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Inland Lake Trout Gear & Tactics


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hay jigman hear how many of you guys use a ten inch hole when fishing the laker and wheres a good place to say up their thanks good fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • Steve Foss

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  • Mike Stark

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  • Northlander

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  • Surface Tension

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jigman, an 8-inch hole is plenty for lakers up to 20 pounds, very generally. I cut 10-inch holes when I haul around my power auger, but for the first four trips I've done this year I've stuck with my 8-inch hand mora auger.

Lots of good motels in Ely. But there's a big snowmobile run this same weekend, so you may have to call around to find an open room if you're planning on this weekend. And next weekend and the weekend after are the Ely Winter Festival, which also fills the town and the motels. Try http://www.ely.org for a list of motels.

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hay jig man hear thanks the reason i ask is the first time i came up and got my 10 and a half had trouble pulling it threw the ice had to gaff it to come threw good fishing. thanks

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Well, I've pulled two 12 lbers through 8-inch holes with no gaff and no trouble. You must have had a total football. And there ARE some that fat on Bside. grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

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FO, when I use my gaff I don't smack the fish through the side with it, but wait until I get the head up into the hole and then slip the gaff into its mouth and pop the hook through the lower jaw to pull it up.

Only had to gaff one or two lakers that way, and it made it easy to release them.

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I like using a 10" auger much more than an 8" for lake trout. It just seems like it's a little easier to get their head started in the hole the right way and much less of a chance of the lure snagging the ice and the fish getting off. You can also drill 2-8" holes side by side to make an oval if you have a chipper blade on your auger. That works as just as well. I have pulled a 22 lb laker through an 8" hole and many in the upper teens through an 8" hole as well with no gaff. You shouldn't ever need to gaff a lake trout. Use your drag and tire them out before bringing them up to the hole for landing. Don't horse them in- that's the best way for them to get off the hook.

Hope this helps,

Justin

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jig man thats what we did and it was like a football this was early 80s and there was a lot of smelt in the lake and the ice was 48 inches deep it got stuck in the hole good fishen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Justin's right on the money. I know Surface Tension has pulled a 29-lb laker through an 8-inch hole, too.

I've also had good luck drilling overlapping holes with my Strikemaster XL-3000 10-inch, which doesn't have a chipper blade but does have a diamond center blade to keep it from skipping over into the hole next door.

Justin, when you leaving for Lake Trout God Country in Ontario?

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I will be rolling out of town around 10 or 11 am tomorrow. Kinda ironic isn't it Steve?? Everyone is so excited to come here and fish for lakers and I am just as excited to get out of here to fish lakers! Well, everyone need a change of pace, I guess!

I will be up there fishing Saturday, Sunday, and until 2 pm or so on Monday. Probably won't get up there in time to fish tomorrow, but we will be ready to rock first thing in the morning on Saturday. I hope all goes really well for you this weekend!

I probably won't get any sleep tonight...Too much excitement!

Take Care,

Justin

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HEHE!! You should have just said it was from burntside!!! No. I dont need any more encouragement! Im so excited to try this species its ridiculous! now ive got to check the state record laker!

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I hear you, Justin. Six years ago I drove from Superior, Wis., to Burntside to begin my ice laker journey, and vowed to find a way to move here. Now, five years-plus after moving here, I of course yearn to go where you're going and go after the truly BIG lakers.

We always seem to be looking over the horizon, don't we?

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Yup, that's the way it is, man!! I like fishing new water and new areas. That is what I really enjoy about fishing!

Later,

Justin

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Limited as I am mostly by finances and having fished Bside really hard for six years, I'll be on Bside almost all the time, and I'm going to start concentrating on targeting larger fish.

We'll see how it goes. Mostly, we'll see if I can stand going days in a row without icing a laker because I'm using tactics, lures and locations that aren't attractive to the small to medium fish.

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Stf, im ready to see you post a pic with a huge laker in it! better yet catch it saturday morning so i can witness it! wooo hooo 10000 posts?

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STF, I'm with you on that one. A few years back I got sick of always catching small and medium sized walleyes and so I made the choice to strictly target big walleyes......and I am not looking back once!!!! Ever since I adjusted my methods of fishing, the lakes I fish, and the tackle and equipment I use, I have been catching some really nice walleyes (although this ice season has been far short of a banner year for me!). I would much rather go out and fish for the hogzillas and take the very good chance of getting skunked than take home my limit of eaters every time. The excitement of having a trophy rig in the water and not knowing when and if a hog is going to hit it is more fun to me than reeling in ol' Jr. Good luck on your search for the trophies!

GoggleEye

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  • 4 weeks later...

Check the forage base. If it's a cisco lake, bring dead cisco. Natural inland laker lakes typically (not always) have cisco as a primary forage. Dead cisco on a tip-up suspended half way up, near the bottom or on the bottom. If you have a wind tip-up to keep giving it action, that's good, too.

