tips needed for catching lake trout on the ice

[robert1965]

I will be fishing L.O.W. the kenora area friday & saturday then sioux narrows area sunday. what set up works for lakers, what size pole, line, what jigs lures & depths seem to work the best thanks robert

[superbee]

I like to use a 36-46" med heavy rod. I use 14 fireline, it does ice up more than other lines, but that is what I like. Then I tie a swivel and 24-30" mono leader to the jig or whatever bait you choose. I use 4" glow or white tubes pretty much exclusively. I like 3/8 oz lead. Lakers can be caught cruising about anywher, but next to rock faces is a good plaace to start. I try to fish 40-60 fow on average, but fish shallower and deeper as well. The biggest thing I like is fishing next to sharp drops adjacent to deep water. Also,move alot, if you don't get a fish in 30 minutes max....move. You usually pick up the active fish right away. If you get a couple and nothing for 20-30 minutes, move again. Being mobile will help you put more lakers on the ice than anything.

[Fred_Bear]

Right now I'd hit some shallower water in the morning. When I was up for the opener, the bigger fish were feeding hard in 20-40 FOW until around noon each day and then I never marked anything in shallow water after that. Every fish I marked came in fast and slammed my lure and picked I picked up 3 doubles in 3 mornings of fishing (ice a fish and immediately throw the lure back down the hole and get another fish, they sometimes travel in "hunting packs" like fall muskies). In the 40'-60' water there were more fish but they weren't as aggressive and average size was smaller.

In the afternoon 40'-50' sand flats in small bays or between points can be good too. The fish almost always come in packs too on this kind of structure so get your lure back down before wasting any time with pictures or stuff like that.

Superbee is right on with the advice he gave you, just thought I'd add my two cents.

[MuskieDowg]

Great advise guys. I've been wanting to try lake trout fishing but wasn't sure how to go about it.

[Eastwind]

First of all, I need to say that Siuperbee has likely spent a lot more hours fishing Lakers than I will in my life. So his information should be taken seriously.

However, this is what I have luck with. I have caught every Laker in my life through the ice on a white tube jig. I use 1/2 oz tube jigs wth a 3" to 4" Berkely Power Tube covering it. A trick that I have had great luck with is dipping the hook end of the tube in red lure ink. Do this at home or the night before in order to let the ink dry. I use 8# mono with a tiny ball bearing snap swivel tied on then attach the lure with the snap. A "Broomstick rod" seems to me to be too heavy. I use what most people would consider a Walleye rod that is on the stiff side. White is a very "Key" color. Others with me have caught them on Airplane jigs, large Swedish Pimples, Moores Lures Tube Jigs, Heddon Sonar (or similar blade baits)all with the main color being white.

As the others have said, look for steep shorelines with rock walls coming up from the water. I also like steep drop offs at the edges of off shore reefs. Keeping moving cannot be emphasized enough. 20 to 30 minutes without a hit or a fish and it is time to move. Even if you slaughtered them there yesterday or last year at the same time. We do not even set up our portables unless it is so cold that it is impossible to fish outside for 20 to 30 minutes. Also very important to remember, if fishing in Whitefish Bay, you must pich down the barb(s) on any hook that you have in the water. Be safe and have fun.

[superbee]

Be sure to post a report and some pics when you get back. Good luck and hold on to your rod tight!

[Tman2]

I concur with mostly what's been said with this caveat, I feel like those steep drop-offs only get me northerns. They're nice in size, but mostly northerns. I also feel like airplane jigs are another northern finder. I generally don't fish too much deeper than 40' while on the ice for trout. We've caught then in 25' of water.

Here's my one rule to live by for trout- don't bother fishing if you don't have a functioning flasher.

[benelli_dude2002]

White tubes. 10lb test. 36 inch Thorne Bro rod. result 32 inch laker

[benelli_dude2002]

one happy angler!

[benelli_dude2002]

My dad with a 32 inch. Released!

[Outfitter17]

Nice Pictures.

[Tully]

Awesome, do you guys have any problems with your vex fishing on those steep drops? I had a hard time last year but it might have been from the other vex's around me giving me interference.

Tully

[superbee]

I pick up the shallow side of the drop and can not see the actual bottom. Usually anywhere from 10-20 feet deeper than what my flasher shows, other than that not really any issues.

[Casey Sunsdahl]

B-dude who's the old guy nice pics

[Fred_Bear]

Here's my one rule to live by for trout- don't bother fishing if you don't have a functioning flasher.

HIGHLY disagree! Flashers are very overrated when fishing lakers in compared to other species. A flasher is much more important when fishing perch, crappie, bluegill, or walleye.

Most of the fish I ice I see on the flasher for about a second as they fly up to my lure and hammer it. More fish are weirded out because you stop jigging or miss the strike because you change your jigging when you see them charge on your flasher. That's why you want to keep your rip jigging pretty consistent and not erratic because lakers will watch from a distance and time the strike.

I'd say about 1 out of 5 fish that I have to play with for minutes actually end up giving a good strike. Most times the ones that follow you all over the place won't end up eating anyway. As for seeing fish move in on the flaher and reeling up to them, well that's happened to be only a small handful of times in the last 8 years I've been fishing lakers.

