Laker…

[FSH 210 Sport]

Not sure where you are located but, Lake Michigan, in Wisconsin has some great salmon fishing !
That's where I'm from and salmon/trout fishing is a big deal there.

Im hoping to make it over there and check that out! Watched a few of Tom Boleys YouTube’s on Lake Trout fishing and it looks like a lot of fun! I’m in the Black Hills area..

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Went up to a local lake at 6000’. Spectacular views and hardly any people. Marked a lot of fish and managed to catch one nice laker relatively early in the day, roughly 12#. A few other rainbows throughout the day were nice.

You can use your engines on the lake but the whole lake is “no wake”. Im sure that fact keeps most of the boat traffic away. As I said in my other post https://jetboaters.net/threads/one-picture-of-your-last-outing.7387/page-265 the ramp is small and the dock is tiny, it would be a challenge to launch and retrieve there by myself…I’d have to use my trolling motor s’ remote and back the boat up to the dock then drive it a few feet from the dock and spot lock it, get the truck and back the trailer in, then bring the boat back to the dock, get on and put the boat on the trailer.

I do think I need a bigger net….. haven’t found one yet that collapses down like the smaller one I have.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

This time my friend got to land the laker while I netted it! I’m glad I got a bigger net for this one! Beautiful fish and shot straight back to the depths.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Tried a different set up yesterday…. Trolled at 1 mph with a couple of full sized cowbell rigs and 5/8oz spoons.




I was able to catch one nice laker, probably 6-8#, pretty darn fat fish. Had some others come up for a look, and had the line pop out of the clip on the down riggers but no more fish on the boat. Still a great day on the water.



I’m pretty happy with my results this season, I think I’ve caught 12-15 lakers this year compared to the one I caught last year. Been able to take guests out and put them on at least one if not two Fish on a given day, they’ve all been released to get bigger.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Caught this 10#‘er this afternoon…. Nothing all day until 5 this afternoon. This poor guy had his jaw all messed up at some point in his life. Snapped a couple pics and let him go. What a fighter!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

The bite has really cooled off as the spawning season has gotten underway. Today was the first trip out in the last 4 that I managed to catch one. Had another one on that was huge but got off…. The bite didn’t happen today until after 1700hrs local time.



It was a beautiful day on the lake today, a cool 39* this morning when I put in, and 75* most of the day.

Here’s a shot from this morning..



Early afternoon..


Late afternoon…



Sunset…



Moons out





Just an awesome day on the water.. tomorrow night looks like a little bit of snow.

Went for a bit of a moonlight cruise in the main part of the lake, full on night by the time I pulled back into the marina.

 

[zipper]

Found a new place to fish for Lake Trout today near the Grand Isle Ferry landing at the outlet brook from the fish hatchery across the street. There were 6 anglers with fly rods wearing waders targeting and catching them this morning. It was very cool to watch this fish in the brook above them, out of bounds since Nov. 1st when Trout season ended in all tributaries into the lake, but not on the lake.
Look for the tail fin in the middle of the picture.

One coming and one going, they run 3 at a time

Walked out on the jetty. No takers.

Should have taken the boat out today.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

First laker of 2023….that guy fought like crazy! Fun stuff!

PSin

 

[zipper]

Wife showed me this, this morning.

Potential World-Record Lake Trout Caught in Colorado - First Look!

Scott Enloe caught what might be the new all-tackle world-record lake trout on May 5 in Colorado. It weighed more than 73 pounds!

freerangeamerican.us

.



Wonder how much lead is in this one, lol.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Yesterday was exceptional in that I caught 6 lake trout (only 5 pictured the last one was only 12” and was distressed so I put it back asap) in one day. Most of the time I get one, maybe two chances in a day. While a couple of these are nice fish I think only one may have been a keeper, minimum length is 24” I think.












I usually don’t see them schooled like this either…


This is typical of what I see…just hangin out by structure. Those are some big fish.


When I went looking for the above picture I see that I forgot to post these pics from July 6th. These were some nice fish, but not the big ones I’m after, very grateful to catch these fish and put them back. Interestingly this fish is the only one who bit the lure, the others were hooked on the side of the head possibly indicating territorial smacks with their head.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Okay, after that stellar day the bite has gone cold… I did catch one small one yesterday on a red and white spoon at 105‘. I’ve tried jigging but with no success.. I am open to any suggestions anyone might have. I get them to follow the lures but not bite.

 

[zipper]

A lot of jigging videos for Lake Trout out there, but this guy nails em from a kayak with vertical tube jigs.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Thanks Zipper!

Looks like this guy had one of the issues I’ve had which is I can’t the jigs I’ve been using to get to the bottom quickly and get them to return to the bottom after the upstroke.

Like him I’ve used swim baits with the largest heads I could find at Scheels, Cabela’s & Fleet Farm with a tube type squid looking thingie. One time I had one just sort of nibble at it. I‘ve also tried a couple of striper jigs with no luck, and I had one follow a rippin shad up high enough where I could see it.

I like the double split rings to keep the fish from being able to twist around and break off.

I’ll shoot this guy an email and get myself a few of these !

 

[zipper]

Ya, we got a few 2 oz. tube jigs.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Ya, we got a few 2 oz. tube jigs.

View attachment 204647
View attachment 204648

Have you had success with those ?

 

[zipper]

Have you had success with those ?

They are new. We have not taken the Whaler out for Summer jigging yet. Been using crankbaits from the dinghy. Been busy here and not much time til berry season is done.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Another outstanding day in the Black Hills!




Had several hits and finally got hooked up on this 9# 14 oz Laker.





Had another big one on….thought he got caught in the trees… kept fighting…then got it free and came up with someones old ski rope lol!

 

[zipper]

A friend of ours and photographer for Vt fish and wildlife was out fishing yesterday on Champlain. Caught this nice little Laker on a fly, a first for him. Too cold still for us. Although, he said there were schools of salmon and trout passing them in only 5 feet of water, but they were not that hungry.

 

[JetSkiff]

Caught this 15# 36” long lake trout today in 125’ of water using down riggers set at 80’.

Forgot to add, this was my first lake trout.

View attachment 154578View attachment 154579View attachment 154580

I mainly fly fish here on Sam Rayburn Lake and a lot of the perch I catch is about the size of your spoon

JetSkiff

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Cool and windy this morning, water temp 41°,


My friend Dave with a nice 12 pounder we put on the boat today. As you can see things warmed up a lot this afternoon….