What is your best laker technique?

[tschirk]

I have a place on Lake X , south of Bancroft. According to a recent MNR creel report it is the 5th most populated lake for Lakers in the region.

 

In 10 years of fishing, trolling, etc I have only caught 1 ( 'tons of Bass & Pike though). The old timers use steel line and catch a few.

 

I have tried everything from planers, jigging spoons, spoons tipped w minnows, .... nadda.

 

Any killer ideas?

 

Cheers

Ted

[cram]

I have a place on Lake X , south of Bancroft. According to a recent MNR creel report it is the 5th most populated lake for Lakers in the region.

 

In 10 years of fishing, trolling, etc I have only caught 1 ( 'tons of Bass & Pike though). The old timers use steel line and catch a few.

 

I have tried everything from planers, jigging spoons, spoons tipped w minnows, .... nadda.

 

Any killer ideas?

 

Cheers

Ted

 

If you're catching pike and bass you're likely too shallow. How deep is the thermocline? I bet the lakers are there...

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

find 50 - 60 fow water.

 

use a 3 way rig and your laker lure of choice. i like using rapalas... a blue/orange husky jerk is my personal fav. summer lakers are not hard to catch if you're fishing where they are located.

 

do you use electronics?

[tschirk]

Thermocline is usually @ or lower than 15' & yes I use a Lowrance LMS334.

Lake max depth is 105'

BTW thx for the relies.

Cheers,

Ted

[irishfield]

105 FOW... then they are probably sitting 65 to 80 in it.. if not right on bottom. They love 52F water..

[BillM]

Find the thermocline and you'll find the lakers...

 

Personally I'd vertically jig them with some big white tube jigs or some williams jigging spoons.

[discophish]

There are many great methods, but if you want to break the silence with a quick and easy catch, scan the bottom carefully ... in and around 80 fow or deeper. If the basin depth is 105, work the edges of the bowl from 80 downwards. They will be there, somewhere. On a calm day, float on top of them and jig a 4"-6" tube tipped with a minnow. That's a deadly combination. If an aggressive action does not entice them, slow it down, barely lifting the skirt off the floor, almost falling from side to side without leaving the bottom. Also drag it in a criss-cross pattern while making sure to cover your approach angles. Use quality braided line as well, with a good rod tip. Additionally, if the clarity of the water is relatively clear, then don't be shy to revisit the same grounds at night. I've had my best experiences fishing at night for lakers. Just keep in mind the biological tolerances when fishing this deep for lakers. Good luck!

[Twocoda]

if the bottom of lake X is soft try literally dragging your canon balls on there ( its a "hail mary" method for bending a rod for a laker)....lengthen your leads off the ball outrageously long 60+' so your bait is in the cloud the ball creates...keep your speed 1.5 to 1.9 mph

 

Good Luck

 

dont forget to run your cheater/slider...

Edited June 4, 2010 by Twocoda

[DRIFTER_016]

Dredging bottom with a big flatfish works wonders too.

[chris.brock]

You should be able to find them with your electronics (70 to 90 feet is where I would look), the fish near bottom are likely more catchable than the suspended ones, verticle jig a spoon or tube, or even still fish with a shiner

[scuro2]

Here is my combo: leadcore/small boat/choppy weather/a small sutton spoon.

Edited June 4, 2010 by scuro2

[Chugger]

Downriggers anyone? You can pick up a manual downrigger for a decent price. That being said, lately I've been catching them close to dusk long lining jointed rapalas at dusk. Colour doesn't sem to matter.

 

Now what are cheaters/sliders?

[Fang]

Are you having a problem finding fish or is it a case of marking fish but with no catching.

 

It took me several years on Temagami to find reliable pockets of lakers. If you've got a good amount of deep water focus on areas where there are steep drop offs into the deepest water around. Lakers love to coral baitfish against those walls and feed. After the thermocline set ups I find these spots tend to have fish around more often

 

Turn the sensitivity on your unit up and go for a very slow troll. Scope out the lower half of the water column and focus on 50+ depth. Work over a number of different deep water spots and get a few reliable spots where you're seeing fish on or near bottom.

 

Simplest and best technique when it's not too windy is a 1 oz bell sinker with 2 hooks tied in above like drop shooting. On the bottom hook I use a 4" Gulp Minnow and then run a nice shiner on the top hook. I do troll a fair bit too and have really had good results on a small gang troll and anchovy rig or small spoon the last few years.

[Sudzy]

Some good advice in this thread. I'm taking notes, this will be my first season going for lakers on the soft water.

