Jig-and-plastic combos work very well when vertically jigging lakers. Lures for deep-water lake trout are often between 1 and 3 ounces. (Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle)
October 10, 2024
By Mark Romanack
It’s safe to say that lake trout are the Rodney Dangerfield of sport fish: They seem to get little or no respect. This mostly has to do with how lakers are commonly caught in the Great Lakes. Because these fish are routinely found in deep water, anglers often must use heavy-duty trolling gear to catch them. This includes magnum-sized diving planers, super-long lengths of sinking-style trolling lines and downriggers set to run 100 or more feet below the surface.
It’s true that fighting a lake trout caught on 400 feet of copper wire is about as much fun as reeling in a water-logged two-by-four. Thankfully, though, lakers can be caught using much lighter gear that makes the fishing experience far more enjoyable. Medium-heavy- and heavy-action rods and reels commonly used for bass fishing are ideal for jigging lake trout. And because lakers are fond of select bottom structure, finding suitable places for jig-fishing action isn’t difficult.
Often, it only takes one fish to convince non-believers that lake trout are powerful sport fish and tons of fun to catch on light tackle. That goes double for lakers north of 10 pounds, which peel line off a reel with the authority of an angry steelhead.
Catching a big laker is a blast on the light tackle used for vertical jigging—significantly more fun than catching one on heavy trolling wire. (Photo by Mark Romanack) MAP IT OUT Finding places to jig up lake trout starts with a GPS marine chart plotter, and your search can begin while sitting in your boat in the driveway. In August and September, lakers typically occupy deep water. Shoals, sunken islands, break lines and reefs that top out in 80 to 120 feet of water routinely attract and hold lake trout. If deep water surrounds these spots, they become laker magnets. Beyond making it easy to identify lake trout structure, GPS chart plotters make navigating to fishing hot spots a breeze. Simply drop a waypoint on productive-looking bottom contours and today’s modern touchscreen sonar and mapping units will get you there.
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MARK ’EM Once on location, turn to sonar. Modern units, especially those with Compressed High-Intensity Radiated Pulse (CHIRP) work incredibly well for deep-dwelling fish. Sonar units utilizing CHIRP transmit a longer pulse that includes a sweeping range of frequencies from 130 to 210 kHz. Compared to traditional 2D sonar operating with just one frequency, CHIRP provides much better screen resolution and target separation, especially in deep-water fishing situations.
To pinpoint where lake trout are, slowly cruise over productive structure at around 3 to 10 mph while letting the sonar do its work. As you mark clusters of fish, save these waypoints to create a milk run of fishing spots you can return to later.
Like other forms of fishing, catching lake trout is about 90 percent location and 10 percent presentation. If fish aren’t showing up, keep moving and graphing until you find them. Fortunately, spots that hold fish today may well hold them again on future trips. Name waypoints to keep track of productive areas that might otherwise get lost among the average spots.
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HOLD STEADY Jigging for lakers requires holding the boat in position directly above fish. A bow-mounted electric motor works best for this, and models with GPS navigation systems are especially handy. Engaging the “anchor” or “Spot-Lock” mode keeps the boat hovering in place while compensating for wind and current.
Electric motors with GPS navigation are widely available in both scissor-bracket and pivot-bracket configurations. Scissor bracket-style electric motors are limited to about 60 inches of shaft length and are best suited to low-sided fiberglass boats. Pivot-style electric motors offer much longer shaft lengths, making them popular with deeper aluminum fishing boats and larger blue-water-class fiberglass boats. While GPS-equipped electric motors let anglers hover in place, most have other useful features. For instance, jog mode lets the operator move the boat a few feet in any direction by touching a single button on the key fob.
When a boat is positioned above bottom-hugging lake trout, fish are most likely to be caught the first time a lure is dropped on them. If a laker is hooked, other nearby fish will be spooked, but they won’t go far. Thus, the “jog” mode can be an efficient means of finding fish again for subsequent drops.
RIG UP Many anglers probably already have suitable rods and reels for jigging deep-water lake trout. Bass rods commonly used for flipping jigs or casting umbrella rigs work very well for jigging with lures ranging in size from 1 to 3 ounces. For those who prefer spinning tackle, a medium-heavy-action spinning rod designed for lures up to 1 ounce will work just fine for targeting lake trout in up to 120 feet of water.
Low-stretch super lines are the only practical choice for deep-water jigging applications. On baitcasting reels, a 15- to 20-pound-test main line is ideal. For spinning outfits, a 10- to 15-pound-test super braid will handle lakers nicely.
Because lake trout are almost always found in clear water, I don’t recommend tying braided line directly to the lure. A 4- or 5-foot fluorocarbon shock leader provides an invisible line-to-lure connection and a modest shock absorber for fighting powerful fish. Connect main line to leader with a Double Uni knot or a ball-bearing swivel. A 15- to 17-pound-test fluorocarbon leader is ideal for most lake trout jigging applications.
