Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello, my wife and I are currently displaced New Englanders living in Florida. We have been planning our return home for a while and 1 of our choices is Manchester area. My wife is able to transfer there. I have always boated and fished since I was a kid, growing up on the Connecticut coast. We have looked at several areas where we want to settle, and are leaning towards towns east of Manchester towards the ocean. Just curious to see what boating and fishing are like in the area. In CT, I had the Long Island Sound. To some it wasn't an ocean but a big lake. Descent fishing wasn't more than a few miles out and more times than not, mostly calm. I realize New Hampshire is the Atlantic Ocean. Can boating be a little difficult at times in a mid-sized boat? I have a 24 footer. How far out do you usually have to go offshore for descent fishing? In CT, I lived about 45 mins inland and docked my boat at a marina from about May 1st to around Oct. 1st. Could I expect to do the same in NH?
That might work for you, but docks are very expensive and getting on a mooring can have a waiting period. We only have 17 miles of shore line and it might be better to look at Maine for the boat.
This link is to the Piscataqua River, which it a wild assed tidal pool with some of the worlds strongest currents, but if you insist on keeping the salt water boat in NH is probably where you will have to do it.
You will also need a boat driver's lic here to run a power boat of any size. Evidently so many non-boaters caused problems in the recent past A decade of so, the state decided the best way to fix it, was force people to learn and to prove they did had to suffer a lic.... I don't have one, but don't worry about things like that much...
Fishing can be done from land, no need for a boat at all.... So with a boat you can fish parked at the dock, or you can go as far as England and find fish on any banks.
From the mouth of that river you can go southish to Mass or East ish up the coast of Maine. The hardest parts would be fog, and or lobster traps to avoid. Probably the best harbor to be in is Rye, but that will take money and a lot of luck.
Your best ocean access will be to dock somewhere along the Pisquatica River, into Great Bay if New Hampshire, or along the Merrimack River in MA. Nowadays, we tend to do more exploring than fishing, but either area will give you the opportunity for great fishing as well.
It really depends on what you mean by 'decent fishing'. Different species are going to be in different areas. Striper or blue fishing can be great close in to shore and along the rivers, even in brackish water. You can go surf casting in North Hampton and occasionally catch a keeper size striper. Jeffrey's Ledge is about 25 miles out, and is known as the best place for keeper size haddock & cod. It's a full day tho, couple hours out and back again. Definitely want to listen to NOAA before heading out. Seas 1-3 feet in the morning can be 2-4 or higher by afternoon, and riding the swells in can be challenging.
You can get mackerel out near the Isles of Shoals, and we used to get some keeper size cod, but the bottom is very rocky, and I can't even count the number of j i g s we've lost there.
If you go out of the Merrimack River, be aware that the channel is very narrow, and can get congested on summer weekend afternoons. During high tide, you can get away with taking it wider, but during low tide, there are rocks & sand bars to be aware of. You've been boating much of your life, so you can follow the channel markers as you head upriver. Be aware the water temps are MUCH colder than what you may have been accustomed to in CT/NY. South of cape cod feels like bath water when you are used to 60 degree ocean water in July .
Last edited by Valerie C; 01-31-2013 at 08:03 PM..
Docking can be VERY expensive! We trailer our boat so that we have a choice on any given weekend: lake or ocean? But it's wear and tear on our pickup truck, plus lots of extra gas usage. Have looked into a seasonal slip--$95 PER FOOT! YIKES! When you also add in the extra cost to gas up on the water (at least $1 more per gallon) it adds up when you are filling a 100-gallon tank. SO I suppose we will just continue to trailer it...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac_Muz
That might work for you, but docks are very expensive and getting on a mooring can have a waiting period. We only have 17 miles of shore line and it might be better to look at Maine for the boat.
Docking can be VERY expensive! We trailer our boat so that we have a choice on any given weekend: lake or ocean? But it's wear and tear on our pickup truck, plus lots of extra gas usage. Have looked into a seasonal slip--$95 PER FOOT! YIKES! When you also add in the extra cost to gas up on the water (at least $1 more per gallon) it adds up when you are filling a 100-gallon tank. SO I suppose we will just continue to trailer it...
This is a reason I gave up boating, and try to beg off invites as i can... Even getting a mooring these days is hard work, and while I get to go sailing rather a lot, and right out from behind the navy yard no less, I fear that water way. With a deep keel trailering is out, so I just play crew..... Went down to Rockport for a night last summer and then another time to Gloucester, where the weather turned poor and so were delayed getting back.
As a wee lad i was all over the Ipswich / Essex area clam beds, long before it would be allowed or considered these days by age alone. But Dad taught me well. The last boat I had tied to a dock in Essex which at 14 years I paid for myself, ended, but that story is plain sad, and so i won't tell it here, but had little to do with me other than it was My Boat ...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
