Lake Winnisquam fishing: Smallmouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Atlantic Salmon
Target species: Smallmouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Atlantic Salmon, Rock Bass
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Winnisquam Access Facility.
The lake
Lake Winnisquam covers 4,308 acres in New Hampshire, across Belknap County. It is a lake: 90.7% of it is 120 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 140 feet (42.7 m). Our records hold 4 species for this water.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 140 ft (42.7 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.7% of the water is 120 feet or shallower. We hold 47 depth contour lines for this water.
- 0–10 ft: 17.2% of the water
- 10–20 ft: 13.3% of the water
- 20–30 ft: 9.4% of the water
- 30–40 ft: 9.1% of the water
- 40–50 ft: 9.9% of the water
- 50–60 ft: 6.8% of the water
- 60–70 ft: 4.9% of the water
- 70–80 ft: 4.6% of the water
- 80–90 ft: 4% of the water
- 90–100 ft: 4.1% of the water
- 100–110 ft: 3.3% of the water
- 110–120 ft: 4.1% of the water
- 120–130 ft: 3.5% of the water
- 130–140 ft: 6.1% of the water
Stocking: 9,120 fish in 2026
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department records list 9,120 fish released into this water in 2026.
- Rainbow Trout: 5,550 in 2026
One more species on the stocking list.
4 target fish, led by Smallmouth Bass
- Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
- Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
- Atlantic Salmon — Feeding water: 45–60°F.
- Rock Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
Water and conditions
Our water temperature readings average 72°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. The coldest single reading we hold is 55°F and the warmest is 83°F; the warmest monthly average is 76°F. pH averages 6.5. These readings span 2017–2026.
2 ramps and launches on this water
On this water we hold 2 boat ramps and 5 shore access points.
- Winnisquam Access Facility — restrooms. Laconia.
- Winnisquam Marine — Belmont. 12 Sunset Drive, Belmont 03220
Shore access for bank fishing
- Ahern State Park — restrooms. Laconia.
- Bartlett Beach — restrooms. Laconia.
- Gale Avenue Park — Laconia.
- Rotary Park Canoe and Kayak Launch — Laconia.
- Town Beach — restrooms. Sanbornton.
Fee and opening hours are blank for all 7 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.
What is hard here
Only 2 public ramps are on file, so the launch decides where you fish.
Where this data comes from
- NH GRANIT — NH GRANIT: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
- EPA NLA — EPA National Lakes Assessment: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
- 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.