 

Will be up at Rosseau this weekend giving it a go.

[The Birdfish]

My advice is get yourself a downrigger and start working the water column. Start at 50 FT and starting heading down from there. If you fish with a partner run another flat line.

Really I have found lakers to be not all the fussy on colour I tend to lean towards blues, pinks, white??

This time of year they will be spread out until the thermocline is set then it will get easier to find!

 

Good luck

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

Hey Ted.....send me a pm with an invite, and we'll try to nail a few Lakers together..

[TDunn]

My advice is get yourself a downrigger

 

Agreed! I was out two days ago for inland lakers and we were catching them in 70-90 feet of water, very close to bottom. We fished 3 spots but caught the majority on a deep flat. Without a fish finder and GPS we wouldn't have been nearly as successful. When we marked a bunch fish on screen, we simply punched in the waypoint, continued to troll over them, turned, repeat. We were constantly moving the balls on the riggers keeping them within 3-10 feet off bottom. Flasher/smelt and Gang troll/smelt hit all the fish. If you are gonna slow roll smelt, the way you hook the smelt giving it either a fast or slow roll is important. 1.5 - 1.8 mph was our speed with speed bursts and neutral drops every so often...

 

Hopefully this helps a bit!

 

TDunn

Edited June 4, 2010 by TDunn

[tschirk]

Wow!

This is OFC at it's finest! Many thanks for all the great input. Y'all have given me some great ides.

Cheers

Ted

[dave524]

Agreed! I was out two days ago for inland lakers and we were catching them in 70-90 feet of water, very close to bottom. We fished 3 spots but caught the majority on a deep flat. Without a fish finder and GPS we wouldn't have been nearly as successful. When we marked a bunch fish on screen, we simply punched in the waypoint, continued to troll over them, turned, repeat. We were constantly moving the balls on the riggers keeping them within 3-10 feet off bottom. Flasher/smelt and Gang troll/smelt hit all the fish. If you are gonna slow roll smelt, the way you hook the smelt giving it either a fast or slow roll is important. 1.5 - 1.8 mph was our speed with speed bursts and neutral drops every so often...

 

Hopefully this helps a bit!

 

TDunn

 

Gotta second the gang troll suggestion, at my parents cottage nearby in Haliburton it got to the point where that's all we used, the numbers were so much better with them. Get a baiting needle, take a 2 footpiece of leader material with a treble on the end, insert the needle nesr the tail of a smelt or we used about 5/6 " chub, run it out thru the mouth and a half hitch to keep the lips closed and a slight bend in the body so it rolls , tie on a snap swivel to the other end and clip it to the troll, we used large hammered blade Les Davis/ Luhr Jensen trolls with a half chrome half copper finish, adjust speed for a rolling action. FWIW we caught most of our fish fairly high in the water column, temperature probes usually showed a distinct thermoline between 30 and 40 feet depending on the lake, month and wind, we found the most active fish just below in water in the high 40 degrees.

[LeXXington]

If fishing with Riggers, I found I was much more productive with a longer lead after the balls. Yes they would be attracted by the comotion of the balls going through the water but would come in look then leave. With the longer line out behind the balls the fish that came in and looked hung around then a few seconds later when the bait arrived they hit it.

 

Lakers, a funny fish on Huron they are called boots cause no one wants them

[anders]

I like the Gill Net method personally, but the rest are some great tips

[Sudzy]

What size lures do you guys go with for lakers?

 

I have always tended to stay on the smaller side.

[Headhunter]

Ted, my brother from another mother!

Grasp it by the base, I use my left hand as I am left handed ya know, and using my right hand, I gently twist off the top...viola! A nice cold refreshing Laker!

Doh..., you meant fish, not beer!

HH

[fishnsled]

Got my biggest laker using a a 3-way swivel, 2 ounces of lead, and the biggest 5 of Diamonds spoon you can get. It was a soft bottomed lake and just dragged it along at a slow speed, in the deepest water on the lake. We picked up quite a few fish that trip using this technique. Sometimes old school isn't so bad.

[Paully]

Got my biggest laker using a a 3-way swivel, 2 ounces of lead, and the biggest 5 of Diamonds spoon you can get. It was a soft bottomed lake and just dragged it along at a slow speed, in the deepest water on the lake. We picked up quite a few fish that trip using this technique. Sometimes old school isn't so bad.

 

How much line do you have between the 3way swivel and lure? is it generally the same distance to the weight?