Eastman has five unique water bodies in which to catch fish: Anderson Pond, Mill Pond, Eastman Brook, Mill Pond Brook, and, the crown jewel of the group, Eastman Lake. Anyone can enjoy fishing in Eastman at minimal cost for equipment. A spin casting rod, reel, line, hooks, and bait can be had for less than $50. There are countless spots along Eastman Lake that offer a place to cast a line, and wading into the water in sneakers or water shoes increases the number of places to try your luck. On the other end of the fishing spectrum, fancy boats trawl Eastman Lake on occasion. With the latest in lures, electronic equipment, and multiple rods, these fishermen and women come to catch fish and they usually do. Most engage in the recreational catch-and-release practice, thus there is minimum impact on the fish population in Eastman Lake.
Go Fish!
Most fishermen try to catch the native smallmouth and largemouth bass that were stocked in Eastman Lake in the early 1980s. Bass can be caught with various baits like minnows and night crawlers, and an assortment of lures. Winter ice fishing generally calls for minnows, but open-water fishing can be successful with just about any bait or lure. Springtime fishing means staying along the shorelines as bass move inshore to feed on bait fish and, beginning in mid-May, to spawn. The period from May 15 to June 15, when the bass are spawning and male bass are aggressively guarding the hatchlings, is the only time when bass cannot be taken and kept. Otherwise, catch-and-keep is restricted to two bass per fisherman per day from June 16 to July 1 and to five bass per day at all other times.
Eastman Lake also hosts a number of other fish. The chain pickerel, the smallest member of the northern pike family, is frequently caught by bass anglers, particularly if the fisherman is using bait. The pickerel is a savage striking fish and battles as fiercely as the bass. In Eastman Lake, this fish can grow to over 20 inches—just shy of the state’s record of 24 inches. Catching pickerel can be hazardous since the fish has a mean set of teeth that can inflict a nasty wound. I know, since I made the mistake of trying to remove a hook in the first pickerel I caught as a teenager by sticking a finger in the pickerel’s mouth. Take it from me: a pair of needle-nose pliers or forceps are better for removing hooks from pickerel.
In Eastman Lake, there are also yellow perch up to 14 inches long, sunfish up to 8 inches, fallfish (a blue-backed, silver-sided minnow) up to 17 inches, and catfish up to 13 inches. The fisherman using bait is more likely to catch each of these fish than is the lure-using fisherman. With the exception of the small-boned fallfish, all are good table fare.
This three-pound bass is proof that catching “big ones” in Anderson Pond is no fish story. / Dick Hocker
Home of Some Big Ones
Anderson Pond offers the biggest surprise of all—very big fish. Anderson Pond has northern pike that may have been stocked to control the abundant yellow perch. My last pike, caught six years ago, measured 33 inches, which means there could be fish in the pond measuring up to 40 inches long and weighing 10-plus pounds. I have talked to some ice fishermen who have caught northern pike using minnows. Like the pickerel, the northern pike is a small-boned fish.
Anderson Pond is also home to largemouth and smallmouth bass. Because the pond is fished infrequently and has a plentiful food supply, the bass are big. In one day, I caught two 19-inch, 3-poundplus bass—one of each species—using topwater poppers while fishing from a kayak. At the same time, I also watched five bass herding yellow perch in a feeding frenzy. The pond is also home to numerous yellow perch that can be caught year round. Some of the perch are also on the large size—12 inches plus—but most are smaller. One of my grandsons caught 72 perch over a three-day period. Thus, Anderson Pond is a good place to start a novice angler since the fish are plentiful and easy to catch.
Another surprise in Anderson Pond is the presence of rock bass. This black-and–gold, sunfishshaped fish is considered a nuisance fish, and how it got into Anderson Pond is unknown to me. With a sizable mouth, it is a threat to young bass and perch. Rock bass are edible much like sunfish. Any rock bass caught in Anderson Pond should be kept and used for table fare or as fertilizer for your veggies.
The biggest challenge with fishing Anderson Pond is access. There are limited spots around the pond where one can fish from the shore because privately owned properties rim the shoreline. If a boat is desired—and I would recommend it— parking on Anderson Pond Road and hauling a canoe or kayak through the woods is the only way to get it to the pond.
The Reel Deal in Mill Pond
Mill Pond in West Cove also holds a surprise. Three years ago on a visit to the pond’s inlet in early fall, I spotted eight brook trout in the cool water flowing into the pond. A month later, the trout were gone, probably moving into the pond after the pond waters had cooled. The pond is also home to pickerel and yellow perch.
ECA Member Travis Hutchins showed in January that ice fishing is not just for “grumpy old men.” / Richard Sachs
Fishing with the Flows
Dick Hocker snagged this northern pike after hearing it splashing around near shore while he was sitting on a porch overlooking Anderson Pond. / Renee Gustafson
Eastman Brook is the outflow stream from the south end of the lake. Recently, NH Fish and Game has been stocking brook trout in the stream, affording local fishermen another kind of fishing experience. These trout range from 7.5 to 10 inches in size and are catchable with bait and small lures. Eastman Brook is also home to a good number of young fallfish and other types of bait fish. But don’t be surprised if you also hook a bass since they do exit the lake from time to time. For the bass fisherman this might be a place to try. The trout limit is five fish per day or a maximum of 5 pounds.
Last, but not least, is the small brook in West Cove leading from Mill Pond to Eastman Lake. For most of the year this stream is a place to collect minnows for fishing elsewhere. However, toward the end of April or early May, that all changes as thousands of 15 to 25-inch fish weighing up to five pounds each enter the stream from the depths of Eastman Lake in a salmon-like procession that is the annual spawning run of the suckers. Two species of suckers converge on the stream to the point that there are fish everywhere before they return to the lake for another year of bottom foraging. Suckers can be caught during the run by bottom fishing with worms. However, hooking a sucker is like hooking a log in a moderate current—not much fight, but a lot of weight. Fishing for suckers was a springtime ritual when I was growing up. In early spring, the sucker’s flesh is firm and flakey white when cooked. It is a bigboned fish, thus easy to debone when cooked.
No Ordinary Fish Tale
Fishing is only one of the recreational joys that Eastman’s bodies of water afford residents and visitors. You may be surprised by what happens while fishing. An osprey or bald eagle may stop by to see what you have caught. When you look up from your line, you may catch a glimpse of a loon also fishing nearby, or spot a sensational sunrise or sunset. Or you may have the pleasure of trading “fish stories” on the shore with fellow anglers. A day of fishing in Eastman may beat…just about anything.
Dick Hocker is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who has been fishing in Eastman’s waters since 1986. He has been a member of ECA’s Woodlands and Wildlife Committee since 1999 and chaired the Grantham Conservation Commission from 2002 to 2016.
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