Lake Trout Fishing

Lake trout fishing is less prevalent than other types of fishing because these fish require specific conditions in which to survive. Specifically, the water temperature must be very cold compared to the temperatures needed for other species to thrive. If you are in a location that has lakes with lake trout in them, there several types of techniques and trout fishing bait you can use to catch one.

Lake trout are also known as gray trout or Mackinaws. They have very forked tails and light spots displayed on a gray or green background. Splake are also categorized as being lake trout; they are a hybrid of a regular lake trout and a brook trout. Splake have spots similar to lake trout, but their tails are less fork-shaped. Splake also grow faster than regular lake trout. Normally, these fish grow very slowly, and a ten-pounder could be as old as 40. Pay attention to the regulations of these fish in your area; often times they are catch and release only since they become harvested too much.

Cold waters are necessary for lake trout. They cannot survive if the water temperature is over 65 degrees. Because of this, they are most commonly found in Canada, the Great Lakes, and the Northern and Western United States, particularly in mountain lakes. Lake trout normally congregate in deep waters, where the temperature is coldest. These fish can be characterized by their excellent vision, but they actually use scent more than sight to identify prey because they spend so much of their time in low light conditions.

Seeking out lake trout in deep waters is going to be a good bet for an angler hoping to catch one. However, there are times of year in which they will migrate to the shallows. This happens in spring following the ice melt until the water temperatures become too hot, and in the fall when spawning commences. If you are fishing far enough North, though, these lakes will stay cold year-round, even in the shallows, so lake trout can be found in shallower water as well as deep water at any time.

Spoons or dead bait are good trout lures to use if you are fishing the shallows in spring or fall. In the summertime when depth is important, you can use a downrigger or three-way sinker to reach schools of trout near the bottom. Make sure your bait hovers about the fish and does not scrape the bottom. You can also try vertical jigging with a vibrating blade; this also works well for ice fishing. No matter what trout fishing tackle you use, make sure you are fishing during the day because lake trout normally do not bite much after dark.