I’m doing some research on July and August lake trout fishing. I know this the hardest time to catch them. Do you have to have electronics or contour maps to find the best areas? What depths do you look for? What kind of structure do you fish, i.e. reefs, deep points? What lures do you use? What presentation do you use? Any other helpful hints for that time of the year? Thanks for any input!

I look for steep cliff shorelines. Actually any steep break to 100'-200'. They will pin bait against the walls. I look for suspended fish at 40-60'. If you can find an area with 2 or 3 sides that's even better.

Troll with a 4 oz keel sinker in 40 feet of water with a sharp drop to 70+ feet. Get your bait down 25-30 feet and troll along the break as AmJim suggests. Vary your speed and change directions often. On big windy lakes, fish the calm side... in theory, cooler water will be near the top(?)

July and August is hardest on the trout, but not too hard on the fisherman. You know they will be deep almost exclusively.

So I have a different take…I think trout are the easiest to catch that time of year. You can certainly target deep trout that time of year but I’ve found they die quickly so ya catch one and done for dinner. I like to catch them more than eat them…
I troll a deep diving crank somewhere between 20-30 feet deep. No weights, on big lakes that are cold all year long. For example on Agnes (Q) my wife and I trolled Rapala DT 16’s and in early August and we had to stop fishing because we caught too many trout that it slowed our travel. On Earl/Fishook I’ve caught them on the surface in early August. That water is still cold no need to dredge up the deep fish.

I’ve had similar results on McIntrye, Burt, Kashapiwi, Thomas, Argo, Deer, Ted, Fraser, Sarah, Suznette same time of year so it is reproducible. As a fellow BWJ contributor check out 2009 fall article on trout. The title pic was caught in 30 feet of water fishing cranks for walleyes. So the active feeders aren’t always deep. On Sarah in 80 degree weather in August Trout were on 20’ reefs or just off them. 5’ down the water temp was only 65 degrees. Plenty cold for trout.

Fish 20-40 feet reefs and points especially if wind swept or near narrows with deeper water nearby. I rarely mark fish, but if I mark suspended schools of Cisco’s get ready and hang on!

T

timatkn: "On Sarah in 80 degree weather in August Trout were on 20’ reefs or just off them.


T





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Also, on calm mornings watch for surfacing fish or bait fish to get ideas where to troll. And follow feeding loons to bait fish locations.

bobbernumber3: "

timatkn: "On Sarah in 80 degree weather in August Trout were on 20’ reefs or just off them.



T






"

Good tip on location baitfish

Have had great look trolling 1 and 2 ounce Jigs. I start by setting my lure on the bottom in the 50 to 60 foot range, and then troll at a fast pace over water 60 to 100 feet deep.

I use both electronics and maps to target certain areas. I usually troll, and I’ve found that if I fish over 60-120ft I can locate fish pretty well. I think 80-100ft is probably the sweet spot-depending on the lake. I fished Oyster last July and consistently caught trout throughout the day in 70-100ft all over the lake. I used a purple tail dancer and I also used a variety of little cleos, kastmasters, stinger spoons. I started trolling with 2oz weights, then switched to 3oz and the bite improved greatly. Early morning seemed to be the best time of the day.

I think it depends on the lake. Even in late July and early August, there are lakes in Quetico where I've caught them trolling deep diving (but not super-deep) body baits like Bombers, Deep Jr Thundersticks, Flicker Minnows, etc. Even standard Rapala Husky Jerks at times! I just don't love trolling a bunch of heavy weight. I tend to use lighter gear, so it isn't as much fun. If I'm not getting them trolling, then I'll jig for them. I look for marks on the graph in the 40-50' range. If you can hold position and get the jig in front of them, it seems like the lakers are quite willing. I've seen vids of people using jigging raps and jigging spoons, but I've always been able to catch them on the same jigs I use for walleye.

Couple of cool stories- one time on Jean Lake in early August, we saw fish busting cisco schools on top. We trolled through there and caught several lake trout. Another time on Poohbah Lake, also early August, we were jigging walleye off a 30' deep reef. The wind pushed us off the edge over the abyss. I was about to reel up, but the graph showed a mark down 50'. Opened the bail, sent the jig down, and a nice laker nailed it.

