Lindy Darters and lake trout, for starters

[Steve Foss]

I've been working with a handful of new lures so far this young lake trout season, including the Lindy Darter.

So far, of the 14 lakers I've caught this season, 4 came on the Darters. For those who use both the Lindy and the Chubby Darter, you know they have roughly the same action. The tight wobble on the lift and the sideways slow wobble on the fall. Hard to resist for many game fish. Thousands of people fish these lures for walleyes, and while I rarely fish walleyes once lake trout season opens, they are a key part of my arsenal for lakers.

Some days it just doesn't matter what you throw down there when it comes to lakers. Those are the aggressive days, the days you remember forever, the days of smashing strikes and hard fights. But those aren't the days you run into most often. No, most outings involve fish that chase but don't hit, and subtlety can sometimes be a key to teasing a laker into hitting.

The action of the Darter can be an important factor on those days. One of the things I like best about the Lindy baits is the rattle, absent from the Chubby. We all know how rattles call in fish, lakers no exception. On the hot days, they come in and it's all over. On the days of teasing, I like that the Lindy calls them in with the rattle, but on the occasions the fish want the lure moving very slowly to trigger them, there's no rattle.

The hooks are strong enough for lakers, and razor sharp and fine enough so it's not hard on a good hookset to drive them all the way in, which is tougher to do with heavy hooks.

These days, the Chubbys have been staying in the box. So far I've fished most with the black/gold Lindy in the larger size. I have found no downsides to the Lindys, and like the fact that most color patterns offer more flash rather than perfectly realistic skin patterns. Faithful skin replica lures catch anglers -- flash catches lake trout.

Cost is also an issue, and the Lindy Darters come in under the Chubby in that category.

What have other folks found with these lures? I know most of you will use them for 'eyes, so I'm interested to hear how you've been doing on them.

Here are a couple pics from this laker season so far.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Looks like a ton of fun brother.. I am going to pick up a few of them to use panfishing. I like to use larger lures as decoys to bring the fish in.. THose look like they can fill the bill easily!

[thedeadsea]

I hear the ones with custom paint jobs outfish stock ones 10:1.

[Sifty]

Nice fish and pics Steve.

Sifty

[Neiko]

Have you ever tried a Trout Teaser? If so any luck? I picked up a couple of Big Chrome ones and a little white one from Red Rock.

[bmc]

As usual, GREAT pics Steve! 2 weeks ago, I used the Lindy Darter glow in the dark up at Lake of the Woods. 4 of us got into the house and it was game on. I got my Vexi set up and saw a "high flyer" on the screen. I grabbed a rod outta my bad that had the glow Darter on it and dropped it down to this fish. WHAM! 15" walleye to start the day. No meat on the lure either. I caught some other nice 'eyes n saugers on this l in 2 days of fishing. Sometimes with a minnow head and sometimes not. Great lure!

Brian

[JBMasterAngler]

I'm probably gonna pick up some lindy darters before I head to chequamegon bay in march. I'm curious whether it's necessary to add bait or not...and if so, what kind? And to which hook?

[Steve Foss]

I no longer tip jigging lures for lakers, though I occasionally use rigs designed specifically for dead bait. I always knew it ruined the lure's action, and in my constant quest for simplification, I opted out for much of one season and my catch rate never went down, so I abandoned tipping for good (for lake trout) on my jigging lures.

[Nate McVey]

Quote:

For those who use both the Lindy and the Chubby Darter, you know they have roughly the same action. The tight wobble on the lift and the sideways slow wobble on the fall.

It was a slow day on the lake for me, so I asked Steve if I could post this video of the Lindy Darter in his thread. You can see the action is very comparable to the Chubby and with the lower cost, it's a great addition to the tackle box.

[Northlander]

I have times where tipping is needed. I use a small chub head on the front treble. It will not hurt the action of the lure as long as its not real long or too big. Average sized fathead head cut behind the gills catches me many walleyes. Lately the Lindy Darter has been good mid morning when the spooons seem to die off. Seems to get me a few more fish before the morning bite fades.

On the St. Louis river lately the blue shiner color has been good along with the orange/gold.

The Lindy Flyer in Rainbow has been super HOT on the river.

[jigboy]

Nice fish, Since you like things that rattle I was wondering if you have tried, or caught any on a buckshot rattle spoon.

[Mike Stark]

i have caught many lakers on a buckshot rattle spoon. including the one in my avatar. caught just a couple days ago.

[brd]

I used the chubby #6 for the first time for lakers here in Michigan and had luck with a minnow head. I could not entice a bite without a head and I had a lot of chances that day. I would say it was a negative day with a lot of lookers only a few hits but all with a minnow head.