Inland Lake Trout Gear & Tactics

[thedeadsea]

Jar Jar,

I havent used beetles but my dad did quite a bit inland. I have 3 or 4 of them.

Steve

[sheephead2]

I am a ROOKIE

Question if you bring portable fish house and drill 2 holes and hook a Laker does the other guy next to reel his up so the lines don't tangle also do you every try sonars( I think that is what they call them) for jigging and is it wise to tip jigging spoon with minnow head or do you just use the jig. Also in BWCA you can not bring live bait in correct so can you use dead bait in the BWCA

[thedeadsea]

Never caught one in a house with another line down. Would be helpful to get the other line out of the way.

Yes, many ppl use sonars. FWIW some guys swear by them.

You could tip a spoon or leave it plain.

Live bait is allowed in the BWCA, but not the Quetico.

Steve

[sheephead2]

Thank You TDS

when targeting lakers where does a guy start out deep 50 feet or deeper saddles narrows ???

[thedeadsea]

Trout can be found nearly anywhere in the winter, and on nowhere on some days. I'll let the real experts chime in with some pointers.

[opsirc]

I'm with Frank on pretty much all that.

2. Polar HT Polar Lites series spinning, 34 inches, PL-34H, Shimano 4000 series reel, 14 lb XL, swivel, 14 lb fluro, lure. This is a $15 rod, and has plenty of backbone and a good tip. Stronger than your average walleye gear, it's just right for inland lakers, and is very affordable. If a guy wants to get started with lakers and not shell out a lot for gear, this is the rod to get and couple with a standard sized spinning reel with 10 or 12 lb line.

Steve, picked up one of these at MG in duluth. have a 5500c I will put on it and go from there. nUsed to fish, Vermillion Trout alot growing up, then military life kept me away for a while. B ut hoping to get up to B-side this year and do some more of it.

[Steve Foss]

Sam, that's a spinning rod and your 5500c is a baitcaster, if I'm reading this right. No doubt it'll work just fine though. Or did you find a Polar Lites baitcasting rod in heavy action?

It's worth noting that people have reported some of these rods blowing up when fished outdoors in cold weather on hard hooksets. I never had that problem with either of mine, but when using superbraids outdoors on these rigs I just give it a quick pop to set the hook. No need for a Roland Martin hookset with a heavy action rod and no-stretch line. With mono I'll set with more muscle.

Get your bad self up here!

When targeting lakers where does a guy start out deep 50 feet or deeper saddles narrows ???

Yes.

Seriously, both are good areas to target. The 50-foot breakline (or thereabouts) all around Burntside, for example, is what I consider a travel zone for active fish. When they are moving around, if you find shoreline/island structure like points/humps/breaks and 50 FOW you are very likely to come into contact with active fish. You can catch them deeper for sure, and shallower for sure, but that mid-region seems pretty consistent.

Jar, I don't know anyone up here who uses the beetles/meat strips, though there's absolutely no reason they wouldn't work. I know some of the old-timers have mentioned them to me.

Steve, I use quite a few black lures. Since lakers so often come at a lure from underneath, and since when they do that the background is bright compared with the bottom and a light-colored lure can disappear against it, black/purple/dark blue, etc, can all be very good.

[thedeadsea]

Ok Steve, Frank, others please chime in if I am missing anything in my winter laker box. (This would also work as a good starter list for someone getting into the sport.)

Chubby Darters

Sonars

Bucktail Jigs

Airplane Jigs

Regular Jigs

Tube Jigs

Beetles

Jigging Rap

Swedish Pimple

Plain Hooks

Treble Hooks

Beads and blades (to make a treble hook a "lure")

Quick Strike Rigs

Cisco Hooks (long shank that go through the cisco)

Sinkers

Very small teardrop jigs (for catching smelt)

Crappie Jigs (for catching Tulibee or whitefish)

Thanks,

Steve

[Steve Foss]

You can toss the quick-strike rigs and cisco hooks. And add some Slender spoons, Lindy rattle flyers and/or Angel Eye spoons. They fall slower, farther to the side and with a bigger wobble than pimples. The same company that makes the pimples also makes a spoon called the Do-Jigger, and I've had a lot of luck on Bside lakers with that spoon. I've had more luck getting lakers to come in on Northland Rattle Buckshot spoons than I have had getting them to hit. Also Chubby isn't the only Darter. Lindy makes a very good looking Darter that I'm going to be working with this season. Priced right compared with Chubbies, too.

In the end, lakers on Bside are more about working hard with a few lures you have confidence in and waiting until the active window opens. Some days they just hit anything that moves. Other days they won't hit ANYTHING. Most days are in between. Unless you're working a fish that just won't go with the lure you've got, swapping lures isn't necessarily the way to go. That being said, I generally have four jigging rigs set up and ready so if I'm working a fish that seems like it wants to go but won't quite go, I can reel up fast, switch rigs and drop down a lure with a completely different look.

