Conference wahoo::fishing

    Don't know about your area, but in the Finger Lakes they are usually
    along the edge of steep drop offs, off points and near the mouth
    of streams. Lures that have been good; silver/black and silver/blue
    Rapalla (floaters), Alpena Diamond (small silver spoon) silver/blue
    Cleo (spoon) and any good action silver spoon about 2"long.
    
    good luck!!!
    Don

    A Rapala size 7 floter in silver (7S) is the most effective lure
    I have found.  Use no weight and 4-6 pound test line.

    Keith    

    You might try shinners or mooselick wobblers 1/4 oz copper.
    I go up to maine and catch them on shinners and seen them caught
    on the mooslick wobblers.
    
             Bartender

    
    I use EVIL EYES quite a bit, and I also use the salmon type RAPALA's
    or REBELS. I have heard that a lure called the "needlefish" works
    pretty good,
    but I haven't tried one yet. I use these off the downriggers or
    planer boards. If it ever stops snowing up here in VT, I may get
    a chance to go out and try some of this stuff.
    
    								RB

    Try tandem streamers such as Grey Ghost or Joe's Smelt. Also Mooselook
    Wobblers, Flash-Kings, Dardevles all copper finish or Rapalas. All
    the above works even better if you put them behind a dodger. See
    replies on trolling techniques a few notes back.

    Use either lead-core line (2-3 colors out), or full sinking fly
    line with a fly rod.  Any streamer pattern that looks like a smelt
    will do the job.  Gray Ghost, Joe's smelt, Rainbow smelt...all tied
    as tandem streamers with maybe a few red body beads for flash. 
    Use a long leader (6 LB.) of maybe anywhere from 10' to 25' and
    troll near structure.  This includes ice pack edges, shoreline,
    or drop-offs if you know where they are.  Regardless, don't go out
    in the middle of the lake and expect to do well unless you're real
    lucky.
    
    Fishing on Winnipesaukee is off and on right now.  I had good luck
    last week in Saunders Bay and the Governor's Island area with streamers
    trolled at a VERY slow rate of speed with a lot of rod tip twitching.
    Friends tell me they're catching quite a few smaller fish right
    now.  When the water warms up a few more degrees, things will improve
    (the smelt start their spring runs and the salmon follow them).
    
    Good luck,
    
    The "Missouri Midge"
    

Well, since you guys were so helpful with suggestions, I ought to share
the results with you: 

We left Saturday morning (I wanted to leave Friday night, but the pregnant
wife - in her delicate condition - didn't feel up to it) The weather was
perfect! I had the canoe, motor, battery, and all the gear loaded up the
night before, and off we went... 

By the time we got there, unloaded, bought our licenses and set up the
canoe, it was lunch time! (Argghh!) So we had lunch... THEN it was time to
go fishing! Well, of course by then, the weather got cloudy, windy, and
kind of raw, so the little woman wasn't up for it, so the intrepid
fisherman launches off on his own to seek the mighty Land Locked Salmon! I
wasn't even out for 15 minutes when something started pulling the line off
one of the reels at a pretty good clip! Well, I fought the monster for
10-15 minutes before I figured out that I had in fact hooked something on
the bottom! At least I got it free after all that time. Oh well, exciting
for the moment... 

The next 2 hours were spent learning to coordinate all that stuff out on a
windy lake, adn trolling everything I could think of, but to no avail...
(I was probably going too fast). Eventually I made my way back - against
the wind - because I was afraid I might drain the battery downwind from
home and have to paddle back against the wind (turns out I had 3/4 charge
left!). I got back and messed around near the docks for a while before
finally calling it quits due to the wind. I tied up the canoe at the dock,
and thought "Oh well, maybe I'll just cast a few off the dock before I go
in..." So I tied on a Rapalla gold and black countdown minnow and in less
than 5 minutes I spotted a salmon following it just up to the dock, but
turn away at the last moment. After trying a few more times with the
Rapalla, I switched to a cheapo 1/4oz Kastmaster lookalike that I got at
K-Mart, and a couple of casts later I had a 16" LL salmon on the line!
Yow! I should have just stayed at the dock! 

