Who's catching what, and where?

[That Guy]

Hey everyone. New to the boards but not to the lake.

Just curious how every else is doing in the fishing department. Was out last Friday and I got two hits. That's it for this year. I've been doing TERRIBLE. I've been using an orange fly on a downrigger about 20' down. My second rod is a moosehead wobbler on lead line about 15' down. I'm on the lake around 5pm and I troll around the outside of Rattlesnake, between Diamond, and I'll check my lines as I near Sleeper. I then head to Black Point and finish my night there.

Mainly looking for salmon or trout. Later on the year I'll probably try sucker meat on a jig and try for some lakers deep down. But has the fishing been slow for everyone else?

[ishoot308]

I have been doing OK and am very happy with the quality and size of the salmon this year. While I haven't been fishing much in the area you mention, it certainly is an area where you should be catching something...

I too sometimes use an orange streamer fly (heron fly) with good success or more recently a Maynard's Marvel so not sure why your not having better luck. Your Mooselook wobbler is probably the most widely used lure on the lake for catching both salmon and lake trout so again not sure why your not hooking into them.

Try adding another color of lead and 5 more feet on your rigger. The lake has turned over and a little more depth has helped me the past couple weekends. Live bait (shiners) or sewn on smelt behind blades also has been working very well so you may want to give that a shot.

I did go out for a couple hours this morning but the cold, wind and rain as well as the funny look my dog gave me for making her go out in these conditions made me return to the warmth of the camp rather quickly! Yeah I know, dam fair weather fishermen!!

I hope your luck changes and you get into landing a few!!

Keep us posted!

Dan

[That Guy]

Sounds good. I'll drop it down another 5'. I'll switch up the colors a little. Everything just seems to have died way down.

[pjard]

What kind of fluorocarbon are you using. A little off topic but related....at least 75% of the fish I've caught this year have been on 1 of 4 very similar rod/reel combos. At first I thought it was the lure which was the DB Smelt, orange with black dots. That's a very common and popular lure so I switched it to another rod/reel. Anyway, the same rod kept getting the lion's share of hits. I've been stumped for weeks but this past Saturday I had a possible "ah-hah" moment. The rod getting all the hits has a Seaguar 6lb test fluorocarbon leader. The other 3 rods have Seaguar 8lb test. Does anyone agree or disagree that a 2lb delta in the fluorocarbon could make such a difference?

[That Guy]

Not sure on the line I'm using. Just whatever I had in the tackle box.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by That Guy

Not sure on the line I'm using. Just whatever I had in the tackle box.

In my opinion, you will definitely increase your catch rate by ensuring you are using a quality fluorocarbon leader, the thinner the better! Winnipesaukee is an extremely clear water lake. Salmon, rainbows, etc, get "line shy" and can easily see the leader attached to your fly / lure if your using a standard heavy mono leader. Fluorocarbon is very thin and transparent and really what you need for a leader on this lake when trolling.

Here is an idea of what I do for leader to try and help you out...

From my lead core, I attach the smallest Spro barrel swivel (size #10) then attach about 75' of 8 lb. fluorocarbon. Some people use mono for this but I do not. I then attach another spro barrel swivel and taper down to 10' of 6 lb fluorocarbon then tie direct to my fly. If your using a lure you can use a very small eagle claw snap swivel (size #1) at the end of your line to switch lures out. "Small" is the key word with everything between your fly and rod when fishing here on Winni. If they see it, you only decrease your chances of a bite. This is just my opinion and some people do it slightly different and maybe totally different but this will give you an idea of what is needed.

You may wish to visit the fishlakewinni site for some very good advice on fishing this lake. The archives there are invaluable, just do a search on any subject you want to know about.

I hope this helps somewhat.

Dan

[Tired of Waiting]

When things really get tough I add one element to my list.

First always use 6# or smaller floro. What I do to make it even harder for the fish to see is I reel all the line onto the reel. I then run a magic marker over the line to make a black stripe every couple inches. It helps break up the line visually.

This does not work all the time but has increases my catch rate enough times that its worth a try when things go slow.


ToW

[glennsteely]

Originally Posted by tired of waiting

when things really get tough i add one element to my list.

