Lakers thru the ice

[Wade Joseph]

Do yooz guyz use small stiff jigging rods or regular jigging rods for this? I am trying to make my Christmass wish list out and thought I might add a special rod or two on my list.

[Duffman]

You may want something that's a little longer than your average walleye icefishing rod. One of my laker rods is around 40", and in fact one of my buddies uses a 5' rod for jigging outside the icehouse. I fished with one of the Genz baitcaster icerods last year for the first time, it was a different feeling after using spinning rods for icefishing, but I liked it. My 40" rod is a St. Croix ul open water rod that I accidently snapped the last foot or so off, gives me just the right amount of play when them lakers make a run. I don't like fishing with broomhandles.

[Steve Foss]

You can use medium walleye rods to get by, but if you're going to get some NEW GEAR (and, luckily, Christmas comes just BEFORE laker opener). I'd recommend rods specifically for lakers and other big fish. Not too many guys use those broomstick stiff blue rods for lakers anymore.

I have three rods. Surface Tension made one for me. It's a baitcasting rod with spiraling guides (thanks S.T.!), and has a strong backbone but a nice fast and sensitive tip. About 32 inches long

I also bought one from Berkley, a 36-inch baitcaster that's very light, a solid graphite rod, and designed for lakers. That one ran about $30, if I recall, and is a LSIC36-MH-R. It's a toss up whether I like this one or S.T.'s better.

And I have what I consider the best inexpensive commercially produced laker rod. It's a 34-inch HT "Polar Lite," style No. PL-34H. While it's designed for a spinning reel, it takes a baitcaster just fine, too. Graphite blend. Costs about $13. Great rod for the $.

Check any Gander or Cabela's for the last two rods. You can buy longer rods, and custom made rods come any length you want (can be pricey, but you get exactly what you want). Outside, rod length isn't an issue. In my Fishtrap II, however, the 36-incher is all the rod I want. Any more and I'm constantly butting into the front tent canvas when I jig, and slamming it against the front aluminum roof pole when I set the hook.

I run Ambassadeur 5500 series or smaller baitcasters on all of them. I'm a 5500 and a 6500 model man from way back, and I think I own eight reels in those two styles. A good spinning reel, if you go that route, is best a little bigger than the average walleye reel. I spool all my stuff with 10-lb Trilene XL and put on a barrel swivel before adding three feet of fluorocarbon. Swivel keeps the line from twisting all up, since I mostly jig with spoons and jigging raps.

Wade Joseph, you are about to enter a strange and dark new world, where addiction is a certainty dictated only by how long it takes you to fight your first laker. You'll think a 5-lber is a 20 lb northern, they fight so hard. Actually, a 5-lber fights harder and longer than a 20-lb northern, and keeps slamming around after you've got it up out the hole. Not easy to grab and hold a snappy slippery laker.

Oh, make sure your reels have nice smooth drags.

Inland laker ice season opens on Jan. 14. It's open for the two weeks before that in the Bdub, and I usually make the couple mile walk in to fish on Trout Lake off Lake Vermilion because by the first of January I JUST CAN'T STAND WAITING ANYMORE! In a good year you can drive to the trailhead. In a bad year it's a sled to get you there. In any year it's a walk after that.

[jerkin'm]

You need a Thorne Brothers gift certificate for xmas...The laker rods are a thing of beauty and can't be beat IMO...I have a broomstick style and a super fast medium..both 42" rods..Have never fished lakers in a house before so length is never a problem. Like stf said..Once you hook one you are doomed to the obsession....

[jerkin'm]

Steve, do you snowshoe or ski into Trout? My buddy has a cabin across the street from Vermilion House Boat Rentals and we have talked about hitting it for lakers but never have...Have snowmobiles, ski's, sleds, snowshoes....etc..maybe hook up some time and head in there..Good excuse to meet the northern info source

[Steve Foss]

I'd be up for that. I walk in, either with regular winter boots or snowshoes. And I tow the same 6-foot narrow plastic sled that I haul deer out of the woods with. It's a short walk across the portage to the water, maybe a quarter or a half mile, but it's another mile or so walk across a short bay, another strip of land and the ice of the lake to get to decent trout water.

And of course, there was a memorable haul two winters ago when Chunkytrout and I foolishly decided to pull in my two-man Trap II for the added comfort and wind shelter it provides. Yeh, it pulls WAY harder than the other one, even with two guys pulling. And Chunky had on his Carhartt Extremes. Extreme sweat! Added comfort my a$$!

Then, when we got in, we found I'd done a poor job "touching up" the Mora's blades (they obviously didn't need it, and I got the angle wrong), and it took us five minutes of both bearing down on the thing for each hole.

