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I'm headed up to northern Quebec this Saturday for a week of fishing for brookies and lakers. I'll be fishing familiar waters as we're going to my father-in-law's camp up towards Baie Comeau. There are tons of great lakes there and we have ATVs equipped with hitches to tow our boat to the more remote lakes. I can't wait to fish every day! There are some really pristine lakes up there just full of trout.

I'm wondering if anybody has some tips on trolling deep for lakers. Every trip up there I max out on brookies using small spoons and spinners with a bit of worm, but I have always had real trouble getting lakers. I have probably caught four or five in the decade I've been going there. Contrast this to my success down around here, where I get a fair share of them. I chalk this up to me fishing for lakers down here early in the season when they're fairly close to shore and shallow. Up north, I'm fishing for them in the heat of summer. They are DEEP. We mark them around 50-80 feet deep on average, sometimes as deep as 100-120.

In the past we've trollled the "poor man's downrigger" (three way rig) and have also had some moderate success jigging for them with spoons and power tubes. This year I'm going to try trolling deep using a trolling rod and a couple dipsy divers I bought, linked up with some flashers and spoons/plugs. I have used the dipsy's a few times this season and am getting comfortable with them but if anyone has any experience using them I would love to hear about it. I have the depth charts they come with and do my best to match the specs they use to get a good idea of how deep I'm dragging my lures but sometimes I wonder how deep my lure is really running. Kind of feel like I'm hoping/praying more than fishing, if you know what I mean.

Without a downrigger it's a crapshoot. But likely you're nowhere deep enough.
Find some fish on the sonar. Stop. And jig.
Use a jig head with enough weight, 1/2oz min, crank up the sensitivity on the sonar if you have a good quality one you should be able to see your jig on the sonar.
Like playing a videogame.
They seem to like it when the jig is either dropping or pulled up quickly past them, provokes a reaction I guess.

With a downrigger, once you see the fish on th sonar, just drop it down to the height, and it's amazing how you can zone in on them. Without it, you're washing lures 95% of the time.
I've used dipsey divers, can't say I like them much , except maybe getting the line away from the boat because using planers is annoying.

Thanks for the tips SeaMonster. I have been resisting buying a downrigger set-up, cost is a factor but also just a concern over general clutter in a smallish boat. But what you say is true. The sonar we have is pretty good and I do jig the way you recommend. That's the way I've caught them before. I only caught one while trolling lead core line (don't enjoy the lead core at all). I think I'll stick to jigging this year and get a downrigger next season.

Thanks again!

Jig! Way more fun!

Though if you are hung up on the trolling that three way rig will work as well as dipsys. Issue with dipsys is you need to use a fairly stout rod to manage the weight of the pulling disk, that counteracts the fun of the smallish inland lakers fight.

RJ

Here's another option for you. Too late now for your trip but check out the Fish Seeker by Davis instruments. It's a lightweight fully adjustable diver (from 5ft-80ft) that can be used on lighter outfits down to six pound line. It's also under 10 bucks from basspro and comes in 3 colors. Most of the reviews are quite positive if you google it. Results will vary according to the gear you use. http://www.davisnet.com/product_documen ... 021_IM.pdf

As for the Lakers I've found that even if the majority of them are running deeper there will usually be some active ones feeding at the thermocline depth, especially when baitfish schools and structure meet at that depth and sometimes even over wide expanses of deep water. Most fish finders nowadays should be able to pinpoint the thermocline by turning the intensity up high.

Good luck this weekend. Cheers

I've only ever caught one lake trout trolling with a hard core trout fisherman, and I had gone fishing with him several times on long, long days to catch that one fish. I absolutely hated fishing for lake trout and thought it was the most boring thing in the world.

I bought a boat 3 years ago, I went out fishing with a few guys I work with and one of them showed me how to jig, put me on a spot where they were holding and from there I developed the knack for it. I have done a lot of reading and experimenting. I fish for them at least once a week from the opener in May to September's closing and in 3 years I might get skunked once or twice a season.

Some days I have to put in long hours, call me stubborn, I have had a few days where I stayed on the water 12 hours before catching one, most days I get them in a quarter that time, on amazing days I can catch a pair of keepers inside of 10 minutes.

