I have seen a lot of the lake trout threads on the site, but I'm hoping for a little more specific info on fishing saganaga for lake trout in July. I know they will be pretty deep, and getting the bait down to them could be an issue, but I'm looking for locations on the lake that people have had luck with in the past. I know I should wait till the time is closer so I could see how the fishing is going, but I am already very excited, and it's only April 28th. It's going to be a long 3 months! Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Bret

If you sign up as a member, you can see the fishing hotspots on the topographic maps on this site. You can also get info from the various campsites this way too. I looked, and no one has marked fishing spots on Saganaga lake. As for fishing for lakers, using a 3-way swivel with a 3oz weight and a light spoon (silver and blue) or something similar worked good for us on Oyster last year in late July. We will probably be spending a couple nights on little Saganaga in mid July this year, but for laker fishing, we might make a day trip up to a smaller lake in the area that holds only lakers and white suckers (fishing a different lake might not be an option in your case). We thought about this lake after looking up some info on the MN dnr lake finder. This is a great tool for checking out species on certain lakes, if fish have been stocked, depth maps, etc... Looking at the concentrations of fish on Saganaga as well as little Saganaga, there are other fish present (walleye, pike, etc..) and also in good numbers (although sometimes gill netting is a little misleading if the lakers are deeper below the gill nets). Good luck with your laker fishing.

Cache Bay of Saganaga Lake has lake trout.

Bret,

Sag has a good population of lakers. The fish can average 6 to 10 pounds, with a good number of fish over that. In July, one place to concentrate is in water that is about 35' to 55' next to deeper water. There is not enough dissolved oxygen in Sag for lakers past about 60'. If you can rig a 3-way and drag your lure through the magic depth you should hook lakers. Also, at that time of year there are a great deal of suspended fish over deep water, so if you don't have a depth finder, just troll over the open lake and that can actually be pretty effective. A word of warning. . . catching 12 pound lake trout in July on light tackle is really hard on the fish as you fight them in the warmer water near the surface. A portion of your bigger fish are simply not going to make it. I would suggest you use something like 14lb test and a medium rod to bring them in quickly, or use light tackle and just decide to catch and keep a few for the fire. Good luck.

thanks for the help. I will be fishing for walleye and smallies also, but I thought it might be fun to try for something I have never caught. I will be there with my son and nephew, and we are always open for a new adventure.

Bret

When running the 3 way rig with a 3 oz weight on it, how long is the leader leading to the spoon?