NH Trout Fishermans 2012 Open Water Pics/Reports

[NH Trout Fisherman]

Hey Guys,

Using this thread to share pics/reports from my outings for the 2012 season.


First Open water trip for me this season was to a pond in southern NH. The previous week we had record high temps in the 80's for 3 days straight which brought water surface temps up much higher than normal for that time of year.

Date- Friday, March 23, 2012
Time On/Off - 7:30am-2:30pm
Weather- Sunny/Light Breeze
Air Temps-   60's
Water Temps- 55-57*

Trolled live Shiners and Sutton Spoons 2-2.5 colors down. Fishing started off slow with only 2 small LM bass to the boat in the first couple hours, Eventually picked up around 9:30a when I landed my first trout of the 2012 season: a nice 20" Brown.

Landed 2 more Browns (16 &18-1/2") a 16" Rainbow and several more 1-2lb Bass before getting off the water around 2pm.


First Trout of the 2012 Open Water Season



Rainbow

[NH Trout Fisherman]

Outing #2

Date- Sunday, April 1, 2012
Time On/Off- 6:30am-12:30p
Weather- Sunny/Breezy
Air Temps- 45-50*
Water Temps- 42-44*

Fished close to home rather than on one of the Big Lakes for opening Day of NH's Salmon Season. Wanted to avoid the crowds and also had a minor repair that needed to be done to the boat trailer, so I didnt chance it. Trolled live shiners on bait rigs 2-2.5 colors down over shallow water (10-25ft) Landed 4 Browns and 2 Brook Trout 14-18".

[NH Trout Fisherman]

Outing #3

Date- Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Time On/Off- 6:30a-11:30a
Weather- Sunny/Calm... Windy 10-20mph started around 8:00am
Air Temps- 40-45*
Water Temps- 40-42*

Fished on of NH's Lake Trout/Salmon Lakes for first time in 2012. Trolled live smelt on Bait Rigs at approx 1-1.5mph between 1-3colors down. Fishing was slow to start, but picked up a healthy 24" Lake Trout coming out of deeper water onto a shallow hump around 8am. Trolled for another hour without much action, when it picked up around 9:30. Landed 3 more lakers (18-22") 4 small salmon (12-14" ) and a SM Bass by 11:00am and decided to head for the launch as the wind really started to pick up.

 

[wally13]

NICE FISH AND SOME NICE  PIC'S PHOTO'S

[surflizard]

Thanks for sharing those Great shots with us Keith, Much Appreciated !

[waterwolf603]

looks like the season is starting off great man keep em comin!

[Raquettedacker]

Great pictures Keith...  If your season keeps going like that its going to be a banner year for you...

[NH Trout Fisherman]

Outing #4

Date-  Saturday, April 7, 2012
Time On/Off- 6:30a- 1:30pm
Weather- Sunny, Windy (10-20mph)
Air Temps- 40-50*
Water Temps- 40-42*

Fished Golden Pond on Saturday, in hopes of finding Walter? The morning started off calm with a full (pink) moon over the lake. Launched the boat and lines were in by 6:30am. Started out by trolling smelt 1 and 2 colors down on lead-core at approx 1mph and varied the speed as the morning went on .8 - 2.5mph. The wind really started to pick up after the first hour on the water with gusts up to 20mph by 8am. I was hoping to get out in the middle of the lake and fish the structure out there which consists of alot of islands/reefs with nearby drop offs and deep holes. Looking out at the middle there were white caps as far as I could see, so I decided to stick to the shorelines in the bay out of the heavier winds.

Still hadn't had a hit by 8:30am when I decided to switch one line over to a lure (orange/black DB) A few moments later I had my first fish on which took the smelt at 2 colors down over 20ft of water. It ended up being a 4.5lb small mouth bass, a nice fish but not the Big Salmon or Rainbow I was hoping for. It was more of the same the rest of the day.... Ended up marking a few areas with loads of bait and bigger fish near some shallow water with nearby drop offs that went from 10-12' down to 30+ft of water. Landed a total of 10 small mouth bass between 2-4.5lbs
All but one were caught on smelt 1 to 2 colors down at approx 1 to 1.5mph.




Nice Double

[NH Trout Fisherman]

Outings # 5,6,7

Dates- Tues-Thurs April 10-12, 2012
Time On/Off-6:30am- 9:30am
Weather- Partly Sunny, Breezy (5-10mph)
Air Temps- 45-50*
Water Temps- 48*

Fished the River for Broodstock Salmon a few mornings this week.
First outing was decent landing 5 Salmon between 24"-28" (4 - 7.5lbs)
Second Day landed 3 Salmon between 20-28.5" (3-8lbs) The 20" salmon had a yellow tag meaning it was a hold-over previously stocked fall/2011
Third Day... Fished had moved down river and I didnt get a single bite.

