Androscoggin River (New Hampshire) Fishing Guides and Conditions, New Hampshire
The Great North Woods river from Errol down through Pontook and Berlin to Gorham, with landlocked salmon, big brook trout and pocket water you can wade all summer.
Guides on the Androscoggin River (New Hampshire)
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About the Androscoggin River (New Hampshire)
The Androscoggin leaves Umbagog Lake at Errol and runs south through the northern New Hampshire woods past Pontook Reservoir, Milan, Berlin and Gorham before crossing into Maine. Through New Hampshire it is a broad, boulder-strewn, cold river in country that is mostly forest, with moose in the alders and the Presidential Range on the skyline. It is the best big-water trout and salmon river in the state and one of the more wadeable rivers of its size in New England.
Landlocked Atlantic salmon are the marquee fish, dropping down out of Umbagog and holding in the runs and pools below Errol, where the reach immediately below the dam is the best-known water on the river. Brook trout, some of them genuinely large by New Hampshire standards, share the same water, and brown and rainbow trout are present through the middle river. Below Berlin the river warms and smallmouth bass become the main quarry. The classic approach is a swung or stripped streamer in high water and dry flies and nymphs through the pocket water in summer.
The Gorham gauge reads the river below the Pontook and Berlin reaches. Flow here is a mix of natural runoff and the operation of the dams upstream, so it can change without any rain. Moderate readings are comfortable wading in the pocket water and good drift-boat flows; spring melt makes it big, cold and streamer-only; late-summer lows are clear and technical, and the salmon get very selective.
Errol, Milan, Berlin and Gorham cover lodging and access, and the Thirteen Mile Woods reach between Errol and Milan is the prettiest and the most fished.
Access
Errol Dam: the top of the river and the classic salmon pool.
Thirteen Mile Woods: continuous roadside access on Route 16 through the scenic reach.
Mollidgewock: state campground with river frontage.
Pontook Reservoir and dam: the middle river impoundment.
Milan and Dummer: pocket water and roadside pullouts.
Berlin and Gorham: town access near the gauge.
Umbagog Lake: the source, with its own fishery.
Seasons
April and May: high cold water, streamers, and the first salmon activity.
June and July: the peak dry-fly and salmon season with comfortable flows.
August: low clear water, technical fishing and warm afternoons; fish early.
September and October: fall salmon and brook trout in color, cold nights and foliage.
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Questions
What is the current flow on the Androscoggin River (New Hampshire)?
As of Sep 3, 10:15 pm, the USGS gauge Androscoggin River near Gorham, NH reads 1,190 cfs, the 8th percentile for this date. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the Androscoggin River (New Hampshire)?
Anglers target Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Landlocked Atlantic Salmon, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass on the Androscoggin River (New Hampshire) in New Hampshire.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Androscoggin River (New Hampshire)?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the New Hampshire agency site: https://www.wildlife.nh.gov/laws-and-rules