Lake Trout advice
 

Hope a few guys can help me out, I am heading to Northern Sask beginning of July to a couple of unnamed lake trout lakes that have very little to no fishing pressure, we have to run a few beaver runs and portage the boat a few times to get to these spots and from what I have been told from my friend that has been to these spots before is that they have produced up to 60 pound lakers(Trust but verify!) and I have only fished for lake trout once before and just ran through my tackle box until I got lucky at shallower depths (I will be using my portable depth/fish finder) but I am mostly set up for walleye and jack related fishing. We will be fishing out of a 16 foot aluminum with no down riggers and trolling and jigging from the boat. I am planning on trying to use a 2-3 oz bottom bouncer (unless told otherwise)to get my equipment down to a deeper depth. The biggest rod I have is an ugly stick approx. 7' long and it says max 15# line weight (I think). For some of you these questions may seem stupid and elementary but would appreciate any advice or feedback so I can be prepared! I have been scouting out The Fishing Hole already and could easily spend $600-$700 dollars with out knowing whether or not I need what my check out cart said! HAHA, I am planning on leaving one rod set up for walleye/jack(other close water bodies that have walleye/Jack)and set up another for trolling for lakers. My questions are as follows, What size of a rod and reel and line weight(50# braided?) should I be using? What type of lures/spoons should I make sure I buy to use and what size and or size of jigs(1/2 oz?) to use? Will using a 2-3 oz bottom bouncer be heavy enough to get deep if I need to while trolling spoons or jigs? Any advice is greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

It’d likely be best if I just showed you how. I could even drive, 40-50 pound Lakers we can take my boat too!

I’m joking but that trip sounds like a great adventure.


I’d take some big Gibbs canoe spoons (army truck is my fave), buzzbombs, tube jigs, Len Thompson’s, t60 flatfish, Big Williams whitefish, silver streaks, northern kings and some lake trolls.

I’d want a heavier bottom bouncer and a dipsy diver as well.

You’ll want a heavy rod.

Edit- I’ve seen Bondy’s work well also but they don’t seem to work everywhere.

I use a good stiff rod [a little heavy for trout] and drag T50 and T60 flatfish. Blue and silver are my fav. They naturally run about 22 feet down, and if the fish are showing a little deeper I'll put on 1 or 2oz of lead. Some guys can catch them dragging an Apex too.

lakers
 

Some good advice above, my add would be troll SLOW. Like think slow paddle SLOW.

I would add some bondy baits. Expensive, but very well proven for massive lakers especially if you're jigging. Assortment of 6" jelly tubes would be my picks for jigging.

Dipsy divers can get you to the depths you need depending on their size. You just need lots of line because they run at an angle. I'd be running those with the flatfish/spoons mentioned above.

Sounds like a fun trip.

WOW! thanks for the tips! I have never heard of some of these different lures before, I guess I have some googling to do! The dipsy diver looks like a must and I think would be better than my thought of using a bottom bouncer! So reading Canuckshooter's and Tfng's advice should I go with a 9' ish long and medium to stiff rod? What about a spinning reel and line size and type? 30#or 50# braided or monofilament line?

Thanks for the info, I am just searching the Bondy baits and yea they are pricey but have to buy at least one to have and try! no regrets! HAHA

Apex lures, three feet of line, willow leaf, and a pink lady to get you down to depth.

Caught them in spoons too...Len thompsons, 5 of diamonds, red and whites, blue and silver spoons and they also work great on pike and eyes too.
I think you should look at tackle that can target all species of fish if limited on space etc which in this case the spoons will work great.
Your ugly stick, 7" medium/heavy, reel that can handle 200 yards of line and go with Berkeley fire line smoke Color 20lbs will haul anything that the lake will throw at you and then some. I don't even use leaders as this line is very durable. Caught many a laker trolling, then over to eyes and into the bays for gators with this type of set up. Remember it's fishing, which you want to turn into catching don't need to have a thousand dollars worth of fancy tackle just a small variety that gets it done.
Tight lines and post up a few pics.
Attachment 146071
Fish caught on the above type set up...then caught a few gators later on.:)

Trolling can be quite effective for lakers but don't underestimate jigging as well. Most of the lakers I catch are jigging with either white tube jigs (1oz), buck tail jigs, and a variety of jigging spoons. Buzz bombs are very effective as well.

