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We are heading out of Kiosk on May 15 (ice skates or canoes, either way). Any tips/secrets/tricks to landing a big lake trout? We've done pretty well last three years with a 7 pounder, 5 pounder, and 4 pounder, but basically only one or two per trip. Any favorite lures/bait we should try? Depths? Cast vs. troll? Also, thoughts on fishing on Mouse and Maple Lake? Thanks!
Last edited by perrythomas (4/28/2018 6:37 am)
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perrythomas wrote:
We are heading out of Kiosk on May 15 (ice skates or canoes, either way). Any tips/secrets/tricks to landing a big lake trout? We've done pretty well last three years with a 7 pounder, 5 pounder, and 4 pounder, but basically only one or two per trip. Any favorite lures/bait we should try? Depths? Cast vs. troll? Also, thoughts on fishing on Mouse and Maple Lake? Thanks!
I'm not sure how many huge lakers your going to get into on your trip, but both Club and Mouse are good brook trout fisheries. ***** has lakers, but I haven't heard of any huge ones coming out. Kiosk has some big Lakers, but for since your starting there I'm not sure how much fishing youlll get in.
Supposedly ******, Erables, and Maple all have low fish populations which honestly surprises me. I haven't bothered trying very hard on them, but it might be worth a shot!
2 years ago everyone told me ******* Lake didn't have a single fish in it, last year I caught my biggest ever brookie out of there!
Cheers
Edit by BB .. astrisked-out names of lakes under 60 hectares .. long-established forum rule to not give fishing info for small lakes.
Fishing Information Restriction Over time, the forum community has developed the following policy. Those lakes which are identified on the MNR Fish Stocking List may be identified in forum postings. However, lakes that aren't on the MNR Fish Stocking List should not be identified if their area is 60 hectares or less, so as to help minimize possible impacts on native trout populations. Likewise, no "hot spot" locations (such as points, bays or co-ordinates) should be identified on any lakes regardless of their status. Reference to watersheds, lake groups and larger lake locations in general are acceptable .. but nothing more specific. To help forum users conform to this restriction, here's the link to the MNR Fish Stocking List and random examples of smaller lake sizes .Bissett 105 hectares
Rence 92 hectares
Hayes 75 hectares
Godda 60 hectares
Fraser 50 hectares
Shrew 40 hectares
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Kioshkokwi should hold some large LT since it also produces whitefish and herring which LT can feed on to reach a larger size in a shorter amount of time. The downside of fishing there is it's a road-access lake which means there will be anglers trolling with motors, using electronic gear, downriggers, depth maps, and everything else the sportfishing industry makes available to increase catch. Another negative about Kioshkokwi is smelt have invaded there and that may be reducing numbers of LT fry as a result of smelt feeding on them with fewer LT being present to reach a large size.
IIRC there are large numbers of whitefish in Kioshkokwi, possibly because of LT being fished down from anglers and gear, leaving more lake production to whitefish. But I have not heard anything about fishing for WF as an alternate target species.
Biggar might be worth a try in that area for large LT since it's more remote, also holds WF and herring to boost LT growth, and is less likely to attract high-tech anglers.
PS... if you do catch a large laker, catch and release might be an idea since even on prime production lakes LT can be slow-growing and it could take a long time to replace one... good luck.
Last edited by frozentripper (4/28/2018 8:58 am)
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Been fishing the park for 40 yrs and there just aren't a lot of big lake trout around the biggest average size for me was always out of Manitou and they topped out at 10lbs. My success for bigger trout I have always attributed to tipping my lures with salted minnow/chub tails. Would spend a couple days fishing for them around home and use pickling salt They keep and the scent and extra flash really seemed to work.
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True, there aren't many large LT being caught ("large" being a relative term, "large" now probably being smaller than those large ones caught in the old days)... is fishing pressure reducing the largest sizes caught and taken out with time. The largest LT would be kept year after year, and production over long periods of time needed to grow replacements to that size couldn't keep up with the fishing pressure constantly removing them.
Photo below, LT catch from a fishing trip to Hogan, 1936... it'd be interesting to match photos with what's being caught now.. There is good long-term evidence that catch from Opeongo is poorer wrt size since the early days when the park was first made accessible.
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Yes I'm sure "sports" removed a good chunk of big fish genes until catch and release started to take hold in the 90's.
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I caught a 7 pounder on Catfish. My brother got a 5 pounder on Carl Wilson. My buddy got a 4 pounder on Cedar. We were not complaining. We were trolling with heavier spoons. All of them felt like pure luck.