He made a nice side dish to dinner that night... mmm, mmm, good! 

You guys were right, silver seems to be the color. A kid caught one
from the dock a few minutes after me, on a black and silver rebel...
    
Thanks for all the suggestions, I know I'll be back up there again before
the season's out...

Ed

BTW, Yesterday, fishing off the dock, I saw a pretty big (18"+) fish
swimming leisurely around one particular area, as though looking for food.
I dragged everything I could think of past him, and he only showed mild
interest in a black jitterbug (by circling it) but never tried to bite
anything! Had no interest in Rapallas at all... I have no idea what he
was, except he wasn't a bass or salmon. He was kind of mottled
gray/black/silver, dark across the top, and resembled a shark, with three
sets of side fins, and two, maybe three, dorsals. I don't think it was a
catfish, because I thought they always lived on the bottom, and his mouth
didn't look as wide as a cat's. I have misplaced my little guide to
fishes, so I haven't been able to look him up. Any ideas? 

    re:-1
    
    	A sucker maybe ?????????????????? I know their in there.
    
    	RAYJ

    A lake trout possibly?

    My brother and I will be fishing for ll salmon next weekend, and
    I was wondering if any of you experienced guys can comment on what
    depth they will probably be at this time of year. Will they still
    be near the surface, or do they go progressively deeper as time
    goes by? We're hoping that they won't be too deep, since we only
    have spinning equipt - no downriggers, dipsy divers, or dodgers.
    I bought a couple of Rebels designed for Salmon (said "Salmon Series"
    on the box, that's how I knew!) and I plan to mostly troll them
    onthe surface or just below. Does this sound like and effective
    startegy?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Ed
    

    
    
    	re: .10
    
    		try some Mooselook Wobblers in silver or copper, they
    		seem to work real well. As far as depth it's hard to
                say but usually fishing the surface or just below will
    		get you plenty of action. [ providing they are biting]
    

    Where? Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that little detail... We'll
    be at Paugus Bay, Lake Winnipesaukee (for the Derby, of course!)
    
    I'm glad to hear that surface fishing may do the trick. I wasn't
    too keen on the idea of needing downriggers, etc...
    
    Ed
    

The fishing at the Winni Derby was TERRIBLE! My brother and I were out 
most of the day Saturday and Sunday, and caught four fish: two bass and 
two perch. The only reason we caught the bass was because we were bored 
out of our gourds from trolling up-and-down-up-and-down-up-and-down, and 
decided to cast a few gitzits along the shoreline. And it was HOT, 85-90 
both days... yuck! The water was full of debris and rough every afternoon 
from the insane boat traffic (not fisherman, the "recreational" boaters).

I spoke with some guys who were there all three days, and they caught one 
small salmon on Friday, one small laker on Saturday, and one small perch 
on Sunday, and they had a big boat with downriggers, special rods, 
electronics, etc., etc...

Salmon fishing is B-O-O-O-O-O-RING!!! Next weekend I go BASS FISHING! 

Bummed-out-Ed

    

    With the warm weather, my guess is that the water temp was probably on
    the high side for lakers and salmon. In addition, the bright sunshine
    tends to put the fish down. I was tempted to fish for salmon this past
    weekend; instead I opted for trout (ponds and stream) fishing with no
    luck. I ended up catching smallmouths instead!
    
    Better luck next time.
    
    The Doctah

    	I have a couple friends that fished it all three days without
    a salmon. He said without a down rigger he really didn't have a
    chance. He could see them on the fish finder and pounded this one
    spot for 3 hrs only to have a guy with a downrigger come by and
    catch one on his first pass through the same spot.
    
    	One of them did happen to catch a 5lb. smallmouth so it wasn't
    a complete failure.
    
    	RAYJ

    When you folks troll for salmon, what kind of plug/setup
    do you troll with.
    
    Rayj, when you buddies were "pounding the bottom" how were they
    fishing.  I assume they were doing something similar to mooching???
    
    /brett

    re:16
    
    	When I said they were pounding the area what I meant is that
    they kept going back and forth over the same area. They didn't have
    down riggers so I'm not sure how far they were able to get down.
    
    	They did have two rods with lead core line but evidently this
    didn't get them down far enough either.
    