This is all great stuff to think about and add to the repertoire. I have had success, (not as much as timatkn) just blindly trolling an ounce or two with a spoon or purpledescent deep taildancer behind it over the middle of the lake with lots of line out! Most of the time this has been on relatively simple lakes like Crystal, Gillis and Trader. Next time I'm on a larger, more complicated lake I'll be sure to look for steep underwater cliffs on the contour map.

I've heard that lake trout have better survivability than most species when pulled up from 60+ feet down but I still stop fishing after I've caught dinner if the surface temps are warm enough for swimming.

I always did "okay" fishing lakers with sinkers, but I have done really well since I started using a Pink Lady. Depth is controlled by the amount of line you let out. I turn off the anti-reverse on my reel and let it spin backwards 20-40 revolutions while trolling. Doing this in areas where deep water shallows up to 40 feet (as mentioned in the first few responses) has been successful, even in mid-summer.

Oh, and I typically troll flashy spoons behind the pink lady. If that's not working, I'll put on a jointed blue rapala. A long (~6') leader has worked better for me than a shorter leader.

timatkn: "So I have a different take…I think trout are the easiest to catch that time of year. You can certainly target deep trout that time of year but I’ve found they die quickly so ya catch one and done for dinner. I like to catch them more than eat them…
I troll a deep diving crank somewhere between 20-30 feet deep. No weights, on big lakes that are cold all year long. For example on Agnes (Q) my wife and I trolled Rapala DT 16’s and in early August and we had to stop fishing because we caught too many trout that it slowed our travel. On Earl/Fishook I’ve caught them on the surface in early August. That water is still cold no need to dredge up the deep fish.


I’ve had similar results on McIntrye, Burt, Kashapiwi, Thomas, Argo, Deer, Ted, Fraser, Sarah, Suznette same time of year so it is reproducible. As a fellow BWJ contributor check out 2009 fall article on trout. The title pic was caught in 30 feet of water fishing cranks for walleyes. So the active feeders aren’t always deep. On Sarah in 80 degree weather in August Trout were on 20’ reefs or just off them. 5’ down the water temp was only 65 degrees. Plenty cold for trout.


Fish 20-40 feet reefs and points especially if wind swept or near narrows with deeper water nearby. I rarely mark fish, but if I mark suspended schools of Cisco’s get ready and hang on!


T





"

I pulled out the Fall 2009 issue of the BWJ and didn't see any trout fishing articles.
Can you please tell me which article you are referring to?

walllee: "Have had great look trolling 1 and 2 ounce Jigs. I start by setting my lure on the bottom in the 50 to 60 foot range, and then troll at a fast pace over water 60 to 100 feet deep. "

Anything on the jig? Rubber body? Other?

QueticoMike: "

timatkn: "

"

I pulled out the Fall 2009 issue of the BWJ and didn't see any trout fishing articles.
Can you please tell me which article you are referring to? "

Oh my bad Winter 2009…page 76.

T

There’s another article in this BWJ issue. Might be a good tactic once you find them trolling.

Blue and Silver Rattle Traps , Erie Dearies , White Powerbait Tubes

egknuti: "I use both electronics and maps to target certain areas. I usually troll, and I’ve found that if I fish over 60-120ft I can locate fish pretty well. I think 80-100ft is probably the sweet spot-depending on the lake. I fished Oyster last July and consistently caught trout throughout the day in 70-100ft all over the lake. I used a purple tail dancer and I also used a variety of little cleos, kastmasters, stinger spoons. I started trolling with 2oz weights, then switched to 3oz and the bite improved greatly. Early morning seemed to be the best time of the day.
"

What do you use for the 2 and 3 oz weight?

For depth, use the poor man's depth finder:

Measure the distance your lure travels for one complete wind of your reel. If it's 2' then unwinding your reel twenty-five times with a jig will tell you when you're in 50' of water or whatever depth you desire.

Even if the length of a wind isn't a nice round number it just means the math gets harder.