[waterwolf603]

great job getting into those atlantics, those suckers are tough to locate. You got some real quality fish too!

[NH Trout Fisherman]

4/13/12

Had some work to do on the boat and trailer today. Needed to replace a cracked tail light and plastic fender on the trailer and replace the bilge pump in the boat. It was a nice day out so my wife brought our son outside to see what I (Dad) was doing.

Cute Little Guy is Ready to go....But Mama says "Not Yet"  



My Personal Best!

[Swampdonkey]

Little fella is grown quick. Cool pics bud.

[NH Trout Fisherman]

Outing #8

Date- Saturday, April 14, 2012
Time On/Off- 6:00a - 3:00p
Weather- Sunny/Calm start Breezy afternoon (5-10mph)
Air Temps-50-60*
Water Temps- 45-47*


Offered to take a couple friends from the site out fishing today. I met Tony aka SurfLizard and Val aka Lady Laker Taker at the launch for sunrise where I had my boat in the water ready to go. I had not ever fished the lake before, but Tony/Val live right down the road and Tony knows it pretty well. Our plan was to fish along the break-lines where the shallow water drops off to the deeper holes along the shorelines.

The water was nice and calm as we headed out, which was a welcome change from the previous weeks of wind. I planned to use two lines trolling smelt ( one  right on top and the other on the rigger at misc. depths 5-10ft down) Used misc lures on the other two lines. Fishing started off slow with only a couple hits by 11am. The first hit was on the smelt/rigger and felt like a decent fish, but as I went to pass the rod off to Tony, it came un-hooked. The next fish that hit, Val got right to the boat but I watched that one ( looked like a nice 4-5lb laker) come off less than 10ft from the net.

I was hoping that the action would pick up because I really wanted to put Surf/LLT on the fish... Just as the wind started to pick up around 11am so did the fishing and in the next hour or so we had 3 fish in the boat (2 lakers 21-22" and a little SM Bass) Those fish hit on lead-core 1.5 colors down over 12-15 f.ow... one on smelt the others on a orange/silver DB.

After another hour or so, the fishing slowed down in that area so we headed back towards where we had started that morning. I decided to mix it up a little and put a pink tiger DB on the rigger and dropped it down to 15ft over 35-40f.o.w Suprisingly less than 2 minutes later the rod fired and a fish was on! Ended up being a decent 20" hook-jaw salmon, But BOY he made a mess! tangling up all 4 lines! It was getting later so we trolled back to the launch and managed to pick up one more chunky laker (approx 4lbs) on a smelt just before we got into the channel. All in all it turned out to be a nice day with good company.  

LLT with her first Laker ever Trolling



Surf with a Laker



Salmon that tangled everything up



Tony/Val going home with a couple for Allagash Dinner!

[Fat Boy]

Great thread Keith!  Lookin' forward to more!

[NH Trout Fisherman]

Outing #9

Date- Thursday, April 19, 2012
Time On/Off- 6:00a - 1:00p
Weather- Foggy/Calm start Sunny/Breezy after 10am
Air Temps- 50-60*
Water Temps- 52-55*


Got out today on a lake I havent fished in awhile. Launched the boat for 6am and headed out into a thick fog, The water was like glass and you could see/hear bait fish rising along with the occasional trout. There was also some sort of insect hatch going on (what species I dont know?)
I let one line out with a large 6" shiner and rigged the other with a joes fly similar to the bugs I saw on the water...

Within 5 minutes of letting the lines out I had a fish on! Ended up being a small Brown trout that took the fly... Continued trolling for another half hour in the same general area when something smashed the big shiner! The drag screamed and the line was peeling off pretty quick, I grabbed the rod and could feel that it was a decent fish on the line... got it within 20 ft of the boat before it shook loose....  Judging by what I saw it was a good sized trout (a solid 4lbs+anyway) That bummed me out for a bit and bothered me even more for the next 3 fishless hours  

Trolled several other areas on the lake that have been productive for me in the past outings there. I marked an occasional fish or two but nothing worth spending any time on... Finally ended up fishing the last couple hours where I had started that morning, Hoping to redeem myself for the fish I had lost. By noon there was a steady breeze blowing across the lake... I switched over the lure to a #44 and made a couple loops around the deeper hole in the lake. Then something hit the lure hard! Grabbed the rod and could tell right away it was a good fish! I took my time not wanting to horse him, Id reel in 10 feet, he'd take 10 back... after about 5 minutes of going back and forth I had him in the net! That fish gave me one of the better battles I've had in awhile... Took a couple quick pics and released him. Ended up with one more decent Brown before heading back to the launch.  Good Day on the water