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I'm in the process of planning a small 4-day trip to the interior, and I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to bring a fishing rod. Dates are tentative, but we'll probably head up on the June 24 weekend.
I'm not familiar with the water temperatures at this time of year, and I typically don't fish for trout because I don't have the equipment to fish deep. How close to the surface would trout be around this time of year? Is spin casting with light tackle even an option? I was thinking #4 Mepps, trying different pockets in the morning/evening. Does that sound reasonable, or is it a fool's errand?
Any advice would be much appreciated!
P.S. According to Jeff's map, there should be lake trout in this area.
Last edited by JPF (6/14/2016 2:22 pm)
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I've caught lake troutl near shore and at a shallow depth when the surface water temp was 15C... this is above their preferred temp but after the surface water warms up past 10-12C, the will venture into warmer water above.if it still isn't too warm for them. This has been a coolish spring so far so you still might be able to catch them in shallow water, depending on surface temps. My guess is it's getting a little late but a thermometer will help decide how much time and how you want to fish... a deep-running plug or weighted lure might increase your chances, good luck.
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A really cheap option that has worked for me is to use a bottom bouncer. You don't have the same depth control that you would have with lead core but it has worked well in the late June/early July timeframe.
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I'd fish in the 15-20' depth range, maybe a touch shallower. More importantly, focus on underwater structure that is next to deep water...such as a point protruding into the lake with deep water alongside of it. The fish will hang in the deep water and move up to find food around the "elevated" but still submerged structures.
If you have Stephen Molson's depth maps it makes finding these structures much easier!
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Great, thank you for the helpful responses!
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heavy buck tail jigs will get ya down, 1/2 to 3/4 ounce,,, tipped with a dead minnow. works well
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Knowing a bit about the lake's ecology (or finding out if anyone on the forum knows) might help. If the lake has no deep-water forage fish like cisco, whitefish or smelt -- and perhaps perch are in that category as well, not really sure -- then I think the lake trout will be more likely to make dawn and dusk forays into shallow water outside their preferred temperature range like frozentripper talks about, since that's where there are always minnows to eat.
To add a couple more techniques some people use:
- vertical jigging, either with a setup like swede's or with a spoon and sinkers -- this can only work on those glassy-calm mornings/evenings when your canoe is able to sit in place on the water. The other disadvantage is that you can't cover ground while jigging to find the lakers, so it helps to have a depth map to know exactly where the underwater points/dropoffs are.
- as frozentripper alluded there are stickbaits designed to dive as deep as 18 feet, which is deep enough for lake trout in any season. Trouble is that depth assumes a more consistent trolling speed than a canoe usually affords, and more line out than you'll usually have space for on a trolling run in a backcountry lake. Adding some weight to the line, like a rubbercore sinker a rod length from the lure, might help.
RobW, I'm curious about your bottom bouncer technique... do you actually walk it along the bottom, or just use it as a big sinker to get some depth?
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DanPM wrote:
RobW, I'm curious about your bottom bouncer technique... do you actually walk it along the bottom, or just use it as a big sinker to get some depth?
Fair question. I'd say that for the most part we were dragging bottom when we were catching fish. That would make sense since a lot of foraging would be done in and around bottom structure. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that the last one Peter pulled in when we were over 80' of water was not because the lure was near the bottom. I did have the fish finder along so we were working the 20' to 40' range a fair bit.
You can often tell from the rod action when you're actually bouncing - at least on a harder bottom, not so much if the bottom is muck.
For comparison, when I had to switch to an equally heavy inline bell sinker because I'd lost my bottom bouncer to a snag, then Peter way out fished me, which again leads me to think that he was really bouncing.
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Thanks RobW, I hope to give it a try at some point.
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