It is one of the trusted lures of different anglers, and most of them suggest that you use this for early season trout. Got a hundred pound Dorado…mahi-mahi…and that’s a monster. like catching a big lake trout (especially if it is the biggest fish you have Make sure you have a good fish finder so you know what depth to be running your lures at and so … I don’t use this method as much as I do just trolling with a spoon, but it does work so its worth a try if you have the supplies. One of my captains actually had a big Lake Trout try to take a Worden Flatfish out of another big Lake Trout’s mouth. We troll at nearly twice the speed of Flathead Lake fishing when fishing Lake Koocanusa…covering a LOT of water with our three-hundred-foot wide spread. We like to troll our lake trout spoons on the faster side of the lake trout trolling spectrum. And still it takes time to find those predators because, unlike Flathead Lake charters, the monsters are not typically beneath the boat. A weight to maintain depth -- probably two or three ounces, depending on your speed and the season since lake trout typically swim deeper in warmer months A light lure or trolling spoon shaped like a small minnow, or a live minnow, hooked through the lips so that it can still move There are plenty of fish in Flathead Lake. Trolling speed with crankbaits for lake trout are between 2.2 – 2.8 mph. With killer sizes of over 20lbs in some cases, the lake has varieties of huge fish such as a lake trout, rainbow trout, pike, yellow perch, and whitefish. The common belief is that to successfully catch lake trout you need a slow lure speed—very slow. Due to the deep waters and windy lake conditions on Flathead Lake, the best fishing should be done from a trolling powerboat. More fishing line is let out and this release then slides down the cord toward the board while dragging the lure out and away from the boat. My boat likes to stay around 2.9 mph most of the time so that is where I catch most of my fish. We troll at nearly twice the speed of Flathead Lake fishing when fishing Lake Koocanusa…covering a LOT of water with our three-hundred-foot wide spread. Last June, the tribes released a draft plan to reduce lake trout abundance in Flathead Lake by either 25, 50 or 75 percent over 50 years. Montana’s Flathead Lake is the largest freshwater lake boasting one of the cleanest lakes in the United States. ‘Tis The Season. They are a highly entertaining and playful fish to chase and a delicious addition to the dinner table! I have used dodgers when trolling for lake trout and the guy I was with was using cowbells. There is nothing I have this Humminbird fish finder you can find on Amazon. Try T-50, 55, and T-60’s. In Flathead Lake fishing, the apex predators feed almost anywhere and on just about any fish, but they concentrate on shrimp and fry…down deep. If the fish are being shy then sometimes the scent of cut bait will get them to bite. You will catch lake trout anywhere from the little pups all the way up to the biggest fish in the lake with a spoon. We caught over 900 lake trout last year from Keuka and Cayuga. It is common practice to troll for lake trout at a speed of 1.5 mph. When the weather is cold during the spring and fall this is your best chance of catching lake trout in the shallow water. A delicate touch is essential to catch this delicacy and here is … No matter what lures you’re using, try to use brightly-colored bait. My name is Trevor Harper, I love going fishing with my family and friends any chance I get. Best Spoon Trolling Speed for Lake Trout. More than 9,000 tagged lake trout with values from $10,000 to $100 are swimming in Flathead Lake. Trolling for Lake Trout Flatlining. I like to troll with deep diving crankbaits more in the springtime than later in the season. Lake trout have a very large mouth and will feed a lot on smaller fish in the area so matching your lures to the size of the baitfish they feed upon is a great tactic. With his hand on mine, we began to reel it in. Go to www.mackdays.com and click under the events tab for more information. If you’re going to be trolling or casting for lake trout, spoons and jerkbait will both work equally well. “Betterfishingtoday.com is  a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”. The big predators are dispersed and you have to cover a LOT of water to find them. This way of fishing is just to have an extra attractant to help the fish locate where your lure is if you are having a hard time getting any bites. You can readily catch lake trout by trolling lures near the surface in April – June and October-November. As soon as the ice clears off Francois Lake, the itchin’ for fishin’ begins. Planer boards provide for an effective solution for fishing Lake Koocanusa. He caught them both simultaneously on the same lure. You will be surprised at the size of lures these fish can be caught with. It says everything about boating on Flathead Lake. If I am trolling the spoon in the middle of the water column where all the fish are hanging out and feeding then I like to be around the 3.0 mph mark. Lake Trout are often stimulated to strike by the act of another fish feeding and since it seems as though their competitor missed they might be prompted to give it a try. Trolling for trout is something that anyone with a boat can do, and is highly productive technique for catching fish. Summer is when lake trout like to head deep. Light Action Rod: If you get a 5 pound Lake Trout on a heavy deep-sea trolling rod with 80-pound test steel wire, you will be lucky to feel the fish bite, let-alone have fun bringing the fish in. or larger spoons such as Krocodiles in silver/red or gold/red or minnow-imitation plugs such as Rebels or Rapalas in black/silver, black/gold or fluorescent orange. They prefer colder water and are usually found near the bottom although they can be found at all depths when the water is cold. This inline spinner is an effective lure which spins flawlessly and smoothly at all speeds. I troll anywhere from 1.5 – 3.2 mph depending on what type of lure I am using. You might as well snag an old boot. end of your line. Sometimes I will spend an hour or so going one direction and spotting fish after fish but not catch anything. first trip out fishing for lake trout I bought myself a boat and got It's all about getting out in the boat with a fish finder and finding just where exactly they are feeding. FISHING FOR LAKE TROUT Lake trout (or mackinaw) are primarily fish eaters. We can anchor and jig, or anchor and set lures in the current, but the primary means for fishing Flathead Lake and finding monsters is by trolling. My dad had just handed me the rod, where the bait was in the water at a distance. For deep-dwellers such as Lake Trout, we use a spread of artificial lures that usually have scent enhancement. Summer Lake Trout. If you are marking a lot of fish on your fish finder but still can’t catch them, turn the boat around and go back through them the other direction. And even though the conditions were far from perfect, we caught three of them. Every lake is a little different and even the same species of trout in different bodies of water. This way I feel like they are mostly reacting to the lure as a baitfish swimming past them and they will just eat it without getting too much of a chance to just look at it first. Hooked up with a one-hundred and ninety-two pound halibut that needed a harpoon and a twenty-gauge shotgun to pacify at boat-side. I was two. Another thing I like to try if the fish are having a hard time biting I will put a piece of cut bait on the hook for some extra scent. Generally fish 30'-100' deep for smaller (2-5 lb.) Using deep diving crankbaits you can get down to the fish and avoid having a big downrigger weight running into the fish first. The big lake trout from 30” to 40” go out to these big flats to feed on the small white fish and fresh water shrimp. ever caught) and it is impossible to forget the feeling of the first one on the "Bagging the Elusive Brown Trout" Spring Time Kings on Lake Oroville CA Spring Trolling Lake Almanor Spring 2017 Collins Lake CA Pyramid Lake NV. 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