ZaraSpook brought up a subject that has been getting my attention quite a bit lately and that is jigging for Lakers. His method was to drop a Heddon Sonar on them getting most strikes on the rise (contrary to most other info I have read where the strike is typically on the fall.......so go figure).

Hopefully I am heading to Isle Royale this summer and lakers will figure prominently into that with jigging techniques probably sharing equal time with trolling. I'm getting excited to go and actually started putting together a few outfits yesterday and examining which outfit will do what. I have never caught a Laker jigging but there is lots of info on the web and on Utube about it. Electronics would figure quite prominently IMO as jigging is generally a poor searching method and to catch them via jigs you would have to drop something where they are at.

One thing I have gleaned is that scent may be a help in getting strikes. While I generally shy away from Gulp and Power bait in canoe country due to getting unwanted attention from bears, I just might pick up a bottle or two of Gulp spray......no bruins on the big Island.

Utube vids are rather fun to watch.......but of course they are on them and get bites immediately but its still educational and prompts confidence. "Hey, I can do that"!

Jigging for Lakers

They hit them just like most other predators, on the fall or stationary is best. They will chase them all the way to the surface from 50-60 fow also.

Agree, they are not search lures, and fish will come from a long to strike. Scent is an interesting topic. Apparently Salmonids have a keenly developed sense of smell. Maybe when tightlining dead smelt(or ciscoes) on the bottom it comes into play. Couldn't hurt on grub bodies...that said, this is a fish that goes very deep, and does not see a lure often, so being precautions does not seem to be in its nature. I dunno.... might be one of those "won't hurt might help" things.....

As deadly as it gets for jigging lakers,the 3 inch is my go to
Power tube

I think sonars work well during the lift because that's when they are vibrating. Buzz bombs and zingers are good for jigging trout. The spinning lure gets their attention. If you see fish on the graph, by all means jig at their level. Otherwise, drop and reel, pumping your way up to near the surface. Repeat.

This is a method used by Gunflint Guides. They mark the location with a GPS and then maneuver around until they find the Lakers with a locator. We used the Rapala Jigging Rap in about 45 feet of water over a hump, in early June. The strikes usually came on the first drop to the bottom, then the fish would get stirred up and we would move. The weather was letter perfect, with just a slight breeze. I didn't even realize that you could catch fish in such good conditions. One blogger mentioned orange fish, some of the Laker fillets had an orange tint.

Get a couple Sebile vibratos. The fish on superior love them. Much better falling action than other blade baits. Imo the best lake trout lure made.

quote Mnpat: "Get a couple Sebile vibratos. "

Bring your wallet!

quote AmarilloJim: "

quote Mnpat: "Get a couple Sebile vibratos. "

Bring your wallet!"

They are $6.99. The best value out there.

quote Mnpat: "Get a couple Sebile vibratos. The fish on superior love them. Much better falling action than other blade baits. Imo the best lake trout lure made. "

OK......will do. Looks good.

I bought all that stuff to take into WCPP and I think I am going to use it at Isle Royale otherwise I will be kicking myself.

So I will be trying snap jigs (Moonshine shiver jigs), jigging chatterbaits (that will be different) plus jigging big fat swimbaits with 2oz, 3oz and 4oz jig heads hopefully in 150 to 200ft of water (if I can get out) and trying to connect with some big girls.

Right now I have 7 outfits I will be taking. 3 are dedicated for jigging.........6' light action loomis spinning rod with 6 lb fluorocarbon to snap jig some of the bays (are there walleye there?) a 6' med loomis baitcaster with 20lb braid for typical lake trout jigging and one Shimano Butterfly jigging rod with the Revo Toro and 65 braid for the big swimbaits and butterfly jigs.

Afternoon coffee break I watched this......big swimbaits, the stinger treble looks like it is key.

Jigging lakers big swimbaits

quote bruleman: "This is a method used by Gunflint Guides. They mark the location with a GPS and then maneuver around until they find the Lakers with a locator. We used the Rapala Jigging Rap in about 45 feet of water over a hump, in early June. The strikes usually came on the first drop to the bottom, then the fish would get stirred up and we would move. The weather was letter perfect, with just a slight breeze. I didn't even realize that you could catch fish in such good conditions. One blogger mentioned orange fish, some of the Laker fillets had an orange tint. "

I have some of those, thought they would work good for jigging lakers but haven't tried them yet. Good to hear of success with them.

T

If you are trying a couple different things, make sure you pick up a number seven pearl white Swedish pimple. I have caught more lake trout than I can count over the years and most on the number seven pearl white Swedish pimple.

What is the best color/size for the Vibrato? What is the match the hatch color in the bdubs for lakers?

quote mutz: "If you are trying a couple different things, make sure you pick up a number seven pearl white Swedish pimple. I have caught more lake trout than I can count over the years and most on the number seven pearl white Swedish pimple."

