Ice Fishing For Lake Trout

By Tim Moore
Contributing Writer

Lake trout are a species that anglers seem to either love catching or can take them or leave them. Those who love to catch them are often almost obsessed with them. They are of the most predatory trout. Feeding voracious feeding machines with teeth on their tongues. Although slow growing, they can get big, really big. Lake trout as big as 50-pounds are routinely caught in parts of Canada and a few locations in the United States. They eat big and fight hard. They can be finnicky, but when they’re hungry they hit a lure like a freight train.

Jigging or Tip Up Fishing
Jigging is generally more active and allows anglers to be more mobile. Spoons and bucktail jigs are common lures among lake trout anglers. Spoons use sight and vibration to attract lake trout in hopes of triggering their predatory instinct to make them bite. The ¼-ounce Leech Flutter Spoon is a favorite among many lake trout anglers across the ice belt. Bucktail jigs work great when paired with a ½” x 2” strip of belly meat from a white sucker. White suckers can be purchased at bait shops near almost any lake trout lake. An effective jigging method is to drop your lure to the bottom, pound it a few times to stir up some silt, and reel up a couple feet before jigging.

Rods for lake trout vary by length and power, depending on the size of the lures an angler is fishing and the size of the lake trout they are targeting. Rod selection is also subjective based on the preference of each angler. Some like very heavy rods, or even wooden jig sticks, and others prefer stout rods with some bend to cushion big lake trout head shakes. Most anglers fish 36” – 40” heavy rods. The roof of a lake trout’s mouth consists of hard bone, which requires a hard hook-set to help prevent losing fish. Clam Outdoors offers a wide array of rods suitable for lake trout, such as the Dave Genz Split-Handle , Jason Mitchel Mack Series, and the 36-inch Professional Series Ice Team rods.
Mobile anglers will often use a run-and-gun technique to hunt lake trout, while others will sit in one area and chum. Run-and-gun fishing allows an angler to cover more water and put their lure in front of a greater number of fish and is most effective with highly-pressured fish, or on days when lake trout are less active due to bright sun and high barometric pressure. The general rule is that lake trout will be more active on cloudy low-pressure days, and less active when the sun is bright or the wind is blowing hard.
When tip up fishing, you are relying on the movements of the lake trout and the liveliness of your bait to attract lake trout. Tip ups allow anglers to spread their lines out over a greater area and wait for a flag to pop up, indicating a strike. Many anglers prefer this method because the in-between time allows them to be more social, and many love racing each other to the next flag. Tip ups are often rigged with some sort of braided nylon line. Attached to that is a swivel and 6’ – 8’ of fluorocarbon line with a hook. A small non-lead spit shot is used to keep the bait at the desired depth.

Where to Look
When lake trout spawn in the fall they do so in 30’ – 40’ of water. Many of those fish remain at those depths throughout the winter, but that is not the rule. While most avid lake trout ice anglers target those same depths all winter, some believe bigger fish will be caught in deeper water. Inside turns, humps, and steep drop offs are key areas as they are all prime feeding areas for lake trout.

Conservation
Many studies have been conducted about growth rates and health of New England’s lake trout populations. Some studies suggest that lake trout grow 2” – 4” per year for the first four years of their life. Then growth slows to 1” or less. On average, a 34” lake trout can be over 40 years old. Some studies also suggest that putting small fish back and keeping the biggest fish will alter the genetics of a lake trout population and stunt their growth. Besides, if the only lake trout that are put back are smaller, eventually that’s all that will be left. Replica mounts are a great alternative to catch and kill skin mounts.
Lake trout size and numbers varies in lakes they inhabit. Average size varies from one water to the next. Most days, anglers can easily catch several fish. Some prefer to put all the catch back, while others claim to enjoy the flavor of lake trout fried or smoked. Regardless of their preferred angling or eating method, it’s usually the fun and comradery that keeps most people coming back day after day, winter after winter.

Tim Moore is a full-time professional fishing guide in New Hampshire. He owns and operates Tim Moore Outdoors Guide Service. He is a member of the New England Outdoors Writers Association and the producer of Tim Moore Outdoors TV. Visit www.TimMooreOutdoors.com for more information.