Shore fishing for rainbows now

[BIG ISLAND DUDE]

Anyone have any tips on shorefishing for rainbows right now. I am in northern minnesota and want to fish a small deep lake(kremer lake). What kind of bait should I use? The lake gets pretty deep pretty quick, would a slip bobber rig work? Help please. thanx

[jbtwins24]

i found out this stuff works real well, if theres rainbows around they will hit it. buy this gulp nightcrawlers stuff, just cut it in half and put it on the bottom, they will hit it so hard its just tons of fun. good luck!

[DEADhead]

find out at what depth the thermocline on kremer lake is (hint: DNR lakefinder). Set your slipknot for your slip-bobber about 1-2 feet above the depth at which the water stratifies. Find the deepest part of the lake. Look for any structure near that area in the lake, like a point, sunken island, reef, channel, etc. Target those areas.

Rig up your line with whatever bait you want (I agree, gulp nightcrawlers are a good choice) and wait for a strike. If your bobber lays flat when you get a hit, your too high, so lower your slipknot just a bit until you get to the desired depth.

Even in a coldwater lake, summer temps will make the water temps in the shallow areas undesireable for trout in the dead of summer. There may be a brief periosd in the day when they may feed in the shallows, but it is usally quite brief and no more than an hour, usually right at sunrise. If all else fails, don't be afraid to change tactics and search out the water at different depths for those fish.

On a side note, if you are planning on releasing your fish, take caution, mortality rates on released trout during the summer mounths are quite high, due to increased stress from high water temps. Trout that come from deep water or a thermocline area have a difficult time surviving when brought to the warm surface water rapidly. Rapidly means any means other than their own power. Many trout fisherman practicing C&R for stream trout in lakes, often choose not to target trout during the hot summer months. Just food for thought.

Good Luck!

[Cheeser]

Good info, JP. It's all true, however I've found that it's tough to make them bite when they're hanging out above the TC. They tend to be somewhat lethargic. Which leads me to ask two questions:

1. At what temp to trout tend to move back to the deep? I was fishing last year on a lake where the surface temp was ~67 and found limited success. This year, I was on a different lake where the temp started at 77 at daybreak and moved up to 79 at midday. We had to start shallow and move progressively deeper throughout the morning, finally ending up ~25 ft. About the same results.

2. As we move through the summer into fall, do the trout move back to the shallows, and how is the bite? I would like to go back and try one of these lakes in the fall, but I'm still learning about trout and I'm wondering if I would have success, or if I would just be wasting my time.

Thanks,

--Mark

[DEADhead]

cheeser, definitely some good questions you brought up. In my part of the state, I tend to give up fishing trout in lakes during the summer (after early to mid june). It is just too hot for the trout to really be active. Also, dense weed growth in shallow areas and along shore lines tend to make fishing tough. As you mentioned before, trout hanging out at the thermocline are very lethargic, in fact most are lethargic during warm water temps. Trout tend to hang out at the thermocline because the water is cooler, thus carry higher amounts of dissolved oxygen (DO). This is the main key with trout. Their physiology demands higher concentrations of DO than warmwater fish like bass, sunfish, and coolwater fish like walleye and pike. Unless you are fishing in waters with high turnover of cold water (i.e. active spring activity or inflow from coldwater rivers), most trout will be lethargic in summer, regardless of if they are in the thermocline or not. They can be caught in the summer, don't get me wrong, but they will usually be more difficult to catch, and the stress of the fight and leaving the thermocline for warm oxygen-poor surface water will greatly increase their chance of mortality. Most C&R fisherman will not target trout in the summer for this very reason.

The best bet is to lay off fishing those lakes right now until the air temps start cooling down a bit, mid to late september. Check the shoreline for weed growth; if you notice that the weeds are starting to die off and recede, it is probably a good bet water temps have cooled down a bit, trout are more active, and will start cruising the shallows again. This about the time I start fishing trout again in the lakes, and it is often followed with success. Of course this is about the time that most guys are thinking about chasing ducks. This can also be aan added bonus because most often than not, you will have the lake to yourself.

[Cheeser]

Thanks for the information - it certainly filled in a lot of gaps. I, too am familiar with your part of the state, as I was born, raised and graduated from Perham. Even though the lakes I've been on are spring-fed, I have never fished trout past mid-June, precisely because of the reasons you stated. Right now I think I will try the last week in September, although I'm going to monitor temperatures and make notes in my journal. Not much for SV, and just a little EV along the shore.

Thanks again!

--Mark