Wateron Lake Trout

[08F350]

Hey,
Me and a buddy are heading out to wateron lake for the first time. We will be trolling with downriggers. Does anyone have any good information on lure selection/color, depth and speed of boat. We want to try to catch some large lake trout.

This will all be catch and release. If you have any good locations to start on the lake it would be much appreciated. PM me if you dont feel comfortable giving out your secret location. :)

Thanks in advance

[Piker]

Lower Waterton lake is best. You need electronics to find the depth and keep trying any lure. I have a friend I go with every year and he has been fishing there for about 12 yrs and he caught 5 one year with the largest 13 lbs. It is a tough fishery. It takes a lot of time and patience. Piker

[wildcat111]

i find this time of the year the lake trout are in around 20 ft of water, went to banff last weekend and was catching them on the fly rod, 17ft of water. something to think about if trolling dosent work

[incept]

Pm me of your trip details and itinerary. When you are going will be a major factor. Waterton is literally my backyard and I fish it on a regular basis. I can help ya out abit more if you let me know when your going. Biggest last year was 38 3/4" 25 lbs for me. Trolling with your down riggers will find me using 9" Lymans in different colors depending on the time of year and flatfish in both T60 and M2SP in white, white/red, silver/blue and a few others. Your lure needs to be dragging the bottom or your not deep enough. I have been using Cannon digitrolls with excellent success and use the bottom track feature keeping the ball about 8-10 feet off the bottom with usually about 30-50 feet of setback. Flat fish are trolled at 1.5mph or slower and the Lymans are anywhere from 1 to 2.5mph. This is for the big uns. Tough lake to pull in numbers but there are some lunkers in there. Jigging again can be productive. Hope this helps, hope the wind is not howling when you come. Let me know if you have any more questions...

[Kingfisher]

This is one lake that I have to get to this summer. How is the fishing in August? Are there rainbows and kokanee in there also?

Rob

[chubbdarter]

Pm me of your trip details and itinerary. When you are going will be a major factor. Waterton is literally my backyard and I fish it on a regular basis. I can help ya out abit more if you let me know when your going. Biggest last year was 38 3/4" 25 lbs for me. Trolling with your down riggers will find me using 9" Lymans in different colors depending on the time of year and flatfish in both T60 and M2SP in white, white/red, silver/blue and a few others. Your lure needs to be dragging the bottom or your not deep enough. I have been using Cannon digitrolls with excellent success and use the bottom track feature keeping the ball about 8-10 feet off the bottom with usually about 30-50 feet of setback. Flat fish are trolled at 1.5mph or slower and the Lymans are anywhere from 1 to 2.5mph. This is for the big uns. Tough lake to pull in numbers but there are some lunkers in there. Jigging again can be productive. Hope this helps, hope the wind is not howling when you come. Let me know if you have any more questions...

Thats Great info
i add T60 in yellow/red dots

[08F350]

Thanks for the information. We will be sure to add those lures to the tackle box.

I hope to be posting pictures of a couple 15lbers in the coming weeks.

Cheers,

Trevor :cheers:

[incept]

Trevor, figured I would just post here so everyone can see it. Rob, August is my favorite month to fish Waterton. As for the middle of June, well hopefully our weather smartens up. Middle to end of June usually starts to pick up again. We just had snow last night again down to the town site. It has been very unsettled and the fishing has been slow and its been quite windy. Remember that this is a tough lake to fish, a good day might be three or four fish on average. Most days its none. Try the main launch. That's what I recommend. I like the launch better and it is more central to the lake. So here are a few general areas to check out. As for my honey holes, well thats another story:)If your after numbers of fish watch your sonar and find where they are suspended and start dragging flatfish, spoons {half waves have worked well for me} and big spinners for em. Most of the fish will be in the 1 to 3 pound range. Watch your points off the bays. Jigging is productive on the north side on the narrows in anywhere from 40 to 70 feet of water. Try big buck tails in white of white/blue. mister twisters work well also in chartruese and white. I am a big fan of Mackdeep jigs. They have proven well. Jigging in the middle lake west of the rock slide is also good. Trolling the middle lake is best on the south side below the cliffs. A guy can find shelter there from the wind as well. Water depth is around 60 feet. Upper lake, Cameron bay, Boundary bay {on the west side} and the south end are all good spots to try. Anchoring and jigging at the main creeks coming into the lake can be productive. The fish are usually starting to transition that time of year but with the temps we have been seeing and surface temps still so cold I think they will still be in the spring hideout spots. As Chub mentioned, yellow/red is a good standby. For big fish my best advice is to use your sonar and when you find em sitting on the bottom then make sure you are and deep and slow as you can go. Drag those plugs and lures in the mud. Be prepared to lose stuff and make sure your cannon balls don't get hung up. The 9" and 6" lymans work awesome as well. I really like the showgirl color. Black, blue/white and silver/black or silver/purple and white/black have worked well for me. This time of year I like to concentrate on water anywhere from 30' to about 120' Good luck out there and let me know how things go. I'm in a Trophy walkaround and may be out so give a wave if ya want. Tight lines. Any other questions please feel free to contact me and please please please, watch the weather, that lake can get real nasty real fast and swimming is no fun. Keep in mind the park is barbless and leadfree under 50 grams. No bait or scents and they will require you to fill out a boat questionaire before launching. This can be done in a number of spots but the ticket gate will be the quickest and easiest. Enjoy!!!

[incept]

Rob- No kokes and a few bow's if ya know where to look but very few and far between.

[mikep]

Pm me of your trip details and itinerary. When you are going will be a major factor.

hi incept,

wondering if you might be able to help me out with some advice.

my wife and i are heading down to waterton for a week in mid-may. what depth would you expect to be at during that time?

thanks,
mike

[Pikecrazed]

i find this time of the year the lake trout are in around 20 ft of water, went to banff last weekend and was catching them on the fly rod, 17ft of water. something to think about if trolling dosent work

What body of water were you fishn