I'd pay it, but how many would? How many one day out of staters that go out with guides would pay $52 for one day of trolling? On top of the guide fee.
How many 1,3, and 7 day out of staters actually even bother trolling for salmon? I'd argue that the majority, by far, of the one weekers are fishing for bass. I think your idea would actually cost Fish and Game dollars. If I want to give extra money to NH Fish and Game, I can donate to the Wildlife Legacy Donation or contribute to the non game donation. Both of which are easy to do online. I pay as much for my 7 day license as NH residents pay for their season license. If you want to generate more money for Fish and Game, raise the license fee across the board. Add a salmon stamp fee, if NHFG thinks a price hike will scare the bass guys away. There are all kinds of better creative ways to generate money for the hatchery program and salmon fishery in general. If you don't feel your giving enough, march right down to NH Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH. Hand them as big of a check as you want. I'm sure they'll take it.
The bottom line is I don't think the 1,3, and 7 day out of staters are the ones that are hurting the salmon fishery in NH. Too much hook wounding... then cut the season down and eliminate derby's. Outlaw treble hooks. Shorten the season. All these things would reduce mortality rates and hook wounding. The state could limit how many guides can fish the salmon lakes. Just by the volume of fish they catch, salmon are bound to be hook wounded by a larger percentage by guides then the weekend salmon troller and far more than the out of state vacationer that trolls for a week.
You want Winni to be a trophy lake, then stock less salmon. You said it yourself, it's a put and take fishery. Put in less and limit how many you can take out. Raise the minimum length on what can legally be taken. Raise the limit on how many lake trout you can take home per day. Turn the Winni Derby into just a Lake Trout tournament. Way too many lakers in Winni competing for smelt with the salmon.
Make the tough choices and you can manage any salmon lake in NH however you want. The problems in Winni are not neccessarily the same problems in Squam or Sunapee. The first thing you have to figure out is what you actually want to fix or do. Is it lower hook wounding or is it to turn Winni into a trophy lake? Or is it just to make sure the vacationers pay more?
