Haliburton Lake Lakers and Bass

[ccmtcanada]

I rented a cottage up on Haliburton Lake with family last week and was very excited to try out some jigging for lake trout. My brother came out all the way from Alberta, so I was hoping for some good fishing! Armed with info from a board member here, I went and got some heavy jigs and plastics. With my new Lowrance installed on my boat, I was really looking forward to trying for them!

 

My boat really likes being dock side instead of in my garage!!

 

First morning out, we headed to deeper waters than I'm used to fishing! We were marking some nice fish anywhere from 60 feet and deeper, so down went the jigs. I have to say, the new fishfinder worked amazing for jigging! The frustrating part is we saw this all morning long!! Seeing a fish chase your jig over 20 feet and then losing interest is exciting....but really maddening when they aren't biting!! We tried slowing the retrieve....cranking faster...and nothing on the jig!!

 

After not having luck with that, Fishnsled came up with his boat....and more importantly his downriggers!! That first morning we jigged and again had no luck...so we went searching for some bass waters. Finally we were able to catch some fish!

 

First fish of the trip for me

 

 

Will gets his first bass of the trip!

 

That was it for Wednesday....we headed back to the cottage and gorged ourselves on steak!!

 

Thursday morning, my brother, Will and I head out for some lakers...this time using downriggers! That was finally the ticket as we caught a few that morning!

 

 

 

We kept one for dinner and then went off in search of some more bass...

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great day on the water that day!! Will headed home after dinner that night and my brother and I had plans to hit the lake for more bass Friday morning.

 

Instead of searching for them...we headed right back to the spots we found where we pulled fish the day before. We only had a few hours to fish so we didn't want to waste any time out there!

 

This rock bass hit like a smallie!! LOL

 

 

 

 

That was it for the fishing part of the trip. All in all we had an awesome time fishing new waters! If I end up renting again on that lake I'll have a much better idea of what to do...as it was we spent a lot of time searching around. Was great to have Will come up and to see my brother. He doesn't get out this way that often!!

 

I'll end this report off with this panoramic shot. It really is a beautiful lake and amazing scenery!!

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2015 by ccmt

[Sinker]

Yes, gorgeous lake. Love it there. Ive never had luck jigging lakers there either, always on the troll. There are some big trout in there too!!

 

S.

[GBW]

nice going Cliff, looks like fun was had either way

[Jds63]

Nice report ... It is a beautiful lake !

[BowSlayer101]

Nice going! Weird, I always have more luck jigging there than trolling with riggers, I find i get smaller fish (1-5 lbs) trolling where as jigging I get heavier fish (10 lbs+). Lots of largies in the lake, always a blast sight fishing for them using senkos!

[ccmtcanada]

Thanks guys! Bowslayer....if I rent there again next year I will give jigging a try again! Senkos were the bait of choice for the bass for us as well! Crystal clear waters....but I get the sense bass aren't targeted a lot there....so maybe they aren't as shy!

Edited July 28, 2015 by ccmt

[Joeytier]

Awesome multi-species. I love summer laker fishing!!

[fishindevil]

Nice holiday fishing trip/report cliff !!!! Nice area too .... I fish that lake pretty regularly and it was really slow to get going this summer .... You have to put the hours on to figure them out there .... Thanks for sharing ... Looks like a good time had by all !!!! Cheers

[MCTFisher9120]

Great report, nice Lake Trout and Largies guys!

[dave524]

Nice report , reminds me of the many years my folks had a cottage in Haliburton. Amazing how when they got their place in 68, it was 10 years before I saw a largemouth, all smallies. Gradually saw more and more over the 30 years there, seems they are in the majority there now , even on the deeper lakes like Haliburton.

[msp]

Nice fish. You always seem to get them wherever you go

[fishnsled]

Great report Cliff and nice to be apart of it. A pleasure to meet your brother and his family. (You'll have to teach your brother about getting the entire fish in the photo though. LOL!) As well as seeing the rest of your gang. As much as I enjoyed the fishing, it was a blast to take the kids tubing! Thanks again for the invite!! A great time for sure!

[Dan668]

Awesome, a friend of mine has a place there, have boated a few trout, nothing big but a fun experience as i never fish for them in the summer

[hutch4113]

Nice fish and post. Looks like a good time had by all.

[wkimwes]

Nice looks like a good time.

[4x4bassin]

Looks like a good trip . As for the lake trout , yes it is very frustrating to see them on the electronics chasing your bait

but is all part of the game . By the looks of your screen shot the laker was interested but there was something a miss

with your bait . Lake trout are real pigs when they are hungry and aggressive and will chase down your bait in the blink

of an eye but when they are a little off they can be quite picky . The lake trout has real good eyesight so if they are in a

non aggressive mood and they see something a miss with your bait/line they will turn away and head back down to the

depths . Thanks for sharing and don't give up on the jigging

[MJL]

Great report Cliff...Good to see you guys get into some bigguns!

 

Amazing scenery indeed

[fishindevil]

As stayed above lake trout when they are on the feedbag will eat almost anything including frogs and even dead fish !!! They are opportunistic feeders at certain times and at other times can be frustrating ... Sometimes you have to get very creative and try some freaky different things for them .... Salmon flies work great too as well as leadcore And spinners !!! Yes worm harnesses .....

[chris.brock]

Great report guys, looks like a blast.

 

I've found the lakers tough/ weird this summer, so far. There's some giants in Haliburton Lake for sure, getting them to hit is the tricky part.

[adolson]

Nice pics and fish! I typically avoid fishing for lakers because I lack confidence and knowledge... I'd like to change that, though. I have only caught them through the ice with a white tube jig, and once while half-heartedly casting something in open water (spinner or something).