Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

 Has anybody been to Newfound Lake yet for ice fishing? How's the ice? How's
the fishing?

 I talked to a guy yesterday that fly fished the Newfound River. He said the 
fishing's been good. He took a 15" and a 16" trout on nymphs yesterday. He also
released some on New Year's day.

 When I was a kid, you couldn't use gold colored hooks in lake trout lakes.
At the tackle store, I was sold some gold hooks to use for fishing for lakers
and rainbows. Does anybody know when the law changed, or at least that the law
definitely _has_ changed?

 The Doctah, eager to try out icefishing again after more than a decade off

    I am interested in doing some salmon fishing on Newfound Lake the
    weekend of May 16th. (Figured I'd avoid the Winni Derby madness on
    the big lake) 
    
    Problem is I don't know much about Newfound except it supposedly has
    good fishing.
    
    I'm looking for some advice on boat launch, good spots for salmon,
    a bait shop, and maybe some place on the lake to stay for the night.
    
    Appreciate any help you folks can provide.

 There's a boat ramp at the northern end of the lake; I think they whack you
$10 to launch (yeesh!)

 As far as tactics and where to fish, I'd stop at the Newfound Trading Post
on the way up (on the way north through Bristol, right on the main road).
They seem to be pretty good.

      I'll be fishing winnisqam this sunday with a buddy of mine.
    Could any of you fishing guru's update me on the conditions ie
    recent trip reports.This ones for NH noters.           
    
    
                         Thanks Frank R./
    

 Troll around the mouth of Black Brook with streamers (or live-line smelt).
Should be good fishin'...

      I went to winnisquam sunday 4-3-92 .We trolled the area outside
    the mouth of the river and I hit a 4.2lb samon,24'' long.We got him
    at 8:00 am in, 46 feet of water.I was using a bear paw flicker hook
    with a smelt behind it.Pretty good samon for winnisquam,and good eatin!
    
                                Thanks for the tip!
    
                                    Frank R.

    Smallmouth bass are agressively hanging out in 20-25 feet of water in
    Winnipesaukee as of last Friday. Water temp at 25 feet was 46 degrees
    F.

    I spent fri/sat at Winni along with a few other noters (we had an NHB
    tournament up there on Sat).
    
    Friday afternoon the surface temp was in the low 50s in some northern coves 
    with smallies in 5-10 feet of water.  Lees Mills area was significantly 
    warmer.
    
    Saturday's surface temp in the same areas was only in the mid to high 
    40s and I couldn't find the fish I had been catching while prefishing... 
    8^(
    
    -donmac

    
	My two brothers who live in Virginia saw a show on TV about fishing
    for smallmouth in Squam Lake in the autumn when the fall colors are
    out, and now they're hot to come up for a weekend and do the same.  As
    I don't own a boat (I usually fish where I can wade), and know nothing
    about the lake, I figure I'm gonna have to hire a guide to give us the
    best chance of finding a few fish in the brief time they're going to be
    here.

	Anybody got any suggestions about who does this sort of thing, or
    where I can go to find out?  (Doesn't have to be a professional
    licensed guide necessarily -- that is, I'd be happy to talk to anybody
    in this conference who knows the lake, has a boat, and wants to make
    some money.  My brothers are both experienced fishermen and good
    people.  I'm the one you gotta watch out for.)

	Any and all suggestions appreciated.
     
     
    						  Gary

    Hi Gary,
    
    I know the guys up at Northern Bass Supply in Brentwood N.H. are
    pretty familiar with most of the major lakes in N.H.  I believe
    one of the guys that works there is a licensed N.H. guide as 
    well.
    
    I'm sure they could help you guys out in one way or another, and they
    all seem like a decent bunch of guys to talk to.  ( I should say Guys
    and Gal's, since Sandra Oja is part owner of N.B.S. and president of 
    the N.H. American Bass Association - ABA, and a good fisher-woman as
    well!)
    
    Unfortunately, I don't have the number handy, but I know it's listed
    in this file somewhere.
    
