i do most of my fishing on sebago now but the long leads are put away in august, downriggers are mostly used so the lines are short, and interesting is that most of my big fish come off the planer with a two color lead top shot. single hooks and they sometimes release themselves in the net. also keep the rod tips low so they are NOT JUMPING. fishing early hours and those fish are on top, should be seeing them anytime now in the morning with the yoy smelt dimpling the surface. they might not like 70 degree water but they feed in it all the time before that sun gets too high. keeping lines shot, getting them in quick i think helps alot. sebago is covered with runt salmon right now, everywhere, they usually school up in the lower part of the big bay so you can stay away from them, just hasnt happened yet, im thinking its because the water got too hot too fast and the yoy smelt have not setup yet. mostly hit the shore dropp offs at first light for an hour or two then head out to laker water and off the water before the first ski boat drops skiers right in front of my bow around 10 am
i agree with you. I have caught salmon all summer after dinner zipping along with one color and a streamer. I also had a summer where I would go out after dinner and troll right on top with a Mooselook and catch salmon. I also don't catch salmon deeper than 30 ft. But that may be just me. Is there a study that shows salmon die after being brought up from the depths, because I have yet to see a salmon I release go belly up.
My Salmon trips end in NH right about Memorial Day weekend Dick, so sorry I cant help you out here. Id have better info if you were looking Champlain or Ontario. I cant be bothered with going on the salmon lakes in NH once all the recreational boats hit the water. From many requests for information I have received lately, not many people even understand what the thermocline is and how to catch salmon. They are asking me about trolling 30ft down for salmon, which sounds good except that they are over 40ft of water. It doesn't appear that people know that salmon are a cold water species and that trolling in bays of water that are too warm will not bring any hookup success. Having a depth/temp probe is really the best way to find those fish once the water warms and sets up.Good luck!Scott, How about your input related to Lake Champlain. Now is the time that Champlain United will be reporting dozens of salmon pulled up from 50 or 60 feet of water. They also tell me that they have no obvious hook damage?? I fish Champlain until mid July because I'm pretty much out of the Inland Sea and the warm water fish are too tempting>Dick
I think I mentioned this recently but a cold water fish brought up from the deep and swims away in the summer months does by no means guarantee it's survival. DB, You ought to go over your rule book again.Any Winni fish (maybe other NH LL lakes) that are being kept need to be dispatched immediately!No more live wells. If I was planning to keep them this time of year, I'd put them on ice vs. 70+ degree water.
Digest pg. 11 - unlawful actions- No person shall have live lake trout, landlocked salmon, brook trout, black bass, northern pike, or black crappie in their possession, except if the person is a bass tournament permittee or is an aquaculturist permittee or has a permit to import possess or release these fish.
Seahunt, thanks for reminding me. I'm so used to seeing Champlain fishemen showing salmon in their live wells. On the other hand I remember watching two Kayakers come into Alton this Spring with live salmon on stringers? Dick[/color]