Salvelinus Namaycuch

[chunkytrout]

The auger is ready, the reels are spooled, tackle is shined, and the ice seems to be taking it’s sweet time. As we say goodbye to 2004 and ring in 2005, my mind turns to one thing. Salvelinus Namaycuch! Lake trout opener is just around the corner and as I find myself fidgeting with my arsenal, I come across little notes on my maps. Just daily scribbling of locations, times, weather, and happily a few measurements. I’ve never kept a fishing journal but I’ve heard testimony from many anglers that say it’s an important tool for them. For myself I’ve noticed that after a while, you get a sense for these things. Not that you actually know where they are or what they’re doing but, you have a good idea where to start and what to look for.

I’ve only been fishing lakers for 6 years so in no way am I an expert. I’ve only fished a handful of laker lakes in that time. But what I have learned and experienced gets filed away in my fishing memory banks. That combined with what I’ve been taught by others has begun to create patterns that are truly recognizable. Think of the combined knowledge alone just on these forums!!! Thousands and thousands of hours fishing, learning, and teaching.

So, back to the lakers. Below are a few examples trout patterns in one small part of a very large lake. Three completely different areas with different depths, bottoms, and contour changes. All three in one small area of the lake and all three produce lakers at specific times or conditions.

This is NE Burntside lake with the Dead River to the North. The public access is around the tip of the peninsula in the upper right. I wish I knew how many acres we’re looking at here but I don’t. Again this is a small chunk of the lake. Area #1 is a classic trough out into the main bay. Between the peninsula and the opposite shoreline it starts around 30FOW. Then scoops out gradually to 80FOW. This is mostly the land of the bottom dwellers. This crowd hangs out just above bottom. Some feeding and some just cruising. When they are feeding it’s a game on enticing them out of deep by jigging. I’m a spoon guy so that’s what I use. Some people use the tubes and some swear by the airplanes. I’ll start with a gentle controlled drop all the way down. Bounce the bottom for a while, pause and then reel up a few feet. Jig again, pause and repeat up to where I think I’m about 20 feet deep. Then back to the bottom I go. Now this can be a bit boring but if noones hitting on the way up, they’ll smack it on the way back down. If you can backreel down, it’s usually best. If you are lucky enough to have a flasher along, things can get pretty exciting and sometimes maddening. When that big red line rises up to your jig and you can bring him up 10 feet at a time, the blood starts pumping! By the way, all my spoons are tipped with cisco. This pattern usually produces on the coldest consistent high pressure days.

This area is a gradual slope from the trough heading East. The shelf tops out around 10FOW and there is mostly scattered rocks and a few boulders above the ice surface marking the shelf's top. When area #1 or #3 are quiet, this is my goto. Especially during a change into a low pressure system. I discovered this by accident while drilling around with no way of checking depth accept jigging. I knew I was in shallow and just as my lure was in sight on the retrieve, wham! Maybe two feet below the ice a fish hit so hard and fast that before I knew what happened the line snapped. I immediately re-rigged and dropped about 6 feet down. Five minutes later I iced a nice 5 pounder. Again the hit was furious but this time I was a bit more prepared. Another time while sight fishing I saw a cloud of smelt dart by three times. My guess? Maybe the low pressure brings the forage up on that shelf and the hungry lakers follow. But these hits are always fast. In area#1, it’s usually a slower pace game. They are able to stalk and prefer to attack from below their target. Here in #2 I believe it’s a head on game and speed is their best attack plan. Most hits are in the 10 foot or above column.

On to #3 which seems to be the daily migration area for going to and coming from feeding. Certain times of the day are the ticket here. Morning and early evening. Here the fish relate to the bottom more, unlike #2. The bite is usually short but if you hit it right it’s pretty consistent. Off the southern tip of this area you’ll see an Island cluster. This is yet another hot spot but I have not fished it enough to comment too much. Except for that a couple a Site Administrators did surprisingly well there, and they were SO QUIET about it....(?)

So to wrap it all up, here we have a typical chunk of Burntside Lake. And there’s alot of chunks just like it. The best part is it’s active and holds many opportunities for the ice angler who pays attention. And the really best part is this particular chunk is again the HQ for this years ICE SERIES 3rd Annual Burntside Laker Bash. The rules are the same, the trophies are the same, the prizes are great, but we let down our hair a little on the competition side and concentrate on having a blast learning, teaching, and fishing lakers! Hope some of you can join us on one of the most beautiful lakes outside the BWCA. For more info or to register, click the link below.