    	What is mooching ???

    	RAYJ

    Mooching is a method of using cut bait (herring) to catch salmon. My
    understanding is that you cut the herring's head off at an angle, and
    very slowly troll the "plug cut" herring or jig it. Brett?
    
    The Doctah

    I was interested in what you troll with if you use a downrigger.
    
    In Puget Sound they use a number of things but the most common is
    squid.  This makes sense because there is a pretty good squid 
    population.  But they use other lureslike Tomic plugs, which are
    real popular and they use "hoochies" etc.  I have never heard of
    anyone trolling for salmon in these parts with a rapala.  This 
    makes me think.  I mean we're basically talking about the same
    fish.
    
    Mooching is the option to trolling.  To mooch you first tie on a
    weight that will take you almost straight down to the bottom.  This
    is a trolling shaped weight with swivels opn each end.  Then you
    run about 6 feet of leader back to a double hook rig which is usually
    a #3 hook with a #2 hook trailing 4 inches behind.  Then you use cut
    plug herring.  You take the herring and cut the head off at a "double
    angle" so that is spins like a propeller.  You want a nice tight "roll"
    as opposed to a spin.  Then you lower that to the desired depth and the tide
    makes the herring spin.  Of course there are lots of little details to this.
    
    Would the Land Locked Salmon be considered "Kokanee"?
    
    /brett
    

    Yes.  Or what the Doctah said.
    
    /brett
    

    	No, they definetly weren't mooching. They used live bait
    (smelt/shiners) while drift fishing and trolled streamer flies in back 
    of dodgers. 
    
    	I don't think the landlocks get anywhere near as big as the salmon
    your fishing for. The methods you mentioned sounds more in line for
    fishing for atlantic salmon out here. Someone correct me if I'm
    wrong but a 3-4 lb. landlock (at least in Winni) would be considered
    a big fish with most fish ranging in the 16-19" range.
    
    	RAYJ

    I *heard* (at the donut shop - no verification) that a couple of 
    10 pound ll salmon had already been caught by Saturday morning in
    the Derby. I'm not sure how big is considered big, but they're nothing
    like the pictures I've seen of salmon out west.
    
    Usually the water is much colder this time of year at Winni, and
    the salmon fishing is much better. Trolling on the surface, when
    the water hasn't warmed up much, supposedly will take salmon. I've
    caught a few just casting off the dock...
    
    Ed
    

    Okay.  "Out west", the record King Salmon is 93 lbs, which was
    caught in Alaska about 2-3 years ago.  I just saw the record
    King salmon from Washington at a sportsmen's show this winter.
    I think it was in the low 70's.  Not a bad fish.
    
    I'm kind of curious about this whole salmon thing now, so you guys can
    help me out.
    
    Isn't a Land Locked salmon referred to as a "Kokanee"?   And isn't a Kokanee
    or a land locked salmon a Coho (silver) as opposed to a King (chinook, 
    tyee, blackmouth etc) Salmon?
    
    Now, isn't an Atlantic Salmon really just a cousin of the Steelhed who is
    really a sea run rainbow trout?
    
    I've seen multiple articles that have stated that an Atlantic Salmon
    is more closely related to the Steelhead than the salmon.
    
    Very confusing.
    
    Now, to me, a 10 lbs Coho is worth fishing for.  I think the biggest
    Coho I've caught is around 12 lbs and I was *very* happy filleting it
    at home that night (there is a law around here about filleting fish
    before you get home too).  I have heard of people catching much bigger
    Cohos, but I have no idea what the WA record is let alone AK.  AK
    gets mucho big fish.  
    
    If the method of fishing for landlock salmon is with live smelt and
    with a trolling weight similar to what the Doctah and I described, then
    that sounds like mooching rayj (only you don't call it that)
    
    I was interested to see that you all dsicussed fishing with rapalas etc
    behind the downrigger.  I have never tried this.  I wonder how it would
    work  I'm thinking you could use real light tackle when fishing for
    cohos and it would be lots of fun here.
    
