MyFishFinder Forum
MFF US Northeast => New Hampshire => Topic started by: Uppervalley kid on May 16, 2022, 02:05 PM
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Went out trolling yesterday evening and this morning with nothing to show. I had one fish on yesterday jigging bottom at around 70 fow. Trolling 25-55ft has produced nothing. Anyone having better luck than me? Im in the Sunapee area for the week I should probably take a trip to some other big lakes or switch to warm water species if I get bored or too defeated.
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I’m never in that vicinity but....
I’d go shallower on your sets
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Fish will be high in the water column in the morning chasing bait fish. Waters still cold so fish are definitely spread out but like aa said higher up should help
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If you are fishing Sunapee, all I can say is don't let that lake get the best of you! I live fairly close and fish it quite often. I don't know what the reason is but it's one of the hardest lakes for me to be productive on with trout and salmon. I was there last Sunday morning and it was very slow for me as well, but agreed with the others, even if it's warm and sunny I'd concentrate your efforts in the top 15 feet of the water column. But it's nicknamed Skunkapee for a reason...
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Didnt end up having luck with lakers or salmon on Sunapee, however, the near by rivers and streams were productive for brookies. I agree, I have had mixed luck with Sunapee, proximity has me going back. What surprised me most was the lack rock bass (prob a good thing). I’ve had many days where I couldn’t keep them off my hook. Should anyone think Im crazy… I eat them and they are delicious fried like crappie or perch.
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Didnt end up having luck with lakers or salmon on Sunapee, however, the near by rivers and streams were productive for brookies. I agree, I have had mixed luck with Sunapee, proximity has me going back. What surprised me most was the lack rock bass (prob a good thing). I’ve had many days where I couldn’t keep them off my hook. Should anyone think Im crazy… I eat them and they are delicious fried like crappie or perch.
I live in the midwest and any of the panfish from rock bass to bluegills are king out here. We like to deep fry the fillets in batter. You're not crazy!
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I live in the midwest and any of the panfish from rock bass to bluegills are king out here. We like to deep fry the fillet in batter. You'r not crazy!
How do you target them in larger deeper lakes? I know I can get them on rock piles early season but they all but disappear in my lake by mid May.
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Drop-shotting.
Get too many of them when targeting smallies that way on Winni in the summer. Stopped doing it because drop-shotting pretty much sucks anyway, and if you're going to catch 10 rock bass to every smallmouth, I ain't interested.
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How do you target them in larger deeper lakes? I know I can get them on rock piles early season but they all but disappear in my lake by mid May.
Not sure about the rock bass but the bluegill out here suspend in the thermocline in the summer in the deeper larger lakes. Vertical jigging or slip bobbers with baby crawlers work well too.
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Jump to about 4:25 and you'll see how thick they are in Winni. I think I might have seen one smallie in with dozens of rock bass.
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Some good input above already.
Trolling this time of year can be slow. If the surface temp is around 55 they can be anywhere at basically anytime. This time of year if you can troll live smelts it will be your best bet. If not throw the kitchen sink at em until you find something. Concentrating on the time before to just after sun up, and also again right before and after it sets can save some frustrations, but you can’t catch from the couch or something like that.
Once things warm up and the thermocline starts to set in on the big lakes it gets easier.
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Varying speeds also at this time of year also. I’d like to be around 1.8-2.2 for metal most of the time, but sometimes they want it at 3.5 and other times they want it at 0.5. Also if you turn in all kinds of silly directions the tangles can at least give some entertainment. The action it imparts on the pointy end, when the lines don’t get tangled, can also save a trip.
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Thank you all for the info.