Click here for ICE Series Info

[northernnels]

Hay Chunk: great reading. You sure got me pumped. Are you looking to take ST's spot as the local reporter

I hope the slush is not too bad so a guy can get out and around this year. how long does it take to pronounce lake trout is Greek? Nels

[Steve Foss]

Shoot, he's already done that long ago on this board, if by "local reporter" you mean replacing me. Chunk's details are more helpful and thorough a rundown of laker ins and outs for a specific area than any I've ever seen. A guy can print that out and bring it along to the Burntside Bash, which has been set along the Dead its first two winters, and go right to business. In fact, don't I recall that last year's bash winner, a bit over 12 pounds, was caught about 50 yards from the weigh-in tent only five minutes before weigh-in deadline? Hmmm, talk about drama.

Where else can you get this detailed how-to stuff for free, eh?

Of course, there's a LOT more water on Burntside that holds good lakers, and I reckon Chunk's going to enjoy spending the rest of his life (and hopefully some of mine) figuring it all out. If a fellow has to have a "home" lake, people who live close to Burntside have a good one.

Guide on, Mr. C-Trout!

[chunkytrout]

Thanks for the kind words and all but no secrets here. 50% speculation / 50% getting my hind end kicked by this lake. Not to mention the other 50%. No doubt it can be a challenging body of water. But you work at it and like anything else, it comes together (painfully slow at times).

STF, winning fish was 12.4 last season. Not one of the long skinny ones either. This was a linebacker if you remember right.

That was a happy boy!

[Steve Foss]

Hmmm, nice photo.

[Tom Linderholm]

Nice Post, and Nice Fish Chunky. With info like that how could you not find fish for the Burntside Bash. Just hope they are hungry

[Xplorer]

Yo Chunky, nice airial photo and descrip's Lets hope the slush stays away so we can do some cruising for the Bash.

Bad news for opener tho, it looks like i am stuck at home that weekend, bummed bigtime. I'll be staying up for the Bash tho, coming up saturday am and staying with nels/doc I think saturday night (or in my truck on the ice). May try a little streamer fishing on sunday b4 heading back.

Hope this wind didnt make a mess of the ice.

The rods are rigged and ready, and the sleds have been dusted off and fired up. I even picked up a new rod (the 34" HT rod that stf is fond of) on clearance last spring for $6 to try out this year. Talk to ya soon.

[Steve Foss]

Six bucks,Chris? That's a darn good price. Hope you get a chance to use it sooner rather than later. It's one of the three laker rods I've got. The other commerical rod is a sweet Genz rod, a medium-heavy 36-inch baitcaster designed for lakers. The third is a Surface Tension handmade fiberglass special that I spool with 20 lb mono and a 14-lb fluorocarbon leader and trot out when I think I'm in the presence of really big fish. It's got enough muscle to pull a Ford pickup around on the ice, though I reckon any Chevy would give it trouble.

[Quickstrike]

The bash this winter will be my first time icing lakers. I was just wondering what gear I should go pick up and what kind of stuff I probally already have. I was wondering if a walleye rod on the heavier side will work or will i want to go pick up something bigger? A list of lures and what sizes work well would also be helpfull. I am super excited to try this out and I greatly appreciatte all the help on FM!!!

[Leaky]

Chunky - You Rock!!!!! That's one of the best posts I've ever seen on any fishing forum. Period!! Hope to see on opener. Be sure to stop out to Bobs.

Hey Catfish - Long time no talk to. Good to see you.

[Steve Foss]

Good questions all.

Here's what I think. It ain't the bible according to the Gods of lakers, just what I think after a few years pursuing these great-tasting, great-fighting members of the char family.

I'd stick with stout walleye gear until you know if this is an addiction for you. A medium- to medium-heavy action ice rod with 10-lb test and good backbone will be enough, and that's especially true on Bside, where larger lures seem to turn off the eaters and smaller lures will lure the eaters and the big boys as well.

Last year's hefty winner was caught on a big tube jig, if I recall, but on fairly light walleye tackle, actually.

The same jigging lures that take 'eyes will take lakers, although you should be much more aggressive in your presentation. Lakers will come up 50 feet or more and smack a lure if they're in the mood — so fast you'll never believe what you just saw. If you have a Vex or a Marcum you're in for a video game on steroids. There is NOTHING, in my opinion, more adrenaline inspiring that watching (and making) it all happen on the depth finder. Whew, I get all in a sweat just thinking about it.

Make sure your drag is smooth, too. And set it not too heavy. It's all totally open water for lakers (no logs to wrap crap around), and it's better to let a laker run that risk pulling out a hook not well hooked. If your drag is light, it's also easy to anchor a thumb or finger on either style reel's spool to increase drag when you have to.

