Lake Trout

[GeoffG]

I live in Bracebridge and I have a hut on brandy lake near Port Carling unfortunately there are no lake trout in that lake and i really want to ice fish for lake trout very soon. Can anyone tell me a good spot where there is a good chance i will be successful. Any tips would also be appreciated. I am on foot so it would have to be reasonably close to a road THANKS

[solopaddler]

When I lived in Port Carling (right on Brandy Lake actually ), I caught a ton of lake trout on Lake Rosseau.

There's all kinds of places where you can walk out without a machine and catch fish, that's how I did it.

It goes without saying that the other 2 big lakes, Joseph and Muskoka are good as well...

Lake Jo doesn't open 'till Feb.15th though, but it can be amazing.

[oldphart]

~~~I'm comen up on Sunday, with some buddies from Ajax, and will be at the Tim Horton's in Minden, at about 7:15, if you would like to join us chasen Lakers 20 min. N. of there.

[camillj]

Rosseau is still a great bet ... Should be some good ice by now but be careful it opened right up during the thaw. Lots of places up the East side of the lake (as you head towards Three Mile from Brandy), andywhere around Windermere and if you look out from Port Sandfield you will almost always see huts (if the ice is safe) ... thats pretty much all accessible on foot

 

 

On Joe ... after Feb 15th ... Up by Gordon Bay Marine ... across from CNIB... Appian Way also all accessible on foot ( I dont own a sled and I almost always get at least one laker)

 

How has the pickeral been on Brandy these days ?

[Sudsmaster]

I live in Windermere and just put my hut out on Monday (5x8 brown corrugated aluminum straight out from the Lion's Club Pavilion on the concrete dock)...we have got about 5-8" of black ice with a layer of crappy stuff on top ...fished both Tues and Wed this week and landed well over 30 fish each day...one being just over 5lbs.... we even caught a few Ling...you only need to walk a couple hundred ft from the dock downtown and you have 50 to 70 ft of water...I have not checked out any farther than around where I planted the hut and I am riding either my ATV or Skidoo Grand Touring on the lake to the hut ... with all this new snow it is pushing water up and making slush I will be walking or using the snowmobile for the next little while. If you do plan on touring around I would suggest chiseling as you go.

 

I usually use a minnow set line wih two or three hooks tied directly to the line 6-10" apart with either a bell sinker or a bottom bouncing type lure like a Meegs, Bad Boy or even a 3" jigging Rap...You don't have to but I jig this very lightly at times when I see fish hanging around on the finder and I find it helps to entice them to bite.... my jig line if I even have time to use it is usually a spoon...Williams, Swedish Pimple, Mister Champ etc tipped with a decent sized minnow ...for some reason over here the trout will take the spoon better if it is tipped.

 

 

If you do decide to drop over to this side of the lake and anyone is at the hut drop over and say hi..I usually have on a ABU Garcia Float suit with my nickname on the right hand pocket.

 

Hope this helps,

Suds

Edited January 25, 2008 by Sudsmaster

[johnnyb]

Have to agree with Suds on the light jigging.....I've done best when I leave it right on bottom, and just nudge it up slowly. I have been having a hard time beating tube jigs the last couple seasons....off to a good start this year too.

Camillj, I'm very interested in the Lake Joe spots you mentioned, as I've heard them reputed to be pretty good.

Appian Way: I've been out there, but there's a fair bit of open space, and I have no idea where to go, exactly. Straight out from the parking area? LEft, right?

CNIB: How far out? I see a couple islands off shore that look promising, but have no clue.

Sorry for all the questions...I only fish Rosseau and a couple smaller lakes through the ice, so I'm totally lost on Joe, but would really like to give it a good shot.

[camillj]

Johnnyb .. cant get too specific without asking for trouble

 

Truth is they are both great lakes and most locations will produce (for me the ticket as been finding 30 - 45 feet of water near a drop off) ... the locals who fish these lakes know what they are doing ... and its hard to hide ... so look for huts and people ... you'll probably find fish

 

Failing that, talk to John at Bait-on-the-lake (Glen Orchard) he'll point you in the right direction.

 

I was up this weekend and did really well right at Port Sandfield (lake Rosseau side)... just be careful to stay FAR away from the open water ... you'll see a couple of huts out there ... stay south of them ... there is quite a current flowing under the bridge so the ice can be pretty variable.

 

Also saw several fish caught in under an hour off of Ferndale Road.

[discophish]

Sssshhhhh!

 

Geoff, Lake Rosseau and Lake Joe are good options for sure .... just can't tell you exactly where, but as this thread mentions already, use that information and you will indeed become successfull. Sudsmaster and Camillj, sounds like you are off to a great start. Hopefully this weekend we'll be up that way.

 

Good Luck!

[cthewrld]

You could try Lake of Bays right off of Port Cunnington. Try the area between the Port and BigWin island. I haven't been up for a while, but you should have easy access.

[johnnyb]

Okay...I'm getting the picture.... see you guys out there....