The rod you have is fine with some 20lbs braid for jigging and flat trolling. If you are going to be pulling dipsy divers or pink lady’s you need a heavier rod with good back bone to stand up to the strain from the divers. Also a line counter reel is great to have as you can set your line out to the same spot every time. There are cheap rod/line counter reel combos out there that will work just fine. I used to use 20lbs Berkly big game on my diver rod because it was cheap and I never had a problem with it for lakers.

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Nothing beats a big jig and bait for big trout. Big trout would rather pick a meal off bottom than chase one down. My favorite tactic , all our big trout have been caught this way. Don’t even bring the downrighers anymore.

Use the 3 way swivel and run the premium 3way to get down

Set of trollers with a grey apax and you will have a ball.

I have a smaller clamp on your boat down rigger if you want to borrow and return it, let me know Camrose area, another vote for Bondy baits

Check out pinwheel lures I know the guy making them and they are hammering lake trout in the Great Lakes


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We have had good luck with a variety of spoons but the best presentation was still an anchovie rig. Tried dipsies and pink ladies but like the gibbs slip weights the best.
Only tried jigging in the winter and the strobe type lighted jig was by far the most successful.

we head to northern sask every summer too. some great lake trout lakes up there. a friend of mine i troduced me to the poor mans downrigger. 4oz slip sinker. $3 and some fluro leader material. basically make a 5ft leader and use williams or len thompson large spoons. attach slip sinker at top of leader. get its down to 90-140ft pretty quick. troll.... wait.. when they bite the slip sinker slides down to the spoon. and the fight is on. really simple to setup and use.

heres a pic.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1a2497123a.jpg

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Yup this works too....I also throw on a few small silver leafs on the leader to give a bit of flash as an attractant.

Lake trout are easy to catch as they are voracious eaters from top to bottom, fill,there guts on snails then up toothed top to target smaller fish....whatever fills there hole...even a big ol'spoon:sHa_shakeshout:

How do you rig one of these so they slip towards the lure after a hook up?

We picked up some dipsy divers last year and did well with them. The biggest size gets you down to 70’ no problem. I use line counters or metered line to help try get the lure to the right depth. It comes with a little chart that approximates depth for the amount of line you let out. Big coyote, Williams, Len Thompson, any spoons worked for us. Just have to get them to the right depth seemed the most important. Good luck!

x2 great idea

I use one slightly different than the one in the pic. The ones I use have small wires (bent over) on top of the weight. You thread your line through these and then clamp the line in the wire coils at what ever distance you want from your lure. When the fish bites the line releases from the wire coils and slides down to your lure. Use a swivel and a couple beads before your lure or rig to act as a "bumper" for the weight.
https://i.imgur.com/pQjrkmG.jpg?1

On a three-way rig I always use the lighter mono so you just lose your weight and not the whole rig if you snagged up on something

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I was trying to figure out every way to avoid a downrigger. Went a got a Scotty 1060 today with removable mount. Clean looking system. It’s there if I need it and stored if I don’t.

Hey MRT, So after much thought I think that I am going to go this way also but am looking at the 1050, what made you decide on the 1060? Now that I have said that what is the size of a cannon ball that should be used (10LBS) and also what length of a power grip should be used (18",36"48")?

Friends had a lodge on McIntyre lake (beside Cree Lake) and they said just bring
Len Thompson Five of diamonds in Yellow and black for lakers. We trolled and jigged and caught lakers very easily. There was not much of a challenge to it.

Wish it wuz like that here
 

Don’t ya wish it was that easy on Crowsnest Lake eh?

I don’t seem to mark a lot of critters in that lake.

If you are interested in trying these artificials, shoot me a PM and I'll send you some.

The only problem with those Gibbs sliding weights is they will scar up your line squash mono flat and nick it up a bit. I have found braid, especially if it is new and still has slippery coating to be fine. The old timers would wax their line to help the scars I think?

Also the weights need to be tuned up a bit to work right. The side clips need to be bent in so the weight doesn’t fall off. The round spring looking end opened up between the wires just the right amount so your particular line slips between and holds just tight enough. Bend the wires open to far and she’s fooked and won’t hold.

And now you know.