    /brett
    
    P.S.  The story on that alaska record salmon is interesting.  It turns out
          that biologists examined him and decided that he was in the (I think)
          Kenai river (way up there) and decided that he was in the wrong place
          and was on his way back down the Kenai to enter the mouth of the
          Copper River.  He was really from there and had erroneously took
          a wrong turn.

    	I am by no means a land locked salmon fisherman and have only
    caught a couple in my life. What I know about it is from talking
    to people and watching those that are successfull.
    
    	When I was using the live smelt it was earlier in the year when
    the water was cool and the salmon are near the surface. I would cast
    a live shiner/smelt on a line with no weight. I let out some line
    to allow the bait to get down a few feet. If it wasn't windy I would
    drift fish this way. Would this be considered mooching also ???
    You probably could use a weight to get the bait down to the fish
    later in the year but I don't know how effective this would be trying
    to troll this way.
        
    	BTW - I was using something only slightly heavier than an
    ultra-light with 6 lb. test to do this. This is the same thing I
    would use trolling a dodger with a tandem streamer fly in a grey
    ghost, pink lady, joes smelt or similar pattern/s.
    
	I believe on the whole that salt (brackish) water smelt are
    typically larger than fresh water smelt. I have caught salt water
    smelt in the 10-11" range.

    	RAYJ

    
    	I will be heading up to Schoodic Lake in Brownville Junction
    Maine this weekend. My Granfather has a waterfront log cabin,
    and he say's that this time of year is when they catch the land
    locked Salmon. We are right near Knights landing (if you know the
    area) I was wondering if any noters have heard any info on the
    fishing there this time of year.
    
    	Also, thanks for the advise on baits and tackle. I have picked
    up some copper Mooselooks, dodgers, black and silver Rapalas,
    shiners and some streamers.
    
    	We will be stopping at LL Bean's on the way up do they sell
    Licences?
    
    Thanks 
    
    Johnny Roach
    

    Brett,
    A Landlocked Salmon is an Atlantic Salmon. They were trapped
    in fresh water when the glaciers started to receed.
    They have been introduced into many lakes and rivers in the
    northeast, although only a few held them originally. Bioligists
    can tell what body of water a Landlocked Salmon's strain originated
    from as slight variations in scale numbers etc. have developed
    over thousands of years. They are not the same as kokanee or
    coho. In the ocean Atlantic Salmon grow frequently to weights that
    aproach that of Kings although the species is generally considered
    to be smaller in size on average. In lakes their size is very
    dependent on the food supply available and the lakes general
    size. On Lake Sunapee for instance a 4lb fish would be excellent.
    On Winnipesaukee 5 or 6 lbs.. Lake Champlain a 6 - 7 lb fish would
    be great, but on Lake Ontario a 12 lb fish would be something to
    get more excited about (only for Landlocks as Kings in Ontario hit
    40 lbs on occasion). Steelheads are sea run or lake run rainbow
    trout. They grow much bigger then a rainbow that stays in a river
    year round.
    
    Marty
    
   
    

    Got it.  So the llsalmon of the east are different than the ll salmon
    of the west.  We have ll salmon in places like Lake Cour d'Elene
    in Idaho and those are called Kokanee.
    
    Gee, I wonder if eastern salmon have red meat.
    
    As for mooching, rayj, you don't move mooch.  You just sit there
    and let the current do the work.  Then again, there is motor mooching.
    
    /brett

        A news flash, and a question-
    
    	I just got back from Sebago lake where I fished for 6 days
    	with lots of success! I caught 6 keepers, 3 that were too 
    	short, and lost 3 at the boat (all but 1 of the keepers
    	were native btw). If anyone is interested in chasing a
    	few LL's, fish out of the state park right around the river
    	markers of the Songo. Another place that I was told was good,
    	even though I didn't go there, is "the second island down the
    	west shore. There's a shoal there that drops off to 60 feet or
    	more". The sizes ranged from 16 1/2" to 22", not huge, but VERY
    	strong and loved to break water.
    
    	I used lead-core(of course), and Dave-Davis spinners. I had
    	a night crawler on the end, and I trolled fast with 2 1/2 
    	colors out. Now, what I found very interesting was that I had
    	no luck using smelt but the fish were full of smelt. Maybe it
    	was me, I don't know. But the guys that used tied on smelt,
    	or live smelt weren't doing as well. I don't know, but I had
    	a great time!!
    
