So I made my way up to Cold Lake for the first time this past weekend to try something new, Lake Trout fishing.
Must say, it all went pretty well, I caught plenty fish every session. Didn't take many photos as I was fishing alone the majority of the time. Most of my fish were caught vertical jigging with 4" paddle tails, and tube jigs. I did get some on the troll just to prove I could but not really my cup of tea.
Mostly I was fishing between 60ft and 110ft deep, using sonar to locate fish and bait and then strategically jigging them when they came past. Kept the lure bouncing on the bottom until some good marks came through and then ripped the lure towards surface and watched the screen to see if they chased. Quite fun as it's quite visual fishing even though the fish are way below the boat. If you look through my pictures I took a cool shot of a few fish cruising above the bottom. If you look carefully you will see my lure coming off the bottom and coming past them, you can see the moment a fish peels off and starts chasing the lure and eventually grabs it. That's the general pattern I was using, if they didn't chase it I would just send it straight back down instead of wasting time bringing it all the way to surface. Can get quite exciting as the suspense builds when you see that they're chasing the lure up, just waiting for the rod to get bent over!
Definitely found they were much more likely to bite if I found them actively feeding on a school of baitfish (As one would expect). If they were just cruising empty water I could still catch them, but it would take some more finesse and patience to get a response. Amazing the size of the baitfish schools in that lake.
Overall they're definitely a cool species, that are great fun to catch. Some of the fish sure put up a really good fight on the light tackle which is always fun. The way they dive for the bottom in nice runs, and can really dig in, reminds me of my old friend from South Africa the yellowtail kingfish. Can't imagine what they fight like when they start getting really big, may need to get further north some day and see!
Have to say it's a really beautiful lake and a nice campground, certainly a great weekend and I will definitely be back!
Trip Report: First time at Cold Lake
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