early season lakers

[siwash]

Hey folks,

 

It's getting close to ice out time!  I am planning to hit up a stocked lake for lakers once waters open up.  It's a year round open lake.  What depths/locations/strategies do you find successful? In past years, I've used flutter spoons like Williams or Blue Fox and either flatlined with a bit of weight or used lead core... but moved away from lead.. don't care for the heavy gear..  I did recently buy a clamp on downrigger so I might try that... maybe set it higher up in the column.  What depths/locations work for you in late April/early May? 

 

Thanks and Happy Easter!!

[BITEME]

Best advice I can give you

 

 

from what I read you must have a boat put in at fifty point get out about 300 or 400 feet off shore drop your lines and troll towards Niagara Falls stay in 30 or 40 feet of water 

or go out a little deeper look for hooks on the bottom stop and drop big white rubber jigs on them

 

just saying

cheers

peter

[siwash]

Thanks! I am targeting smaller inland lakes, though..  Lake O is great, I know, but not a body of water I plan to fish.  Plus, I don't have the biggest boat..  16' tiller, with medium depth hull.

[BITEME]

Pick your days and what you are comfortable with

never had issues with lake o

SMART BOATING HUGE PAY OFFS

you would be shocked to know what is within your grasp in and around the Gta on lake o lots of trophy class fish 

#1. pay attention to the weather although beautiful and bountiful lake o can be very cruel very fast

can’t be anymore clear on this point!

but you have to be comfortable …as for the tiller what’s your point

get out there and see for yourself hit the harbours and shore lines I promise you won’t be disappointed

not sure what else to say it’s all there go get ‘em!

 

cheers

Peter

 

[BITEME]

You don’t need to go deep the shorelines are a treasure trove

forgot to mention🤘

[CrowMan]

Ice out Lakers on smaller lakes can be found all over the place...since they're not restricted by water temp at that time of year. Much easier to locate them in summer once the thermocline sets up.

Fishing for them in early spring really depends on finding bait. Assuming surface temps are in the low 50's F or lower...if the main forage in the lake is Ciscos (fall spawners), Lakers tend to stay deeper...25 to 40 fow. If Shiners (spring spawners) are the primary food source, then the Trout will be shallower (15 to 30 fow). Keep in mind, that Lakers never really like to go too shallow...they feel most comfortable with some water on top of them.

I usually like to start with trolling  diving cranks like Tail Dancers, DD Husky Jerks, Bandits...since most Trout lakes have clear water, I like natural colours like silver/blue/green/purple. It's search mode fishing...covering as much water as possible, making S turns from shallow to deep...floating cranks (as opposed to spoons) have that nice rise and fall that covers more of the water column and triggers bites. Keep the speed around the 2mph mark.

Once I find fish, I mark them and often cast or vertically fish soft plastic swimbaits or tubes...same colours as above, but pearl is also often a go to. However, a bait that really works well once you're on top of them is a jigging Rapala or an Acme Hyper Rattle (killer lure).

Like you, I find them a lot more fun on light tackle, however I usually have one rod rigged up with just 2 or 3 colours of leadcore and then a 50ft FluoroCarbon leader...I usually fish this with a J-11 Rapala silver/ blue...a personal favorite. Save the downriggers for June and beyond.

The other bonus of fishing inland lakes is that the Trout from them are great on the smoker...greasers from Lake O, not so much.

Best of luck !

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by CrowMan

[siwash]

Great tips, Crowman! I've never really used body baits for lakers.. nor have I jigged for them.. And I'll have to check out the ACME lure.  So is the ACME lure a jigging setup? 

 

SO with the crank baits, you're not adding any weight, correct?

Edited April 8, 2023 by siwash

[CrowMan]

Here's a video on fishing the Hyper Rattle...yes, it's a great Walleye bait too..

 

[CrowMan]

Yes, with deep divers no additional weight. I prefer running braid mainline with a 15 to 20 ft long 10lb FC leader.

With shallow running body-baits like the J-11, I'll have maybe 150 ft of braid out, which is tied  to 2 to 3 colours of leadcore, then 50 ft of FC leader to the lure. You can also use snap weights 50 ft or so in front of the lure instead of the leadcore. It's all about getting that rise/fall action...I don't like any weight too close to the front of the lure.

I like my lures to be somewhere in that 15 to 35 ft zone in early spring... it's just a program I have confidence in..

[siwash]

Great info, again.... thanks.. I've use weights in the past with success that looked like a torpedo... eyelets on each end, so you tie you leader to one end, the other side, your main line.  I forget what they are called but I bought them on a trip to the US. Harder to find here.. I'm sure Amazon sells every weight imaginable... I'd use 1, 1.5, 2 oz sizes with good results at a Halliburton Lake but that was over a decade ago and it's been a long time since I've done serious laker fishing! 

What is your favourite Flouro leader brand? 

I'm gonna try that ACEM bait.. holy cow, is it expensive... you like the natural colours, eh?

