One of the best times to fish for Lake Trout is early spring right after ice out.

This time period around the end of April and first few weeks of May can be very rewarding. Water temps are cold and the trout are cruising up higher in the water column looking for schools of Ciscoes and other bait fish.

We use 7' - 8' rods with 20 - 30 lb mono or braided line and 25lb. florocarbon leaders about 4-5 ft. long and 1/2 oz. sliding bullet weights. This time of year we are trolling spoons and 6-inch crank baits like Yozuris and Smithwicks. We will add some cowbell flashers for attractants and occasionally we will jig some rock walls with 1oz. Jigs, Sucker Minnows or various plastics. Rock walls are a good spot when looking for some suspended fish. Many of my larger trout have come from this time period.

The Lake Trout start going deeper as the water temperature rises and the bait fish go deeper looking for cooler water. This time of year, down-riggers are used to get the baits deeper. We also use 3-way swivel systems and weights to get down to where the fish are.

I like to tip my spoons with strips of sucker meat this time of year as an attractant. We also occasionally will sit on shore where there are sharp drop-offs into 80 - 100ft. depths and use a trout-line systems with live suckers and treble hooks. We run our lines out with the boat and then prop our rods up in some rocks and tie our line to a can with some pebbles in it. When the can falls over we head out in the boat and see what we have caught. Reeling these fish in from 80 - 100ft. can be a real battle. I have actually caught some big 15-20lb. Northerns this way and also some larger trout. Having 4 lines off the main line, we have even had 2 or 3 trout on at one time. Pulling these fish in by hand the last 15ft. can be a real challenge but a ton of fun.

This time of year is very much like fishing in the spring. The Trout are up higher in the water column again and we are back to trolling shallow. The real bonus about fall Lake Trout fishing is that they are really feeding for winter. They are putting on the fat and getting heavy. We have even caught some 20lb. Lake Trout casting baits in October while Muskie fishing. Talk about aggressive; Lake Trout hit baits with a ton of force.

Check out the trout recipe here on the website, It's a tasty treat fore sure.