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the easy part is catching the fish,,,, keeping your mouth shut about locations seems to be the problem a lot of anglers have. just ask m. b. about that.
try and practice catch and release and to make the process easier go barbless. just say`n
Last edited by swedish pimple (4/30/2018 10:04 am)
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I'm pretty sure mentioning Manitou is well within the sites minimum size for mentioning. No way would I mention some of the even medium sized lakes Ive caught decent lakers out of.
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We have our best luck trolling , ( covering water ) we use a lot of the Blue Fox spinners, the standard EGB'S and if we get on a hot bite ( that usually occurs when a bug hatch starts, we jig for them.
we tend to fish a lot of lures with some Blue on them.........has worked for us over the years.
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the easy part is catching the fish,,,, keeping your mouth shut about locations seems to be the problem a lot of anglers have. just ask mike borger about that.
Oh really? Please explain.
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the easy part is catching the fish,,,, keeping your mouth shut about locations seems to be the problem a lot of anglers have. just ask mike borger about that.
Oh really? Please explain.
I think he is refer ro the issue of mentioning you were catching big fish in the park and some idiot filed a freedom of information request to get your location.
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For the sake of clarity, could someone please explain what these hidden rules about talking about big fish are? If I'm following this correctly, suggesting that there are lake trout on some lakes is frowned upon? So if I catch a big fish, I shouldn't tell anyone where I caught it, so that there isn't a flurry of traffic to that lake? Seems like this is the type of site where we share our secrets. I just don't want to break any hidden rules or offend anyone.
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Seems like this is the type of site where we share our secrets.
Don't kid yourself, this is not a private website - it's public and has been scanned many many times for fishing secrets. Hence the 'discussing fishing rules' Barry introduced. Take the clown that initiated the FoA request that Was Hardcore mentions above for example - probably still trolling this site with high hopes - there is no limit to how desperate and ruthless some fishermen can be
Personally, I can't imagine why anyone, under any circumstances, would reveal their fishing secrets or hot spots. It defies logic, as how long can you expect it to last after the secret is out?
For the sake of the world-class fishery that is Algonquin Park (which is already under additional stress/pressure for a variety of other reasons/problems) and if you truly care about the future of the fishery, please keep this stuff (locations) to yourself. (Not directing that specifically at you, but to everyone on this website).
Edit: Forgot to post the fishing rules you asked about. They can be found by clicking the 'Forum Terms of Service' button at the top of the page (full sites rules) but here is a copypasta of the section specific to fishing:
Fishing Information Restriction: Over time, the forum community has developed the following policy. Those lakes which are identified on the MNR Fish Stocking List may be identified in forum postings. However, lakes that aren't on the MNR Fish Stocking List should not be identified if their area is 60 hectares or less, so as to help minimize possible impacts on native trout populations. Likewise, no "hot spot" locations (such as points, bays or co-ordinates) should be identified on any lakes regardless of their status. Reference to watersheds, lake groups and larger lake locations in general are acceptable .. but nothing more specific. To help forum users conform to this restriction, here's the link to the MNR Fish Stocking List and random examples of smaller lake sizes ...Bissett 105 hectares
Rence 92 hectares
Hayes 75 hectares
Godda 60 hectares
Fraser 50 hectares
Shrew 40 hectares
Wildlife Information RestrictionIt is also important (in the interest of minimizing impacts on wildlife populations) to not post specific wildlife breeding or gathering locations. References to general areas, watersheds, lakes and general habitats are acceptable .. but nothing more specific. Readers are reminded of the Leave No Trace principle "Respect Wildlife" which includes observing wildlife from a distance and not following or approaching them.
Last edited by Peek (4/30/2018 1:05 pm)
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Thanks Peek, that's very helpful. I'll happily edit my original post or delete this thread if people think it's pushing the limits on the rules.
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No need to delete, just be aware of the restrictions that are put in place to protect some of the most fragile/small fisheries. And there's no problem posting that you caught X number or X size fish as long as the specific locations are not revealed. For instance, posting that you landed five lakers with the largest of 15 pounds in Lavieille would be great news (especially if all were released!) but to narrow that down to "off the northeastern point at the opening to Hardy Bay of Lavieille" would be frowned upon as it reveals a specific location. Make sense?
The limitation on the size of the lake was instituted for a similar reason - if it's a small lake, it would be relatively easy to find the location and subject the water body to heavier than supportable fishing pressure.
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I think if you want to send a PM to someone to mentione it thats not a problem, I have helped quite a few people over the years, but I mainly give out what lures I was using and times of day etc. etc. years ago with the surveys they where doing some lakes got a lot of pressure due to the previous years remarks on the surveys. man hours spent catching fish etc. etc. no different than a fishing forum I am on, I will tell you the smallmouth bass fishing is good on the Maitland River from Wingham to Goderich, about 20 + km of river to cover.
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