More lake trout than you can count! Excellente' ............I certainly haven't had that problem LOL. Yes I have heard that the Swedish Pimple is a bang-em lure but I am going in with Shimano Butterfly jigging spoons rather than buy more "stuff". They blast the fish in salt water and I have little doubt they will catch Lakers.

Everybody likes white. I see where Bass Pro likes a white tube as well. The only white lure I have is a Kalins Big-un curly tail which is huge. I will probably drop it down if I can get out deep.

quote Birdknowsbest: "What is the best color/size for the Vibrato? What is the match the hatch color in the bdubs for lakers?"

It depends on the day. The tube out fished it the last 2 weekends in March. I think mainly because I never had it more than 15' below the ice and that's where most of the fish were. The big fish ate the vibrato. Watch the hooks. They are light wire and can bend under pressure. I straightened the hook on a big fish near the hole after a long fight.

Hey Pat I wonder if replacing those trebles with a single trokar salmon hook and maybe thread a small power pro curly tail on might work rather well. Bulk the lure up a tad and increase scent. Do you put 1/2 a minnow on those trebles while ice fishing?

i,ve had good success with the cabelas real image jig-n-spoon , i go with the 1oz for jigging deep for the direct feel of the jig and still only about 3" long. (bottom jig)

no, it's not on the rise, it's when the lure stops it's fall and just begins to rise
I'm talkin' deep, very deep, 40, 50 feet or more

check out his book

the other thing is to not have any slack in the line, when you lower the lure, no slack
when you quit the descent you can feel the lure hit the bottom of it's descent, you can feel the force stretch the line a little bit, you can feel the snap as it changes direction, within a second of this the fish strikes, the lure probably has risen at most 2 inches

since this is done in a canoe any wind will move you, so you are sort of trolling
if the wind pushes the boat too much, you won't get deep enough
putting on more weight reduces the feel and effectiveness of the technique IMO
I also use a Blue Fox vibrax spinner, the heaviest I have
all these lures are more than 20 years old, so I can't tell much more about them, I just grab them out of my box
color doesn't matter at that depth IMO
on small lakes you don't need a depth finder
some of you are making this way more complicated than it has to be

like most things in fishing it can be simple.......or complicated. Fish a small lake with limited area and dropping down just about anything can get you a bite regardless of how you do it and might lead to the impression that can be replicated everywhere else.

Not so I can assure you. A peek at the sophisticated array of electronics on many Laker hunter boats shows just how complicated it can be.

When deep jigging I highly suggest braid as mono will certainly deaden your sensitivity. When I am actually able to get out and fish (May can't get here fast enough!!) I like deep jigging 3oz Bucktails and heavy butterfly spoons in depths of up to 200ft and lose no sensitivity whatsoever as long as I fish braid. I also fish with plenty of slack on the drop and let the spoon do its flutter thing. Often, even with slack, you will feel the hit with braid and if not when I snap the jig up they will often be there. In cold water I can see dropping something like a tube a bit slower and maintaining contact but a jigging spoon needs some slack to flutter down.........so I am in modest disagreement with some of your analysis Zara regardless of Furtmans book (which I own)........I disagree with him on some things as well (but overall an excellent book and will point the novice in the right direction particularly on certain fundamentals. Well worth the asking price IMO if you aren't sure where to start and what to do).

quote mastertangler: "

quote mutz: "If you are trying a couple different things, make sure you pick up a number seven pearl white Swedish pimple. I have caught more lake trout than I can count over the years and most on the number seven pearl white Swedish pimple."

More lake trout than you can count! Excellente' ............I certainly haven't had that problem LOL. Yes I have heard that the Swedish Pimple is a bang-em lure but I am going in with Shimano Butterfly jigging spoons rather than buy more "stuff". They blast the fish in salt water and I have little doubt they will catch Lakers.


Everybody likes white. I see where Bass Pro likes a white tube as well. The only white lure I have is a Kalins Big-un curly tail which is huge. I will probably drop it down if I can get out deep. "

Living on grand traverse bay in Michigan we fish a lot jigging for whitefish, for many years we referred to lake trout as greasers, because all they ate were alewives and we just caught and released them there were so many you might throw back 10 or 15 in a days fishing. With the decline in alewives there feeding changed and now they are very good to eat. Of course everybody keeps them now so you don't catch as many.

Good for you Mutz Grand Traverse bay is indeed a very beautiful area and traverse city is quite trendy these days. Is the "Road Kill Cafe" still around?

I remember when I was a kid my dad took me out with his boss lake trout fishing on one of the great lakes......nice boat complete with down riggers and we caught a few and boxed them. When we got off the water the guys wife cubed them, battered them and deep fried the chunks to a golden brown. They looked and smelled wonderful bubbling in that vat of oil. I will never forget because my dad had neglected any lunch or snacks and I was absolutely ravenous.

