Lake Winnipesaukee fishing: Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass
Target species: Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout, Bluegill, Rock Bass
Boat: 14 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Alton Public Dock & Ramp.
The lake
Lake Winnipesaukee covers 44,559 acres in New Hampshire, across 2 counties: Carroll and Belknap. It is a lake: 90.5% of it is 100 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 180 feet (54.9 m). Our records hold 10 species for this water.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 180 ft (54.9 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.5% of the water is 100 feet or shallower. We hold 523 depth contours for this water, drawn from 495 soundings.
- 0–10 ft: 17.3% of the water
- 10–20 ft: 11.3% of the water
- 20–30 ft: 11% of the water
- 30–40 ft: 10.1% of the water
- 40–50 ft: 10% of the water
- 50–60 ft: 7.7% of the water
- 60–70 ft: 6.6% of the water
- 70–80 ft: 6.4% of the water
- 80–90 ft: 5.9% of the water
- 90–100 ft: 4.2% of the water
- 100–110 ft: 3.5% of the water
- 110–120 ft: 2.3% of the water
- 120–130 ft: 1.4% of the water
- 130–140 ft: 1% of the water
- 140–150 ft: 0.9% of the water
- 150–160 ft: 0.2% of the water
- 160–170 ft: 0.1% of the water
- 170–180 ft: 0.1% of the water
7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass
- Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
- Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
- Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
- Atlantic Salmon — Feeding water: 45–60°F.
- Brook Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
- Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
- Rock Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
Also recorded here: Lake Whitefish, Green Sunfish, Yellow Bullhead.
Stocking: 32,776 fish in 2026
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department records list 32,776 fish released into this water in 2026.
- Rainbow Trout: 5,000 in 2026
- Brook Trout: 310 in 2026
One more species on the stocking list.
14 ramps and launches on this water
On this water we hold 14 boat ramps and 15 shore access points.
- Alton Public Dock & Ramp — restrooms. Alton.
- Back Bay Boat Landing — restrooms. Wolfeboro.
- Downing's Landing — restrooms. Alton.
- Echo Point Boat Ramp — Alton.
- Ellacoya State Park Boat Access — restrooms. Gilford.
- Harilla Landing — Moultonborough.
- Lane Road Public Boat Ramp and Beach — Tuftonboro.
- Lees Mills Ramp — restrooms. Moultonborough.
- Libby Museum — restrooms. Wolfeboro.
- Long Island Boat Ramp — Moultonborough.
Shore access for bank fishing
- Brewster Beach — restrooms. Wolfeboro.
- Carry Beach — restrooms. Wolfeboro.
- Cattle Landing — Meredith.
- Ellacoya State Park Beach — restrooms. Gilford.
- Harmony Park — restrooms. Alton.
- Kona Wildlife Management Area — Moultonborough.
- Long Island Beach — restrooms. Moultonborough.
- Markus Wildlife Sanctuary — restrooms. Moultonborough.
Fee and opening hours are blank for all 18 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.
Water and conditions
Our water temperature readings average 73°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. These readings span 2017–2026.
What is hard here
Wind is the limit, not the fish: 44,559 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle.
Where this data comes from
- NH GRANIT — NH GRANIT: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
- USACE eHydro — USACE eHydro channel surveys: class A, a survey of the bottom.
- Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
