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Anyone been out on Big Trout lately? If so, how was the ice, and are there any bad spots to watch for? Thinking of going and trying for lakers.

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Was out Saturday from 7-2:00. Ice was great. We took wheelers and snowmobiles due to not knowing, however there were full sized trucks out everywhere. I was actually surprised to the amount of activity that was out there. We found the ice to be around 30"

No luck on trout however...We fished hard, hopped holes, changed baits, depths, structure every 15 minutes. We only saw one fish caught, and it seemed to be little. We were marking fish, however not sure as what they were, and we couldn't get them commit. We decided to pull the pin and chase some crappies on another lake. It was a smart choice. grin.gif

Good luck if you head out.

CA

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I fished it on saturday and caught 5 small fish all 12" or so.

then had to go pound on the walleyes and whitefish over on lower whitefish. It was a mixed bag of perch, walleyes,whitefish and northerns all out of the same hole. steady action from 2:30 to 5:30. I wish I would have gotten off big trout earlier.

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Isn't it great getting 'eyes through the ice on Whitefish!? Any nice ones? I always like letting everyone pile in on Gull and North Long for the 'eyes leaving WFC pretty much desolate despite the great fishing there too! Just a bit more work! Was up over spring break and did very well on Lower Whitefish... Great for numbers, a bit on the small side though...

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are you able to drive on whitefish.....I haven't been to that side of the chain for a while...

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Ya you can get on at the pig lake access and drive anywhere after that just not at any narrows. I was going to go to Leech this week end but I'm going back to WFC just cause out of the same hole I can catch walleyes, northerns and whitefish with an occasional keeper perch. not to mention this lake has some of the largest walleyes you will ever see because of the forage base. you can keep Gull, there's no shot at a 20+ lb laker there, in the chain they are everywhere I have even wittnessed a laker even being caught below the pine river dam in town! go figure. See ya out there Moses.

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I caught a lake trout on Dagget lake about 11 years ago. They travel a long ways from Big Trout.

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Couldn't agree more!! There are plenty of pigs in there if you do your work! Good luck on the next trip, I'm stuck down at school for awhile, but I'll get up again soon!

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Wow 20+ pound lakers everywhere on the chain...I would like to know where they are b/c I have fished the WFC for 20+ years and have never seen numerous 20 pound lakers on the chain...I think you would be lucky to see a couple 10 pounders caught all winter. Walleye fishing has been tough for me all winter on Whitefish, a few small ones here and there but I haven't had a keeper for the past 5 trips out on Whitefish. Even though I have a cabin on the WFC chain I still spend the majority of my time on Gull or Pelican, at least a few keepers are almost always caught. As far as the ice of Whitefish, use caution! I fished two different spots on upper Whitefish last week...one spot had 24.5 inches and the other had 12.75 inches so be careful. Next time you see a 20+ pounder on WFC, take a picture so I can believe that those big fish are out there. Good Fishing!

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Walleye007,

what general area did you see 12.75 inches? I'm planning to be on WF this weekend and haven't ventured out yet with the truck this winter.

Thanks

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I'm with Walleye007 on this one. Most of the chain is not the type of water to sustain a population of lakers. They need deep and cold water and in the middle of July Trout Lake is one of the few places they would make it. That's not to say there might not be one here or there but 20 lb lakers are hard to find on a regular basis anywhere outside of Canada. Yes there are a few places in NE MN but not many. If you are walleye fishing, say Cross Lake to catch trout I think you're mistaken.

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Same here. I've been fishing the chain my whole life and have never seen a twenty lb lake trout. My best is eleven lbs but i've seen slightly larger caught on trout. I know people who have caught them throughout the chain but usually only in the spring when water temps are low.