[jerkin'm]

I feel your pain...What sort of numbers can a guy expect in there for a day long excursion? I have never trout fished in Minnesota, only Ontario....(feel free to email if questions are too much info)

[Northlander]

Wade I have some Laker rods. I have rods all the way from 36" all the way to a 46"er. My favorite is a 42" med/heavy spiral wrapped casting rod I had made by Bill at Midwest Rods. Awesome rod. Works good on inland lakes but where it really shines is deep lakers on Lake Superior.

When you get up my way I can show them to you.

You can also call Bill and talk to him and tell him your interested in a rod like Northlanders. www.midwestrodandreel.com

On most inland lakes a good 32" or longer med to med heavy will do just fine and you can also use it for eyes and pike.

[Wade Joseph]

Wow. All new 'quipment will be needed I see. Hmmmm. This may get pricey. All of my walleye rods are ultra light 5-6' spinning rods I use for verticle jigging from the boat down here in the River in Dec-April.

[Steve Foss]

jerkin'm:

Trout Lake isn't a numbers game. It's also a good walleye lake, but the eelpout are filthy thick in there and the DNR (uh, well, maybe the Forest Service, since it's in the Bdub?) has been working hard to get rid of pout and stock more lakers.

There also are some really big lakers in there. One longtime guide who focuses on Vermilion but also takes clients into Trout, and was not filling me full of bull (not that he's above that, he IS a fisherman, after all, I just know he was leveling with me in this case) says there are lakers easily over 30 in there and it would not surprise him if there's a 50 or two swimming around. It has a rep of being fished way down, which is simply not true.

I've gone in three times and caught two six pounders out of the deal. Others fishing nearby have had luck as good or somewhat better. I've fished the same place all three times, on decent looking breakline structure in about 50 FOW, but a half mile more gets you to really steep drops off shoreline cliffs, and that might be even better. I have a good lake map.

Two guys can fit all their gear on one sled the size of mine, and switch off who's pulling and who's walking. It's actually a pretty light load. Need a bit of room, though, because you walk in with light clothing so you don't sweat to death, then put on the heavy stuff once you get where you're going.

If the snow's really deep, it's a darn tough pull. If it's not too deep, it's totally doable. It's a LOT better if you can drive to the trailhead. If you have to use sleds, you've gotta have enough sleds to get everyone to the trailhead, and mine only holds one.

Last year we had early snow in pretty heavy amounts and a lot of slush, so I didn't bother trying to get there across a couple miles of slushy Vermilion ice in my pickup.

It'll be awhile before we know what conditions will be like, of course. But I'd say the more the merrier. Be a kind of cool "unplugged" little FM gathering if others on the hardy side want to get in on it. Have to wait and see who manageable the ice/slush/snow conditions are.

[Steve Foss]

Wade:

You can easily get by with a single laker rod. If you get the Polar I mentioned and a decent Shimano 4000 series for $30, you're still under $50. You just have to switch lures when you want to instead of switching rods. Your second line in winter should be a tip-up, anyway, and they're cheap! For $15, a Polar HT with a big spool is all you need for tip-upping.

In fact, if you haven't put together a package by the time you come up here, I'll certainly let you use the Polar I've got and the 4000 that I used with it before I switched to a baitcaster on that rod. It's a well-balance combo, and I've nailed a lot of lakers on it. I simply prefer baitcasting tackle. I used the 4000 for looper fishing as well on an 8.5 foot Berkley shore rod, so it's a double-duty reel.

Wouldn't surprise me if I even made you a deal you can't refuse on the Polar and the Shimano. We're talking a case of good beer here for a trade. I mean, how many laker rods does a guy really NEED? If you are interested, just consider it a "welcome to the Northland" present, one LaCrosser to another.

Of course, if you've got the bug and really want the new gear and can convince Mrs. Wade Joseph that it's a must-have, you could phone or e-mail all the rellies and say you want Gander gift certificates for Christmas. That'd take care of business, too, and THAT kind of shopping a guy can handle.

Here are my rigs.

Top one is the Berkley.

Center is the S.T. rod. Hard to see it from this pic, but the first guide closest to the reel is nearly straight up like a standard baitcasting rod, then they spiral around to the left until the rod tip points straight down, like on a spinning rod. Eliminates the torque in a baitcasting rig and is the all-around best way to fish baitcasters through ice.

Bottom rod is the HT/Shimano. If you're interested, just shoot me an e-mail. If not, don't worry. You can't hurt my feelings — I'm in the newspaper business.

[jerkin'm]

Sounds good, I am sure a couple of my buds would be in too...We all have our own snowmobiles...I don't know if they all have ski's or snowshoes though...I have a rod I could donate to a good cause too...No reel with it though, it may be the same one you have in your picture...

[Wade Joseph]

What kinda beer you drink?

This is getting better all the time!

I can't wait. I am more pumped for this than a kid at Christmass!

