Casting for fall lake trout in the shallows

[Weavster]

I finally made it onto another adventure to do one of my favourite things in the fall and that is casting for lake trout. I headed up to northern manitoba for 3.5 days of fishing. It was an abo****e grind casting for 8-11 hours a day with big lures for these fish but it paid off in the end. We boated 5 masters (35"+) on the trip and 20 lake trout total by the time the trip had come to an end.

Hope you all enjoy the footage!

https://youtu.be/9R3YGwFG7G0

[mapleleafman3]

Good stuff. Looked like a great trip. Thanks for posting. Keep up the great vids.

[58thecat]

wow some beauts for sure Matt!!!! Got a text from Adam said I gotta stop chicken hunting and see your new vid!

[Osky]

Very well done as usual Weav....
I’ve moved the trip I invited you on to next summer if your interested.
You probably already know this but those lakers will be up in the same shallows the first two weeks of ice out in the spring.
Osky

[58thecat]

Question Matt....you edited to show lakers but how was the bite for pike?
What were you tossing out for these lunkers?
Must be some big gators lurking the depths there......

[Weavster]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Question Matt....you edited to show lakers but how was the bite for pike?
What were you tossing out for these lunkers?
Must be some big gators lurking the depths there......

we did catch two pike on this trip. what i find fascinating is how these trout will run these pike out of their spawning grounds. however i did spend a few more days pike and walleye fishing after on a few other lakes. i still have to dig through that footage as well! but we did have some really good days and a few pike over 40” did have one follow in the upper 40” range to it was a blast

Originally Posted by mapleleafman3

Good stuff. Looked like a great trip. Thanks for posting. Keep up the great vids.

it was awesome! thanks for the feedback i appreciate it!

Originally Posted by Osky

Very well done as usual Weav....
I’ve moved the trip I invited you on to next summer if your interested.
You probably already know this but those lakers will be up in the same shallows the first two weeks of ice out in the spring.
Osky

really depends on my work schedule if i can make it or not. spent most
of my days off from work guiding on cold lake this summer it was a blast meeting some really awesome people

[RACKER]

Another great video.I was suprised how shallow you were fishing.Never fished for lakers before and thought even at this time of year they would be 20 plus feet.Looks like ya had a good time inspite of the weather and landed some big fish.I also was jealous of how spacious your boat was.Every time you went to measure a fish it looked like you were in another boat!Thanks for posting and best of luck on your next adventure.

[Osky]

Weaves..
I’m not sure your depth on the video I always target 10’ and under for reef top trout.
Pike were mentioned, they tend to run a bit deeper in my experience at that time. I target a troll depth of 13’ off deeper edges or water 20 plus deep near boulders. The water being clearer in the fall flash is the key. I’ve never experienced the two species mingling so to speak even tho pike will eat smaller Lakers.
I was on a lake years ago in summer and saw another guides boat pull in a trophy laker with the tail end of a pretty good size pike sticking out of its gullet.
Turn about is fair play?
Just my experiences, certainly not gospel.

Osky

[-JR-]

Nice

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Osky

Weaves..
I’m not sure your depth on the video I always target 10’ and under for reef top trout.
Pike were mentioned, they tend to run a bit deeper in my experience at that time. I target a troll depth of 13’ off deeper edges or water 20 plus deep near boulders. The water being clearer in the fall flash is the key. I’ve never experienced the two species mingling so to speak even tho pike will eat smaller Lakers.
I was on a lake years ago in summer and saw another guides boat pull in a trophy laker with the tail end of a pretty good size pike sticking out of its gullet.
Turn about is fair play?
Just my experiences, certainly not gospel.

Osky

Ya lakers are like the Orca's of fresh water...once they hit a certain size nothing messes with them...do what they please....never targeted lakers in the fall but this has me thinking now....something to do just before dusting off the shotty for upland game and setting up game cams for deer season

Man we got it good in this country!!!!!

If it wasn't for guys like Matt showing us this I would have never got the thoughts a brewing....

[Osky]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Ya lakers are like the Orca's of fresh water...once they hit a certain size nothing messes with them...do what they please....never targeted lakers in the fall but this has me thinking now....something to do just before dusting off the shotty for upland game and setting up game cams for deer season

Man we got it good in this country!!!!!

If it wasn't for guys like Matt showing us this I would have never got the thoughts a brewing....