    	My question-what does anyone know about tapeworm in these fish?
    	I talked to the ranger, and a few fisherman, and they all said
    	that the salmon in Sebago all had tape, and pin worm from some
    	bacteria, but that the meat was still edible as long as the
    	worms were only in the entrails. Does anyone out there know
    	more about this? I haven't eaten the meat yet, but I'd like
    	to. I'm just a little hesitant about it, considering the possible
    	consequences.
    
    	Leadcore (sunburned_and_sorry_I_had_to_come_back_so_soon)~8-)

    My experience with LL salmon is that they all have worms in the
    guts, but they are safe to eat...I've been eating them for years
    without problems...I've never been to Sebago, but the fish from
    Winnipeasauke, Sunapee, Lake Champlain and Lake Aziscohos all have
    them. In fact so do most species that you catch, both fresh and
    salt water. Many have them in the meat as well, and people eat
    tons of them without knowing anybetter...cod has got to be the
    worst...This really caused a problem with my SO when she found
    out as she had a hard time bringing herself to eat fish for awhile...
    but she's over it now...so, enjoy those salmon! They should be
    great...
    
    Marty
    

    Anyone know of any other lakes in Ma. that are stocked with
    Land Locked Salmon besides Quabbin, Wachusett and Wallum?
    
    Thanks

    I believe the state used to stock LL salmon in Goose Pond in Lee...
    
    Greg

    I've been told that Greenwater Pond in Becket MA used to be stocked
with LL. Greenwater is at the roadside of Rt. 20 in Becket. There's one
DEEP hole and no public launch. It's popular for ice fishing - smelt
jigged out of Littleville are, as often as not, used as bait. There was
some question as to state stocking of a no-public-launch-site pond but
I don't know the status quo.

    I've never heard of LL in Goose Pond but have taken beautiful Brown
and Rainbow both from open water and through the ice there (stick fish too).

JW

    I heard that Kokanee Salmon were stocked in Laurel lake in Lee but last
    stocking was early-mid eighties.  The program was discontinued when so
    few showed up in creel surveys.  No one knows what happened to them.
    
    -SSS-

    I guess this is as good a note as any to put this in so...
    
    Last night I read a short article in the Broadcaster (free weekly rag
    in the Nashua area) that this past fall had been a record for the
    number of salmon eggs collected.
    
    What interested me the most was that a 2 year old salmon from Big
    Squam avereaged 18.2 inches.  From Winni, a 18.2 inch salmon was
    4 years old!
    
    I used to fish Winni a lot for salmon and had great luck.  The last
    few years I haven't been able to get out as much, but had much worse
    luck than previous years.  Has that been a general trend for others
    or have I just "lost the tough"?
    
    My real question is: Where can I lauch my boat in Big Squam?  I have
    4WD and a small 14' aluminum boat, so I don't need much of a ramp.
    
    Thanks,
    Mark
    

    
    
    
       Mark,
    
          I have never fished big squam lake, but a couple friends have
    and they told me if I do fish it be very carefull it is a very
    dangerous lake the bottom is very inconsistant. there are many rock
    piles which play heck on lower units.
       
         From what they told me the access was very limited to this lake
    but anythings gotta be better than winni at the present time.
     Has anyone heard of the planned smelt polution coming up this spring
    the F&G is planning to bombard the lakes of NH with smelt, I just hope
    its not a one time deal the need to do it about 5 yrs in a row with
    about 2 million smelt for the state then start worrying about getting
    trophie sized salmon and lakers.
    
      But back to squam lake they told me to head for the north end of the 
    lake and try and get into 60 foot of water or better and try sutton 44
    c.s. or even try drifting smelt.
    
        Mark have you ever tried Newfound lake? I spent some time there
    last summer and I would definatly recomend it over winni, the access 
    is limited there also to only 1 launch at the marina,they dont open
    till 7 am  but the traffic is less th fishing is better and you can
    beat the scenery there. If you do go there is a sunken Island about 
    200-300 yrds from the mouth of the cove at the marine almost direcly
    from the mouth, it goes from 60 ft to 20 foot in no time flat so be
    carefull but I took a nice 4lb salmon from there last fathers day, plus
    numerous large rainbows.
    
