Fishing at Bradley Lake, Merrimack County, New Hampshire

• Overview

  Merrimack County, New Hampshire, is where Bradley Lake sits. Around the bank it is pine and birch. At about 165 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Shoreline comes to about 2.5 miles, small enough to learn in a day. It ranks high for size among our Merrimack County listings. The nearest place of any size is Andover, 1.6 miles away. Manchester sits 34 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Bradley Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Standing timber shows when the level drops, and fish sit against it. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Survey and observation records for Merrimack County include rainbow trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and brown trout. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Bradley Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 68°F in July and bottom out at 19°F in January. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early April. The lid tends to go about early April and return around mid December. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Anyone fishing Bradley Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Horseshoe Pond sits 2.1 miles off and takes the overflow. For Bradley Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.