Huntress Pond in Belknap County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  In New Hampshire, Huntress Pond falls inside Belknap County. Salt water lies 32 miles off. It runs to roughly 49 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The edge runs 1.3 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Some 1.5 miles away sits Barnstead, the nearest settlement. The nearest city of size is Manchester, 26 miles away. The boundary is close enough to be worth checking before you fish.

• Where to Fish on Huntress Pond

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Public occurrence data for Belknap County names rainbow trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and brown trout. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. On Huntress Pond the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 68°F, while January sits near 19°F. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Once it clears, about early April, the fishing comes on quickly. The water is typically free of ice between early April and mid December. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Huntress Pond runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Parking is not close: half a mile from the bank, and no nearer option is mapped. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. The nearest alternative is Lower Suncook Lake, 1.6 miles out. Where Huntress Pond is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.