    
                                              good luck fishing
    
                                                       Lee
    

    Lee, thanks for the info.
    
    No, I haven't tried Newfound.  We have a vacation home in
    Moultonboro, on the north end of Winni so that's where I've
    fished mostly.  A few years ago I could get up, catch a couple
    of keeper salmon, and be home before the rest of the family woke
    up in the morning.
    
    Mark,
    

    Last year I started fishing Winni. I was there a week before the Salmon
    Derby, fished morning till night right through the tourney. And while
    I didn't do bad, actually my wife and I did as good or better than
    most. Biggest fish, 18 1/2 inch Salmon. For the whole week we picked
    up 14 Salmon, of which about 75% were keepers, and lost 2 at the boat.
    All were caught between 10 & 20 ft. Also picked up 20...er 2 lake trout
    that were under size...thought they Brook Trout...kept them and were
    delicious. Ignorance: ya gotta like it! Anyway, the registerable Salmon
    were very few and far between (20"min) during the tournament, with
    many boats coming up empty, slow, real slow. 
    I also went up there the last day of Salmon season last year. Brought
    home 1 18"er. Picked it up on a big black Rooster Tail right on top.
    I will still be looking for that trophy this year.
    
                                       Jeff (Captain)
                                       Team Starcraft

    I don't think Winni produces many big salmon.  I think there is not
    enough baitfish and too much fishing pressure for them to get very
    big.  I've been fishing Winni for about 8 years now and I've noticed
    a big increase in fishing pressure on salmon with downriggers.  The
    biggested I've caught, or seen was around 20".  That's a nice
    fish, but not huge.  I'm sure bigger ones are caught, but it's
    a very small percentage.
    
    I fish with light spinning gear with 4 or 6 lb test line, so it doesn't
    take a huge fish to be a lot of fun.  I also used to catch 2 keepers
    within about 2 hours so the action was hot.
    
    I hope you were kidding about eating undersized lakers.  It takes a
    long time for a laker to get large enough to spawn.  I believe they
    are no longer stocking lakers, so no spawners = no more lake trout.
    If you were serious, you should change your nickname from "captain"
    to "deck hand" until you can distiguish between a brookie and an
    undersized laker.
    
    Mark,
    

    OK , so I put myself on report...It wasn't intentional and it won't
    happen again, it was my first time on the lake...take it easy on me...
    Wow, you guys are tough.
    
                                      Jeff (still the Captain)
                                      Team Starcraft

    It seems the state is once again trying to battle the
    symptons without curing the source of the problem...First,
    the big lakes saw a decline in salmon populations, so they
    stock massive amounts of salmon, but the salmon were/are
    enemic because there's not enough smelt to go around. Now
    they're going to stock smelt. I think the real problem is
    the water quality in the tributaries that the smelt spawn in.
    Development over the years combined with the acid rain problem
    has reduced the ablity of the smelt to reproduce...Until
    they cure the root problem not much is going to help. It might
    be time for the bioligists to rethink the management strategies
    for the time being. There's an abundance of perch in the large
    lakes. Maybe putting less ephasis on salmon and attemtping
    the introduction of Northern Pike would work...I'm not sure,
    but flooding the lakes with smelt that probably won't reproduce
    anyway doesn't seem to be the cure...
    
    Marty

    
    
    
      RE: last note
    
    
       Marty,
    
       I do see your point on the water quality of the feeder streams but
    I think the F&G really messed up a few years back.
        
       My honest opinion of the matter is that since the fishing pressure 
    increased the F&G wanted every fisher person to not go home empty
    handed which in turn means more license sales, more good recomondations
    for NH which means more out of state license sales but what it all
    boils down to is that almighty $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, and the
    more they get the happier they are.
    
         but anyway back to the stocking they increased the salmon stocking
    because of the heavy fishing pressure and when you boost stocking you
    should also componsate with bait fish, which they didnt do.
       And remember the stocked salmon are about 6" when stocked in july
    usually then from oct-april no salmon can be kept so now you have about
    30,000 young salmon undersize limit still in the lake that are going to
    be feeding on smelt, plus the other salmon that are still there, and
    you cant count the smelt dealers out either.
     