[Steve Foss]

All kinds, but shoot me an e-mail and we can discuss it in further detail. Don't want to dwell too much on alcohol on the site.

[Surface Tension]

Its only Nov and you guys getting me all worked up over Lake Trout. STF, While I wait for Trout opener I think I'm going to make the same rod I made you.

Those HTs are a pretty darn good deal and of coarse the Midwest rods are top shelf.

[chunkytrout]

Wade, I tool it a step further and had mine custom made. They're Croix blanks and build to suit. After fishing the broomsticks for years, they blew my mind. Backbone meets finess is what we're looking for.

ST, where you doing opener?

[Surface Tension]

Chunky, unless something drastic happens I'll be up the Gunflint Trail.

[Steve Foss]

We gotta make something "drastic" happen so we can get Frank up here for opener one of these years. Frank, are you planning on Gunflint itself?

Last year's opener was colder than -30 when the sun rose over the southern ridge of Burntside, and Chunky and I limited out and were off the ice in two hours, enjoying a beverage and cleaning fish. If I remember right, he broke in his two new custom-built laker takers, too.

[chunkytrout]

That was an intense morning! Trucks not starting. I think I left mine running over night the night before just to make sure . My exploding auger! And four lakers on the ice in no time. What an opener! Brrrrrr!

[Steve Foss]

There, see, I forgot the worst parts. Nice, what memory does. Cancel out the worst and make up details and WALLAH!, you've got a fish story.

[minnowdangler71]

My bro and I would like to make the bside bash. can anyone point us in the right direction-being newbies? we can make due with the rods we have, but lures,line weight? what works best?? thanks mike

[Steve Foss]

You don't have to run out and buy a bunch of large laker lures for Bside. The eaters in particular, 1-3 pounds, don't hit very readily on larger lures, even though they'll often come in on them like gangbusters but then not strike, and there are days when the only way you can get larger fish to go is with those walleye-sized lures. Jigging raps, pimples and buckshot rattle spoons all work well. Tip them with a minnow head or a small strip of cisco. Line in the 10 to 12-lb range is just fine. If you want to target larger fish, you can pick up big jigging raps, master jigger shads and pimples. Same types of lures, just bigger. Five-inch tubes are good for the bigger ones, too.

Your second line probably should be a tip-up. I use live golden shiners most of the time, and suspend them half way down the water column. If you're using dead cisco, putting it just above bottom is best, because lakers aren't above being nature's vaccum cleaners, and will take dead fish off the bottom.

[cloyd]

umm real dumb question here an prob stated an i missed it

whats the broomstick you guys are referin too?

[ironman]

I really enjoy reading the post in the BWCA-Duluth..etc. forums. Everyone here is very passionate about their hobbies and extremely generous with your info. Due to the good storie telling...I gave the north shore some casting this year. Didn't land anything ..but did have a couple on that got off. Now with all this laker ice fishing talk....its getting pretty tempting. I'm currently dealing with a duck hunting sickness...I think its soon to go into forced remission. Maybe something to pass the time until next October?

[Steve Foss]

Mmmmmm, laaaaaaakerrrrrrrs. . .

Good news for you is inland laker season closes for the fall before duck season opens, and opens for the winter after duck season is closed. Once you catch some lakers, you'll realize laker season isn't what you do between duck seasons to pass the time, it's duck season that just kills time for you between laker addictions.

[ironman]

Sounds like bad news........for the little woman that is.

[chunkytrout]

Hey Cloyd. No dumb questions here unless it's out of my mouth. The "broomstick" we refer to are made by different companies. Very thick, stiff ice rods with little or no action. The HT polar blues come to mind. I'm sure you've seen them with the dayglo tips.

[cloyd]

ahh..like rhino rod types..thanks

never fished lakers thru ice an waiting for the bays on superior to freeze over though know that will be awhile

cant do long hikes due to health issues so limited to accessin lakes farther in like trout lake

am pickin up portable this year..nothing fancy like you guys...just keepin or tryin to keep old bones warm

livin in central minnesota we dont see laker stuff around here much other than the expensive downriggers recently in our local stores (huge surprise)

ill come up a couple times this winter to give a try..ill keep my eyes on this forum to see where they hittin an hopefully for lakes i can get into

thanks for the info

[CrappieJohn]

Cloyd........

How's it going Bud? Haven't heard a lot from you on the forum lately but here you are!

Two things guy...Send me your e-mail again. Guess who cleaned my desk one day and guess what was in the toss pile?

And if you keep an ear open for the harbor bay ( back by the ore docks) at Two Harbors to freeze up tight they catch some big lakers in there during the winter months.

Drop me a note so I can get your addy again. Wanna try the fishing down this way one weekend?

[Steve Foss]

Tom, what's the drill for location ice fishing that bay? Fish near the piers? Near the inshore side of the wall? Deepest part of the harbor?