    Gus  who-is-just-starting-to-investigate-the-big-NH-lakes.
    
    

    	I'd start with the Holderness, NH chamber of commerce.  There are
    at least a few people who guide on Squam.
    
    					B.C.

    Can anyone give me any information regarding places to stay, boat
    launches, etc. on Newfound Lake?

                        ******** HELP ********
    
       Going to Winniasquam Lake (sp?) tonight for small mouth and 
    large mouth fishing........can anyone tell me where to fish the 
    lake and what colors are producing there.......???? I will be using 
    spinner baits SLUGGOS, GITZITS and GRUBS . Are the smallies on 
    beds or has the spawn gone bye ??????? NEED SOME INFO FASSSSSTTTTT....
    
    
    PARDO DON A.

    Water's still too cold (in the 50s). The SMs won't start locating their
    nesting spots until the water hits ~60 F. A couple degrees warmer for
    LMs.
    
    FWIW
    
    

    
    Mr. Pardo,
    
    What are you doing skulking over here?  Usually, you're harassing 
    that "other file" !!
    
    The Legend was up at Winnie last weekend, and he said that the
    smallies had started to move up.  He saw some beds, with fish
    cruising the flats adjacent to the spawning areas.
    
    I would:
    
    1) Look for smallies on the gravel slopes/flats near the spawning
       grounds from 5-15 feet.  Look for the sunniest areas you can 
       find, in the Northern sections of the lake.
    
    2) Fish any bait you'd like.... as long as it's a sluggo!  
    
    3) If by chance the smallies have not come up yet, fish deep diving
       crankbaits in the steep drop offs near the  spawning areas.
    
    I was up at Winnie the beginning of May and the fish were sluggish
    but around. 
    
    Gus-man
    

    The water on Sunapee was bumping 60 Sunday afternoon in some areas. 58
    in the morning. I was surprised how much it warms up during one hot
    day. Of course this is only the top foot of water that my temp gauge
    is looking at. Sunapee is higher in altitude then winnisquam and I'd
    guess it should be just a bit warmer, but I'm not sure. The smallmouth
    weren't on the beds yet at Sunapee, but I bet by this weekend they may
    be. 

    Surface temp was 60 on Winni on sat, LOTS of bass on the beds...
    
    Week before, 57F, some on the beds. They're likely to be on the beds 
    Winnisquam too.
    
    -donmac

 The best smallmouth fishing in Winnisquam is south of the mosquito bridge.
Fish the rocks with gitzits, sluggos or 4-6" rubber worms and you oughtta
do ok. The fish could be on their beds by now.

    Smallmouth have been on the beds at Winny for the past two weekends,
    and I'd suspect this weekend is going to be a bit past prime.  I've had
    luck with purple lizards, although heard orange gitzits were also
    working. 
    
    bill

    Where on Winni? The water has obviously heated up a lot faster than I 
    expected. The fish were nowhere near shore when I was up there weekend
    before last, and the surface was 50 F while it was 45 F at 30 feet.
    
    This was at the north end of the lake, btw. Where were the SMs on their
    nests already?
    
    Just curious.
    
    John H-C

	Three of us fished Winni on 5/20 and found a -few- on beds but most just
off shore or around edges of humps...  this was in both the Long Island area
and down around Rattlesnake.  Protected little areas already had a Largemouths
starting some beds.  Had a great day, nice lake!  Where are you on the lake
John?  Maybe you could use a good fisherman to help you find the beds? 8^]
They are easier to spot if you're up higher!
						B.C.

    weekend before last i found some bass on the beds on north/west
    part of the lake, but it was far from peak, last weekend there were
    alot more and it looked close to peak to me...
    
    fish were 'near' shore over a month a go. we found/caught fish crusing 
    the spawning areas may 6-7....

I fished Winni out of Alton Bay 3 times last week, 12th, 14th and 17th. Pounded
the SM each time. Best was early AM and 5-7 PM. They hit anything but preferred
a 6" phenom black with blue tip. Best areas were on the shoals adjacent to
deep water. Little Barn Door, SW side coughed up 16 in just under an hour. Most
were small 1-2 pounds  but occasional 3 lbs were had. Hot muggy weather is 
going to drive them deep.

