Souhegan River Fishing Guides
A southern New Hampshire river running from the Wilton hills to the Merrimack, transformed by two dam removals into a connected trout and smallmouth fishery.
Guides on the Souhegan River
Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.
No guides listed yet
Guide or outfit this water? Create your profile. Listing is free, the commission is 10% or 7% with a premium profile, and premium profiles list first on this water.
About the Souhegan River
The Souhegan runs about thirty miles from its headwaters near the Massachusetts line, north-east through Wilton, Milford, Amherst and Merrimack, to join the Merrimack River. It is a southern New Hampshire river in every sense: mill towns along its banks, suburban development on the terraces above it, and a channel that has been dammed, diverted and worked for two centuries. What makes it worth fishing now is that much of that has been undone. The removal of the Merrimack Village Dam and the Goldman Dam reopened the lower river and reconnected it to the Merrimack system.
The effect on the fishery has been real. With the barriers gone, migratory species can move into the lower river again, and resident fish are no longer split into isolated pools between impoundments. The upper and middle river carries brook trout in the colder tributaries and stocked and holdover brown and rainbow trout in the main stem, while the lower reaches below Milford hold a strong smallmouth bass population along with largemouth, pickerel and perch in the slower water. Fallfish and suckers are abundant throughout and are a decent indicator of the river’s general health.
Flow is freestone: rain and snowmelt driven, quick to rise and quick to fall, with summer low water concentrating fish in the deeper runs and the shaded bends. The gauge near Milford reports water temperature alongside discharge and stage, and the temperature series is genuinely useful here, because the river sits at the southern edge of viable trout water and the answer to whether the trout reaches are still cold changes through July and August. Access is good, with town parks and conservation land along much of the corridor.
This water needs a real photo
The photo at the top of this page is not Souhegan River.
It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.
Add a photo of this water
Landscape, not fish — the water itself. Reviewed by hand before it appears. The first one published here earns the Pioneer badge.
Fished this water? Add a photo
Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.
Access
Milford - the town at the gauge reach, with the Souhegan River Trail and town land providing the most convenient frontage.
Wilton - the upstream town, the head of the colder trout water and the better dry-fly reaches.
Merrimack - the downstream town near the Merrimack confluence, with the strongest smallmouth water.
Souhegan River Trail - the path following the river through Milford, useful for reaching water away from the road crossings.
Goldman Dam site - the former impoundment above Merrimack, now a free-flowing reach opened by the dam removal.
Amherst - the middle-river town, with conservation land along the corridor and quieter walk-in access.
Merrimack River confluence - the downstream junction, worth knowing because migratory fish now move up through it.
Seasons
Spring: high, cold and the best flows of the year, with stocked trout dense in the middle river and the whole corridor fishable.
Summer: warm in the lower reaches where smallmouth take over, with the trout fishing holding only in the cooler upper water and shaded runs.
Fall: the strongest all-round window, with cooling water, brown trout on the spawn and good smallmouth fishing in the lower river before it chills.
Winter: low and iced in the slow water, though the faster reaches below Milford stay open and fishable on mild days.
From the water
No logged trips yet. Be the first to put this water on your map.
Log this water
Fished it or cleaned it? Log in or create a free account to log a trip with photos and earn the waterway badge.
Questions
What is the current flow on the Souhegan River?
As of Nov 2, 6:45 am, the USGS gauge SOUHEGAN RIVER (SITE WLR-1) NEAR MILFORD, NH reads 36 cfs, with water temperature 43.5 F. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the Souhegan River?
Anglers target American Eel, Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Chain Pickerel, Fallfish, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, White Sucker, Yellow Perch on the Souhegan River in New Hampshire.
Where can you access the Souhegan River?
Milford - the town at the gauge reach, with the Souhegan River Trail and town land providing the most convenient frontage. Wilton - the upstream town, the head of the colder trout water and the better dry-fly reaches. Merrimack - the downstream town near the Merrimack confluence, with the strongest smallmouth water. Souhegan River Trail - the path following the river through Milford, useful for reaching water away from the road crossings. Goldman Dam site - the former impoundment above Merrimack, now a free-flowing reach opened by the dam removal. Amherst - the middle-river town, with conserva...
When is the best time to fish the Souhegan River?
Spring: high, cold and the best flows of the year, with stocked trout dense in the middle river and the whole corridor fishable. Summer: warm in the lower reaches where smallmouth take over, with the trout fishing holding only in the cooler upper water and shaded runs. Fall: the strongest all-round window, with cooling water, brown trout on the spawn and good smallmouth fishing in the lower river before it chills. Winter: low and iced in the slow water, though the faster reaches below Milford stay open and fishable on mild days.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Souhegan River?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the New Hampshire agency site: https://www.wildlife.nh.gov/fishing-new-hampshire/fishing-rules