By: Mark Romanack
The author enjoys jigging for lake trout. He finds consistent action using jigs with paddle tail and curl tail grubs, bucktail jigs and also blade baits.
There are lots of ways to catch a lake trout. I personally enjoy all the popular ways of catching trout, but I really enjoy jigging for big sloppy lakers. When lakers are targeted with jigging tackle they are as much fun to catch as anything with fins. If you are fortunate enough to hook into a double digit class fish, you will be amazed how much power these fish have. Pure fishing fun!!
SUMMER TIME IS JIGGING TIME
With summer upon us I start to think more about targeting lake trout with jigging gear. As the surface waters warm, lake trout are forced to seek out deeper and cooler waters.
While lake trout can and do suspend in the water column, where you can find deep water structure the odds are very good lake trout will be using that structure. Here in the Great Lakes I find my best lake trout jigging action takes place in waters from about 80-120 feet during the summer months.
Submerged islands that tower up out of very deep water are exactly the kind of summer structure lake trout flock to. Finding these spots is very easy thanks to modern GPS mapping units. Truth be told, I find most of my best lake trout jigging spots while the boat is parked in my driveway. By simply studying the contours on my Garmin EchoMap Ultra, I can quickly zero in on potential fishing spots. I typically save a waypoint on the top of each submerged hump and then check these spots out while on the water. Some spots are going to hold fish and others are not, but if you have enough spots to set up a “milk run” odds are very good you’ll sit down on quality fish.
Depending on the water depth, CHIRP enhanced broad beam sonar and or Live Scope sonar is going to be the best tools for pinpointing the presence of fish. Broad beam sonar will do a good job of marking lake trout in water up to about 150 feet. Our experience with Live Scope suggests that seeing trout and your lure at the same time is limited to about 100 feet of water.
EARLY FALL
Here in Michigan, the best fishing sets up in the late summer and fishing gets progressively better in September. In many Great Lakes waters lake trout season closes on the last day of September so, it pays to check the regulations carefully.
Because lake trout are char that spawn in the fall, many places close the season the end of September to protect spawning fish. There are however a number of waters where lake trout fishing remains open year around.
Lake trout grow big and that’s one of the things that makes jigging for them exciting. While the average lake trout is going to be less than five pounds, there are big slopping fish like this swimming around just waiting to be caught.
RODS/REELS/LINE
I have a couple “go to” rod/reel set ups I use often for lake trout jigging. I often use a 7’- heavy action baitcasting rod for fishing jigs, jigging spoons, blade baits and bucktail jigs. I load this reel with 15-20 pound test super braid and terminate using a three or four foot length of 15 pound test fluorocarbon leader material. For jigs I tie direct to the fluorocarbon, but for jigging spoons and blade baits, I tie in a No. 2 or No. 3 cross-lok style snap. I use this set up when jigging in deeper water and using larger lures in the 2.0 and 3.0 ounce sizes. My second “go to” lake trout jigging set up is a 7’ - medium/heavy spinning rod with a 30 size reel and 150 yards of 10 pound test super braid. At the terminal end again I go with a three or four foot length of 15 pound test fluorocarbon leader material.
This rod gets the nod when fishing in more shallow water and using lighter lures in the 3/4, 1 and 1.5 ounce range.
STINGER HOOKS HELP
When jigging it really helps to rig up a stinger hook. I tie my own stingers from 20 pound test fluorocarbon line and No. 6 or No. 4 treble hooks. The stinger should be just long enough to reach the end of the bait and ride free. If the stinger is stuck into soft plastic baits the baits will quickly become fouled.
CATCH AND RELEASE
Many anglers are hitting the water with the idea of catching and keeping their lake trout, but I find that fishing is usually good enough it’s necessary to live release the majority of the fish hooked. The key to successfully releasing lake trout is to get them back into the water as quickly as possible.
Netting fish and then keeping the net in the water while the fish is unhooked is a good practice if a particular fish is going to be live released. I like rubber nets for this work as trout are far less likely to roll and get tangled in a rubber net compared to a traditional mesh bag landing net.
Fish that dart back down to the depths quickly are going to survive without issue. Fish that flounder at the surface are not as likely to survive. If a fish flounders at the surface, it’s best to keep that fish as part of your daily limit, while opting to let more lively fish go.
CASTING APPLICATIONS
At times in the spring and again in the fall, lake trout can be targeted in shallow water by casting jigs with swimsuits. This is an exciting way of catching lake trout, but conditions must be perfect to attract lakers into the shallows.
Water temperature is the key to luring lakers into shallow water. Generally this bite sets up when the water is 45-55 degrees. Lake Superior is a great place to seek out shallow water lakers because the fishing season remains open year around.
When casting jigs and swimsuits, I’m typically using 3/8 to 1/2 ounce jigs, four to six inch paddle tail grubs or larger twister tail grubs.
COLOR MATTERS
Lake trout will strike a wide variety of lures and lure colors. However it’s safe to say that white, pearl and chartreuse are the most productive lake trout colors.
SUMMARY
For anglers who prefer “rod-in-hand” presentations, jigging for lake trout is a ton of fun and very productive. Here in the Great Lakes region, there are countless opportunities to jig for trout.