Any tips on salmon for this old buck?
We’ll be out tomorrow before sunrise to try for salmon again.
Stopped in at AJ’s to replace a couple lost lures and asked there...Alan wasn’t there but the guy there said to fish 40’ down now. Can anyone confirm this depth? Really jonesing to hook into a salmon this summer! I see plenty of beautiful salmon pics on the fish Winni Facebook page but no one really gives too much info on what’s producing and where... I always share my depths and lure info (if I catch anything) :D |
Depth depends on the time of day... early morning before sunrise they can be a little shallower but still in colder water (no less than 15 feet) but if you troll around 20 - 30 feet you should be where you need to be.
Far as lures go I have had my best luck this year with a gold/copper top gun with a blaze orange edge and yellow/green spots on it. I do lead core not down riggers, about 7 - 8 colors out this time of year at a trolling speed of about 1.5 - 2.0 MPH as my GPS reports. Fish the drop offs and where there are underwater variations fish like to stack in the column along these changes in depths. If they are there you should have some luck. |
Great info! Thank you! If I’m lucky I’ll post pics!
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Good luck! Dan |
Relationship...
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I honestly don’t use my fish finder to find or locate salmon this time of year, I use it more to see when something is in my attractors directly below the boat or to locate pods of bait fish very early in the morning. I definitely use the finder when targeting lakers though. Dan |
Thank you! Awesome info.
Just lead core, no downriggers. What about water depth? Can I be in 40-50-60 FOW and still fish that thermocline or am I better off trolling in the deeper troughs? I’m such a newbie at this...I really appreciate the knowledge! |
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Dan |
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Lead is a no no
I thought lead was banned because it was toxic to Loons?
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Salmon tips
Hillcountry, FYI: The tips you got from MAXUM and ishooot308 are spot on. A lot of valuable info in those posts. The only tip I would add is that at this time of year go with smaller/shorter hardware and flies. Early season salmon chase adult smelt, this time of year they are chasing young of the year smelt (yoy). See Alan for the hot short flies (single hooks) and the hardware, he's the best around. Good luck!
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Well, it was not a good day fishing (salmon wise anyway...)
No bites at all from before sunrise until I caught a dink smallie around 10am at the beginning of the broads heading toward rattlesnake from Ragged where we stopped to let the pooch run and cool off. Halfway across the broads still heading for rattlesnake, I caught a decent smallie about 2 lbs...sent him back down. Then the same rod with a Meredith Special tandem went off and in came a short but very fat Rainbow. That was encouraging but alas the last fish caught. Trolled all day with 6 colors out and tried 5 and 7 colors from time to time. Fatigue was setting in by 2pm so we picked up and headed in. Thanks for all the advice! |
Keep at it they will come, there are not too many places as beautiful as Winni to have a bad fishing day!
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Finally caught some salmon!
Still fishing a full 6 colors of lead core...wasn’t sure if I should be deeper because of the heat but stuck with what has been working for rainbows. Landed a half dozen short rainbows along with these two...a 2 year old and a fat 3 year old! Thanks Dan! (And others that provided information)! |
Threat to our gamefish?
I came across this article a while back and found it interesting. Over the last several years I have noticed a slow down in fishing success with the Salmon. It may be just my fishing skills but have noticed an increase in the predatory Rock Bass/Redeye and can't help but think that they are having an impact on the baitfish thus impacting our game fish. There are also many other impacts to our game fish such as the 2 Winniderby's, the Loons and the Lake trout. Are our salmon and rainbows at risk? Thoughts?
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/e...lapse-animals/ |
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That link would not work for me so I didn’t read it... |
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Eagles are about an 80% fish eater. the state is waiting to long to kill these rock bass, they are going to devastate the native population. Funny to read those old threads where some were saying absolutely no rock bass in Winni.
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My point is perhap there was reason to bash the derby years ago (perhaps) but the information that led people to that conclusion is not outdated. The bashers should feel good though...the derby appears to be in a tail spin for attracting sponsors and fishermen. I don't imagine it will last another 5 years. Salmon populations (IMHO) are mostly impacted by availability of smelt and the size of the fish when stocked (small fish become food for bigger fish). I've noticed (and talked to others who have noticed also) that there just aren't many 1-2 year class fish being caught. These are sub-legal sized fish so them not being there has nothing to do with fisherman and more to the two factors above. Those two missing year classes will have a huge impact to the negative side on the fishery over the next five years. Please keep that in mind if you are keeping the 3 and 4 year olds...they are all we got. |
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i've caught more rock bass this year than ever before. used to be, we'd get maybe one every week or two. last weekend, i think we caught 6 on one trip. all were served up on the bald eagle buffet.
salmon wise, been catching mostly 3 yr old fish this year. not many 2 year olds or newly stocked fish. only a couple stockers this year, which is very low. i suspect many of the stocked salmon are so small that they're becoming prey soon after their release. now rainbows.. we've been catching a ton of them lately. last week we landed at least 10 of them, all around 12-14 inches. they must have put a ton of those in the lake this year.. been catching mostly rainbows in that size for the last month or so. |
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I think the smallmouth can weather the storm in alternate areas. I recently found a giant school of juvenile smallies, 6" to 10" suspended at 25ft in 35ft of water. They are still out there. Maybe the smallies have been driven out to the salmon areas and are competing with them now? |
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Some rock bass too and I keep forgetting to kill the little bastards. Hmmm... bear baiting season is around the corner...:coolsm: |
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Somebody doesn't deal with the amount of geese that keep multiplying in the lake either.
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News Report re F&G
A report came on WMUR while I was reading this thread. It indicated that there is a lack of F&G personnel available to properly cover all areas.
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