lures for ice out lakers?

[hillbilly^]

going for ice out lakers for first time and looking for info. on lures and colors. thank you.

[Luv2sled]

Those ice out trout will eat a beer tab if you throw it at them. Try silver and blue spoons and any kind of spinner bait.

[redlaker]

troll blue&white 6in. floating raps 3 split shots on one line nothing on the other.Find a point with a 20ft. drop off get on shore, get some cisco or sucker strips cast out let it sink, let your bail open hook line to beer can when fish makes first run can will fall set hook on second run.this is good way to fish if it is to cold out in the boat.

[Otter]

As redlaker said, floating raps work very well at this time of year. Yo-zuri also makes a floating minnow (similar to the taildancer) with an extremely relective rainbow finish. This can be deadly if there are smelts in the lake that you are fishing. Smaller spoons and in-line spinners tend to work well but I have never caught any salmonoid on a spinnerbait.

The best advice I can give you is to troll as slowly as possible in wide s-curves. You will probably get most of your action off of points, but don't be afraid to mix it up a little. While lakers typically relate to drop-offs, they can also range into open water in pursuit of schooling baitfish.

Also, don't be discouraged if you get skunked. Just get out there a few days later. Most lakes only offer 5 to 10 days of optimal conditions for surface fishing every year. You just have to time it right. Try fishing smaller bodies of water first. When the bite dies off there, larger bodies of water should be hitting the optimal temp.

Tight lines!

[Batmen]

Wondering about lures in general for June Lakers. In general I have never had any success except live bait 5-10 feet off the bottom. Basically still fishing. Any lure suggestions? What are some of the different styles that are successful for LAkers?

[Otter]

By June, the lakers have all gone deep and can only be accessed by downrigger fishing. Here in Southern Quebec, slow trolling spoons and streamers with a flasher or lake troll is pretty much the only way to go. Most of the lakes around here prohibit live bait and, in many cases, cut bait as well.

Another good combo to try is the dodger/hoochie rig that the salmon fishermen use on the West coast. For some reason, it has never caught on in Eastern Canada, although I have heard that quite a few Great Lakes fishermen have been recently converted. It never hurts to try something that the fish have never seen.

In Northern Quebec, lakers can be taken on a fly, spoon or spinner near the surface as the lakes and rivers never heat up during the summer. In the Northern Prairies, many people use large jigs to catch them, but I have never heard of this working in my area.