Whats your favorite Lake Trout setup?

Hey guys/gals, i was wondering if everyone would post their favorite lake trout setup including: rod (length, action, brand, etc…), Reel, line, leader, and lures? I am curious to see the variety and consistency in the equipment that others approach this species with. I am currently using what i have available in my current arsenal of gear. I just threw together would i felt would get the job done and it seemed to handle them fairly well aside from one large fish getting away with one of my swedish pimples. I am currently using a 28″ Berkley Lightning rod medium action, with a frabill bro spinning reel on it. For line i am using Suffix 832 #8 ice braid in green (only because thats all i had in braid), then i tipped that with a 36″ #6 Seaguar Abrazx fluorocarbon. I found success with white #8 swedish pimples tipped with a smelt head. I know this is not the ideal setup for the job but it did work for my first attempt; however, i would like to make some tweaks and see what everyone else is using. Thank you for the feedback and advice everyone!

I use 2… one for baits 1/2 oz or heavier and the other for baits less than a 1/2 oz. The power and action I list are just my judgement because there is no real standard in classifying ice rods and every brand seems to be different.

Rod 1: Custom Solid Glass, Heavy power, Moderate Fast action, 48″ long with 12″ handle.
Reel 1: President size 30, 15 lb PP slick, 20 lb fluoro leader, albright knot connection.

Rod 2: Custom solid carbon, MH power, Moderate fast action, 43″ long with 10″ handle.
Reel 2: Stradic 1000, 8 lb PP slick, 12 lb fluoro leader, albright knot connection.

Out of curiosity, why do people use a fluoro leader on braid instead of just spooling up with all fluoro? I use fluoro all the time bass fishing in the summer and never use it as a leader. From my experience, fluoro, like braid, doesn’t stretch like mono, so that can’t be it. Quality fluoro is a bit more expensive, but given the pervasiveness (even TV hosts use only the leader), I am guessing there is more than just that.

Michael Burcusa wrote:

Out of curiosity, why do people use a fluoro leader on braid instead of just spooling up with all fluoro? I use fluoro all the time bass fishing in the summer and never use it as a leader. From my experience, fluoro, like braid, doesn’t stretch like mono, so that can’t be it. Quality fluoro is a bit more expensive, but given the pervasiveness (even TV hosts use only the leader), I am guessing there is more than just that.

Line memory… heavy fluoro coils up like a slinky in the cold.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Michael Burcusa wrote:</div>
Out of curiosity, why do people use a fluoro leader on braid instead of just spooling up with all fluoro? I use fluoro all the time bass fishing in the summer and never use it as a leader. From my experience, fluoro, like braid, doesn’t stretch like mono, so that can’t be it. Quality fluoro is a bit more expensive, but given the pervasiveness (even TV hosts use only the leader), I am guessing there is more than just that.

Line memory… heavy fluoro coils up like a slinky in the cold.

Thanks, that makes more sense. So as long as you have a heavy enough lure for the line weight, you shouldn’t have this issue, right? I use flouro on all of my ice reels, but only have memory issues when the lure is too light for the line (e.g. 1/16 oz lure on 6 lbs test) Does the coiling get worse the more line is out? I wouldn’t think that you would have issues with a 1/2 oz laker lure on 12 lbs fluoro, unless it gets a lot worse when there is 80 ft of line out.

As mentioned above, i now use braid; however, on my first attempt i DID string my reel with 100% #12 fluoro from Seaguar. It resulted in me losing the first fish i hooked into. I made the decision to restring braid as a backing for two reasons. 1.) For its increased abrasion resistance when the line is rubbing against the ice. (sometimes this cant be avoided) and 2.) For the lack of memory in the line. That #12 flouro was a nightmare when dropping the lure 120′ below the ice. The line seemed to jump right off the spool and create birds nests. I didn’t have line conditioner with me and the line was fresh so i may have created the perfect storm for myself lol.

I was leary about the braid at first too but it really bothered me losing that first fish; especially, since it felt HUGE! I couldn’t figure out why it broke either. I tried hard to make sure the line wasnt rubbing on the hole but when they make those long, runs you can’t always get your rod through the hole fast enough. I also feel that my poor setup contributed. The green braid didn’t seem to scare them and the lake i was fishing was uber clear.

Thank you for the great input so far guys! Cant wait to see more. I will attach a pic of the first laker i landed. Don’t laugh though, it was only a 24″ but i was sooo proud and excited to finally catch one lol. Cant wait till next year to improve my system and target larger ones.

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Nice fish. I am heading up to the boundary waters tomorrow after work in search of my first laker.

