Hi Everybody! Our crew got a Quetico permit for mid-August,and we are thinking of making a day trip up to Roland for some LT (We are planning on base-camping on the Canadian side of Iron). We did it years ago in June, and it seemed pretty easy, now I'm hearing we need to get our stuff down 50 ft.? How much lead do you guys think we have to run to get our trusty Rapalas down 50 ft.? Thanks!

Don't bother with the weights. Just let out a lot of line and troll a shiny deep diver crank. Your crank will get down to 18-30 feet deep over the deep holes or edges of the deep holes on Roland. That's all ya need. Doing this, a slow day is 2-3 trout per hour per person.

In my opinion the whole you need to go deep in the summer is overblown for trout. Trout feed up and will travel a long way to strike. They are the easiest fish to catch In my opinion. I fish almost exclusively the first week of August. I've caught lakers on the surface on Earl on 2 separate trips. On McIntyre I was fishing a walleye reef and drifted off of it into 30' of water and ran into a school of aggressive trout. All on a 90 degree day. I've replicated this on Sag, Suz, Deer, Argo, Sarah, and Burt.

The weights may tangle/twist. More trouble than the pay off. When ya dredge them up from 50' you have a high likely hood of killing them too.

Here are some summer trout caught with no weight, fishing 30 feet down or less. I posted some other summer trout pics in the fishing thread too.

I would not make a habit of fishing for lakers in August if they are running deep. The warm, near-surface waters are very warm and tend to kill lakers quickly. A quick fight and release maximizes their survival.

quote arctic: "I would not make a habit of fishing for lakers in August if they are running deep. The warm, near-surface waters are very warm and tend to kill lakers quickly. A quick fight and release maximizes their survival."

Surface temps can occasionally be warm but it gets cold quick a few feet below that.With that being said most summers surfaces temps on big trout lakes the temp never gets above 70 unless there is no wind and a lot of sun for a few days. Try diving into the middle of Argo--you will about have a heart attack from the temp change :) But yes I agree fishing deep isn't good in summer unless it is catch and kill, but you don't need to go deep there are plenty of Lakers in the first 20 feet of the water column to keep ya busy.

T

quote arctic: "I would not make a habit of fishing for lakers in August if they are running deep. The warm, near-surface waters are very warm and tend to kill lakers quickly. A quick fight and release maximizes their survival."

Agree. Unfortunately my schedule won't permit spring trips so I limit our take to 1 lake trout per trip and that fish is supper. I have never had one look releasable after coming up from the deep. Deep tail dancers troll 30 ft without weights and lakers will come up a long way to strike one. What you catch be prepared to eat.

quote Gmorgan: "

quote arctic: "I

I have never had one look releasable after coming up from the deep. Deep tail dancers troll 30 ft without weights and lakers will come up a long way to strike one. What you catch be prepared to eat."

From my experience if you have never had one releasable you cannot be fishing the 20-30 foot water column. There are trout 50-100 feet deep in the summer and they are very catchable but there are also many trout much shallower. If you watch your depth finder you can see them over deep water in the 20-40 feet column of water. They are actively feeding on ciscos usually. Delayed hooking mortality studies on lakers caught this deep if hooked in the jaw using artificials is between 7- 0% regardless of the season/temp ( there is a better study going on now on the Great Lakes should give more data) The deeper ones are usually better to eat as they tend to be more of the red variety, but you could also pull up a 20 pounder and kill it----I can't eat a 20 pounder myself so I just stay away from the deep ones altogether in summer.

I agree if I kill one, it gets eaten and we are done.

T

quote arctic: "I would not make a habit of fishing for lakers in August if they are running deep. The warm, near-surface waters are very warm and tend to kill lakers quickly. A quick fight and release maximizes their survival."

I've heard the same. You can also deflate their air bladder when pulling them up from deep water. Sport fishing for Lakers from deep water in the summer months could be viewed as unethical from the viewpoint of some fishermen.

quote timatkn: "

quote arctic: "I would not make a habit of fishing for lakers in August if they are running deep. The warm, near-surface waters are very warm and tend to kill lakers quickly. A quick fight and release maximizes their survival."

Surface temps can occasionally be warm but it gets cold quick a few feet below that.With that being said most summers surfaces temps on big trout lakes the temp never gets above 70 unless there is no wind and a lot of sun for a few days. Try diving into the middle of Argo--you will about have a heart attack from the temp change :) But yes I agree fishing deep isn't good in summer unless it is catch and kill, but you don't need to go deep there are plenty of Lakers in the first 20 feet of the water column to keep ya busy.
T"

I've been to Argo many times, and agree that cold water is not far down in most years. On many other trout lakes, especially during hot summers (like 2012), the volume of warm water above the thermocline gets pretty big. I also agree that you don't necessarily have to fish deep for them, as active fish often cruise just below the thermocline. On some lakes I have even seen lakers surface feeding in late summer, as fish shoot up from colder water to hit bugs, etc.

And since we're talkin' Lakers.