     So all in all I think they are on the right tract with trying to
    establish a producing baitfish population because if they do that lake
    has great potential.
    
        I think there was a acidic test done on the lake but it was kept 
    kinda quite from the puplic, but from what I found out the lake wasnt
    in bad shape in that respect, part of the problem is all the boat
    traffic though.
    
         Another thing that upset alot of people is the fact that last year
    F&G stocked rainbow trout in winni reason for doing this I was told
    that they survive better than salmon, and as long as fishermen catch
    fish they are happy and keep quite! and this was from a person at F&G!
     
    
                            just some food for thought.
    
                                        Good luck fishing
                                              Lee
    

    I'm not so sure it's just the almighty dollar at work here.  The
    state did make a mistake of overstocking slamon in Winni, but that
    was 8+ years ago.  When I first started fishing Winni, I caught 8-10
    undersized fish for every keeper.  The state realized the problem and
    reduced the stocking back to a more normal level.  I think the current
    problem is more from lack of smelt than too many salmon eating them.
    
    Water quality in the tributaries certainly sound like a possible cause.
    Maybe the smelt population just cycles like many other species.  I
    don't know.  I am not real confident about stocking more smelt without
    knowing what happened in the first place, but guess it's worth a try.
    
    I think stocking rainbows is a reasonable option.  I think there is
    more to it than just having *something* for a fisherman to take home.
    Salmon feed almost exclusively on smelt.  If the smelt population is
    down for any reason, there goes the salmon.  Rainbows are more
    opportunistic feeders.  (maybe they will feed on some of the young
    perch?)
    
    I would hope the rainbows and salmon can co-exist in the lake, but I'm
    not sure.  If so, the rainbows would take some of the fishing pressure
    off the salmon.
    
    mark,
    

 The good part about rainbows and salmon is that they seem to coexist quite
nicely. The reason for this is the difference in the comfort ranges for
each species temperature wise. The rainbows are better able to subsist on
bugs and such than the salmon, who eat smelt almost exclusively.

 The Doctah

      Mark,
    
        Your right they did cut back the stocking but I still think it
    happened too late, it wont take long to dimminish a smelt population
    when you stock heavily plus the smelt fisherman out there also.
    
       The rainbows will survive alot better than the salmon will because
    of the reasons stated in the last 2 replies but in my opinion why would
    they want to stock fish into a poor food based lake your just putting
    more pressure on the species that are already there.
    
       Forage fish are doing really well there look at the bass pop. heck
    on any given weekend you will probably see more bass fisherman on the
    water than salmon fisherman.
    
        I think it just took alot of complaints from sportsmen for F&G to 
    start doing something about it, look at the winni derby last May there
    were alot of people that said they were not coming back to it, if that
    derby goes down hill the state of NH will loose alot of money,
    something they dont really want right now. so they are going to make
    every effort to change it.
    
                                                 Lee
    

    Ditto on the rainbow comments.  I recall reading an article in the
    NH F&G newsletter about F&G experimenting with stocking rainbows in
    lakes that were previously set aside for lake trout and salmon.  They
    had a number of reasons why they were doing this, including the reasons
    already stated, plus they mentioned that they are often more exciting
    to catch (better fighters), can handle warmer water, stay on-top for 
    longer (remaining more catchable for longer perioids of time), etc...
    
    If I think of it while at home, and can locate the article, I'll post 
    additional some info. 
    
    -donmac

    Just to add a little fuel to the fire, I heard a couple of reports
    about rainbows being caught loaded with fry smallmouths. Apparently
    F&G didn't want to comment on this becauase these may have be isolated
    cases... The reason I know this is a friend was up there this winter
    and caught a 16 inch rainbow while ice fishing and took it home to eat. 
    When he opened it up to clean the fish was gouged with smallmouths...
    
    
    					food for thought
    
    							Jim

    re:.44 Lee, I agree that the state was probably slow to react to
    the overstocking.  I just hope the smelt stocking will help, but will
    wait and see.
    
    Mark,