First time

[Erb]

Made it out on winnisquam today. Lucky enough to have an uncle with a house on the water. First time ever fishing with suckers had a tip up with a sucker, and jigged with my fish finder. Set up two cusk lines with suckers over night. Will see how it goes. Didn’t catch a thing. 14ft of water. Couldn’t have been a nicer day. Wasn’t really sloppy in most spots occasional fall through snow to water and slop.
Advice always appreciated

[bassin212]

Nice work! Way to get out there. I’ve heard it’s a slower lake in general, but holds nice fish but I’ve never personally fished it. For cusk, I’ve had best luck this time of year fishing close to deep water but shallow (anywhere from 25-15 fow) in rocky areas. The only rough thing about fishing with suckers for cusk is I’ve heard they’re pretty good at hiding and burying themselves. Good way to weed out the little ones I’m sure

[Lv2hunt]

Buddy has a place there been fishing it for a few years now have only caught 2 dink cusk in 40 FOW on cusk lines. Alot of Lakers in there best luck I've had is fishing tip ups in 7 to 14 FOW using shiners about 6 inches off the bottom. In front of his place is pretty sandy but have yet to catch a Bow there good luck!

[jigmaster5]

Advice always appreciated

Use search feature on here
webapp navionics com (it's not 100% accurate, but it may give you some ideas)
google maps -> satellite view (this is accurate, but only good for shallow water)
use google maps on your phone to mark way points before fishing, then go to those spots

i've fished it a few times open water.  there's large expanses of the lake w/ absolutely nothing in it - like an aquatic desert.  so, the trick is to find locations with fish.  there's not a ton of structure either.  so, think about spots where a fish might push bait against or push up on or funnel - that kind of stuff.

also, if there's no fish where you were fishing, try a different spot.

good luck!

[Erb]

Thanks for the advice fellas. Checked my cusk traps this morning and caught my first cusk. Was small but exciting. Spent all day out on the ice, had one flag went too it and it was screaming line, grabbed it started to retrieve and came off, brought it in more, braid too barrel swivel too mono, snapped the mono off right there. Disappointing only flag running of the day. Happy to catch a new species. No luck trying to get something on the jig with my Garmin striker.

[Fishin_603]

Always sucks losing a fish🙄 but atleast you caught a new species, if the mono snapped at the swivel then it might have been the knot. I personally prefer fluoro. Especially when fishing lake trout or when I fish deep water,it doesn’t have as much stretch and you get a better hook set in my opinion I think it’s less visible to see as well.

[Erb]

I would think likely my knot. Sucks even more knowing my fault. What hooks do you guys use on your cusk traps. And what size hook do you use if you are using suckers on a tip up?

[bassin212]

I would think likely my knot. Sucks even more knowing my fault. What hooks do you guys use on your cusk traps. And what size hook do you use if you are using suckers on a tip up?

For cusk traps I usually just use cheap eagle claw bait holder hooks since the fish are most likely going to swallow it. I’ll also use circle hooks sometimes too

[Dirt23]

As for cusk I would get away from suckers they definitely bury themselves in.  Get yourself some large goldens smelt or large shiner they kick and carry on  on bottom.

[SALMONEMIA]

Nice work. Way to keep at it.

[DConICE]

Way to find what you were looking for. 

I fished that lake a few times this past season looking for smallmouth with mixed results. Did find plenty of Rock Bass. It was a new lake for me and has a lot of structure/terrain to learn. I hope to spend more time figuring it out this coming season.  Thanks for the information, every bit helps.

[Erb]

In the summer I do great off a kayak right before dark and into dark, smallies, rock bass for hours. During the day I swim with goggles and look for spots and beds to fish, been doing this for years and thought I would know exactly where to go. Man was was I wrong had no idea where I was on ice like I do when I am swimming.

[dunphy11]

For cusk don’t use any mono. Straight squid line with a swivel somewhere up a few feet. Snell your own 4/0 or 5/0 octopus style hooks using squid line , cusk don’t care and you won’t lose that big one. Big active baits are best 25-40 fow near deep water, rocky is best too.