Edited April 8, 2023 by siwash

[CrowMan]

The issues with tying on in-line weights like you describe are two-fold...a. since you're limited to tying them on no more than 6 to 7 ft in front of the lure, it impedes the rise/fall action...b. it's not very stealthy.

Get some snap weight clips/releases for those torpedo weights . You let out your lure with about 50 ft of line, then clip on the weight and let out another 100 to 200 ft. When you reel in, simply remove the weight once it's within arms reach, and continue reeling in (or fighting the fish).

https://www.sail.ca/en/off-shore-snap-weight-clip-429894-2837000001

I like Seaguar or Sunline fluorocarbon....10 to 12lb for this application.

"Purple Rain" is usually the first colour I tie on with the Hyper Rattle.  Use a very small snap (but no swivel) for maximum action.

"holy cow, is it expensive"

Hmm...$12.99...I see you haven't purchased many Musky baits...Lol 

Edited April 8, 2023 by CrowMan

[CrowMan]

BTW, if you really want to take your trolling presentation to the next level...run your deep diver cranks or leadcore (or snap weights) off in-line planer boards.

Edited April 8, 2023 by CrowMan

[siwash]

44 minutes ago, CrowMan said:

The issues with tying on in-line weights like you describe are two-fold...a. since you're limited to tying them on no more than 6 to 7 ft in front of the lure, it impedes the rise/fall action...b. it's not very stealthy.

Get some snap weight clips/releases for those torpedo weights . You let out your lure with about 50 ft of line, then clip on the weight and let out another 100 to 200 ft. When you reel in, simply remove the weight once it's within arms reach, and continue reeling in (or fighting the fish).

https://www.sail.ca/en/off-shore-snap-weight-clip-429894-2837000001

I like Seaguar or Sunline fluorocarbon....10 to 12lb for this application.

"Purple Rain" is usually the first colour I tie on with the Hyper Rattle.  Use a very small snap (but no swivel) for maximum action.

"holy cow, is it expensive"

Hmm...$12.99...I see you haven't purchased many Musky baits...Lol 

I'm cheap! LOL!

[BillM]

Flutter spoons and big hunks of lead for this guy.   Put a beating on them in GBay every spring.   Hopefully be out next weekend wetting some lines.   

[siwash]

Anyone fish simcoe here, either early season or summer? I am barely 25 min from Innisfil (9 & 400 area) and I have never fished it for Lakers. 

[AKRISONER]

I livescope em and then cast and bounce bottom with vibratos…put a hurtin on them every spring

[SirCranksalot]

My bud and I have not had much luck the 2-3 times we went for 'ice out' lakers. Is it best to wait a little while------ maybe 2-3 weeks------or go right after ice out? As a kid I fished a lot for specks. They didn't seem to bite at all when the ice first went out. Two or three weeks later the fishing was generally quite good. Do lakers follow the same pattern? thx 

[siwash]

good question... my best laker fishing was always June.. water still coolish at the surface (60s) but they'd be down around 30'

[BillM]

You need to figure out what they're eating.   Was out on Gbay on Sat and the magical depth was 65-75.   We jigged up some nice fish in over 100ft of water as well.   All fish were on steep transitions.    We got them on everything.  Flutter spoons, body baits, vibrados, etc.    Mark a pack, toss on the spot lock and we'd have 3-4 in the boat in no time.   Rinse and repeat.   Back out this weekend. 

[siwash]

What were they eating?

[siwash]

I mean to say bait wise 

 

smelt?

[AKRISONER]

41 minutes ago, BillM said:

You need to figure out what they're eating.   Was out on Gbay on Sat and the magical depth was 65-75.   We jigged up some nice fish in over 100ft of water as well.   All fish were on steep transitions.    We got them on everything.  Flutter spoons, body baits, vibrados, etc.    Mark a pack, toss on the spot lock and we'd have 3-4 in the boat in no time.   Rinse and repeat.   Back out this weekend. 

Can’t wait to get up there…one of my favourite times of the year for fishing…and the weather this weekend…holy cow

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by AKRISONER

[CrowMan]

Yep...find bait, and you'll find Trout. Early season Lakers can be all over the place in the water column.

Last spring, on a particularly warm early May day, my buddy and I were targeting pre-spawn Bass. We marked and were catching some big Smallies that were corraling baitfish along rock ledges in 15 fow. I had on a Spybait that resembled the minnows the Bass were coughing up. I'm doing that slow and steady Spybait retrieve...when wham...something much bigger hits it.  I felt a little under-gunned with a med-lite spinning rod and 6lb FC, but we got this Laker in the net.

You just never know. As the old adage says..."find forage, find fish"

[SirCranksalot]

Just so that those reading know---targeting OOS fish is illegal

[CrowMan]

4 minutes ago, SirCranksalot said:

Just so that those reading know---targeting OOS fish is illegal

Excuse me...what out of season fish ?