DROP DOWN Lake trout will readily strike a wide variety of jigging lures and live-bait presentations. Jigs sporting soft plastics, bucktail jigs, blade baits, jigging spoons and Carolina rigs baited with live minnows all have their time and place. Jigs paired with soft plastics generally produce the most action when jigging for lake trout. Paddle-tail grubs, split-tail minnows and twister-tails in the 5- to 9-inch sizes are go-to options. Many colors work well, but white and pearl are tough to beat, and chartreuse is a must-have, too. Almost every manufacturer that produces soft plastics offers paddle-tail and split-tail minnows suitable for lake trout jigging. Finding larger-sized twister tails is a little more challenging, but shopping where musky or saltwater tackle is sold can help you zero in on these larger soft plastics.
A bucktail jig is a close second behind a jig/soft plastic combination, as the natural, pulsating action of a bucktail jig is hard to beat. The best bucktail jigs also feature some select synthetic fibers to add flash and color. Quality bucktails are expensive but catch fish consistently, and they lend themselves to being tipped with a live minnow, a strip of pork rind or a small piece of belly meat.
With their unparalleled flash and vibration, blade baits can also trigger savage strikes from lakers. Unfortunately, most are built with bass and walleye in mind and are generally too light for serious lake trout jigging. Thankfully, Steelshad offers both 3/4- and 2-ounce blade baits. The 3/4-ounce XLs feature two treble hooks, while the 2-ounce XXLs sport a pair of single hooks ideal for trophy-size lakers.
Don’t ignore jigging spoons either, especially 1-, 2- and 3-ounce slab-style spoons that sink quickly while giving off excellent flash (which remains important, even in deep water). As with bucktails, jigging spoons also work great when tipped with a minnow or a strip of belly meat.
Carolina rigs are another option, usually employing a floating-style soft plastic or live minnow at the business end. The beauty of a Carolina rig is that, once on bottom, it can be dragged with the electric motor to cover water more quickly than other lures. The slip sinker-style weights required for Carolina rigging lake trout range from 1 to 2 ounces in size.
KEEP OR RELEASE? Anglers seem to either love or hate eating lake trout. Lakers from most Great Lakes waters are oily tasting due to their steady diet of alewives, gizzard shad and smelt. Lake trout are usually served in fish boils or seasoned with dry rubs and cooked over a hot barbecue grill. While some rave over their table fare, others find they have a stronger flavor than other trout and salmon species. To each their own. However, if not fishing for the table, lake trout can be caught and released relatively easily if fish are handled properly.
The key to doing so is landing them quickly and returning them to the water just as quickly. Ideally, you remove the hook at boatside using needle-nose pliers without ever touching the fish. If a fish must be netted, keep it in the net suspended over the side of the boat. Unhook the fish and return it to the water quickly. If you lay the landing net down on the boat floor, the fish will likely roll and tangle itself in the net, making a live release iffy at best. And use rubber, bag-style landing nets, which work far better than traditional nylon mesh nets and take much of the stress out of catch-and-release fishing.
Catching lakers on light tackle is a hoot. It doesn’t hurt that they’re also one of the most abundant species found in many Great Lakes waters. With aggressive state, federal and tribal stocking efforts, it’s possible there are more lake trout in the Great Lakes now than at any other time in history.
Lakers grow slowly, which is why the daily limit is three or fewer in most waters. Despite the slow growth rates, catching lots of big trout is a realistic goal. As anglers, we are often fond of lamenting about the “good old days,” but in the case of lake trout, the good old days are here and now.
GOOD SCENTS Employ natural scents on baits to attract lakers and mask undesirable odors. Placing a quality natural scent on lures can tempt more lake trout, which have a very keen sense of smell. (Photo by Mark Romanack) Lake trout, like all salmonids, have a highly developed sense of smell. The enlarged nostrils on their snout help funnel dissolved scent particles to the brain, and fish are capable of detecting odors measured in parts per billion. Scent guides trout to natal spawning areas and helps them avoid predators. Of more interest to anglers, lakers also use their sense of smell to find their next meal by detecting scent given off by forage species.
Natural scent products, therefore, can help increase catches. The key word here is “natural,” though, as many fishing scents feature ingredients—and odors—that lake trout aren’t likely to encounter each day. However, scent products made from common forage species like alewives, smelt, ciscoes, gizzard shad and gobies, among others, can boost any lure’s chances of triggering a strike.
Pro-Cure Bait Scents is a leading manufacturer of fishing scent products. Steve Lynch, Pro-Cure’s VP of Sales and Marketing, says that the company’s popular Super Gel formulas all start with frozen baitfish, which are thawed, dehydrated and ground to a fine consistency. He says it then receives a sticky stabilizing compound to prevent it from spoiling and to help it better adhere to lures and cut and live bait.
A small dab of Super Gel creates a natural and strong scent stream in the water that lasts up to 40 minutes. Beyond its attracting capabilities, natural scent products also help eliminate unnatural odors such as gasoline, skin lotion, bug spray and tobacco. Simply give lures a quick wash with a non-scented dish soap before applying scent products. Many anglers even wear nitrile gloves to keep their own scent off the lures. In short, consider eliminating unnatural odors while applying natural food odor to boost your odds on the water.
This article was featured in the September 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.