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Gearing Up For EARLY Season Salmon

By Adrien Lavoie YOAdrien Charters

            The rods are rigged, the boat is fueled up, and I am ready to go, actually I’ve been ready to go for months. There is something about launching the boat for the first time each season in search of Salmon in The Lakes Region that really gets my blood pumping. Maybe it’s the feel of that first fish slamming a new hand tied streamer and having him take to the air in hopes of shaking loose. Maybe it’s a time for family and friends back in the boat for another season of fish stories.  Maybe it’s trying out some new piece of equipment like a rod or reel you have been holding in your hands for 4 frozen months waiting for your chance to duke it out with Mr. 5lb salmon? Whatever it is for you, get ready because it’s almost here! Wait, hold on, are YOU ready? Do you have what you need? Do you know what you need? Don’t worry, we can figure it out.

            One of the most popular and most traditional methods of fishing springtime “Ice Out” Salmon is trolling fly rods with a sinking line and a streamer fly. Anglers patrol the shorelines trolling between 1 and 3 mph with fly rod in hand giving it a certain jerk or twitch to make their fly dance. Some work the rod short and quick some pull long and slow or even short and slow trying to key into the fish’s mood and entice them into striking. FISH ON! Ok you’ve got him and it’s a good one, now what? Two choices: you can try and reel him in with a little single action fly reel by gaining barely 3 inches of line per turn and have a good chance of losing the fish because you let the line go slack. Option 2 the “strip in” method where you pull the line in by hand and let it sit on the floor of the boat where you risk tangles or worse, like stepping on the line when the fish makes a run and breaking off. Both options sound like they have downsides so how do we tip the scales in our favor?

            Gone are the days of grandpa’s fly reel and here are the days of multipliers, large arbors and mooching reels. These reels are for all intensive purposed “Fly Reels” but with a twist. The multiplier is a reel by Martin that looks and feels just like a fly reel but has a secret, a gear box inside making this reel capable of spinning the spool 3 times for every 1 turn of the handle. That means 3 times less winding, and 3 times faster winding. This is a great advantage, you can now catch up to a salmon that changes direction suddenly with no slack line, that means more fish in the boat, also no line on the deck to step on or tangle. Large Arbor reels are the new wave in traditional fly reels. Large arbors are just as they claim they have a “large arbor” meaning that the end of the spool starts off large in diameter. With this style, even if all your line is off the reel you can still recover more than 6 inches of line per turn and some models up to 10 inches per handle turn. This type, like the multiplier, lets you recover large amounts of line rather quickly. Lastly the Mooching reel, these have been around for a long time and are a popular reel for putting lead core line on. They are basically a giant fly reel that can hold a huge amount of line. They look like a large arbor but with a small arbor that must be filled with backing line. I like these for springtime fishing because they allow me to gain 12-15 inches of line per handle turn and they must be used just like a traditional fly reel. You have to let off the handle when the fish makes a run and let the spool spin backwards. There is a good adjustable drag in these reels and they make fishing with long fly lines and leaders a pleasant experience. Choosing any 1 of these reels will make ice-out salmon fishing a more pleasant experience, especially on some of those freezing and snowy spring days.

            Your line is what stands between you and the fish. What kind you use is a matter of personal preference and the depth you want to fish. A floating fly line used with a 100ft leader will have your fly within 2 feet of the surface. A floating line with a sinking tip will bring your fly down a little deeper maybe 2-6 feet (depending on weight and length of sinking tip maybe a little deeper). A full sinking fly line will pull you down around 8-15 feet depending on weight and length of line used. Lead core line can be used on a fly reel instead of a fly line. Expect the 18lb. test lead core to sink about 5 feet per color or every 10 Yards. My favorite fly line for salmon trolling is the Cortland 333 8w Salmon Trolling Level Line it comes in a 150ft length. I like this because by tying on a good long 100ft leader I can control lure depth by deciding how much of the fly line i let out. I really like level taper line because it has even predictable sinking characteristics. With this 1 line I can evenly control depth from surface to over 15 feet.

            Rods for spring fishing are traditionally fly rods. Any rod in 5-9 weight will work fine. I prefer a 7 weight rod. Length is personal preference, in a smaller boat it would be to your advantage to have a shorter rod around 7.5 feet this will make landing the fish easier. A nice light long rod might feel great but it gets tricky in a little boat. In my big boat i like 9 footers. I personally like fly rods with a small 2-3inch extended butt so I can set the rod against my hip and reel from there. For mooching reels any light action downrigger rod will work just fine it is nice to have a standard butt rod with a mooching reel.

            Now to the business end. What would all this tackle be without the right fly or lure tied on the end. Springtime flies and lures are most productive in the 2.5 - 3.5 inch range with 3 inch tandem streamers probably being most popular. Natural color flies like the “Winni Smelt” “Magog Smelt” and “Joes Smelt” are all proven winners. “Pink and White” and “Red and White” are good springtime colors. “Maynard Marvels” and “Red Grey Ghosts” are also Ice Out favorites. If you are not into Streamers and jigging the rod then you will want to try out some of the popular trolling spoons. Lures like the “Savant Spoon Jake 45”, “Top Gun”, “DB Smelt”, and Luhr Jensen “Needlefish” will all put fish in your boat. Like the flies, natural color spoons are good in the spring but also the NH Guide Color of “Orange w/black spots”, the wonderbread  “White w/multicolor spots”, DB Smelt “Color Change”aka Fuzzy, and the Cool Water Cruiser “Purple Front w/orange back” are all solid choices.

            Now that we have gone through the options and decided just what we need remember that all these items can be picked up in local tackle shops across the state. Around the lakes region AJ’s Bait and Tackle in Meredith and Paugus Bay Sporting Goods supply not only the tackle but the knowledge and service to get you onto the fish faster. Local tackle shops know what people are catching and what they are catching them on, buy locally and you will end up with more than just great fishing gear. Good luck to everyone from YOAdrien and the FishLakeWinni.Com Charter Fleet!   

Baked Apples and Ice Fishing
By Adrien Lavoie “YOAdrien Charters”