I think there is a 20 pounder in there though! \:\)

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guess I didn't know it would be so easy to get this off track. Lower whitefish has more water over 50'and the chain is much larger than Big trout. Also the water is much more fertile than big trout, just a geuss but I would suspect that the cisco population and whitefish populations are much higher in whitefish as well, but I have caught both in big trout. Any where you go in the winter you have a shot at a 20 lb'er even Cross holds lakers. If you talk to Scott who works at the Outing trout hatchery he'll tell you the same thing.Now there is only a hand full of this class of fish, but they do exist. I'm catching more over 20" fish than under when it comes to walleyes but then I'm not fishing the pounded spots like Foley's either. The odd thing about the fish we are catching is they are 90% males. Of maybe 12-14 fish kept only two have been females. A good day out there has been 6-8 fish and release 3 or 4. I've been fishing 25-32 fow with minnow heads. I just like the idea of fishing on water that holds the potential to spool me. Good luck and see ya on the ice.

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I hope to head out to Big Trout this weekend. In general I am reading the ice is pretty good on the lake. I would assume that the channel between Big Trout and Lower Whitefish would be pretty iffy. I figured I would try and hit a few humps and dropoffs and see what happens. If anybody has any tips it would be much appreciated because I have never fished lakers or the Whitefish Chain before.

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There's open water in the narrows between trout and whitefish it has to stay below zero for a week before that thing will close up and it's still dangerous. I try to target water that is 30-55 deep in big trout, there is lots of deeper water but all I catch there is 12" and under fish. They are feeding on 5"-6" ciscos. Last time I was there I got blanked and only got 1 whitefish and Metro released it, well sort of.LOL I had one good fish chasing for about 15-20 seconds and then it gave up.I would use a chubby darter, any color,or large jigging rap or shad. The trout I have caught have come on large buckshot rattles spoons with heads. I ran into Gary Roach at the bait shop two saturdays ago in crosslake and we talked trout for a while and he targets only 30-40 fow. good luck. and you can drive around to the pig lake access to get on lower whitefish.

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Thanks for the info fishgutz grin.gif I will post a report if I happen to have any action or if I don't.

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Just wondering how the laker fishing is in early march? I was thinking of coming up the first week in march. any suggestions on what type of structure to be fishing on big trout in march would be appreciated.

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I've only gotten small fish this year but they have hit large baits jigged aggresively. 30-55 fow on midlake structure is where I have fished. I mark a better fish once or twice in a day but have not been able to get them to go. I have pulled some good whitefish out of there though. Next time I fish it instead of vertical jigs I'm going to use chubby darters and jigging raps to get a more horizontal presentation. maybe they will go.

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Was out there yesterday and caught 3 trout 1-6"er,1-10" and 1-15"er. I must have at least drilled 30 holes in different locations. Found lots of bait fish out in the deeper water but no fish anywhere in sight. Caught all 3 fish in 40-50 fow. Pretty windy all day but nice to be trout fishing. You never know when that big ones going to hit.

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Oh thats awesome! I'm thinking about coming up there the middle of March too, during spring break! I'd love to get 3 lakers!! If I get up there, I'll report back on how I did... Would it be more handy to have a Vexilar or Aqua-view with? It sounds like you drill a bunch of holes and check to see if anything is down there, so I'm leaning towards a vex... Any suggestions??

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I have actually done the best with a tip-up and a sucker minnow. Nothing of great size but I have gotten more fish that way than jigging.

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Bring the vexilar. The three fish i caught last week all came from different depths off the bottom but I catch 75% of my fish right tight to the bottom though.

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Alright sounds good! I'll be bringing the vex then hoping to mark something down there, thanks for the suggestions!

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I'm coming up to due battle on B-Trout and lower whitefish again this saturday. I'm finally not the one to drive, if you see a red tahoe come over and say hi give us a report. we should be mid lake on one of the humps. If you catch some whitefish and don't want them I'll be glad to smoke them up. to much noise with the car racing on the other end.

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i have fished b-trout couple times this year and wondering if its better on the other side. i have caught a few littel fish in the 12in range out from the landing in 45fow just a littel info would help. thank

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Its hit or miss on big trout. I fish the lake every week and have not had a good year. There's just to much bait in the lake. I seen this All summer long those cisco's are just thick. Should have very healthy fish. I've been fishing the humps my self with not to much luck. Ps if your after whitefish I did good earlier this year in 80- 90 fow on a small hump for those of you that know where this is. Good fishN

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
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    • Brianf.
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    • LakeofthewoodsMN
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    • CigarGuy
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    • PSU
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    • Mike89
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    • Hookmaster
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