If you don't have a flasher it's pretty simple fishing. Drop to the bottom. Pound the bottom a few times. Reel up 2 reels and jig a couple minutes. Reel up 3 reels and jig a copule minutes. Continue reeling up 3 reels and jigging a bit until you see your jig about 10 ft below the ice. Then drop back to the bottom and reel right back up to the ice at about half speed. Move to the next hole and repeat process.

I always use a flasher when fishing lakers, but there's been a couple times when I was stuck without and did just as well on those days.

A flasher is much more important for finding the right structure than it is for actually getting the fish to bite when fishing lakers.

At sunset on the opener this year I was off by myself and it was an absolutely beautiful scene with the sunset over the jackpines and eagles and ravens flying around. I got sick of the noise from my flasher and wanted to just enjoy the peaceful scenery I was in so I turned it off... 5 minutes later I had a 10 lb+ laker on the ice.

A flasher for laker fishing is NOT a necessity. One of the biggest misconceptions IMO.

[superbee]

I agree, flashers are not as beneficial when fishing lakers as panfish or walleyes. That being said, I don't like fishing without one after using them for years.

[Tman2]

Well, we're all allowed our opinions. I like my chances with a flasher way better than one without. All I'm saying is given the choice, a flasher is preferred. In a contest where one person goes without, and one with a flasher, my money is on the one WITH the flasher.

Anyway you slice it, catching lakers through the ice is awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone.

[Tman2]

these are from our trip a few weeks ago.... all caught on custom rods made by the guy in the green suit.

this northern had been on an eating binge! It had a huge belly!

i gotta get this pose and picture perfected...

I was a little strong in my guess. It was a 32".

[Fred_Bear]

Well, we're all allowed our opinions. I like my chances with a flasher way better than one without. All I'm saying is given the choice, a flasher is preferred. In a contest where one person goes without, and one with a flasher, my money is on the one WITH the flasher.

Anyway you slice it, catching lakers through the ice is awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone.

I totally agree your chances go up if you have a flasher, and that's why I use one basically all the time. My post was directed towards your statement that you shouldn't even go if you don't have one. I've seen numerous posts where people make it sound like you can't catch lakers without a flasher and that's just not true, but by all means use it if you have it.

Awesome photos and that video sure gets the blood pumping!

Those rods look pretty sweet. How long are they, gotta be close to 5 ft??

[NoWiser]

I agree about the flashers. While they are important to identify structure and depth, I don't think they are very important at all to get trout to bite. Usually they just give you about 1/2 second warning before the rod is nearly ripped from your hand... My dad actually outfished everyone in our group on the last day of our January trip without a Vex. He put a bobber stop at 25' and jigged there at every spot we hit. I was fishing with him, and almost put the flasher away because he was doing so good. It was almost like the flasher was scaring the trout away.

Fred Bear, question for you. I know we fish in the same general area of Canada. Do the spots you fish change depending on the time of year? While we still catch plenty of fish in February, its usually nothing like January. We probably catch about 60%-70% of the fish in February compared to January. We fish the exact same types of spots on both trips, and I'm thinking maybe I need to target some new types of structure. We usually just key in on points, rockfaces, and steep drops adjacent to islands. I feel like I'm missing something. Last year we also tried in late March after we got a limit of crappies, and that was even tougher yet.

[Tman2]

[jerkin'm]

Tman are those all WFB lakers? Nice fish...

[Tman2]

Tman are those all WFB lakers? Nice fish...

...yessir

Thanks, it was freakin' cold that weekend. Morning temps were -32,-37-39 and balmy at -25! If the forecast had been those temps we would've held off. We benefited hugely from the fact we had very little to no wind.

[Fred_Bear]

Fred Bear, question for you. I know we fish in the same general area of Canada. Do the spots you fish change depending on the time of year? While we still catch plenty of fish in February, its usually nothing like January. We probably catch about 60%-70% of the fish in February compared to January. We fish the exact same types of spots on both trips, and I'm thinking maybe I need to target some new types of structure. We usually just key in on points, rockfaces, and steep drops adjacent to islands. I feel like I'm missing something. Last year we also tried in late March after we got a limit of crappies, and that was even tougher yet.

The biggest difference I've noticed between January and March is that January is consistent and on a 3 day trip in March we'll generally have 1 great day 1 so so day and one bad day. We fish the same type of structure in March but concentrate on 45'-65' rather than 25'-45'. Rarely will we fish weeds in January, but the edges of a weed flat can be pretty productive later in the year. Sand flats can be good in March too, but that's pretty hit or miss most times.

February is when you'll find the trout behavior kind of off the wall at times. We've done well more than once fishing 10'-20' below the ice in deep water. It can be really frustrating.

Check this out, about half way down: http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2143908/Re_Lake_Trout#Post2143908

[jerkin'm]

yes, it was cold that weekend..we were a few miles East of you..thankfully there was no wind...did you notice the bite was a little off from other years? our numbers were about half what they were last year...