Lakers

BC7stw · #1 07-23-2012, 06:46 PM

20 years ago I tired lake trout fishing with limited success. switched to fly fishing and have a great twenty years with some nice fish over the years.

The other day a friend took me to a small out of the way and little fished lake to chase some lake trout around. After all this time i wasn't sure what I even had for gear anymore, hadn't used a spin cast set up in a long long time. My kids even grew up with a fly rod in their hands.

He told me show up with the boat and he'd take care of the gear. We put the boat into the water around 10am and spent a couple hours trying to dredge up something in the deepest part of the lake. We were only rewarded with a coulpe smaller ones and eventually decided to try in shallower. At 55 feet the sounder showed good numbers of fish on the bottom. A slow turn put us in 45 feet of water as my friends downrigger released. He was rewarded with a fish that was weighed at 13 lbs.

Once this fish was landed we set up the riggers and worked back to 55 feet the fish cooperated and we we rewarded with a fish about 7 lbs.

The action was steady all day and finally around 7pm we pulled up the lines and called it a day.

Well, the pictures showed up on my computor the next day and with a few days off I decided we should try it again. This time without down riggers. instead we used a 3 way swivel with a weight and about 3 feet of line to a small spoon. We trolled slow, actually we trolled SLOOOW. As we picked up all our biggest fish the last time when we were turning or when I slowed the boat up to land a smaller fish, we thought we'd try a speed that required constant checking to see if we were actually moving. Well it worked out extremely well. With the weight bumping on the bottom in around 50 feet of water we caught a number of lakers, some big guys too.

I have no idea how to attach pics( have been able to in the past but can\t seem to get these to go ), if some one has the patience to walk me through this I'd be happy to share some photos. Or I could email them to someone who is willing to post them for me.

Just wanted to share this method of fishing. I've always been told big lakers, go deep with big gear. I used a medium action rod with 14 lbs line and a small spoon to catch the biggest fish I've ever caught, 41 inches ( measured before release ).

I'm sure a few of you out there have caught large lakers. Is this typical or is large gear down deep more the norm.

Bhflyfisher · #2 07-23-2012, 07:08 PM

Sounds like a good trip.

I have some buddies in NWT who wait until fall and then target lakers on fly rods. They come up shallow and cruise around the creek mouths pre spawn, they then proceed to spawn, and then fatten up in the shallows post spawn. You can get some pretty big fish in the shallow water on a fly rod. Every time they tell me, it sounds like a blast!

Looking forward to seeing the pics when you have it figured out!

BeeGuy · #3 07-23-2012, 07:22 PM

That is a pretty standard technique back east for targeting ling and lakers in the summer from a canoe.

Using a smallish spoon or minnow.

How much weight were you using? 2oz?

Good story, sounds like a lot of fun.

BC7stw · #4 07-23-2012, 07:31 PM

4 ozs, tried 2 but it seemed to be a bit light. Thought about trying a fly next time round.

BeeGuy · #5 07-23-2012, 07:34 PM

You wrote that you were using 14lb line. If that was mono or flouro line it will have a lot more drag than 10lb braid or similar. Thinner line -> less weight.

Sounds like it was working great though.

You never mentioned which lake you were fishing...

BC7stw · #6 07-23-2012, 09:20 PM

Line was mono, I need to respool as it is old line maybe braided would help when I get to fishing deeper.

Spoon that seemed to out do the others was a mepps syclops #3 in lime green/orange with black bars across it, silver on the back. That color seemed best both days.

BC7stw · #7 07-24-2012, 06:45 AM

Nakoda boater · #8 07-24-2012, 07:16 AM

Nice fish!

BigA · #9 07-24-2012, 07:19 AM

Great fish!!!

BeeGuy · #10 07-24-2012, 07:33 AM

Very nice.

I wonder if those fish are older than me.

Levy · #11 07-24-2012, 10:23 AM

Great pictures! glad to see you released the big one. I also stumbled into this method in northern sask. I was using a bottom bouncer constructed out of a coat hanger and 10 inch bolt. Happy Fishing

Envitro · #12 07-24-2012, 10:55 AM

How slowly were you trolling? Just curious if you knew the speed.

I've heard that lake trout are best targetted at 1.0 - 1.5mph

BC7stw · #13 07-24-2012, 11:36 AM

Don't have a speed, I trolled into the wind which was light that day, and had an electric on very low. I watch the bubbles and tree lint on the water to see that I was moving. I always checked my hooks action before dropping it back in. I only used enough speed to get it moving reasonably. At times when I wasn't driving I had to ask if we were moving or if the motor was turned on, we were moving that slow. Faster we only got smaller ones. Ensure the hook you use has proper action at these speeds, lots don't

All the big fish ( 13 lbs and over ) were caught like this, without exception.

These fish are old, I have to put them back

TROLLER · #14 07-24-2012, 06:35 PM

I perfer the 3way to the downrigger. Been fishing that way for quite a few years, learned the method from a buddy who guides up north and that is the only way they fish the lakers.

I like to run about 6 ft of line to the spoon and only 3 to the weight.

Best part of your story is the pic's of the fish and that they lived for another day. More people should do the same.

Thanks for the story and pic

BC7stw · #15 07-25-2012, 09:17 AM

I call it catch and restock.

It is thrilling to catch a huge fish, so I put'um back in so someone else can maybe have a crack at it. Hopefully they will do the same. Takes a long time to grow big fish and the numbers of them aren't there like they were in most places.

These fish could be as old as me, let'em swim