Thanks, and good luck! I wish I could make it up that way.

I have migrated to using 100% braid – no leader. Trout are not exactly the wariest of fish. I can honestly say that I see no difference in catch rate whatsoever. Pals still use mono, and they do fine as well. I do splice a small swivel into the line about 18″ above the bait, but no mono or floro leaders for this guy.

Timmy wrote:

I have migrated to using 100% braid – no leader. Trout are not exactly the wariest of fish. I can honestly say that I see no difference in catch rate whatsoever. Pals still use mono, and they do fine as well. I do splice a small swivel into the line about 18″ above the bait, but no mono or floro leaders for this guy.

Agree on fluoro not getting you more bites. I always used straight braid, no leader, until I started fishing lakes with more pike. The 20 lb fluoro leader I use is for the pike… can never be 100% certain that what cut you off was a pike and that can get frustrating when you only get a handful of bites each day. I started using the fluoro leader about 5 years ago and haven’t been bit off since… the trip before that I got bit off 3 times in a day fishing shallow. And I’m not talking line breaking or knots pulling, they were clean cuts.

The combos I’ve tweaked over the last few years have been a game changer for me. Now I’m running 42″ TUCR LTP’s with Shimano Sedona 1000 series reels, I have one strung with 10# 832 braid, another with 10# Sufix Tritanium Mono. I’ve tried straight fluoro and that was a mess. Both rods have 20# fluoro leaders as I’ve had bigger trout slice lighter leaders. The braid rod I use for jigging raps, tube jigs, Rippin raps, blade baits and heavier spoons. The mono rod is used for most of my spoons for better fluttering action and a faster drop, or when temps are really cold. The LTP has been a game changer for me, I highly recommend giving the folks at TUCR a call to see what they can do for you.

Sounds like i either need to beef up my leader or run straight braid. Also, i have always assumed that when you transition to a leader you typically want to use lighter line than the backing; but, this may be a bad habit i have formed from fly fishing.

When i lost the first laker i hooked into this year, i was able to get it close enough to the hole and confirm it was a laker, but i was using 100% #12 fluoro and feel like that line may have rubbed on the ice a few times during each run even though i tried very hard to put that little 28″ rod down the hole to mitigate that. I may have had my drag a little higher than what was needed as well but it seemed to be handling the fish just fine. When the fish broke off he had peeled about 50′ more off my reel. I thought he was in the process of spooling me out on a hard run then my rod tip shot up followed by a clean line snap and i had about 2-3′ of line that came up through the hole. So i know my knot held and i know i didn’t get bit off.

What size rods do you guys use when fishing for lakers inside of a shanty? I fish in shanties when its windy and snowing/blowing out and i don’t want that to hinder me from pursuing lakers. Is a 28″ rod acceptable to handle a fish like that even though it worked ok for me?

Thanks again for all the feedback guys.

I fish a 38″ and shorter rods in my otter. Mostly 30-38 for jigging. As far as spendy rods like tucr’s, although they may be nice, I don’t see them adding to the daily bag for me. I use homemade ones that are neither fancy, nor “tuned up” ….. Just fishing rods that busted and i made into ice rods. I put plenty of lakers on the ice over the last 20+ yrs.

As far as ice breaking the line, unless you are putting way too much pressure on mono(or you have a weak spot), I don’t see it happening. It just is not a factor.

Gotcha. That rod length is about the lengths i was going to focus on. Thats pretty cool that your re-purposing some of those fishing rods!

Yeah, im not sure about the line/ice either. That line was brand new, but i know i wasn’t horsing the fish around either. I know its inevitable that we are going to lose fish and have breaks but everything seemed to be going great during that fight, maybe i had a lapse of judgement and started pushing the fish too hard near the end. Just thought i was being fairly ginger with her the whole time. Either way i am hooked on the lakers now and cant wait to put together a few rigs that are better suited for them this coming season.

I basically have three set-ups. A medium heavy 32″ with a 1000 series spinning reel (6# straight mono) for lighter jigs in 80′ of water or less, a 36″ medium heavy baitcaster with Abu C4 4600 (20# PowerPro with 10# flouro leader) for 3/4 oz. to 1.5″ oz. for 80′ to 160′ of water and a 36″ heavy bait caster with Abu C4 5601 (20# PowerPro with 12# flouro leader) for 1.5 oz. to 3 oz baits for 160′ plus water. Power pro backing is certainly the way to go in deep water for lack of stretch when fishing in a portable shack as I typically do. With colder temps and working outside of a portable, I would revisit this due to increased freezing.