58 your dead on. Because lakers live where they live they almost have a superstitious aura. They are savage killers and terrific cannibals as well.
A few weeks ago I was on Flaming Gorge in NW Utah and had a very small laker maybe 15” long hooked behind a dipsy diver. Brought up to clear it the guy on the rod and another in the boat and I watched a terrific lake trout come up under it and clobber it. Didn’t hold on overly long I’m thinking the bright sun that morning pushed the big one off quickly. When the big one turned from the boat I saw the girth and it was a solid 50 plus pounder probably 48-49 inch fish. Then again that’s no biggy compared to what they are currently catching down there.
When in your country clouds and barometer are your friend. Within 300 miles north of the border lakers like the first full moon of October to be on those reefs spawning. North of that a bit earlier.
A ton of my clients have caught terrific lakers up in your country the first two weeks of ice out, where the walleyes are spawning. They are shallow and releaseable and many have had walleye tails showing in their gullets. I think they feast on those smaller males.
I can’t give any tips to you Weavs.. your a dang good trout man. A thought tho you might keep a small notebook if you don’t already. Lake trout have a lot of little subtleties but their patterns are there and easy to overlook. With today’s wonderful boats and electronics and all it’s a much busier place at the helm than the years that JD, Whelen, myself and other guides worried only about wether the tiller handle was tight, clients were happy, green box was flashing, and somebody remembered the net.

Osky

[Osky]

I would add that in the fall on a nice Clearwater lake a run over those flats at night with a good light will tell you where the trout are. Come back the next morning and let the casting begin.

Osky

[JD848]

Very nice video like always Weavster, some great trout fishing in that area and fall fishing is one of the best for lake trout.

I can remember my first fall trout fishing on a lake called Sydney lake in 1976. I can remember flying in from seeing the 76 Olympics in Montreal and taking off up north that august . It was late September and we located them in the shallows with a bit of a hump around 12 feet deep .The snow was coming down and I thought this was the coolest fishing there was and it was.


To remember it is great, but I wish I would have kept some sort of a log book on which days exactly ,conditions etc and go back and read it all. I lost a whole pile of my fishing and hunting pictures when we hired a company to move us into our new place and 4 bins we figure are missing,I hope they were just misplaced by them. I say this looking at your videos and there was videos out back in those days, but i never thought about it or did others around me.

Then again 45 years ago if someone told me I could call someone or find out all I needed to know on a little box in my pocket I would have thought he was nuts.Trying to fix them old boat motors the camp had would have been great to have you tube.

No matter what tech comes out, being out there and doing it will never change .If you don't go out and do those fall trips it just doesn't happen and it's great to see the passion you have for it and doing a very great job at it.

All the best always.

JD

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Osky

58 your dead on. Because lakers live where they live they almost have a superstitious aura. They are savage killers and terrific cannibals as well.
A few weeks ago I was on Flaming Gorge in NW Utah and had a very small laker maybe 15” long hooked behind a dipsy diver. Brought up to clear it the guy on the rod and another in the boat and I watched a terrific lake trout come up under it and clobber it. Didn’t hold on overly long I’m thinking the bright sun that morning pushed the big one off quickly. When the big one turned from the boat I saw the girth and it was a solid 50 plus pounder probably 48-49 inch fish. Then again that’s no biggy compared to what they are currently catching down there.
When in your country clouds and barometer are your friend. Within 300 miles north of the border lakers like the first full moon of October to be on those reefs spawning. North of that a bit earlier.
A ton of my clients have caught terrific lakers up in your country the first two weeks of ice out, where the walleyes are spawning. They are shallow and releaseable and many have had walleye tails showing in their gullets. I think they feast on those smaller males.
I can’t give any tips to you Weavs.. your a dang good trout man. A thought tho you might keep a small notebook if you don’t already. Lake trout have a lot of little subtleties but their patterns are there and easy to overlook. With today’s wonderful boats and electronics and all it’s a much busier place at the helm than the years that JD, Whelen, myself and other guides worried only about wether the tiller handle was tight, clients were happy, green box was flashing, and somebody remembered the net.

Osky

Starting to figure things out here one of my best lakers was caught in 9 feet of water first week of the season with the ice just off....we were going after eyes that were spawning or just finished....hmmmmm....

[Weavster]

Originally Posted by RACKER

Another great video.I was suprised how shallow you were fishing.Never fished for lakers before and thought even at this time of year they would be 20 plus feet.Looks like ya had a good time inspite of the weather and landed some big fish.I also was jealous of how spacious your boat was.Every time you went to measure a fish it looked like you were in another boat!Thanks for posting and best of luck on your next adventure.

Yep by far one of my favourite times to target them is this time of the year. Its always fun when you see one of these giants following you in or even hitting you boat side.