For lures, you can't got wrong with a handful of two classes of lures: jigging rapalas and spoons. Raps in the No. 7 and 9 in most any pattern you want, tipped with a minnow head on the rear tine of the center hook, or with a small strip of cut cisco. Jigging spoons tipped the same way, in walleye sizes or just a bit bigger. Cisco is the best stripped meat, better than smelt, because its skin is a lot tougher and it'll stay on the hook a long time.

In waters where there are LOTS of big fish, bigger lures seem better, but the average Bside laker is 2 pounds, with plenty of sixes, an occasional fish in the teens with one a year over 20 pounds (divers have seen them over 30 lbs in Bside, in case you want your appetite whetted.)

For my second line, I always throw out a tip-up about 50 feet away. When I'm over fairly deep water, I suspend a live golden shiner down about halfway. I use a treble with a tiny spinner blade put on the line just above it, which makes it a legal lure in MN but doesn't seem to put off the fish. The treble gives me higher hooking odds, though some might say that the fish can apply leverage with its mouth and force a treble tine out once the fish is hooked, which is a characteristic that single hooks avoid. Be that as it may, I haven't had a laker come unhooked on that treble combo in two winters.

Half my fish have come off that tip-up. I tie on small jingle bells, too, so if I'm totally intent on jigging in a fish with the Vex, I can still hear the tip-up go. Tips with large spools are recommended because a laker can peel line off a spool faster than Surfact Tension, Chunkytrout or I can down a beer (and we can do that so fast you can't even see it.) I spool my laker tip with 20-lb mono and throw on a 14-lb fluorocarbon leader of about six feet, just in case a fish is line shy. But really, these fish are like pike in lots of ways. Tie a grappling hook to a steel cable and some lakers would still take it if there was good meat on the hook.

I have three rods dedicated to lakers, which also serve double duty if I'm jigging in pike: A Berkley medium-heavy action laker baitcaster with an Ambassadeur 5500 spooled with 12-lb Triline XL; a 34-inch HT Polar heavy action spinning rod with a Shimano 4000 series spinning reel spooled with 14-lb Trilene XL; and a custom baitcasting fiberglass rod built by Surface Tension, spooled with 20-lb mono on an Ambassadeur 6500 (the 6500 not for the extra line capacity, but because the clicker on that series allows you to let the rig double as a bait rig if your tip-up dies). I rarely use the 20-lb rig because I rarely fish water that sports large numbers of truly big fish, but it's there when I need it.

If you feel you've got the laker Jones in advance and HAVE to spend money on a rig, I recommend the HT spinning rod, which is regularly priced at about $12. The least expensive Shimano 4000 series can be had for about 20 bucks, and with the 14-pound Triline you've got a rig that can do lakers or pike for about $40.

Come to Burntside. Have fun. Make friends. Drink if you drink. If you catch a laker or two and don't get hooked on the best kind of fishing there is, I'll be one surprised catfish.

[Steve Foss]

Jim: Good to see you, too. Long time, no other things together as well . . .

Send me your snail mail address at my e-mail. I've got something to send you, OK?

[CrappieJohn]

Way to go Chunk....! You put up a post like this one, show some pictures and -wallah! That red-haired, be-whiskered, camera-toting, walking theasuarus comes right out of hibernation. Hey Steve...still love me? Say "hi" to lisa for me (us). Have a good holiday season, bud!

[Quickstrike]

thanks a lot for the info, i greatly appreciatte it, the more i read about this stuff the more excited i get for it. see you guys up there!!!

quick

[Steve Foss]

Tom, Tom, Tom... where there is love, there is catfish. Everyone who knows me comments on what a nice guy I am, how I never ignore friends even though they live hundreds of miles away, how I stay in touch through thick and thin . . .

Yeah, enough.

Sorry I haven't been e-mailing or posting. Been ramping up my nature photography business (sold more than two dozen prints in the last couple months, some VERY large ones.) There'll be a Web site up early next year, though I hesitate to post the URL here . . .

The REAL coup (those of you without a thesaurus can use the word "victory" instead of "coup") would be to get Crappie Tom up here to pursue Bside lakers on ice. All the countless hours I've spend swapping lies, netting lakers and exchanging pleasantries with this aging former barfly have been spent in open water. No matter what he says, I don't quite believe this big-bellied fellow owns an auger or knows how to stay warm when there's snow on the ground.

Tom, doncha just FEEL the catfish love? Getchyerbuttuphere!