Joel

    we had NHB tournies on squam and wentworth this weekend, fish are off
    the beds, a few stragglers maybe, but for the most part they'd moved
    off... -donmac

    We fished the Long Island area at Winni this weekend. There were a few
    Smallmouths still on their beds but not many. Went out early Saturday
    looking for a Laker or two and ended up catching a 3lb smally in 35'
    of water. Couldn't figure out where the big ones were. We must of
    caught at least 30 smallmouths this weekend with the majority of them
    under a pound and the biggest being about 3.5 lbs.
    
    The little ones were "extremely" aggresive this weekend while the big
    ones have disappeared.
    
    Bob M�

    looking for info on Newfoundlake
    
    Where to stay and any tips on whats in the lake, where to fish etc.
    
    Thanks
    
    Brian

    Heading up to Lake Winnipesaukee this weekend (place is already paid
    for). I was wondering if anybody has been fishing up there recently?
    We will be in the Alton Bay area and I was wondering if the Salmon are
    deep or on the surface.
    
    Anybody have any trip reports they could share?
    Thanks,
    Bob M�

    Thanks, I forgot about that......
    
    Bob M�

    Pay close  attention to any rivermouths feeding the lakes.  This is
    spawning season (or close to it) for landlocks.  With the rain we are
    having, an increased flow from the feeders may trigger fish moment in
    the lakes to the rivermouths or even up the rivers.
    
    Greg

    Thanks for the tip. From what I've heard from others is that there are
    some fish hanging around the mouths "but" it is still extremely early
    for spawnings which normally occur in November. Also, the hotline was
    very enthusiastic about the fishing which is good......
    
    I love this time of year! Im surprised at the amount of people who
    put their poles away thinking the season is over. More elbow room
    for those planer boards!!!
    
    Thanks Again
    Bob M�

    I will be up there this Friday for the "last" day of the Salmon season
    as I have done for the last 6 or 7 years. I might see 3 or 4 other
    boats....might not see any.
    
    I'll be running 2 downriggers out of my 15 ft Starcraft. I'll probably
    start with a flourescent orange mooselook on one and a sutton on the
    other. I'll bring some shiners and troll them on or near the top at a
    real slow troll. Zig-zag the boat gradually to change lure speed and
    depth. The downriggers will be down somewhere between 10 - 30 feet.
    I might put a small Rapala down deep on the downrigger. I caught a nice
    Salmon on a 1/4 oz black/gold rooster tail once, Maybe that's what will
    work.....or maybe a streamer or maybe a ........
    
    Jeff

<    Salmon on a 1/4 oz black/gold rooster tail once, Maybe that's what will
<    work.....or maybe a streamer or maybe a ........
    
    Jeff,

	Heck, go for the whole enchalada, use a 6" Jitterbug, especially over
the deep spots...:-):-):-)


Al

   I have always believed that if you ain't gonna catch anything, you might as
well not catch a BIG one.

    Well, the fishing was excellent for everyone who wasn't in our boat!!
    It appears that Winni is not my lake. We fished all day Saturday and
    half of Sunday and didn't land a fish.
    
    We were however the "lucky boat" for people to troll near! Not once but
    eight different times when another boat would be trolling next to us
    they would hook-up!!! Mostly all salmon were caught by these guys, some
    very small ones (10 - 12") and some beauties in the 6 to 7 lb range.
    
    It was nice to see people catching them. For those familiar with the
    Lake, Black point was the hot spot. Fish were holding from as deep as
    70' all the way to the surface.
    
    Good luck if you go. Season closes this Friday the 30th for Salmon.
    
    Bob M�

    I'll be going up friday. Would you like to follow me 8^)?? What was the
    
    hot lure/bait? Or was it just whatever you "weren't" using???
    
