MyFishFinder Forum
MyFishFinder By Species => Trout => Topic started by: Fishingking on Jul 15, 2005, 10:39 PM
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wondering what u guys do trolling for lakers in the summer? depth? speeds?
this year i ahve found the lakers are only 35 ft (Corrected from 25 ft down) down here in NY state and its july 15th ussually they are running about 90 fow over 120 fow but for some reason they are pounding the baitfish at 35 fow
thanks for any advice
FK
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25 down? Sounds like a seiche. The temp strata might be rocking back and forth, bringing nice cold water up shallow.
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I troll dead smelt real slow (~1.0 MPH) behind a Dave Davis lake troll. I have a thermometer on the downrigger and look for water temps 49 to 52 degrees. At this time in Northern VT that seems to be about 40ish feet down.
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Fishingking that temp depth is the same right now in the Finger Lakes too. You can blame the north winds we been having this year. Temp is the key to success. A good south wind will push the cold water down. Lakers prefer 55 to 48. I take them in 42 degree water too. A slow troll is best.
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HillTopper,
How you hook your smelt?
Slim
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i run 2 seth green rigs 1 high and 1 deep i use 5 spoons on each i cover 20 to 120 down it covers most of thier favorite temps
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Slim Slinger,
I tie a 14" section of leader to a treble hook and tie a loop at the other end. I use a bait needle hooked on the loop and run the needle from the crapper and out the mouth leaving the treble in the crapper. I then come down through both lips to close the mouth for a better troll. It would probably be even better if you could figure out a way to do a single hook through the lips and a trailer single hook that comes back 3/4 of the length of the bait.
hilltopper
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Best way to troll for mackinaws is in the 40 - 80 foot depths depending on time of year. You need downriggers to really troll for macks, and various sized flatfish and jointed minnows work best.
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Thanks for your help been getting some bites but no hookups still its so strange though because im use to the lakers being 90 down this time of year and dont have trouble catching them but 35-40 ft down at the end of july is insane.
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My method is to find what depth 49 to 52 degree water is and fish around there (45 to 55 feet right now where I'm fishing). That is, of course, we decide to yank off the bottom. This is a productive method but, IMO, gets old very fast.
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I fish lakers on Lake Ontario. The laker game here is a little different than most places. I troll fishing on the bottom in 100' - 200' F.O.W. Most of the time the fish are in water that is less than 45 degrees. I use a cowbell and peanut rig trolled from .7 mph - 1.7 mph. You will need fast downriggers, lots of cable, heavy weigths (I run 12 lb weights) and a speed and temp. unit.
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i run 2 seth green rigs 1 high and 1 deep i use 5 spoons on each i cover 20 to 120 down it covers most of thier favorite temps
Buzzbait, I hear Seth green rigs are a lot of work but do catch fish. Do you prefer Seth's over riggers, dipsys, and leadcore?
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i have found something better than dipsys and all that. even leave the downriggers at home. use copper wire on a huge centerpin fly reel. 600ft of copper to a subber then a 5ft leader of 50 pound test to a nice northern king spoon (monkey puke color pattern is my favorite) and troll it off the bottom in 80 feet of water at 1.5 to 2 mph. you will hammer them all summer long
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do i really need down riggers, i have none right now. can i use lead core line trolled slow to get down to 60 ft over 90 ft of water ? what speed should i be at ?
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You dont need riggers, but they help. There are lots of folks that use lead core and copper lines to catch lakers.
As far as speed, play around with it. I will say that when you find the speed they like do your best to stay at that speed. First, run your lure next to the boat at a certain speed to see what kind of action the lure has. Thats a good starting point. I usually troll for lakers at 1.2 - 1.9 mph depending on lure selection.
If you have a good sonar that you trust, use that to find what depth they are at. Lakers really travel the water column, but usually can be found where the bait is. The lakes I fish cisco and smelt make up alot of the lakers diet, so find the bait and find the fish.
Tight lines!
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ever jig for them in summer, trying it this weekend on schroon lake, get them in winter so hope to get them now.
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Early in the year we long line rapalas about 200 feet behind the boat in shallow water ( about 25- fow) then we move into using pop gear behind a 3 oz bottom bouncer with a flatfish behind that. Then when they get down deep we use downriggers or jig.
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flatfish anywhere from 60 to 120' deep