[Tom Linderholm]

Great post Steve, Question for ya! during the Spring does the whole tube jig thing work as well? I make into Little Sag every spring armed with Little Cleo's for all occasions and we do pretty good with those. Anything else I should be considering in the open water season.

[Steve Foss]

Cheffrey:

Sorry to say, my spring open water laker experience has been limited to trolling medium-sized husky jerk Raps over medium to deep water behind a canoe. Haven't done any vertical jigging in spring, largely because the water is cold enough so lakers can literally be anywhere through May.

Wait, "sorry to say?" What am I saying? Mrs. Catfish and I, on our first May canoe trip to the North Arm of Bside, nailed two 5.5 lb lakers trolling those Raps. The lakers came off the deep end of a long sloping main lake point. The lures were running only about 4 feet down over 50 FOW. No telling how deep the lakers were. Could have been on the bottom, right under the surface or anywhere in between.

Also got a 9 lb 'eye casting an orange/gold countdown Rap over a sunken reef.

Mrs. Catfish caught the lakers, me the 'eye. Such irony. She's never caught a big walleye, which is her life's goal, and I could care less about catching those bland tasting musky baits, vastly preferring lakers. Truly, God has a sense of humor.

Argh!

[CrappieJohn]

Oh now Steve....the wonders of age have taught me that when it is cold outside, to stay inside where it is warm. The concept is much like coming in out of the rain, which unfortunately, neither of us know how to do well. Feel the love you ask? I must be feeling it....sort of like a loose waft of intestinal-air-exchange isn't it?

You'd better hold onto your hankie there bud and clean a spot on the livingroom floor for our air bed! We just might throw you two for a loop and show up sometime in Feb or March! By then the ice will have melted down here where things are more normal and a cool change of pace may be in order. Carole says to say hi to the MRS. on your end.

Hey...good for you on the photog business! Of all the people I know who deserve to go somewhere with an idea like that, you do! From the heart boy!

[Steve Foss]

Bubba Tom:

Knowing your and Carole's penchant for moose, I'm going to tease you. If you develop a killer lake trout jig, I'll shoot you an e-mail about the three big bullwinkle moose I took pictures of a couple weeks back — from the air!

Oh heck, forget the jigs, TS, I'll just e-mail you the tale.

I'd tell it here, but would run the risk of totally derailing Chunk's initial topic, a bad deal in an organized world.

On with the laker love . . .

[chunkytrout]

I feel so warm inside!!! You guys are melting this icy heart post by post.

[CrappieJohn]

Gee Chunk.....put the waders on or kick off the shoes and roll your knickers up. Steve has always been the center of the "emotional wet one".lol

[Xplorer]

Steve,

If you scavange thru the end of season stuff at L&M enough, sooner or later you will find a sweet deal like the HT. It wasnt marked, so they just said how 'bout 5.95, and i said "sold"

For baits i would add a couple 1/2 oz northland bucktails in white, glow, or yellow (in that order) tipped with either cisco or a shiner. And a tingler or 2

And i will concur 100% with Steve, there is no better game on ice, than playing a laker on the vex. All it takes is one and you'll be hooked.

[Surface Tension]

Nice posts guys. With Laker season a month off, my fever isn't running high yet. I did organize the Laker box though.

I'll touch a little on lures and gear. Jigging Raps like the W 7 GL are one of my favorite swim baits for the reason they really attract fish. Jigging spoons like Swedish Pimples, Go Devils and Tinglers are other lures I wouldn't be without. Airplane Jigs, Tubes and Erie Dearies are something else you should have along. Everyone of these would get tipped with cut cisco. Rods and line. You need a good hook set for Lake Trout. Theres nothing that swims under the ice that has more power then a Lake Trout. A wimpy hook set will bring nothing but heart break when that Laker gets your adrenaline pumping only to tear loose because the hooks weren't set deep.

Walleye rods on the heavy side would work but if you go that route I'd use a super braid designed for ice just for the fact that you'll eliminate steretch to make up for the less power of that walleye rod. You also should be aware that super braids do freeze when used outside the shack although Power Pro seems to be not so prone to freeze ups.

I prefer my 32" heavy action rod with a Penn 920 spooled with 10 lb mono if I'm fishing outside. I've gone to 12 lb and regretted it, lost way to much sensitivity and slowed my lures fall rate to much.

As Stf mentioned the interaction, using my MarCum the Cat & Mouse game you play with Lakers gives this game a whole new dimension. Yes you can make a Hooker out of a Looker. Take that lure away and Lake Trout will charge. What your doing is keying in on the Lakers instinct to chase and strike. You play that game all the way to just under the ice. Lake Trout pursue and hunt prey this way and are built to handle sharp depth changes. My second line is either suspended to pick up Lakers I've been playing with or if they're feeding without

[TomBow]

Group hug there fellahs.....err, just punch each other in the shoulder!