    Jeff

    Sunapee was ok this weekend. It took awhile to figure out what was
    going on though. We marked lots of fish at 20ft, 30ft and on the
    bottom. I focused on these areas as I figured the Lakers were still
    way down, and the fish in the 20-30 foot range must have been salmon.
    After a few hours of nothing I saw a large fish jump, and then cruise
    the surface for a few seconds. I put a sutton spoon off the left planer
    board, one color of lead core down and a grey ghost on top, straight
    out the back. It didn't take long before a nice 4lb salmon hit the
    sutton spoon. We also tried trolling for bass near deep water structure
    as we didn't catch anything near shore and figured they were deep.
    Several lake trout in the 15 inch range hit a rebel crawfish imitation
    trolled 25 ft down...The surface water temp is from 61-63, so I
    wouldn't really expect the salmon/trout to be this high up yet. I would 
    think it would need to be closer to 55 or so. The salmon was a male,
    and the jaw was already well hooked.
    
    As to the statement that the salmon would school around the mouths of
    rivers this time of year, I'm not sure. Thats what I've initially
    thought in the past, but it never seems to work out that way in NH
    lakes for me. Does anyone have more info on this? I'm guessing that
    because salmon don't naturally reproduce in NH, and the stocked fish
    come from hatcherys, they never get the homing instinct required to
    lead them back to a certain stream or river. I believe it has to do
    with the particular "scent" of the water that they live the first
    stages of they're life in. On Ontario, the hatchery is on the river
    that runs into the lake. Salmon runs occur in many other rivers that
    feed the lake, but I believe I read that this happens because they
    release salmon smolt into these rivers at a young enough stage of
    development that they lock in the water "smell" of the place they were
    released into.  

    Jeff,
    
    Sure I'll follow you but I think after the reputation we received this
    weekend I'll have to charge you a nominal fee ;^).  Hot baits that I
    could see were live bait trolled or drifted and small orange sutton
    spoons. 
    
    I saw many fish on the surface chasing smelt early in the morning. As
    the day and pressure progressed the fish went deeper.
    
    Good Luck
    Bob M� 

    Has anyone been around Winni lately? I was just wondering what if any
    ice has formed. Anybody getting into the big ice fishing derby this
    year? That $15,000 center console boat would sure warm me up!!!!!
    
    Bran new auger and no where to go :^(
    Thanks,
    Bob M

        I took aride up around Winni and Squam on Jan 2.
        Alton Bay was iced over but not safe out to several hundred yards
        beyond the band stand.
    
        Some portions of Squam were iced in. As matter of fact, we say some
        kids clearing a skating area on one of the bays in Holderness.
    
        Winnesquam was wide open as was Paugus Bay.
    
        I don't think I would trust anything  right now.
    

    Thanks for the report. Hope it gets cold enough for some fishing!!!!!!!
    I never thought I would be saying that but ya need something to do in
    the winter.
    Bob M�

    The HELL with getting cold for ice fishing. Lets hope it starts warming
    up so we can hit the ocean floor again soon..
    
    :-)

re: .41

I LIKE the way this man thinks!!

Yeah...warm weather and wet water.  Gotta love it!

    Wow! You guys must be trying to make me feel bad. I've never seen
    anyone agree with John in this file..... ;^) Besides, I just got back
    from Georgia where it was sunny and 75 degrees. Who in their right mind
    would enjoy that %^}
    
    Time to sharpen in the auger blades.......
    When in Rome
    Bob M�

<Yeah...warm weather and wet water.  Gotta love it!



Joe,

     If it's warm weather and wet water, you can come down here and clean my
pool for me, it's in bad need of vacuuming. The water temp's about 70 deg or
so.  Much too cold for me....  One of these days I've got to get off my dead
butt and get the boat cleaned up. Before I know it it'll be too hot and muggy
to go out...  Not this weekend though, I gotta an invite to go hunting. Hope
the mosquitos don't carry me away, and the alligators leave me alone, pesky 
little varmints (too bad they're out of season.)

Al

ps
If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?

They were fishing in the bay on the Bristol end of Newfound this weekend.

George