolling, use only one artificial bait, fly, tandem fly or bait per rod, and only one single-point hook with bait. Fish and Game's table also flags a public ramp and speed and other boating restrictions on the lake.

Common questions

What changed for lake trout in 2026?

The minimum length on designated Lake Trout and/or Salmon Lakes such as Squam dropped from 18 to 15 inches, and the two-a-day lake trout limit is now stated separately from the combined trout limit.

When can I keep landlocked salmon?

From April 1 to September 30, with a 15-inch minimum. Salmon, trout, lake trout and whitefish are closed from October 1 to December 31, and salmon stay closed through the ice season.

Is any part of Squam closed in the fall?

Yes. Within 500 feet of Barville Brook, all fishing is closed from October 16 to December 31.

Is fishing good at Squam Lake 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

Pemigewasset River7 miLake Winnipesaukee14 miNewfound Lake14 miLake Winnisquam15 miOssipee Lake20 miMerrymeeting Lake26 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 43.7500, -71.5300 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 7, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 7, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.