By Tim Moore:
Stripers, lake trout, and walleye, oh my! That’s pretty much our theme this month. Temps in the river and estuarine waters we fish have risen significantly, making early mornings, cloudy days, and nights the best times to fish for stripers from a kayak. The stripers will use low light to their advantage for surface feeding, and you should too. Watch for diving terns and gulls, then pay close attention to the water line. Look for the telltale splashes of surface feeding bass. We prefer 6 inch paddle tail shads for surface action, but when the fish go deep the Daddy Mac Lure 3.5 Trophy is a favorite. When vertical jigging remember to match the hatch. Keep your color, size, and profile similar to what the bass are feeding on and you should do well. When night falls, live lining eels is incredible. All of our biggest fish come on live eels at night, and mostly in August.
If you like vertical jigging and you have never tried it for lake trout this time of year, you are missing out. Now that the water is warm, cold water lakers will seek deep water. We find fish in 90’ – 110’ of water. Blue and black Daddy Mac Lures ½ ounce Elite Ice and 1 ounce Albie jigs are a slam dunk. This is a numbers game with most trips seeing double digit catches. My best day last year was 51 fish before 10am. Most of New Hampshire’s lake trout lakes close after September 30, so don’t miss your chance. Now that we have our 16’ Lund we are expecting a busy month on Winnipesaukee and Squam lakes.
If you have never fished for or eating walleye, then “I’m sorry” is all I can say. These fish are a real treat, both to the angler and the connoisseur. The Connecticut River between New Hampshire and Vermont is the only place to catch regular numbers of walleye in New Hampshire. I like to fish weed lines at first light. Walleye move into shallow water to feed at night. When the sun begins to rise they will stage outside of setbacks along weed lines to ambush bait fish as they also move to deeper water. Snap-jigging a ¼ non-lead jig head with a 3” chartreus Berkley Gulp! Swimming mullet is deadly. Once the sun gets high in the sky the fish will move to the deepest structure they can find. Switch out the Gulp! For a piece of night crawler and vertical jig in around the sunken trees to finish filling your limit.
FORECAST BY: Tim Moore is a professional hunting and fishing guide from New Hampshire. He is the owner of Tim Moore Outdoors LLC, offering ice fishing charters, fresh and saltwater kayak fishing charters, and freshwater boat charters. He is a member of the New England Outdoors Writers Association and the producer of Tim Moore Outdoors TV. Visit Tim Moore Outdoors for more information.