Sunapee Lake fishing: Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Atlantic Salmon

Target species: Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Atlantic Salmon, Rock Bass
Boat: 7 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Sunapee Harbor, 1 lane.

The lake

Sunapee Lake covers 4,160 acres in New Hampshire, across 2 counties: Sullivan and Merrimack. It is a lake: 92.6% of it is 65 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 100 feet (30.5 m). Our records hold 8 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 100 ft (30.5 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 92.6% of the water is 65 feet or shallower. We hold 177 depth contour lines for this water.

Lake Sunapee - panoramio.jpg
Outdoor Craziness · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • 0–5 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 5–10 ft: 6% of the water
  • 10–15 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 15–20 ft: 7% of the water
  • 20–25 ft: 9.5% of the water
  • 25–30 ft: 7.8% of the water
  • 30–35 ft: 8% of the water
  • 35–40 ft: 8.4% of the water
  • 40–45 ft: 9.6% of the water
  • 45–50 ft: 6.3% of the water
  • 50–55 ft: 5.3% of the water
  • 55–60 ft: 5.7% of the water
  • 60–65 ft: 5.3% of the water
  • 65–70 ft: 2.2% of the water
  • 70–75 ft: 1.7% of the water
  • 75–80 ft: 1.7% of the water
  • 80–85 ft: 1.2% of the water
  • 85–90 ft: 0.4% of the water
  • 90–95 ft: 0.3% of the water
  • 95–100 ft: 0.1% of the water

Stocking: 4,013 fish in 2026

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department records list 4,013 fish released into this water in 2026.

  • Rainbow Trout: 700 in 2026

One more species on the stocking list.

SunapeeHarbor BurkehavenHill2005.jpg
The original uploader was Josephbrophy at English Wikipedia .. Later version(s) were uploaded by Begoon at en.wikipedia . · Public domain

4 target fish, led by Rainbow Trout

  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Atlantic Salmon — Feeding water: 45–60°F.
  • Rock Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.

Also recorded here: Largemouth Bass, Arctic Char, Yellow Bullhead, White Perch.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 71°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. The coldest single reading we hold is 33°F and the warmest is 82°F; the warmest monthly average is 75°F. pH averages 7. These readings span 2017–2026.

7 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp, 6 boat ramps and 5 shore access points.

  • Sunapee Harbor — 1 lane, restrooms. Sunapee.
  • Blodgetts Boat Launch — Newbury.
  • Burkehaven Harbor — Sunapee.
  • Georges Mill Beach — restrooms. Sunapee.
  • Little Sunapee Dam — restrooms. New London.
  • Newbury Station Marina — Newbury.
  • Sunapee State Park Boat Ramp — restrooms. Newbury.

Shore access for bank fishing

  • Blodgett Town Dock — Newbury.
  • Newbury Harbor Beach — restrooms. Newbury.
  • Soo-Nipi Park — New London.
  • Sunapee Lake Boat Ramp — Newbury.
  • Sunapee State Park Beach — restrooms. Newbury.

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 12 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

Winter water drops to 34°F, and the warm-water species stop feeding well before you do.

Where this data comes from

  • NH GRANIT — NH GRANIT: depth contours: 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.