Lake trout tips?

[MikeOGNR]

Hey guys going up to lake willoughby in Vermont this weekend and I here it's a good lake trout fishery. I've never fished for lake trout before but I have a 14 ft Jon boat and I have a heavy action musky rod with a big conventional open faced reel. I figured I could troll a 3 way swivel with a heavy 1-2 ounce weight and a moose lock wobbler to catch them. Any tips would be appreciated. 

[Crestliner2008]

Well, I suppose if you want to do that, it is one way of catching lakers. However, I prefer vertical jigging on med-light spinning tackle myself. Check out this link for additional information:

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/173871-lake-trout/

 

If you decide to try vertical jigging with light tackle, let me know and I can give you some more detailed specifics.

[MikeOGNR]

1 hour ago, Crestliner2008 said:

Well, I suppose if you want to do that, it is one way of catching lakers. However, I prefer vertical jigging on med-light spinning tackle myself. Check out this link for additional information:

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/173871-lake-trout/

 

If you decide to try vertical jigging with light tackle, let me know and I can give you some more detailed specifics.

I'll do either or I'd prefer to jig cause it'll break up the monotony of trolling. How do you go about it and what pound test line should I be using. And what lures 

[Crestliner2008]

Like I said, we vertically jig for lakers here all year long. Medium-light to medium rated rods will do. I prefer spinning, because it gets the jig down faster. We use 8# test Fireline Crystal for main line, with a 4' - 5' fluorocarbon leader rated for 8# test as well. The leader is mainly for the shock absorption as well as abrasion resistance. Lakers have vicious teeth! 

 

We mainly use 1/2 oz. - 3/4 oz. blade baits (i.e.: Silver Buddies). All you do is lower the blade down to the bottom and jig it on/off. You'll get bit. We have had to make modifications to our blades due to the snagging potential of the bottom content on the lakes here. We remove both treble hooks, replacing them with a single 1/0 hook on the rear split ring. This has not reduced our hook-up ration at all. And we crimp down the barbs as well, which reduces damage to the fish or US, should a bait come flying back at us!

 

Here's what the mod looks like that has proven itself successful over the last 3 seasons of use. The hooks on these baits are VMC In Line Single Hooks. The inline feature, when combined with a split ring, lines up the point of the hook with the body of the bait:

 

 

One more thing. You can get blade baits in bulk at Barlow's Tackle. They sell just the molded blade bodies for $25./doz.. I buy only SPRO split rings (much beefier than standard split ring). The VMC hooks are available through several outlets, including Cabelas.

 

The only other thing you may want to do is to put a Spro PowerSwivel (crane style) about 18" up from your jig. Lakers love to roll on your bait and will create a serious twisting problem in you line without a swivel strategically placed.

 

As soon as you get your first laker this way, you'll give up on trolling.

[MikeOGNR]

Do you cast it out  and jig it and how far of a motion for jigging short pulls or long 1-2 ft pulls. Also any trailer specifically? And what depth and areas I don't have a depth finder so I'm mainly gonna rely on a topo 

[Crestliner2008]

If the wind doesn't keep your boat moving, I'd cast it out. Let it hit bottom. Then jerk it up just enough to start to feel the vibrations of the blade. As soon as you feel the first vibes, drop it back to the bottom & repeat. No need for a lift of over a foot. Trust me, if there are any lakers in the areas, they will know there's a meal opportunity close by! This is why braid is so important when jigging deep waters. Nothing else will give you the feel braid does.

 

If you have a good drift going, you can just drop the blade (or jig) straight down to the bottom. And repeat the action as for casting. Don't be surprised if you pick up a bit smallmouth or two along the way. Good Luck!

[MikeOGNR]

So similar to yo yo ing a rattle trap. Without the continuous reeling. Just reel up slack lift till you feel vibration then let it fall back down. Reel up slack lift till vibration let fall. And do you let it sit on bottom for a bit of just a continuous steady motion of this retrieve 

[Crestliner2008]

10 hours ago, MikeOGNR said:

So similar to yo yo ing a rattle trap. Without the continuous reeling. Just reel up slack lift till you feel vibration then let it fall back down. Reel up slack lift till vibration let fall. And do you let it sit on bottom for a bit of just a continuous steady motion of this retrieve 

 

When drifting, you do not "reel" at all. You just lift the rod tip and drop it back down.

[Neil McCauley]

On 6/7/2017 at 0:50 PM, Crestliner2008 said:

Like I said, we vertically jig for lakers here all year long. Medium-light to medium rated rods will do. I prefer spinning, because it gets the jig down faster. We use 8# test Fireline Crystal for main line, with a 4' - 5' fluorocarbon leader rated for 8# test as well. The leader is mainly for the shock absorption as well as abrasion resistance. Lakers have vicious teeth! 

 

We mainly use 1/2 oz. - 3/4 oz. blade baits (i.e.: Silver Buddies). All you do is lower the blade down to the bottom and jig it on/off. You'll get bit. We have had to make modifications to our blades due to the snagging potential of the bottom content on the lakes here. We remove both treble hooks, replacing them with a single 1/0 hook on the rear split ring. This has not reduced our hook-up ration at all. And we crimp down the barbs as well, which reduces damage to the fish or US, should a bait come flying back at us!

 

Here's what the mod looks like that has proven itself successful over the last 3 seasons of use. The hooks on these baits are VMC In Line Single Hooks. The inline feature, when combined with a split ring, lines up the point of the hook with the body of the bait:

 

 

One more thing. You can get blade baits in bulk at Barlow's Tackle. They sell just the molded blade bodies for $25./doz.. I buy only SPRO split rings (much beefier than standard split ring). The VMC hooks are available through several outlets, including Cabelas.

 

The only other thing you may want to do is to put a Spro PowerSwivel (crane style) about 18" up from your jig. Lakers love to roll on your bait and will create a serious twisting problem in you line without a swivel strategically placed.

 

As soon as you get your first laker this way, you'll give up on trolling.

Knew Crestliner would be in this thread waxing philosophical about blade jigs.

I am going to give this a real try now that it's getting towards summer. How deep are you able to jig with these? I've tried drop shotting on LG in 150-200 fow for summer lakers...didn't go well.

[Crestliner2008]

The deepest I've ever successfully jigged up lakers with this technique is 103'. Cabelas makes a 1 oz. blade bait. Unfortunately, it's a painted blade vs. plain silver or gold. I may give them a whirl this season.