Fishing at Nottingham Lake, Rockingham County, New Hampshire

• Overview

  Look for Nottingham Lake in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The surface lies 157 feet up. It runs to roughly 35 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Ground here is low by New Hampshire standards. The nearest place of any size is Lee, 2 miles away. The big place round here is Manchester, 22 miles distant. The boundary is near enough that local access rules are worth double-checking.

• Where to Fish on Nottingham Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. The arms fish better than the open middle whenever the water is up. Fish documented in Rockingham County include rainbow trout, largemouth bass and brown trout. The county list is broader than any single water. Nottingham Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 70°F and January reads 22°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly late March. Ice clears near late March and comes back about mid December in a typical year. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. That is the shape of the year on Nottingham Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Parking is not close: half a mile from the bank, and no nearer option is mapped. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Cedar Waters, 1.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Nottingham Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.