First always use 6# or smaller floro. What i do to make it even harder for the fish to see is i reel all the line onto the reel. I then run a magic marker over the line to make a black stripe every couple inches. It helps break up the line visually.

This does not work all the time but has increases my catch rate enough times that its worth a try when things go slow.


Tow

i would think that the smell of that marker would transmit to the water and keep fish away.....i always believed that although they see very well, that smell was thier 2nd strongest sense in that crystal clear water.....believe me, i'm not sure i am right, its just what i would think. I have been known to be wrong a time or two....lol!!

[Tired of Waiting]

Originally Posted by glennsteely

i would think that the smell of that marker would transmit to the water and keep fish away.....i always believed that although they see very well, that smell was thier 2nd strongest sense in that crystal clear water.....believe me, i'm not sure i am right, its just what i would think. I have been known to be wrong a time or two....lol!!

Glenn,


I used to think the same but then I tried it. The smell goes away after a couple minutes once the stuff dries. Think about the painted lures. They don't seen to scare salmon away.

The striping of the line acts like camo. It breaks the continuous visual line the fish can see in calm water. When there is a chop on, the broken shadows help break up the line. The marker just helps this along and seems to have the best effect in calm water.


ToW

[pjard]

That's a pretty darn interesting tactic. How far back up the leader do you go with the marker?

[Tired of Waiting]

Originally Posted by pjard

That's a pretty darn interesting tactic. How far back up the leader do you go with the marker?

/if you wind all the leader onto the reel then take a marker and run lines onto the leader you will get several feet of marked leader. Also depends on the reel. Spinning or level wind. My spinners seem to have less marked footage.

You rub across the line not with the line and be sure the mark is about 1/8 - 1/4 inch wide. Do this in several places around the reel.


ToW

[glennsteely]

Originally Posted by Tired of Waiting

Glenn,


I used to think the same but then I tried it. The smell goes away after a couple minutes once the stuff dries. Think about the painted lures. They don't seen to scare salmon away.

The striping of the line acts like camo. It breaks the continuous visual line the fish can see in calm water. When there is a chop on, the broken shadows help break up the line. The marker just helps this along and seems to have the best effect in calm water.


ToW

WoW ToW
I never even thought about the paint on lures....great and interesting tip! You learn something new everyday, and if you don't you can always think about what you learned yesterday!!

[That Guy]

caught it tonight. wobbler on lead line. three colors down. black point. I had one on earlier, but lost it at the boat. this guy wasn't a keeper @ 13" but fought pretty good.

[Mink Islander]

I wonder if I'd just trolled a while longer with this tiny laker whether something bigger and more satisfying would have taken the bait....

[wsconner]

We've been at the lake since 6/23 and normally troll between 6AM and 8AM. We're just a novice Dad and two boys trying to figure this sport out. First two days we had good luck--a few rainbow and lakers, plus a couple of ~18 salmon. We didn't fish again until after that nor-easter on 6/28. Since then it's been pretty quiet.. only a few small salmon (less than 10") and lakers (less than 15"). We've been varying depths of line between 20 and 40' and now and then troll really slow at 55'+ looking for lakers.

Anyone else experiencing the same and is it because the couple of big rainstorms (6/28 and 7/1) "turned the lake over"?

Thanks!

[Mink Islander]

Can't explain it. But I guess that's why they call it fishing and not catching.....

Last I checked a couple weeks ago the thermocline was around 35 ft. I have a temp sensor I can attach to the downrigger, drop to the bottom, and retrieve. It gives me temp read outs at every five feet. That can be helpful for target depth.

Good luck!

[Mink Islander]

Caught a couple decent salmon off the downrigger oscillating between 25 and 40 feet at 10 second intervals - love the new Cannon Digitroll. One small laker caught out six colors on lead core. Hammered silver with a blue stripe top gun on the rigger and a Maine guide (Orange with black dots) db smelt on the lead core. Was trolling mostly in 60-80 feet. Was nice to get some reasonable action after a few quiet weeks.

