Crystal Lake in Carroll County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  This water sits in Carroll County, New Hampshire. Height above sea level is 469 feet. With some 93 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Madison is the closest place, 3.7 miles off. Manchester sits 66 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Neighbouring water: Loud Pond at 1.5 miles, Long Pond within 1.7 miles, Pea Porridge Pond at 3 miles, Labrador Pond within 3.1 miles and Purity Lake at 3.2 miles. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Crystal Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Species logged across Carroll County include rainbow trout, brown trout, smallmouth bass and rainbow smelt. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. At Crystal Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from 18°F in January up to 67°F in July. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around early April. From about early April to around early December, expect open water on the long-run figures. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. Crystal Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Parking sits half a mile out, which makes for a walk with tackle. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Failing this one, try Loud Pond, 1.5 miles away. Nothing here settles the position at Crystal Lake for certain.