Originally Posted by Osky

Weaves..
I’m not sure your depth on the video I always target 10’ and under for reef top trout.
Pike were mentioned, they tend to run a bit deeper in my experience at that time. I target a troll depth of 13’ off deeper edges or water 20 plus deep near boulders. The water being clearer in the fall flash is the key. I’ve never experienced the two species mingling so to speak even tho pike will eat smaller Lakers.
I was on a lake years ago in summer and saw another guides boat pull in a trophy laker with the tail end of a pretty good size pike sticking out of its gullet.
Turn about is fair play?
Just my experiences, certainly not gospel.

Osky

ya we targeted some pike on other lakes later on. most of the big ones we found were in bays that still had green cabbage and were creek fed. We didn't have to much luck on the rock for some reason but hey we found a pattern that worked those few days so we just stuck running that pattern...

[Weavster]

Originally Posted by Osky

58 your dead on. Because lakers live where they live they almost have a superstitious aura. They are savage killers and terrific cannibals as well.
A few weeks ago I was on Flaming Gorge in NW Utah and had a very small laker maybe 15” long hooked behind a dipsy diver. Brought up to clear it the guy on the rod and another in the boat and I watched a terrific lake trout come up under it and clobber it. Didn’t hold on overly long I’m thinking the bright sun that morning pushed the big one off quickly. When the big one turned from the boat I saw the girth and it was a solid 50 plus pounder probably 48-49 inch fish. Then again that’s no biggy compared to what they are currently catching down there.
When in your country clouds and barometer are your friend. Within 300 miles north of the border lakers like the first full moon of October to be on those reefs spawning. North of that a bit earlier.
A ton of my clients have caught terrific lakers up in your country the first two weeks of ice out, where the walleyes are spawning. They are shallow and releaseable and many have had walleye tails showing in their gullets. I think they feast on those smaller males.
I can’t give any tips to you Weavs.. your a dang good trout man. A thought tho you might keep a small notebook if you don’t already. Lake trout have a lot of little subtleties but their patterns are there and easy to overlook. With today’s wonderful boats and electronics and all it’s a much busier place at the helm than the years that JD, Whelen, myself and other guides worried only about wether the tiller handle was tight, clients were happy, green box was flashing, and somebody remembered the net.

Osky

Oh how things of changed hey... Side imaging is my key for finding these reefs as well as auto charting. Cruising around shore lines and islands with the auto chart on has been key for the success. Gaining more confidence each trip with finding new spots that hold trout that are spawning fuels the fire!

Originally Posted by JD848

Very nice video like always Weavster, some great trout fishing in that area and fall fishing is one of the best for lake trout.

I can remember my first fall trout fishing on a lake called Sydney lake in 1976. I can remember flying in from seeing the 76 Olympics in Montreal and taking off up north that august . It was late September and we located them in the shallows with a bit of a hump around 12 feet deep .The snow was coming down and I thought this was the coolest fishing there was and it was.


To remember it is great, but I wish I would have kept some sort of a log book on which days exactly ,conditions etc and go back and read it all. I lost a whole pile of my fishing and hunting pictures when we hired a company to move us into our new place and 4 bins we figure are missing,I hope they were just misplaced by them. I say this looking at your videos and there was videos out back in those days, but i never thought about it or did others around me.

Then again 45 years ago if someone told me I could call someone or find out all I needed to know on a little box in my pocket I would have thought he was nuts.Trying to fix them old boat motors the camp had would have been great to have you tube.

No matter what tech comes out, being out there and doing it will never change .If you don't go out and do those fall trips it just doesn't happen and it's great to see the passion you have for it and doing a very great job at it.

All the best always.

JD

Thanks for the compliment. The experience out there is everything! I love hearing stories like this! Last year it was -12 and a blizzard the one day we tried and well we got 1 trophy laker and in the pictures there was snow in the boat and I remember stopping after every so many casts to warm up my hands. For me the video has just been a way to capture these moments and memories.

[does it ALL outdoors]

Wow, great fish!

Congrats

[Spudnut]

Beautiful fish, well done. Had no idea they would be that shallow

[Weavster]

Originally Posted by does it ALL outdoors

Wow, great fish!

Congrats

thanks! probably one of my favourite adventures of the year!

Originally Posted by Spudnut

Beautiful fish, well done. Had no idea they would be that shallow

one of the best time to target them in the shallows other then the spring ice off..

[keeks]

Awesome trip. We used to go every spring to George Lake for Lakers and Smallmouth. Lakers are shallow in the spring too. Nothing this size, but still fun.

[Weavster]

Originally Posted by keeks

Awesome trip. We used to go every spring to George Lake for Lakers and Smallmouth. Lakers are shallow in the spring too. Nothing this size, but still fun.

where does one sign up for a trip like that! i’ve made it out a few times for smallies what a blast that is