Coming up to fish April 6-9th where to go?
 

I am headed up to our place on Meredith bay with a few guys to get some spring fishing in. Are there any launches that will get us into any open water to troll for Salmon? It looks like the Broads side of Welch is open water, where would we launch from to get over there? Is Ames farm ice free. Suggestions please. My whole gang is itching to go fishing!

Fishing April 6th thru the 9th
 

There's a thread on ice out with lots of pictures and information.
Keep an eye on it for the next week and it should help guide you:

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...ad.php?t=21729

As of this afternoon, Ames Farm is not even close to be ice free...locked up pretty good.

I saw a report yesterday that there were still bob houses in Saunders Bay and people ice fishing. Web cams are no longer in Alton Bay which is one of the first places to splash a boat but I haven't heard anything encouraging there unless you fish from the docks or bridge. Echo Shores in West Alton looks locked up tight. The Bear Island cams are down though in early March it looked almost iced out there (then it iced back in). Wolfboro has a small section open around the docks. I don't think we will see any boats for the opener and the long range forecast shows above freezing but not by much. We need to start getting 50s and 60s, some strong wind and maybe some more rain to get this moving. I would guess you are less than 50% to be on the water next weekend.

Ames Farm is no longer open to boat launching for the public. On that side of the lake, West Alton Marina. Nice launch, parking, and I think $20 for launch and recovery.

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WAM raised the price twice in past two years to $25 then $30 I think. They've become the most expensive launch on the lake that I know of which stinks because they are my favorite launch.

Parking early season can be a challenge due to all the winterized boats in the yard. Use common sense when parking and don't block any boats in or the ramp/turn around area. The usual parking area is typically loaded with winterized boats until they splash them. You leave your ramp fee in an envelope at the small building on the way in (envelopes in a box to the left of the door).

How about Ellacoya?
 

Is Ellacoya open to boat launches? Someone posted a picture of a fishing boat out near Welch and speculated they may have gone in at Ellacoya?!?

It is not a very good launch but yes you can use it. It is extremely shallow and recommended for the smallest of boats only. Ice breaking up to the west could cause issues and block you from coming in if you don't stay aware of your surroundings while out there.

Dan

See my updated post today in ice out thread, #121

Ellacoya launch successful
 

We had two good days of fishing launching from Ellacoya. Just make sure you have a good 4 wheel drive truck. I had my F150 in up to the tailpipe to get a launch and retrieval. Saturday was a bust with too much wind and three foot sea state. Sunday was the pick of the weekend and it yielded this beautiful 22" 4lb. Spring Salmon. Right up near the surface on a tandem streamer.

Awesome fish and hat too! You look like one of the dudes in the tv fishing shows!

Awesome fish. Glad it worked out for you. Also glad you did not hold the fish directly in front of the camera and say it was 44" 8lb. :D

Pemi Lake
 

I have great luck on Pemi lake. Depends on if you want to fish for dinner or for fun... Good bites to the left of the boat launch (Horse shoe entrance; plenty of room to back in/park) and towards the far end of the lake on the New Hampton side. Good luck! :)