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View Full Version : First Weekend Of Winni Salmon Season: April 02-03, 2011


The Hairy Beast
04-03-2011, 08:40 PM
Thanks to the Noreaster Snowstorm Friday, opening day of salmon season was postponed for this Beast until Saturday, That wasn'tt so bad because Saturday I caught nine salmon and one fat 20-inch rainbow trout.

I only got one salmon pic - the others were all too small to bother with, I just hand released em. But this one was bigger so Travis landed it for me - here's some shots:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/100_4285.jpg?t=1301787197

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/100_4286.jpg?t=1301787759

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/100_4289.jpg?t=1301787810

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/salmon.png?t=1301788451

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/100_4292.jpg?t=1301788204

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/vv.png?t=1301884122

Trav caught this little fella, he got six for the day

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/100_4294.jpg?t=1301788613

Here are some other people NOT catching fish:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/100_4304.jpg?t=1301789002

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/100_4329.jpg?t=1301788061

Fishing was good if you could get next to the icepack - that;s where I got my big rainbow, of which I have no pics because Trav insisted he should land it...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/100_4297.jpg?t=1301788793

And a little video never hurt anyone:
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Segue to a FACEBOOK post, Sunday morning:

3:23 am: ok, this has officially been a very long day. I got home from work at 1am saturday morning, snatched 5 hours sleep and hit Alton by 8am, I came back at 6pm and as i was cooking supper my neighbor Paul came by and invited me out to go drinking with him and some girls he'd lined up via a local band he knew. Naturally i went, and we shut down the bar at 1am and took a few ladies home for more drinks.

So I may not be at the lake before 10am today.

I will be wearing a brown CABELAS cap, tan fly vest and deep brown bags under my eyes.

So today I got up with a decent hangover at 9am and rolled out for the lake by 10. Wet a line at 11 and proceeded to raise fish after fish after fish but they wouldn't hit - only look. I did manage to pop little one. Eventually I gave up my spot (I was getting dizzy and the wind was brutal) to a young guy with his father in law who was out fly fishing for the first time. The kid was making the transition from spinning tackle in salt water to the finer angling arts. He also started raising fish and then he finally nailed one. Here it is

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/100_4332.jpg?t=1301871127

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/100_4339.jpg?t=1301871193

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/Mongeaux/Winni%20April%202011/ds.png?t=1301883658

And that's the start of the season for this Beast! Rain coming and warmer weather, next the Salmon will move up into the river and open to fishing in waders and from the bank. Oughta be a hoot

TOAD
04-05-2011, 07:13 AM
Great post an pictures...thank you. :)

Some very nice fish there. Looking forward to targeting some of those lakes region salmon myself. :)

I spent the weekend up on Lake Ontario, Mexico Bay area targeting the spring brown trout. Was fortunate enough to limit out both days with an average weight of 6-7 pounds with the biggest going 11.5 pounds.

Here is a shot of the biggest that was caught by my my buddy::eek:

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o252/bassturd101/100_0888.jpg

And here is a shot of my supper cooking last night. Damn nice tasting brown trout fillets.:liplick:

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o252/bassturd101/100_0911.jpg

The Hairy Beast
04-05-2011, 09:40 AM
YEAH! Lake Ontario is a superb resource. That fat Brown makes our Skinny Winni Salmon look like minnows. Well done! What did you get that fish on?

TOAD
04-05-2011, 09:56 AM
YEAH! Lake Ontario is a superb resource. That fat Brown makes our Skinny Winni Salmon look like minnows. Well done! What did you get that fish on?

There was no real pattern to what they wanted over the two days. We were fishing mostly Rapalas and spoons on downriggers and planer boards and free lines. Wound up getting fish on all the different rigs and different depths. Probably the most productive was a 4" rainbow pattern Rapala but a number of fish fell to a blue and silver spoon.

No real rhyme or reason to what they wanted. The only thing that held consistent was getting into water that was 39 degrees or above. That is where they seemed to be holding. :)

The Hairy Beast
04-05-2011, 11:21 AM
I only caught one salmon on sunday - raised a zillion off the corner out by the edge of the icepack. They were hitting one particular fly pattern consistently, then petered out. The fish turned back on late in the day but I was toast by then, what with the 6 hours of fishing in the driving wind and cold and lack of sleep from going out the night before. I raised a pile of em but couldn't hook up. My buddy Trav showed up about 5 and I netted a couple for him, then went home. That last two hours of the day he cleaned house, catching 10 more. The meat fisherman clued in that all the action was off that corner and I guess they crowded in on us like sardines. They caught nothing. One guy finally asked Trav "What the hell are you catching them all on?"

"Flies." Trav said.

"I got a smelt but they aren't hitting it. Bait's always better than flies, I don't understand it."

"If bait's so great howcome you're skunked?"

"Well, you got the dock, that's where they all are."

"No, there's plenty right in front of you too. Watch." Trav cast his fly right next to the guy's bobber and nabbed one. "See? They're swimming all around your smelt - don't ask me why they won't eat it."

Trav called me yesterday and said another friend of ours, Danny Hashem was there all day monday and had caught a bunch off the Alton bridge! So they're moving into the river finally. I'm going to go up on friday morning and fish. I got kids this coming weekend, so I am not sure how much I'll manage to get out. We'll see. I think I'll be in Alton sunday evening after I drop off the kids, for sure. You ought to come by - I'll give you a few of those hot flies that served us so well.

The Hairy Beast
04-05-2011, 12:09 PM
Trolling is definitely the way to go on Winni too. My buddy Ron told me his son went out Saturday and caught twenty! That's pretty good versus my ten on fly. Then he went out for a couple hours Sunday and nailed five himself. But what I like about tickling them up on fly is that I SAW every fish I landed rise and strike, which is a real thrill. And for every one I hooked I rose and missed ten or more. When they come zooming up out of the deep, or bubble on the surface (floating line on a fast-strip retrieve - you wanted to make that fly leave a wake on the surface like a little motorboat) right behind your fly it puts your heart up in your throat. We were right next to the icepack and throwing into a raging headwind. We'd try to drop the fly ON the ice then bounce it over the edge into the water. Every once in a while a Salmon would nail it on the first strip. Fun fun fun!

Rattlesnake Gal
04-05-2011, 12:18 PM
I enjoy watching others having fun with the sport! Thanks for sharing your fun Winnipesaukee adventures with us. It's got me smiling. :D

The Hairy Beast
04-05-2011, 12:43 PM
I enjoy watching others having fun with the sport! Thanks for sharing your fun Winnipesaukee adventures with us. It's got me smiling. :D

Glad you're enjoying it, RG. It's nice to be out of the house and on my favorite lake once again. I am also glad to have new pictures of new fish. I was getting tired of the old ones.