90% of the work with jigging is finding them and boat control, 10% is bait selection and technique. For that 90%, good electronics, good maps and a trolling motor with spot lock feature make life much easier. Without spot lock, a big drift sock, overshooting your targeted area allows for a very slow controlled drift often slow enough to let a 1oz jig with a 5" swim bait hit bottom and stay in the sonar cone. Personally I'd buy a big drift sock before I got a downrigger....actually I did

I use 20lb braid, several feet of Seaguar 20lb test for a leader, 3/4 or 1oz jigs and usually 3" to 5" soft plastic baits of all sorts and colors depending on the conditions.

This link http://cayugafisher.net/pages/resdex.php was probably one of the most helpful and insightful articles I've read about fishing for lake trout.

I'll also say this. Although they may hold very deep in the hottest months of summer, where the water temperature is most comfortable for resting, range they can be active in is much wider than that. In August I'll often have my jig smashed as I'm reeling it in so close to the boat that I see the fish with just a few more cranks of the reel. Also If you're over a school of bait fish, drop your jig till it falls below it, then reel it up all the way to the boat, that's when you get some of the most solid hits.

The answer is leadcore...you cover a lot more leadcore then jigging...you troll to find good jigging spots.Leadcorealso has it's unique benefits, one of which is of getting into tight places where downriggers are freightened of hanging up.

Mike586 wrote: This link http://cayugafisher.net/pages/resdex.php was probably one of the most helpful and insightful articles I've read about fishing for lake trout.

That site is a very good read. A lot of good info in there beyond just the basics. Thanks for sharing that!
Some info I've discovered by trial and error, escpecially where it's mention to search for where thermocline meets structure... I've trolled past many spots like that without a whiff, only to target them specifically with a jig and see them lift off bottom on the sonar.

This is why I love Fish-Hawk! Great tips from everyone, thanks! That link to cayuga-fisher is especially great. I bookmarked it for reference, what a find.

Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and gets out on the water for some fishing!

Started out great, caught a couple of nice sized lakers in a couple hours of fishing, then on my way back I was fishing for bass since I caught my trout so fast...

...then I hit a rock. Think I gouged the bottom of the boat, snapped the swivel bracket, banged the snot out of my lower unit, tore chunks out of the skeg. If I do anymore fishing this weekend it'll be on my canoe.

Ouch - sorry to hear.
Hope the fishing is better.

RJ wrote:Jig! Way more fun!

Though if you are hung up on the trolling that three way rig will work as well as dipsys. Issue with dipsys is you need to use a fairly stout rod to manage the weight of the pulling disk, that counteracts the fun of the smallish inland lakers fight.

RJ

What do ya mean way more fun...maybe some of us like sitting back and relaxing a litte bud
It's the hunt that I like RJ, lookin for the schools and shortening up the troll. I guess i,m old school...lol

Jigging is a great way to "own" a good spot.
Trolling is more enjoyable when the wind picks up.

I usually troll first time on a new lake, GPS the promising spots then go back and park above the action.

This might be helpful...You ask a question, I answer it as best I can.

Dipsy, flasher, and spoons/deadminnows/minnow baits all work... You need a line counter reel... Last time I went, we were marking them between 75 and 120 FOW...Spoons worked just as well as dead minnows...

I keep my 20lb test line counter/rod at 95-100 feet... depending on what lure you use, and your speed it might change depths... I think I use a size 3 dipsy and my chart says im around 55-60 but their is no way to know for absolutely certain... And both my friend and I caught fish....just repeat same method when you have success...

Tell yourself you will need to troll slow....and that lakers will swim up 20 feet EASY to grab your shinny silver lure...so don't try to put the lure 2 feet from them and enjoy the slow troll.

chappee77 wrote:

RJ wrote:Jig! Way more fun!

Though if you are hung up on the trolling that three way rig will work as well as dipsys. Issue with dipsys is you need to use a fairly stout rod to manage the weight of the pulling disk, that counteracts the fun of the smallish inland lakers fight.

RJ

What do ya mean way more fun...maybe some of us like sitting back and relaxing a litte bud
It's the hunt that I like RJ, lookin for the schools and shortening up the troll. I guess i,m old school...lol

I've done my fair share of trolling... And yes It is nice to relax a bit..

This kid I had out last week will never forget seeing this sucka come up from the depths shaking his head the whole way straight down under the boat.





RJ