[AC2717]

30 Plus Rock bass in 3 hours in paugus bay again on sunday morning

[bt99]

The orange with black DB Smelt was working Saturday morning. 40 feet down, first 10 minutes picked up a laker. About an hour later, good sized salmon swallowed that same lure

[pjard]

Originally Posted by bt99

The orange with black DB Smelt was working Saturday morning. 40 feet down, first 10 minutes picked up a laker. About an hour later, good sized salmon swallowed that same lure

Feel free to tell me I'm wrong but that Orange w/black dot DB Smelt has got to be the number 1 color scheme. I bet half my fish are caught on that lure.

[jtrexel]

I posted here asking for fishing info several months ago as I was planning some kayak fishing while on a family vacation on 3 Mile Island, which happened last week. I chased smallmouth every morning from shortly after sunrise (5:15ish) until around 8am. Then a couple of days I hit it after breakfast until noon. I concentrated on 18-24' on shelves/reefs around 3 Mile, the Beavers, Black Cat, 2 Mile, and Becky's Garden. I didn't experiment widely, but had my best success on top water (Zara spook and poppers) and 1/4-3/8 oz bass/creature jigs. I had to work for bites, but did get a couple 14-16" fish each day plus typically a couple smaller bass. It was beautiful weather most of the week and was rather calm. Plus a few eagle and loon sightings to make for a great week.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by pjard

Feel free to tell me I'm wrong but that Orange w/black dot DB Smelt has got to be the number 1 color scheme. I bet half my fish are caught on that lure.

Orange has always seemed to be a strong color for some reason.

I've been too busy to get out on the lake. I bought a motorcycle so all my time has been on that.

[PaugusBayFireFighter]

Originally Posted by That Guy

Orange has always seemed to be a strong color for some reason.

I've been too busy to get out on the lake. I bought a motorcycle so all my time has been on that.

Every summer for me has been spent fishing. Then I bought a bike. Same "problem" of not enough time to fish with riding as an option. I still fish, but riding has given me another summer obsession.

[bilproject]

This time of the year fish on the lake seem to feed more on the changing barometer than anything else I can see. The big fish are deeper than the 30 to 40 feet most people are fishing. That's not to say you will not catch 19" stockers at 30-40 feet and small lake trout. Friday I caught a 24" salmon at about a depth of 70 feet on 14 colors of lead core line at 2.1 mph using a silver and gold Williams 40 in 125 feet of water. I carry all combos of the 40 as on any given day the fish seem to want a different combo of color and finish. Monday after the storms passed I caught a 20" 9# rainbow on the same combo of line depth and water. Others in the boat fishing higher caught small lakers and salmon. Big lakers don't seem to be caught until we get into August so I'm hoping to catch that 30 incher for a summer hat trick.

[MAXUM]

Caught Sunday morning on 10 colors of lead... and that is the best rainbow I've ever caught.

[dt5150]

a couple of the salmon from saturday. both were caught 5 colors down on a maynard marvel fly.

[ishoot308]

Nice fish guys!

Dan

[MAXUM]

Boy those are some beautiful salmon. Don't get much nicer than that.

[Top-Water]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Your Mooselook wobbler is probably the most widely used lure on the lake for catching both salmon and lake trout so again not sure why your not hooking into them.

Interesting information for someone who is an avid bass fisherman for the past 25 years or so, and only catches trout and salmon by accident once in a while but from a slightly different perspective.

I don't own a single one of these lures anymore. I used to have access to anyone of these lures and some experimental versions of this lure when they were sold by the (original) J. A. Green Company.

Many years ago I built a progressive stamping dies for one of the smaller versions of this lure.

The die that made these could spit out about 160 blanks (lures with no split rings or hooks ) per minute. Somewhere in my basement in a collection of old "stuff" I built over the years. I have a skeleton scrap strip that shows how the raw coil of materiel goes thru the die and makes the lure. My dad if he was still here could tell you about every single aspect about manufacturing these lures.

Thanks for the fish photo's ....... some nice looking catches.

[legend10]

Saw a picture posted on Instagram from a few days ago of a guy catching a 19 LB Laker in Winni

[kawishiwi]

Originally Posted by legend10

Saw a picture posted on Instagram from a few days ago of a guy catching a 19 LB Laker in Winni

That person may be a poacher. The season on Winni closed on Sept. 30 for Salmon & Trout.