I sent a reply yesterday but El Computero decided to fritz and she didn't go through. You guys beat be to the punch and answered most of my questions. But which mono's have you found to hold up best during hard water season (brand and model)?

On the tubes, we went up to Eagle Lake, ON in June and drove our way into Clearwater lake to chase lakers. We managed a few on the tampons (4" white tubes) right next to a steep rock face with a rockslide at the bottom. The depth was 50 ft. 2 ft away from the rock and 65 at 3-4 ft. away and the fish were hanging around 5-10 ft. off the bottom. The take was really subtle, no slammers just extra weight and then hookset.

One more query: Where do you get the cisco meat? Do they hold up better in winter, ie: colder water than spring? I have dead sticked a few trout after the melt but the ciscos would not hold up well once they thawed out. Any tips for this? Has anyone tried "spawn bagging" the pieces??

[Surface Tension]

As far as the mono goes,its not the durability that I'm concerned with because its never been a problem. I don't like fishing deep with a line that holds memory. As you said yourself, you usually don't feel a slam when you get a hit, its more of a nudge. If your line is coiled your hosed. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but I've found some cheap no-name line to perform better then something like Berkly XT and XL.

About your location. I like fishing Lakers off steep walls. I think Lakers use these walls to their advantage and herd bait fish on them. A vertical presentation like I've gone over earlier is a natural there. Don't get hung up on one bait. When Lakers are feeding just about anything will work. Try different things when fishing is slow and your trying to trigger a strike.

You can get ciscos at most bait shops in Laker territory.

The meat my be a bit mussy but the skin is tuff. When you use cut cisco you rely on that skin. If your using whole cisco on a dead line then you use a thin wire to thread you line through the cisco, mouth and out the anal vent. You line should come out the mouth. Tie on a treble hook and pull the line tight so the shank goes into the cisco mouth. We now have to add a small spinner blade to these rigs in order for them to be legal in MN. Next step is optional but I put a half hitch around the tail to keep the mono from ripping out the cisco.

[Jim W]

Chunky,

Very impressive to say the least! I am getting pumped for my third Burntside event!!

Like mentioned I will pray for solid ice this year!

Jim W

[REEFRAKER]

Good job Chunky, with all that info it will be hard not to catch a fish.

[Steve Foss]

Just a note. If you use the superbraid on graphite rods, watch out that your drag is set pretty light. Graphite rods will snap now and then if you reef on them sharply using no-stretch line, and the colder it is the more brittle graphite can be. Also, with no-stretch line you don't need a Roland Martin hook-set unless you've got a rod limber enough to absorb the shock.

It's interesting to note all the different preferences and how, in the end, we all catch lakers using those different preferences in lures and line and rods and techniques.

Linewise, I like the stretch of mono, which has some forgiveness if a strong laker slams against a drag set a little too tight. You can also set the hook more than once if you aren't confident of your initial hookup. It's rare to have more than 75 feet of line out when a laker hits, and most hook-ups are on shorter lines than that, especially if you've been teasing one up toward the hole. So there's a lot less line stretch to worry about when setting the hook than there is, say, during the first half of a summer crankbait retrieve.

As a warm-up to outside the BWCAW season, which opens Jan. 15, I'm planning to walk into Trout Lake off Vermilion like I did last year at least twice between BWCAW opener on Jan. 1 and regular laker opener.

Gotta keep the blood pumping somehow.

[Lostit@theHole]

What kind of comittment does it take to get up there and catch lakers? I have always wanted to ice fish for lakers, even more after a caught a handful last summer in the BWCA. Too much fun to have to wait till next summer. I was wondering how the BWCA works in the winter and if a guy can just head up there on an open weekend? Where can you stay? How do you fish? What do you need to bring ect?

[chunkytrout]

LostIt, as far as BW winterfishing goes you pretty much have to huf it. Knife is one of the main destinations close enough for hiking, skiing, or dogsledding. Snowbank offers a little easier access as half of it allows vehicles. There are a number of dogsled outfitters that will take you anywhere you want BUT it's spendy. You will be staying in a wall tent and I suggest the outfitted trips unless you have all your own winter gear. So as far as Lakers go, I stick to Burntside, Snowbank, and Trout Lake (N of Vermillion). These are all close to, partially in, or completely in the BW. If you can, try to make it up Jan 29th for the Bash. You won't regret it.