I’ll be doing a fly-in trip at the start of June this year. I’ve been to this lake several times and had a blast catching walleyes and pike, but this year I was hoping to devote a little time towards fishing for lake trout (if my attention span will allow me to get away from all they walleyes). I’ve never caught lakers before and don’t have much of a clue where to start. Do you guys have tips for fishing a very large and very clear Lake in NW Ontario?
Thanks!
Lakers are all about water temp. Something around 52f or colder is where you should find them. That time of year, that far north, I bet you can find that temp somewhere between 10-30 feet? They could be tight to the bottom up near shoreline, or be suspended at 20 feet over 60fow. Or they could be in an inactive funk and tight to the bottom at 80. At that point good luck!
Point being you shouldn’t need down riggers or dipsys to get down to active fish at that time. BUT snap weights or the tackle to rig up a quick three-way are a good backup plan just in case you get there and find them hanging out deeper than expected.
There are deep diving crank baits that can troll to around 30 feet on their own with no extra tackle — rapala tail dancer in the largest size for example.
I have a trip set to target Lakers in the second week of June, MN/ON border waters. Looking forward to other responses!
Trolling with medium dipsey divers connected to a shock cord then a 30lb.fluorocarbon leader in the 6′ range should work. Trolling spoons, rappalas are a good start. If you find Lakers congregated you can certainly jig with weighted lures but on big bodys of water trolling in the warm months will be your best option. I’ve caught huge Lakers mid day but early and late are prime time. Main water basin and cool water is what you need to find in June or something close to it depending on water temp. Key to finding Lakers- water temp. 50 degrees.
I will be east of Dryden ON the last week of May, also targeting lakers. I have fished this lake for 20 years but have only recently began to fish it for lakers. What has worked for us has been trolling in the spring. The water temp that time of year is normally in the upper 40’s. We will troll anywhere from 20-40 fow with 2oz bottom bouncers or 3-way rigs. I will pull either metallic spinner rigs tipped with a large piece of meat or I pull a metallic spoon. We have had moderate success with these methods. A good day we will pull in 2-4 lakers in 6-8hours of fishing. Some days its even worse. This year I plan on pulling cranks as well as the aforementioned tactics. These fish are crazy aggressive. If you have an area where you believe lakers to be living, get a crankbait that will get 10-30′ (that is a large range for a reason, because I really don’t know) and troll 2-3mph. Cover a lot of water and if you don’t get hit in 30min, change color/style. I love to stay with metallic colors for trout. What can I say, they love shiny things.
Where I look for them is close to where we fish for them in the summer. As many people will tell you, they love deep water. If you have a deep hole in your lake, look for a hump near that hole. Something that gets to 10-20′. Start near there and you should be in business. I hope this helps. I am by no means and expert, but this is what works for me. Good luck and I would love to hear how your trip goes.
troll rapalas by long lining them , the further back from the boat the beter . You should witness many trout breaking the surface as they are active and feeding. If not go to spoons and meat in 25 to 35 fow
I’m always drawn to this video article done by the Lindners… Enjoy!!!
Ok, I can’t get the page to load, but go to Lindner’s Angling Edge, then to watch episodes, then to 2017 episodes number 12 in the lower right corner, I think and look for “Ice Out Lake Trout”…
Mark
Last spring was the first we tried for them. Late May time frame. We trolled big shad raps over 40-45 feet of water. Blue/silver and black/silver worked pretty good. I guess they were catching them off the dock the week early, so they were even shallower.
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