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Tim Shovel

Lake Trout

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I have never actually caught a trout before, or a char but would like to very much, I would like to know when to go fishing for lake trout. I only have a kayak so bear in mind I'm looking for a shallow fishing opportunity. Also I would like to know what sort of structure lakers would use when they are in the shallows. If anyone has any experience fishing for lakers on lake simcoe that would be much appreciated, but any suggestions would be helpful. If possible would someone be able to tell me some flies that work well for lakers.

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I haven't fished for Lake trout shallow, but i have fished fore them deep. So i cant help you there but when it comes to the flies i might be able to help. One of the best that i have used is a white bunny leach. They work well for the same reason they work well for all fish. The amount of movement they produce is amazing, and the fish cant resist but give it a go. Another that i really like is a style of chartreuse clouser. For Lake trout i like using some kind of synthetic instead of buck tail, as it gives the fly more movement in the water. I dont now why but lake trout especially have always like chartreuse. Whether it is a chartreuse spoon or crank-bait in trolled behind the boat, or a chartreuse jig under the ice. It seams to always produce. And lastley i like to use some sort of red and white fly for Lake Trout. Again something like a clouser will work but flys such as deceivers or bunny patterns will work great to.

good luck

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I will preface my comments by saying that I am not speaking from first hand experience, just what I have read. Fly fishing for lake trout can not be done most of the year, they stay fairly deep, below what is practical fly fishing depths. Now there are short periods during the spring and fall that they can be in fairly shallow water due to the mixing of normally stratified warm and cool water. The other alternative is some of the lakes up in the far north where the surface temps don't get all that warm and you have a shot at catching them with with the fly. Do yourself a favor and get some local information, either online or shops or guides in the area. My family had a couple of vacations on Lake Muskoka when I was a kid so I have been in the area but decades ago. Enjoy the search.

 

Steve

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Fly fishing for lake trout can not be done most of the year, they stay fairly deep, below what is practical fly fishing depths.

This is not necessarily true. Although it was rather difficult i was fly fishing for them in the middle of the summer. They were down 80ft and using a fast full sinking line and some counting i got my fly down 80ft. Like i said it was not easy, but i got it done. I didn't have to much success, but that was not because i was using a fly. Most of the trip the fish were not eating anything but large anchovies sitting in there faces. I did however have a few bites but wasn't able to keep any hooked all the way to the surface. Like you said, its not very practical fly fishing for them that deep but is is defiantly doable.

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In Northern Michigan where I fish we do pretty well in mid to late October thats when the lakers run up into the river. I do alot of my fishing at night and use the same rig as I do for Brown Trout at night which is a bead preferablly a glass bead on the tippet or leader, followed by a light slip sinker (usually a 1/16 or lighter) to an olive wooly bugger but many streamers will work.

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True, fish for life but I don't have the money for sinking line...yet. Lakers behave similar to trout and spawn shallow, read online by the way, usually some point during the fall on pebble beds or up rivers. I'll definitely need to research more about the lake but thank you verymuch, all of you for your help, PS already made a white bunny leech varient:)

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True, fish for life but I don't have the money for sinking line...yet. Lakers behave similar to trout and spawn shallow, read online by the way, usually some point during the fall on pebble beds or up rivers. I'll definitely need to research more about the lake but thank you verymuch, all of you for your help, PS already made a white bunny leech varient:)

Ya i know, you defiantly don't need one. Like you said your planning on fishing for them shallow so you don't need it. I just wanted people to know that it is possible to fish form them down that deep. Not saying you need to. When looking for them shallow get out in your kayak the second the ice is off the lake. At this point in the year the Lake trout are the shallowest and usually feeding heavily. At this time they are common to be found anywhere from 5ft of water down to 20ft. But in general they are relatively shallow. They are shallow like this in the spring because the water temperature are cold as a result of the ice. As the year goes on they will go deeper and deeper as the water temperature raises.

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Ok thanks, I know what you meant but I have another reason for the sinking line, I fish the Niagara river which gets pretty deep, If the water wasn't so fast I could probably could get away with intermediate line, but with the current I need something that can get the bottom fast. Which is where I have heard from family and other fishermen on the river that the smallies, pike, trout and a score of other gamefish will be held. Although I probably should have mentioned that in my last post, it may have seemed misleading as to where and when I would fish it. Thank you for your advice. PS I won't be fishing from my kayak on the niagara river. Thanks again you seem to be very knowledgable about the subject, and I hope you will be able to answer any more questions I have about these char in the future.

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Here in the N.E I have had luck fishing for them right after ice out. I am primarily fishing for landlocks but a fish is a fish. I use streamers that imitate smelt. My fav is the magog smelt and nine three. If you have a kayak you could troll tandom streamer which is very effective.

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Tandem fly, never tried it, but definitely worth a shot, lake simcoe has smelt so it sounds like your idea might be the ticket. Thank you and I'll be sure tie up some smelt flies

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I did a little at my local lake this last fall. From the short time I got to fish for em I found out white is by far the most productive color. I had my best luck with a white estaz wolly worm, but the biggest one I caught was on a white clouser with a red throat.

Yes you can fish for them deep in some lakes during the summer, but not the lake that I was fishing. They tend to hang out in 80-120 ft. Say what you want but that's too deep for my liking. Plus, the boat traffic would be very off putting. In the fall they where in about 5-20 ft. Like stated. I have fished for them a little in the spring and I've found that the fish in close tend to be bigger.

As for structure, they tend to like drop-offs and rocky bottoms among other areas. The one I took home had a belly full of crawdads, which was interesting as I was expecting it to be full of baitfish. But when I thought about it, it makes sense because they're very abundant in that lake and are in that 5-10 ft of rocky water. Just some food for thought.

-Miles

 

 

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Though we used to troll sewn bait for lakers before I took up fly fishing, I have tried going after them with the fly. For structure, try to find a rock pile of some sort, if you have good depth maps they'll be marked, or if the lake has buoys figure out which one signifies submerged rocks, try padding fast with a good amount of line trailing behind you and a long leader and stop paddling as you drift over the rock pile, and start paddling again as you move away from it. This should essentially drag your fly (a streamer), right up over the rocks as they transition from deep to shallow, where lakers are frequently found. If you don't have sinking line for this the long leader will help, and tying a streamer with a heavily weighted lead underbody will help also (pay attention though because you may have to tie it upside down which is actually great for this technique). Most smelt (or other small bait patterns) work well, and I'll agree with the nine-three. If crayfish are prominent a brown woolly bugger, also weighted, will work good as well. My most productive time for them (live bait or flies) has always been the second and third weeks of May. I believe they hit fast moving targets much more aggressively. I will add as final comment, they are tough to fly fish for especially without the advantage of rock piles or drop-offs.

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Actually just found some depth maps < http://www.fishinglakesimcoe.ca/Map.html > looks like some great drop offs around Fox Island in the southwest and Long Shoals just to the north of Fox Island. Without and understanding of just how big that lake is, which it looks quite massive, those places may or may not be kayak friendly. I'd go back and forth between the buoys shown at either end of long shoal if you can access that, dragging the fly up that steep drop-off.

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