Day in and day out on Bside, I've got a Darter on one rig, a jigging Rap on another, a spoon on the third and a tube on the fourth. Darter/Rap are both horizontal swim baits but with very different fall rates/actions (and I've got a triggering technique that only works with compact, heavy lures). The spoon is of course its own dog, and nothing quite acts like a tube jig except, well, a tube jig. So that's four distinct looks.

Doesn't work all the time, but it works some of the time.

Nothing works all the time.

[thedeadsea]

Looks like a visit to Marine General is in order....

[opsirc]

Thats what I get for not reading carefully, the one I picked up was a HT baitcaster rod.

[Steve Foss]

Thats what I get for not reading carefully, the one I picked up was a HT baitcaster rod.

Then you've got a good balanced combo with the 5500.

[tonkapat]

No need to go out and buy the pool cue rods if you don't have one already. A good stout 28" or longer walleye rod will do the trick. I have an ht rod and a more spendy laker rod and leave them at home. The average minnesota lake trout will barely put a bend in the heavy rods. I use 10 lb test and have never broke one off. Mostly using small walleye tackle anyway. Just make sure you have decent line capacity on the reels. 150 yards + is a good starting point. I have caught fish up to 37" with my walleye rods and don't expect to switch anytime soon. good luck

[Surface Tension]

tds, your lure list looks good. Down sizing works well at times so I'd add some smaller jigging spoons to that like Go Devils and walleye size Pimples. I keep an assorted length of stinger hooks in my box. There are times I might use a lead head jig with a whole cisco and use the stinger there. You'll be surprised how a laker can rob that cisco from you so after the stinger and cisco I use a small piece of rubber stuck past the barb on the jig as a keeper. That setup I'll do a constant a slow lift and fall keeping no slack in the line.

I use beetles on the big lake but because of their weight don't use them on inland lakes.

Graphite ice rods have a tendency to break because of an awkward angle between rod blank and line when setting the hook. Keeping the rod tip horizontal or lower is what you want. Somethings when making Lakers chase you end up with the rod tip high. Because the line(steep angle)is straight down, if you set the hook in that position your not bending the rod your putting lateral compression to the rod.

[PiedmontAngler]

I took your guys advice and ordered the Mackinaw and a 5500. Hope the rod gets here soon.

[Steve Foss]

Nice combo, PA, you will like it. Fishing from a heated shack/shelter I'd spool it with 15 lb fireline or other braid. If you'll be out in the elements, I go with 12 lb Trilene XL. Mono's a lot easier to clear ice off of than braid, and the stretch of mono offers some cushion against rod stress in really cold temps.

[PiedmontAngler]

Thanks Steve. Those were my next questions.

[Casey Sunsdahl]

I like the mono.. inside and out.....

just picked up my 4th makinaw today

I have a problem.. I admit it .. It's the first step

[Steve Foss]

I like the mono.. inside and out.....

just picked up my 4th makinaw today

I have a problem.. I admit it .. It's the first step

Sounds like RAD to me (rod acquisition disorder).

[thedeadsea]

Sounds like RAD to me (rod acquisition disorder).

Im the charter member of RAA (Rod acquisition anonymous)

[thedeadsea]

Ok guys, I was in Marine General today and they said they no longer stock Slender Spoons. Are these sold anywhere now?

Steve

[Steve Foss]

Ooooooooh, that makes them the new HOT LURE!

[Great Outdoors]

Yep, we got a bunch of them!!!

[Far-I]

Any BWCA Laker pics yet guys?

I'm getting anxious to see some iced trout. Can't wait for the non-BWCA the opener coming up!

[tonkapat]

thedeadsea I was really surprised to see the local gander mtn near the metro had a bunch of them in stock. First time I have ever seen them in a metro store.

[Northlander]

Ok guys, I was in Marine General today and they said they no longer stock Slender Spoons. Are these sold anywhere now?

Steve

I just got 3 slender spoons at Marine General 2 day ago. They had a few small silver/chart ones a a few big gold/orange ones.

Call Fishermans Corner they had some as well. Gander Mt probably has some too.

Otherwise you can order them from Custom Jigs N Spins

[thedeadsea]

I just got 3 slender spoons at Marine General 2 day ago. They had a few small silver/chart ones a a few big gold/orange ones.

Call Fishermans Corner they had some as well. Gander Mt probably has some too.

Otherwise you can order them from Custom Jigs N Spins

Hmm, the two guys working didn't know that . Although having that much gear packed into such a small store probably does confuse everyone except for Russ himself.

Steve

[PiedmontAngler]

Hmm, the two guys working didn't know that . Although having that much gear packed into such a small store probably does confuse everyone except for Russ himself.

Steve

I think I've even seen Russ scratch his head a time or two. Think that helps the jogging of the memory or something.

[Steve Foss]

Any BWCA Laker pics yet guys?

There's one here from today.

[KG243]

I bought some new laker tackle today at FF, it is nice to have one a block and a half away from my school! I can't wait to give them a whirl on Friday. I got a couple diffrent versions of jigin raps and some funky jiging spoon with the eye in the middle of the spoon with scented eggs.