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Big Watab Lake Trout?


JeremyCampbell

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I havnt got a smoker or used one yet.If I get any trout they will just stay in the lake.There's some other fish too in there I've had good luck with.

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Has anyone caught any brown trout? I know they are stocked in far less numbers, but wondering if there's a different approach to them?

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Has anyone caught any brown trout? I know they are stocked in far less numbers, but wondering if there's a different approach to them?

The last time I was out there I actually did get one brown while we were jigging. I think its mostly because of the less numbers stock other wise I think people would be getting them more often. I don't think there is to much of a difference between what you throw at them, but I could be wrong. Its my first year chasing trout.

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This year I've probably caught around 30 rainbows trolling and maybe 5 brown trout, compare the stocking numbers and that comes out to be a pretty close ratio. The browns looked funny to me though. Guess I'm used to seeing larger browns in Lake Superior

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I went there last week and got skunked. There were 3 or 4 boats working the area I was in. I tried a slip bobber and also trolled a bare 1/2 crawler. I saw fish at 20 to 26'. I caught a couple sunfish.

Two guys in a dark Lund came by and caught a couple near me. We talked a bit - they were trolling cowbells. He told me the setup, but it was hard to hear. I think he said he was using a 2 ounce weight and a 12" leader with a small treble and 1/4 crawler.

So - two questions from a trout newbie: 1) Please explain the cowbell setup a bit. I think he said he was trolling at about 1 to 1.2mph. How do you know how deep your rig is? 2) What time of the year? Can I get some yet this year or is it over? Spring is better?

Thanks!

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Here is a cowbell setup

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I have rigged up my own by just tying swivels every foot or two with a blade in between swivels, just make sure you have a weight or rudder in front to prevent the blades from twisting your line up, I use downriggers with cowbells and small rapalas and those seem to work better for me then worms on spinners. You could use a trolling weight that's a few ounces to get down there, just experiment with speed and the amount of line you have out, the fish will rise to hit a lure as well, I'm still seeing a few surfacing out there while trolling.

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Thanks. I saw some fish hit the surface in 45' of water. I assumed they were trout. So they will bite all summer? Does it pick up in the fall?

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I know there are a lot of charts and formulas out there involving weight, drag, and resistance in relation to line diameter and length, but my ADHD method of checking depth is is by hitting bottom winkgrin Ultimately fish can be caught out there anytime of year, including winter, but I suppose the best time is spring. There are simply more fish available then. Also,while the stockers can't reproduce, some do catch on pretty quick to the gig and the holdovers and end of the year stockers are certainly more discerning and tougher to catch.

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I think like any thing else too that the trout will have active days and inactive days depending on conditions, I got 5 fish last Tuesday in a short period of time and there were days this spring I got skunked. I haven't ever fished it in the fall but I have fished it in the winter and it is tough to say the least, I ice fished it 5-6 times and tried new spots every time and only saw a half a dozen trout total and didn't catch a single one, as fast as they swam in the hole they swam out. I'm going to keep fishing it up to winter to try and get a better feel for ice fishing out there this year

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When the wind is blowing try a plain crawler under a float away from the boat.........you'll get some trout action if there feeding!Try sutton spoons,thin doctors behind three ways,lead core or dipsey divers>c63

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I've only fished the lake in the fall. Last year there were no signs of trout. The year before it looked like it was raining trout! They were jumping everywhere! Not surfacing...jumping!

I know some lakes receive both spring and fall stockings. I asked the DNR if they stocked trout in both seasons, but they said they only stock the lake in the spring.

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I went out there just a few days after the stocking this year.The dnr and lake home owners are also watching closely making sure no invasive species gets in there.They may ask you a bunch of questions when you are ready to put your boat in but I been real friendly with everyone there.They are staying on top of keeping a clean and pleasant lake for fishing.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

I went out there just a few days after the stocking this year.The dnr and lake home owners are also watching closely making sure no invasive species gets in there.They may ask you a bunch of questions when you are ready to put your boat in but I been real friendly with everyone there.They are staying on top of keeping a clean and pleasant lake for fishing.

And? confused

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Good question leach,I was just thinking about how some people are not as patient and just wanted to let others know that there's a bigger picture than what is in front of them and to cooperate with those who are trying to keep the lake clean.I saw some smart alic responses when I was there last.H

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Good question leach,I was just thinking about how some people are not as patient and just wanted to let others know that there's a bigger picture than what is in front of them and to cooperate with those who are trying to keep the lake clean.I saw some smart alic responses when I was there last.H

No , I agree. And-what did you catch! wink

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I found an area where it was around 60 and they were romeing up on the finder.Trolled with everything I had and nothing.Moved on to a couple of familiar spots and won some panfish with some bass to garnish with.Uh was that a deep question LOL or just a honest whatcha catch question? J/k

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I went out there just a few days after the stocking this year.The dnr and lake home owners are also watching closely making sure no invasive species gets in there.They may ask you a bunch of questions when you are ready to put your boat in but I been real friendly with everyone there.They are staying on top of keeping a clean and pleasant lake for fishing.

Some of the association volunteers have figured out to park on the grass by the landing but a few have parked in the first truck and trailer parking spot which is irritating when you get there and all the spots are taken and there's a Prius in one of the spots. Other then that I'm glad they are there and like to chat with them. Hope to head out there on Thursday evening

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I went there early morning a couple weeks ago. There was a young man in a lawn chair. We talked. He was hired by the lake association and asked me if I was aware of invasive species. I told him yes, I know the routine, etc. He stood around while I unstrapped and put the plug in. Here's the good part - I asked him what invasive species were in the lake and he said carp and purple loosestrife! Not sure the association is getting their money's worth. He was still there when I left a few hours later and he was chatting with someone and never even looked my way as I loaded the boat and left.

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You should've told him you were doing your part in ridding the lake of those pesky invasive trout wink

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  • 1 month later...

Was out there yesterday.Pretty slow. The other boats were moving a lot too.I noticed a lot of fish were leaping out of the water ,had fun watching some get 5' high.

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Watching them jump is pretty cool. The first time I fished the lake I thought it was infested with silver carp! crazy With all the bugs that are still out and about, I would say stay close to the surface.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've always done well out there using leadcore with very small minnow baits and even spinners with a small piece of crawler.

When they go deeper I use the riggers with minnow baits. biggest fish to date is about 3#

lots of them in there though. I only fish water deeper than 25 ft

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I'd like to go again this weekend.My fish finder acts goofy in the deeper areas.I have to set it for that lake.Once I reach more than 40' I have a hard time seeing fish on the screen.

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I almost forgot to mention on a bar not to far from the access,we found some ok sunfish.Using flashy color jigs.We ended up in 13' and they were hugging the weeds.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
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    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
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