Last year I went into Quetico first of June through Stanton Bay. I did pretty well on lakers with the purple descent tail dancers. Just curious as to how others did and what was their best presentation and lures. Always looking to buy another lure :)

I tried two different deep divers in late June: a Berkley Flicker Minnow Pro Slick (3.5 inch) in Slick Mouse, and a Rapala Jointed Deep Husky Jerk (4.75 inch) in Yellow Perch. Trolling, I caught lake trout on each of them in a lake with a known trout population.

Found lots of shallow LT everywhere I went in the SE Q last year (last week of May/first week of June). Trolled a DHJ10 75' back. Multiple colors.

We did well last May with shallow Rapalas (5 feet) in Gold. Fall I'm using the same as you, TD in PD and with good luck. I've done well with 5 inch plastics as well. If they are hungry they bite!

Did extremely well on two separate trips in Quetico last July and August using the Northland Bionic Bucktail jig. Dropped the 2 oz. jig to the bottom in 60 feet of water , then trolled very fast over 60 to 120 feet of water. I would estimate the jig was in the 35 to 40 foot depth range most of the time. I took the back treble hook off, and did not tip the jig with anything.

A great tactic when they are deep is to drift with the winds and aggressively jig with a large flashy heavy spoon. Large jigs, as mentioned, are also effective. Be willing to try different color combinations as they can be finicky.

Being old-school and a poor fisherman, I only use Rapalas and usually perch color, and mostly shad raps.
I've caught every species of fish with one lure and my tackle box is pretty small.

For lakers I use an silver floating Rapala with a weight two feet in front of it and troll. I am only able to catch them in the spring and after that I go for walleye.

Not an expert but always catch fish!
Tom

I fish lakers every May (and a once in a while in September) with #3 and #4 Blue Fox Vibrax Spinners. Chartreuse seems to be the most productive.

I fish for LT in late Aug. and go down about 70 to 100 feet using airplane jigs. I find if I reel up really fast they will hit anywhere right up to the surface.

old_salt: "A great tactic when they are deep is to drift with the winds and aggressively jig with a large flashy heavy spoon. Large jigs, as mentioned, are also effective. Be willing to try different color combinations as they can be finicky."

This is what we were doing last August. Drop the white tube jig to the bottom, then reel it up 5' or so, and then start jigging it as the wind slowly pushed us around.

jdddl8: "I fish for LT in late Aug. and go down about 70 to 100 feet using airplane jigs. I find if I reel up really fast they will hit anywhere right up to the surface."

Just an FYI, I'm told that you will kill the fish this way when pulling up a laker from deep water.

I am a little slow. What is a DHJ?

Deep Husky Jerk.

tumblehome: "

jdddl8: "I fish for LT in late Aug. and go down about 70 to 100 feet using airplane jigs. I find if I reel up really fast they will hit anywhere right up to the surface."

Just an FYI, I'm told that you will kill the fish this way when pulling up a laker from deep water."

Lake Trout are physotomes and have ducted air bladders which allows them to release excess air from their mouth. As long as you don't bring them up too fast they will not be harmed. The danger lies in the warm temperature of the surface water that time of the year which really stresses the fish. Studies have shown about a 30% death rate for lakers caught in warm surface water/air temp. It is CRITICAL to unhook and release them QUICKLY if you fish that time of the year. In fact it is irresponsible to even take a pic unless you can do it in seconds. How strong the fish swims away is not always a good indicator of long term survival. Most other canoe country species are physoclisti and can not belch air. They can be harmed if taken much deeper than 20 feet as it takes hours or days for them to adjust their swim bladders. 30 feet is considered maximum by experts. I know this is an inconvenient truth for many, but we must do everything we can to assure the survival of these fish. If we don't, we will eventually have BWCA level fishing.

mgraber: "

tumblehome: "

jdddl8: "I fish for LT in late Aug. and go down about 70 to 100 feet using airplane jigs. I find if I reel up really fast they will hit anywhere right up to the surface."

Just an FYI, I'm told that you will kill the fish this way when pulling up a laker from deep water."

... but we must do everything we can to assure the survival of these fish. If we don't, we will eventually have BWCA level fishing."

Quetico fish management seems focused on protecting bass and making it harder to be successful. We fish mostly for walleyes, but with the live bait restriction, we now spend more time focused on lake trout... keeping some, and likely releasing some that don't survive.

@mcgraber,

Thank you for filling in the blanks on taking fish from deep water.

I know my position is not popular but that is why I have such a hard time with sport fishing. I do fish but mostly for a dinner. And I occasionally sport fish but often feel guilty when I get one that I injure.

Tom

Hey thanks for the good information everyone.

Thanks for helping everyone understand the problems with lakers. I will educate our small group of the issues. Hopefully by fishing early in June we won't be going too deep, but your points are well taken.