Contoocook River Fishing Guides and Conditions, New Hampshire

About the Contoocook River

The Contoocook is one of the few New England rivers that runs north, rising in the highlands south of Jaffrey and working up past Peterborough, Hillsborough and Henniker to meet the Merrimack at Penacook. The USGS gauge at Peterborough reads the upper river, the section that gets fished hardest for trout, and reports discharge and stage without a current water temperature series. On a river this size the stage reading is often the more useful number, because a foot of difference changes which runs are wadeable.

The upper Contoocook and its feeder brooks fish as classic southern New Hampshire trout water. New Hampshire Fish and Game stocks brook, brown and rainbow trout through the spring, and there are wild brook trout in the colder tributaries coming off the Monadnock highlands. The river runs over cobble and ledge here, alternating short riffles with dark pools under hemlock, and it fishes well with a short rod and a wading staff. Below Hillsborough the character changes as the river widens and slows through a chain of impoundments and long flat reaches, and smallmouth bass, largemouth, chain pickerel and yellow perch take over.

Most guided work in this part of New Hampshire is wade-based fly fishing on the upper river and its tributaries, sold as half-day and full-day trips out of Peterborough, Keene and Concord. The lower river below Henniker sees paddlecraft traffic, and a canoe or kayak float fishing for smallmouth through the summer flats is a legitimate and underused way to fish it. Public access is generally good, with town landings, state boat accesses and a long run of conservation land frontage.

Timing is straightforward. Spring stocking and cool water make April through early June the productive trout window; by mid-July the upper river warms and low flow concentrates fish into the deepest pools, at which point the smallmouth fishing downstream is the better trip. September and October bring the trout back on the feed as water cools. New Hampshire licenses are required and the regulations linked below carry the current stocking schedule, seasons and limits.

Access

Peterborough town access at the USGS gauge - the upper-river flow reference and easy wade access.
Noone Falls and Peterborough village pullouts - short walk-in access to the ledge water.
Bennington and Antrim river accesses - middle-river wading and canoe launch points.
Hillsborough town access - the transition point from trout water to warmwater river.
Henniker river accesses - lower-river hand launch for smallmouth floats.
Contoocook village landing in Hopkinton - trailer and hand launch on the lower flats.
Jaffrey and Rindge headwater brooks - wild brook trout wading on the tributaries.

Seasons

Spring: stocking runs through April and May and the upper river fishes best of the year as flows drop off snowmelt.
Summer: the upper river warms and drops; fish the tributary mouths early or float the lower river for smallmouth.
Fall: cooling water in late September and October brings holdover trout back into the runs.
Winter: mostly closed or iced on the flats, with limited open-water access on the upper river.