The spring of 2015 ice season has found me chasing a new species, to which I have gain a tremendous amount of respect for……Lake Trout. Whether it is on Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, or any smaller trout stocked lake in the Midwest. Although these bodies of water differ in many ways, they still have the aggressive nature Lake Trout available to catch without the traditional off the beaten path kind of a trip!
My biggest laker
Our annual family fishing trip had found us searching a new to us part of Lake of the Woods, Whitefish Bay. After reading several of fellow IDO member Pat McSharry’s trips to LOTW I knew that this trip was something we would have to go after. Matt Ryberg from Crawfords Camp located in Whitefish Bay, is full of information and due to short planning on our part he was booked, however still offered up a tremendous amount of helpful tips to a bunch a Laker newbies.
Beast. 18lb 10oz
Presentation is quite simple, 1/8th to 1/4oz VMC tube jig heads paired with Trigger X White Tubes was the best for our group. A 2500 series reel with Suffix 20/6 braid paired with 10 foot Suffix fluorocarbon 10# leader was ideal. Once the presentation was nailed, next step was location. Whitefish bay if filled with islands, neck- down areas, rocky points, steep rock shelves, and current. Finding a neck-down area or funnel proved to be our best ambush point with deeper water not too far away. Deeper water being 70 foot plus. Ideal fishing depth was 40-50 feet with Lakers roaming about 10’ off the bottom.
Huge Roaming Pike
Aggressive jig strokes would call the fish into the area relatively quickly one the area was drilled out. If one of us had not seen a fish within the first 15 minutes, the wheelers were started and we were on the move. Several times upon moving to a new spot we have someone hooked up with a Laker before we were done drilling holes. Most of our fish did average around the 5lb range, we were able to grab several fish over that 30” mark, longest fish was 35” and heaviest was just under 19lbs. Whitefish Bay is a barbless part of LOTW and requires you to keep a tight line once hooked up, Lake Trout are very fun fighting fish that have several hard runs and multiple head shakes that prove throwing hooks is something in their DNA as we lost multiple fish each day.
Pound for pound these fish pull hard, they chase your bait one time and the next time they come flying into the cone and strike the bait with so much force the rod almost comes out of your hand if not paying attention. The smaller Lake Trout do make excellent table fare either smoked, grilled, or in a trout boil process. If you have never had the chance to fish lakers through the ice I highly recommend a trip. Click on pictures to enlarge