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Old 03-04-2015, 07:47 PM   #1
jtrexel
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Default looking ahead to July fishing

I will be staying on Three Mile Island at the Appalachian Mountain Camp in mid-July with my family. I will be bringing my 14' kayak outfitted very well for fishing, including a depthfinder and rod holders that allow me to troll at a modest speed for periods of time (up to 2 mph or so) as long as its calm or I'm going with the wind.

I'm an avid angler, but haven't fished Winnipesaukee before or anything like it. I've spent lots of time chasing smallmouth in flowing water in Pennsylvania and some in lakes. I've never fished for salmon or lake trout, but would love to catch my first.

I've read some and found a crude depth map on line, so I know fishing at daybreak in 15-25 feet or so with tubes and the like should get me some smallmouth on the rock bars or humps near Three Mile Island.

My questions are:

1) what is the best lake map to buy? I found three on line (Hotspots and 2 local companies that appear to compete)

2) Any further advice on the smallmouth? Are they too deep for topwater to be a worthwhile technique?

3) What are my chances with salmon or lake trout? Seems like a bucktail jig fished deep on a rock hump might have a shot at a laker? I could spool up with leadcore and troll also. Maybe not worth the try compared to the smallmouth?

4) Not asking for specific spots, but keep in mind I'll largely be limited to within a couple miles of 3 Mile Island.

Thanks!!!
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Old 03-05-2015, 09:44 AM   #2
MeredithMan
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Default Crayfish...

I have had consistent good luck for smallmouth with live crayfish, a foot or two off the bottom.

Trolling for salmon and lakers is a little more complicated. You really need a fishfinder to determine where they are and at what depth they are...especially in July, as they tend to have gone to deeper water by then. Without the technology, it can be a lot of time wasted.

Hopefully, July gets here fast! Good luck and have fun.
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Old 03-05-2015, 11:33 AM   #3
MikeF-NH
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Default

3 Mile and over to "The Beavers" are great smallmouth waters. Fish should be up shallow early and the water calm enough to paddle your yak without a lot of big wake waves from passing boats and water skiers etc. You should be able to get a good topwater bite AND be able to hook into fish on jigs at depths under 20 feet which is some cases is pretty close to shore. Mostly rocky bottoms around there. its a decent paddle back to 3 mile from The Beavers so plan to be back before 9ish when things will get dicey.

You can also take a shorter trek across "open" water to the north side of Pine Island...only a couple of hundred yards of paddling to cross from the south end of 3 mile to the north end of Pine. You can fish along the north shoreline of Pine then tuck in between Pine and the mainland and fish loads of docks in that area.

All said, you can probably do as well at 3 mile as you can the other two so there is no need to do all that paddling if you are on them. I would not recommend a paddle across to Black Cat as it could be dangerous paddle back with power boat traffic from Center Harbor heading to the Broads.

Salmon in July are deep. You might get a short bite in the morning on top but most are targeting 20-35 feet by then. Trolling is most common and thats tough in a yak. In calm conditions, some guides have turned to jigging for lakers. I think AJ at AJs bait and tackle can probably talk to you about this and offer some good jigs for the task. I believe light braid is required to feel the strike and set the hook. Must be dead calm though. Might be hard without electronics to find the fish. I'd stick with smallies.

I like the Bizer for my boat and live by Navionics. If you are looking for humps etc, they both have great bathymetry detail. A GPS may help you getting on top of these....I think Navionics has a phone app which would be more useful for finding and landing on humps as it would integrate your phone GPS with their map.

For bait: topwaters in the morning over to football jigs tipped with plastics, carolina rigs (if you can work them with your equipment), weighted plastics etc in the afternoon. Spinnerbaits and cranks will also work though I seldom use them on Winni. The area you are fishing is mostly rocky bottom so expect to lose some gear if you are getting to bottom from time to time.

While I would recommend leaving the shore at the very first hint of light, be careful because there are boats cruising through that area at first light heading to salmon waters so some sort of light is not only legally required but also a good idea.

Last edited by MikeF-NH; 03-07-2015 at 08:32 AM.
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Old 03-06-2015, 03:50 PM   #4
jerseyonbear
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Default Small Mouth

We have good luck with old fashion nite crawlers. Get them at AJ's or Cork and Barrel in Meredith. Remember no lead sinkers. Enjoy
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