So this winter, we finally found a good lake trout spot near our camp. we were about 100 feet off the shore line, just off an under water sand bar. (sand bar 10-15 feet deep, then straight down to 30-35 feet). we were able to jig and catch 20-25 inch trout all day.
so my question is this. after ice out, for at least a couple weeks while that water is freezing cold. is there any reason why we couldnt drift and jig that same area? or do the fish just scatter around once the polar cap has thawed out?
Great question. The Trout will most likely still be there or actually up on the bar as long as the water temps remain in the 40's once you see the water temp hit high 40-50 degrees it's time to fish sandy bottoms in 45-60' of water. On a nice flat day jigging will work however you may also want to try dragging live bait right on the bottom over this sand flat starting in shallow water working out over the deeper water always being sure your bait is ON the bottom! Lake Trout will move up in the spring & winter during these months you can find them in alomost no water looking for a bigger meal than the plentifull YOY Smelt that they are forced to forage on all summer while in our lakes Basin areas.. My advice if you want to catch a big boy is fish shallow working out over deep water. I also like edges where 100+' of deep water is always near by.
Try this and good luck just leave some for me :)...
if its sandy and no rocks drag leadcore and a big suttun spoon, let out enough lead to feel bottom, pile another color up on the floor, put the rod in the rod holder, troll .5 to 1.1 mph and jig by hand. let out more or less line so that you always feel bottom. big flatfish trolled with the downrigger near the bottom with the flatfish hitting bottom works well too, remove the front hook and make sure its a floating flatfish, some seem to take on water and they dont work well when that happens. i really prefer to handline the sutton though, its really effective if you find a good sandy section near deep water