Those were the worst fish I had ever eaten and I had to force myself to eat more than one small piece. From that point I became a lake trout detractor and could never understand when people praised them as table fare. Fortunately I have come around and understood it was the Great Lakes Laker which was so unpalatable. But now even those are good?

Whew! I will hopefully be able to take some on Superior this summer and am hoping they are fit to eat.

FWIW.......I was reading some history of the fisheries of Isle Royale and a certain type of Lake Trout were highly sought specifically because of their oily nature. They were brined and pickled and commanded a very high price........reputed to be without peer.

i've never fished or ate a great lake(superior) lake trout , but have read on many threads/sites , calling them greaser's , i assumed colder water more fat content diet , the inland lakes of the BW/Q , are not them , a different strain , probably, but very good campfire food ;) mostly orange meat but some lakes produce red meat lakers(there diet) and MT i agree with jigging type spoons/slender jigs , you have to let it do a free fall , for its flutter which can create a strike , if your hooks are sharp it's fish on.

The Quetico trout, under 5 lbs, are tasty. The big ones I have eaten from elsewhere, very rubbery. They would maybe be good smoked.... This one was kept and eaten by the Inuit family we were staying with, but I didn't like it. They loved it!

I'd say under 3 pounds are tasty, in fact the closer you get to a fish that is barely worth eating, the better, the small ones are tasty, the bigger you may as well be eating carp

One problem with the Lake Michigan Lake Trout is the bulk of their diet is the declining alewife baitfish...a nasty little invasive greaser which I'm sure contributes to the poor table fare of the laker.

I think Great Lakes Lake Trout are definitely best smoked, where I then actually prefer it to smoked salmon.

The canoe country Lake Trout I believe are just eating better quality forage, and coming out of better water, which understandably makes them more desireable.

quote mastertangler: "like most things in fishing it can be simple.......or complicated. Fish a small lake with limited area and dropping down just about anything can get you a bite regardless of how you do it and might lead to the impression that can be replicated everywhere else.


Not so I can assure you. A peek at the sophisticated array of electronics on many Laker hunter boats shows just how complicated it can be.


When deep jigging I highly suggest braid as mono will certainly deaden your sensitivity. When I am actually able to get out and fish (May can't get here fast enough!!) I like deep jigging 3oz Bucktails and heavy butterfly spoons in depths of up to 200ft and lose no sensitivity whatsoever as long as I fish braid. I also fish with plenty of slack on the drop and let the spoon do its flutter thing. Often, even with slack, you will feel the hit with braid and if not when I snap the jig up they will often be there. In cold water I can see dropping something like a tube a bit slower and maintaining contact but a jigging spoon needs some slack to flutter down.........so I am in modest disagreement with some of your analysis Zara regardless of Furtmans book (which I own)........I disagree with him on some things as well (but overall an excellent book and will point the novice in the right direction particularly on certain fundamentals. Well worth the asking price IMO if you aren't sure where to start and what to do).


"

this forum is about BWCA/Quetico, not the Great Lakes
so I'm gonna say you are WAAAAAAAAAAAY over doing it
most laker lakes are smalllish and deep, that's why they are there and not something else.
Sure, a lake like Jean or Quetico, or Stugeon, or Knife, or Saganaga have lake trout, but who wants to catch them when there are smallies and tasty walleyes to be had?
I only fish for lakers when there is nothing else to be had, as noted, the taste of a laker is not something to look forward to, unless IMO they are small

if I am going across one of these larger lakes and the wind is in my face I might troll a jointed rapala, spoon, or some deep diver, may as well make the best use of my time
or if it is at my back I might jig the sonar across the lake to where the smallies or walleyes are.

and you don't need braided line in the Bdub, nor a 3 oz. lure
6-8 lb mono and a 1 oz lure will be fine

Just my knee jerk reaction to anyone who states that others are making things to "complicated" or "Waaaaaay overdoing it".......Its not a matter of things being complicated or simple but rather knowledge and what one does with that knowledge........wether that be in business or pleasure. There is a reason that 10% of the anglers catch 90% of the fish. I have seen it time and again.

Certainly lake trout fishing can be as simple as putting out a tail dancer and paddling around and hoping for the best......it often works out just fine. And yes one can jig with mono but there is little doubt that braid is far more effective for almost any jigging application for almost any kind of fish wether your fishing a 1oz jig in 40ft or a 3oz jig in 200ft. There is likely an exception but I can't think of it.

Maybe most of the laker lakes you fish are smallish but most of the laker lakes I fish are big lakes.........big lakes mean cisco and cisco means big fish. If I'm targeting lakers I want big ones because they pull hard and are more fun in my book.