I once caught a large laker in late June with a floating rapala. I was on Quetico Lake and just cruising along. I thought I had snagged a log because there was so much tension on the line. I soon realized it was not a log when the lure went straight down for some time.

I almost fell out of the canoe when I realized what I had caught. Is this a normal activity for summer Lakers? I surmise that he came from down deep to retrieve the lure and went back down.

Tom

Thanks guys! Thought-provoking stuff. With my fishing luck, I may not have to worry about how to properly release one!...

timatkn-...Uh...since you were talking about shiny deep-divers, did you have any particular one in mind you could share? Like a bigger Shad-Rap, or more like a skinny minnow type? Thanks!

quote allfish: "Thanks guys! Thought-provoking stuff. With my fishing luck, I may not have to worry about how to properly release one!...


timatkn-...Uh...since you were talking about shiny deep-divers, did you have any particular one in mind you could share? Like a bigger Shad-Rap, or more like a skinny minnow type? Thanks!"

For some reason rapala dt 16's work very well. Silver black or silver/blue. It doesn't look like any baitfish I have seen but almost always is a killer. Minnow raps or tail dancers work too.

Here is a pick of one with a dt in it's mouth for a visual.

Allfish - Why do you want to go to Quetico and plunder this beautiful resource in August? You are an idiot. Stay home where you belong - wherever that is and go carp fishing.

It's guys like you that give fishing a bad name. I agree - VERY unethical.

.

quote timatkn: "

quote Gmorgan: "

quote arctic: "I

I have never had one look releasable after coming up from the deep. Deep tail dancers troll 30 ft without weights and lakers will come up a long way to strike one. What you catch be prepared to eat."

From my experience if you have never had one releasable you cannot be fishing the 20-30 foot water column. There are trout 50-100 feet deep in the summer and they are very catchable but there are also many trout much shallower. If you watch your depth finder you can see them over deep water in the 20-40 feet column of water. They are actively feeding on ciscos usually. Delayed hooking mortality studies on lakers caught this deep if hooked in the jaw using artificials is between 7- 0% regardless of the season/temp ( there is a better study going on now on the Great Lakes should give more data) The deeper ones are usually better to eat as they tend to be more of the red variety, but you could also pull up a 20 pounder and kill it----I can't eat a 20 pounder myself so I just stay away from the deep ones altogether in summer.

I agree if I kill one, it gets eaten and we are done.


T"

I was assuming they came from deeper than 30 ft based on what I have read from other posts. We are not using any depth finders so I am not exactly sure. Most have been caught with rapala deep tail dancers or daredevil spoons trolling in canoe at reasonable pace with fair amount of line out. The last one I caught on Agnes in the Q was quite a battle (5-6 lbs) and was on its side by the time I got it to canoe (2012 last week of July on warm day) It was very tasty and they are a beautiful fish. That's why it's one and done.

As for all the other species of fish we are very respectful of this incredible resource and fish is always a side dish with our meals.

quote bobbernumber3: "

quote Fishamajig: "Allfish - Why do you want to go to Quetico and plunder this beautiful resource in August? You are an idiot. Stay home where you belong - wherever that is and go carp fishing.



It's guys like you that give fishing a bad name. I agree - VERY unethical."

Picture from your website. ..."plunder this beautiful resource" you say? Seems you are the pot calling the kettle black?


Not trying to take sides but a picture of less than ten crappie isn't really a big deal. In Tennessee, that would be a bad day. Some of the lakes don't even have a limit there are so many of those guys.


your website "

We consistently catch lakers in early August with Tail Dancers which go no more than 20 feet . Don,t bother with lead core. If you need to release the fish, do it quickly.

OK....I'll play....

Fishamajig- Point taken. The crappies look cool, but if I looked like you, I would stay off the interwebs. Carp-on-a-stick is yummy, I was introduced to it in the mid-1980's by Laotion immigrants on the Rappahannock river in Virginia one night. I was camping out, they were illegally throw-netting carp, and we did a cultural exchange of Budweiser's for a midnight snack. Henceforth, we referred to it as "East Coast Halibut".

Timatkn- Thank you sir, for your sage advice. We are not going up 'til August, I'm hoping I can trouble you for future tackle
knowledge?


Good Night Now!

When trolling for lakers in the summer, we often use 2oz or 4oz keel sinkers with 3-4' of line behind to a flutter spoon. We run a locator to watch depth and stay in water over 30' looking for deep holes and ledges. Often, we drop our rig to the bottom, let out several feet of extra line and just start paddling.

We used to run deeper but as people have stated, trout do come up from the depths to hit a higher running bait. The bladders on some summer caught trout expand and prevent them from being released (they can't submerge with the inflated bladder). Do not crank these fish in quickly when hooked... play them deep until you see several bubble releases from the fish. The release of air from the bladder helps the trout submerge when unhooked.

Allfish - Good thread - see you in August!

For the record, I was just having fun with Allfish. We have been fishing together 30 years, and going to the BWCA/Quetico for 20.

Fishamajig-No knucklehead, it's been since 1986, over 25 years!