Lake Trout Jigging Question

Hello,

Recently have been starting to have luck with lake trout jigging, but over my last 8 trips i haven’t managed more than 2 fish per. As of right now my follow:hook-up ratio is about 40:1. What can I do to improve my strike percentage? I will have fish gladly chase my bait from 80ft all the way to 20ft but never take. My current strategy is to jig suspended about 5-10ft off the bottom, and then as soon as one shoots up off the bottom for it instantly reel as fast as I can. I have also yet to get a single hit by actually jigging, only the reeling up method.

My main baits so far have been 1-2oz jigging metals, and Plain / Under spin jig heads with paddle tails or flukes. 5-15 foot 8lb fluoro leader with 30lb braid main line.

Thank you so much for any help!

Sometimes they will chase when you pull away and sometimes they won’t. There mood will really determine how aggressive they will be. I assuming you are using a line with no stretch? If a fish is in the area and he doesn’t want to commit to your bait I usually have 3 rods rigged up with different style of baits depending on your regulations were you are fishing. Setups would be spoon, tube jig, a rattle bait or live bait if allowed. If they won’t commit send down a different bait. Some days they will only bite one of the baits others they will bite all of them. Usually if the fish are smaller they can be tricky to hook. Good luck!

I make these inserts at 1/2 ounce to use in 4″ tubes for lakers and do very well starting about now. Vertically jigged the flit around real nice but will crank up like a bullet if needed. I like to crank them after the initial drop, then stop and open the bail for a 20 foot free fall then start cranking again. They’ll get hit on the drop.

In a boat a larger, more aggressive blade bait like the one shown on the bottom of the picture [5/8 ounce] works great too with long sweeping jig/drops. A firm 10 foot lift with a pause then drop on a tight line will get fish. They can be cast and retrieved too.

I would say that exaggerated jigging motion is the biggest error most fishermen make. Jigging motion should be small only a couple of inches and not full arm or elbow movement.

You could try adding some sort of meat, like a smelt, chunk of sucker or a strip of laker belly

Also, stinger hooks are a must on bigger baits.

B-man wrote:

You could try adding some sort of meat, like a smelt, chunk of sucker or a strip of laker belly

Also, stinger hooks are a must on bigger baits.

If you’re fishing Lake Superior smelt are illegal to use as bait.

Tom Sawvell wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>B-man wrote:</div>
You could try adding some sort of meat, like a smelt, chunk of sucker or a strip of laker belly

Also, stinger hooks are a must on bigger baits.

If you’re fishing Lake Superior smelt are illegal to use as bait.

I beg to differ….at least in Minnesota anyway

As for laker bellies, I don’t think it’s legal in MN, but is in WI and also MI waters of Lake Superior

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Smelt are used all the time on superior.

Get yourself a big white Bondy bait and hang on.

I though Minnesota banned smelt a few years ago due t the virus that got brought in by the big boats. I don’t use any live or dead bait so no biggie for me.

White is the best color to jig with on Lake Superior. Fish structure on top when the bite is fast. Slide off the top as the bite slows. Don’t stay on one spot to long,ussually after 3-4 you must move around the structure. Chop and overcast keep the fish around longer as they do spook off. Us an electric if possible. Smelt produce smaller fish and herring get bigger fish. White tube jigs also work. Look for herring schools when snooping around.

The equipment your using for rod/reel/line is spot on. We use lead head jigs 2-3 oz from Marine General.

Watch for current, its easy to see when your jigging. The line gets a lot of blow back. If there is current the LT will get behind rocks on structure like fish in a river and ambush the bait as it goes by.

I hope this helps, it works on the island.