I personally think it may just have something to do with Gas prices, Pittsburg is pretty far up north for most people, I haven't fished the 1st that much since i was a kid but know that some locals do do well on live bait on lakers and there are some big ones in there Salmon I've only caught a few on that lake but none the size of winni and def. none the size of Squam LOL, my favorite lake up there is Francis, but the fish are very finicky up there you have to change alot of lures to find what they are looking for but once you find the correct lure and change all the others to that color and size your in the money, still size isn't like winni and squam but they're still some nice fish in there Like Squam it takes Time and Patience LOL Take Care God Bless and Tight Lines LOL Dave From up NOrth
We did OK up there last season. On Lake Francis got a salmon on orange and gold Speedy Shiner, on the 1st we got lakers on various lures at about 7 colors. Nothing on the 2nd. 3rd we got a brookie on O&G. Also East Inlet has some good shore fishing.
Never trolled it for anything up there but have ice fished up there a few. The 3rd seems to be the only happening gig for me up there. It is also the furthest. Was up there for a few days x5 guys ice fishing for lakers on the 1st conn. 1 laker in all for all of us over 3.5 days of fishing. Should have been good conditions too. Used everything in the box plus shiners, suckers, and I think one of us had some smelt for a day. Plenty of ling but no dice on anything else.
We are planning another ice fishing trip this year but it won't be there. It is a very nice place though. Almost worth it just for that.
On the 1st Lake I would try dropping some shiners or jigging across from Camp Otter. There is a sand bar and dropoff ESE of that point. Last time I was up there one guy was anchored and using live bait. He was doing better than we were trolling. You may want to troll the edge of the shelf. We also picked up some lakers on the south end on the westernshoreline and by the big poit that almost looks like an island.
