About 15 years ago, the Free Fishing Day program was established nationally by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an opportunity to encourage people to experience new recreational opportunities outdoors, and therefore become more active stewards of the environment. During any Free Fishing Day, state fish and game departments allow participants, both residents and nonresidents, to fish for freshwater species in the state without the need of purchasing a fishing license. However, it is mandated that all participants follow the various fishing rules and regulations to the letter. New Hampshire’s Free Fishing Day took place on Saturday, June 7th this year.

Mark Beauchesne of the Fish NH Guide Service and client with a nice pair of bass.

In essence, Free Fishing Day provides a great opportunity to introduce all of our non-angling friends, acquaintances and family members to the sport of fishing. It’s a great opportunity for the experienced anglers to introduce first-timers to the sport of fishing. And, that’s important because we need more people involved in fishing. Many non-anglers who participate in Free Fishing Day, find they enjoy the sport very much and later end up buying season fishing licenses. It becomes a helpful way for fish and game departments to increase their annual income through the sales of additional fishing licenses.

There are six states in New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Only five of those states (all except Connecticut) have free fishing days. Maine has two free fishing days, Massachusetts has two free fishing days, Rhode Island has two free fishing days. But, Vermont and New Hampshire are the only two states that offer only one free fishing day. This makes no sense at all. Why can’t New Hampshire have two free fishing days like the majority of our New England states?

Holding it on only one of the two weekend days can limit participation. There are a lot of people who have to work on Saturdays and thus cannot make use of the one day program. Some people are fortunate and could indulge in the fishing on both days if we had two days. Having Free Fishing Day available for both weekend days only makes more logical sense. It offers a broader opportunity for us to introduce the novices to the sport. The first day, we train them. The second day, they apply what they’ve learned and enjoy up to two days of fishing. Chances are good that they will purchase a season fishing license in the end.

I recall some years ago, I introduced a teenager to fishing, during our Free Fishing Day. She had never been fishing before. I took her to a favorite spot, Whittemore Lake in Bennington, supplied all her fishing gear and introduced her to trolling streamer and wet flies. It wasn’t long before Carryl Hauser was into her very first fish ever, a nice 13 inch rainbow trout. It gave her an exciting fight. Shortly afterwards she caught another nice rainbow. Needless to say, Carryl was hooked and said she wanted to do a lot more fishing in the future.

But, that is only one example of what Free Fishing Day can accomplish. How much more it could accomplish if New Hampshire would only take to task and offer residents and non-residents two free fishing days instead of just one. It would be an accomplishment for everyone, including our New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.