Ol’ Man Winter is finally here, freezing up lakes and ponds that are full of ice-angling opportunities.

Hardwater anglers can target landlocked salmon, trout, bass, hard-hitting pike, muskies or plentiful panfish, depending on their location and the mood of the day.

Every state in the region gives ice-anglers a wide variety of destinations, species and opportunities. Options range from convenient roadside-access lakes with fast panfishing action to remote ponds that offer the best of winter solitude and the promise of trophy trout or salmon.

Here’s a roundup of some of New England’s best hardwater destinations to visit this winter.

CONNECTICUT
Nutmeg State anglers have so many options that their only tough decision is where to drill the holes.

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s Fisheries Division manages many waters for trophy trout and lunker largemouth bass. In addition, countless waters offer fast panfish action that can keep young families outdoors and entertained for hours on end.

Highland Lake in Winchester provides 445 acres of auger-worthy ice. The lake is made up of three contiguous basins. Though the southern basin is largest, the deepest water is found in the middle basin. The lake, fed by Taylor and Sucker brooks and a number of natural springs, drains northward into the Mad River.

Nearly 16,000 legal-sized rainbow and brown trout are stocked into Highland Lake each spring and fall. Common here are holdover brown trout in the 2- to 5-pound range.

Largemouth bass averaging 11- to 16-inches are also available. Highland Lake is a Trophy Trout Lake and a Bass Management Lake, so be sure to check the latest regulations before fishing here.

Access may be had via a state-owned launch on the northern shore. From Route 44, take Route 263 west (Boyd Street) for two-tenths of a mile, then turn left onto Woodland Road. Follow it to the end, and then turn right onto West Lake Street. Access is on the left.

Amos Lake in Preston offers hardwater anglers 113 acres full of trout and largemouth bass. Amos Lake is stocked in spring and fall with 10,000 catchable trout. During the winter of 2008, it received a bonus infusion of surplus Seeforellan-strain broodstock brown trout.

Densities of big largemouth bass here are above-average, with the potential for trophy-sized fish.

Access is restricted to the state-owned boat launch on the western shore. Take Exit 85 off Interstate Route 395. Follow Route 164 south for 1.5 miles past the intersection of Route 165, and then turn left onto the access road.

For more information on fishing in Connecticut, log on to the Department of Environmental Conservation at www.ct.gov/dep, or phone 1-860-424-3474.

MAINE
The Pine Tree State has diverse fisheries and more hardwater options than any angler could hope to fish in a lifetime. Because biologists from the Maine Department Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spend much of their workdays on the ice conducting angler surveys (and in their free time, doing some fishing themselves), they’re a great source of information on "where they’re biting now."

Luckily, they’re also happy to point you toward great fishing destinations.

For the coldest temperatures, earliest ice and some of the biggest fish, head to "The County."

Aroostook County, Maine’s most northerly county, has some prime ice destinations worth exploring.

Yearling brook trout were recently stocked into Arnold Brook, Drews, Nickerson and Spaulding lakes and the Hodgdon Mill Pond.

Last year, Madawaska Lake (open Feb. 15 to March 31) was stocked with yearling salmon in addition to fall brookies. Squa Pan Lake is stocked annually with splake, a brook trout-lake trout hybrid.

Also check out St. Froid Lake, where an experimental lake whitefish program is underway.