First attempt at Lakers

[Rizzo]

A friend is taking me up to the Muskokas tomorrow for an attempt at Lake trout. I am an absolute rookie when it comes to this. What do I spool up with? That blue  mono stuff? Braid? And what pound test will I want? He is providing the lures, but I plan to bring my own rod. Advice needed!

[AKRISONER]

swimbait on a jig or underspin...do you have electronics? You are going to want them.

 

Lakers arent that shy of a fish, I personally run braid and then a good long leader of mono or flurocarbon.

[Joeytier]

Mono is fine, don't overthink it.  The longest ice rod you have is probably the best for maintaining a loaded rod during big headshakes (anything 30+ inches is fine), medium action at least, MH is ideal.  Most muskokas lake have a fairly small average size of trout in them so if you want to maximize numbers of fish caught then stick to 3-4" white tubes or white grubs.  Lipless cranks are also very popular.  There's a million other things that work well but I think if you stick with those and run and gun with electronics you'll get bit.

[MJL]

When I fish the Muskokas (which has been almost every weekend so far this year), I normally bring 4-5 rods with me. I've got 2 rods spooled with 8lb mono for tubes, swimbaits and other chase baits. 1 rod spooled with 6lb mono for fishing live minnows (rigged on a slip sinker or split shot rig). 1 UL outfit spooled with 4lb mono for fishing small panfish type jigs (this can sometimes save the trip when the fish are keying on plankton blooms). And 1 spooled with braid + mono leader when I need to pound big spoons on bottom in deep water.

 

I fish outside almost all the time, and prefer a medium to medium heavy rod in the 32-36" range. If I was in a hut, I might opt for a shorter 28-30" med/med heavy rod.

[Rizzo]

Right on thanks guys. I have some of that 8 lb blue mono stuff. Will spool that up and give it a whirl!

[BillM]

Muskoka lakers?  Live emerald dead sticked about a foot off bottom.  Doesn't get much easier.

[maker a laker]

Rizzo,

Just fished the area last week, caught 5 lakers on a smaller stocked lake. 18" of solid ice still intact. Morning fish, sunrise for 2 hours was most productive in 50ft water. 3 smaller fish on live minnows, 8lb mono, small lead weights, just like the guys have already stated. 2 nicer fish on jigged blades, mepps Cyclops, using braid, with minnows hooked through the head to maximize retention on the lure.  Other guys in the party left minnow lines out all day while they watched from the warmth of a firepit. Holes froze and snowed over every 45 mins. Minimal action the lazy way. I caught my fish from a shelter, where the holes are closely watched & do not freeze. Buddy caught a 4lb largemouth in 20ft of water. That's rare. Good luck.

[huzzsaba]

6 hours ago, BillM said:

Muskoka lakers?  Live emerald dead sticked about a foot off bottom.  Doesn't get much easier.

A friend of mine went to one of the smaller lakes up there and caught around a dozen of them on minnow and split shot.  Good luck!

[Rizzo]

Thanks all! We had an awesome day. Buddy wanted to target walleye first and we got a few of those (including my pb!). Eventually got a couple lakers too. Even tho they weren't huge thats a couple personal bests in a day.  For me the emerald shiner near bottom was the best...I didn't have much luck jigging

[misfish]

12 minutes ago, Rizzo said:

Thanks all! We had an awesome day. Buddy wanted to target walleye first and we got a few of those (including my pb!). Eventually got a couple lakers too. Even tho they weren't huge thats a couple personal bests in a day.  For me the emerald shiner near bottom was the best...I didn't have much luck jigging

You know the rules here Rog. No pic,no believe.  Glad to hear you had a good time. 

[Rizzo]

haha ok Brian. I had a feeling someone would want proof so I actually took a couple pictures. Will start a new thread later

[BillM]

Nice man!  Glad it worked out for you.