Interesting Laker Technique

[bigredfishing]

Some of my friends out on the finger lakes have really taken to trying to ice fish in open water - they are using their Vexilars to veritcally jig up lake trout.  One of my buddies in particular that lives on Cayuga built a huge drift sock - his boat barely moves at all even in high winds.  That makes it perfect.  He drives around till he marks schools of bait, then drops his jigging spoon under the school and works it. 

He has been doing pretty well with this.

[Pasquatch]

Haha!

Sounds like a lot of fun, probably very effective in working those roaming schools of hungry trout.

[devil-man]

I know some guys that use the same technique on Erie.
(For walleye and perch.)
It works!

[crowkiller]

ive been doing the same for the cats that ive been catching

[King Fisher]

That sounds like alot of fun!

[Hilltopper]

My 2 favorite bottom fishing methods for lakers:

1) Hanging something off my downrigger ball with 50 lb. test (piece of cement, sash rod...something you don't care about losing) so you can drag it through the mud without haning up your ball. Off the release, about 75 feet back, is a lake troll, 14 to 20 inches leader, and a sewed on frozen smelt.

2) Lead core, 4 foot leader, with a Sutton spoon "bouncing" or "yanking" it off the bottom. This is similar to the jigging but you usually are drifting with the wind or trolling very slow on calm days.

I've always wanted to try the method your buddies are using. The hangup was how do I keep my boat staionary in 100 feet of water without anchoring where I would be fishing. Apparently a large drift sock is the answer!

[flockshot]

lol..thats all i know how to do..and i catch alot of lakers...prepare for some funny looks from the guys trolling though...they give you some hell when they see a "tube" ie being fished in 85 ft of water.

[spoonfed]

  my vex goes with me on the boat every time.  i've used this jigging for eyes in the rivers.  as long as you can  stay vertical it can be very productive.

[grumpymoe]

ive been doing the same for the cats that ive been catching

.....I dont know if I'd want to try that on the Red River up this way...me thinks I'll stick to my anchor....at least that way the worst I can drag up is a shopping cart....maybe a bicycle.....hmmm...big drift net might catch more than I bargained for....Grump 

[SPINNERBITE]

We were out in middle of Sept. jigging it works better than fishing with sawbellies.
Best jig was a Zoom 4" white tube jig w/ 3/4" oz. jig head. Color of head didnt
really matter. Important thing though was to use one of those braided lines
that dont stretch, like TUFF LINE 15lb. w/ dia. of 4lb. We were in 80ft. up at
the north end of OWASCO and did really well.

[walleyechaser]

I've caught a couple lakers with this technique.  I believe it was Devil Man who gave me the heads up on it.
I used my trolling motor to keep the boat in position and vertical jigged anywhere from 35 to 80 fow.  I was using a 3/4 oz bucktail jig tipped with herring.  It was a bit tough to feel the bite though.  They just kind of picked it up.

[troutman]

A lot of guys are starting to fish this way now on the Finger Lakes. It can be very productive when the fish put the feed bag on. I have seen some nice trout caught this way while the trollers get the smaller fish. The bouncing and darting of the jig gets the fish excited while a troller fishing with a lure moving slow will have the same action all the time and the trout will fellow it a long way before he moves away from it. Jig fishing can be very productive but has its disadvantages too. For one thing it doesn’t produce all the time. Right now the jiggers are having a tough time on the bigger Finger Lakes. 

[troutman]

I have seen a lot of guys give up trolling because of the flea problem. A good fisherman will never quit. I have pretty much solved the flea problem. You have to be a little creative if you want to fish today.