You can also cut small chunks of cisco to tip your lures with if that gives you added confidence.

Power minnows, Power smelt and Power tubes also work well as tippers on jigs.

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  • 9 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I had to give this one a shove too because I wanted to see the words LAKE TROUT at the top of the forum grin

To this point I have only bought one new pole. It is a Rapala 32" Medium-Heavy pole. It was dirt cheap, only $8! It is actually a really nice pole too. Five eyelets, a nice real seat. I had a Cabela's Fish FD UL reel with Fire Line that I put on it. It will be interesting to see how it performs. I caught my biggest laker (26") on a 32" medium power rod last year and because of the lighter power it was an absolute blast to haul that fish in for the ton of fight it had in it.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Casey, when I saw the topic "Inland Lake Trout Gear & Tactics" pop up I got a bit of a Laker Rush.

I'd like to see this topic expand and evolve as new ideas and as new members join us. We like to hear what what works for you.

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Rapala makes some very nice rods for the price. The actions on them are very nice in my opinion. Fishermans Corner had a couple of the Heavier Rapala rods that would be a great cheap Laker rod.

I really liked the way my Jason Mitchel Mackinaw spiral wrapped rod performed last year.

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im sticking to my Polar HT Polar Lites 34" heavy rods for this season...nice rod and very cheap...only $15

im thinking of trying Fireline....anyone have experince with it...is it better for setting the hook 40 feet down??

only 1 week to go!

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I used fireline with a fluro leader last year and it seemed to work well. I got myself a new jason mitchell 38MH spinning rod this year. Getting excited to break it in!!

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Thats the rod i bought to try out this year. I have never caught a laker and i am really pumped to!

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what size swivel do you guys use to attach your leader?

how long is you leader?

do you ever use a snap swivel and attach directly to your lure?

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  It's deer hunting season in MN and not many are out fishing.  Those that are fishing are taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and excellent walleye and sauger bite that is happening across the lake.   The best depths on the south end of LOW are 22-28 feet of water.     No surprise, vertical jigging with frozen emerald shiners is the program for most anglers.  Anglers are going through a lot of frozen emerald shiners as the walleyes and saugers are all mixed sizes.  You will catch small ones and your eaters.  Depending upon where on the lake you are fishing, some slots and big trophies are in the mix as well.    Anglers are also reporting very good numbers of jumbo perch this fall.  Watch out for an occasional pike or even lake sturgeon mixed in with the walleyes.      Good numbers of fish are staged in great spots for the upcoming ice fishing season. On the Rainy River...  Good numbers of shiners again in the river this past week. Typically, if there are shiners, there will be walleyes, and there definitely are.     Walleyes are coming from various spots from Four Mile Bay to Wheeler's Point, to Baudette all the way to Birchdale.  With so many anglers taking advantage of the deer hunting season, there are not a lot of boats on the river.      Walleyes are being caught in 10-25 feet of water in various stretches of the river.  The bait and consequently, walleyes, are moving around.  Once you find some fish, you will be rewarded. Jigging with live or frozen emerald shiners is the way to go. Some anglers are also still trolling crankbaits upstream to cover more ground and find fish. Both methods are producing solid results. Sturgeon fishing remains strong.  The catch-and-release sturgeon fishing is open into the spring when it changes to the "keep season" on April 24th. Up at the NW Angle...  For those not in the woods hunting, fall fishing continues to be excellent.  It is areas with structure holding walleyes in this part of the lake.  Points, neck-down areas with current, shoreline breaks, and transition zones from rock to mud are all productive locations for walleye right now.     A nice mixed bag with perch, pike and crappies being caught as well. Good muskie fishing with the colder water temps and shorter days.  Some big fish and some good numbers are being caught amongst the islands.  Both casting and trolling is getting it done.  
    • monstermoose78
      In October but I used get more of them in Ely.
    • Mike89
    • Wanderer
    • ozzie
      Yes.  No lightning strikes in the area on Saturday and a tree was burning.  The squirrel hunters have been a nuisance this year with more activity in our area then we have ever seen.  This was the 3rd fire in the section of woods in the past 2 weeks.  Most definitely not caused by natural events.
    • leech~~
      Stop, trying to make everybody feel bad that not in the woods!   😟  😆
    • Wanderer
      Haha!  No… In other news: All the cell cams users that I talk with are seeing some daylight movement of adult bucks since yesterday.  No deer hunters want to be at work right now.
    • SkunkedAgain
      The water temps on the west end Friday were 45 in HeadOLakes and 44 in the smaller bays.
    • leech~~
      You didn't Sluice um! 😆 I was driving 94 passed Runnings in Monticello yesterday late after noon and saw a huge, thick dark brown 8 point running alone the freeway with its tongue out.  Thinking he was after a girlfriend! 😜
    • redlabguy
      That is pretty darn special, Brian. Thanks for the post.
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