Down speed for Lake trout?

[Phisherman247]

My buddy and I are new to Laker fishing and we've heard conflicting opinions on the speed we should be going to get them. I've been told the slower the better and my buddy has been told you can go your normal trolling speed 1.7-1.8mph and you'll still get the big ones sitting on the bottom. Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, tight lines! Phisherman247

[SUPERTRAMP]

Tuesday out of St Joe Michigan we were trolling 3 mph at the probe and took a 15lb lake trout 71 down on a D&R spoon. If you are trolling Trash Cans and Spin n glow's or wobble glows (aka Peanuts you need to slow down so you don't spin the dodger. Speed is determined more by the bait or attractor you are running than by the fish. Lakers will hit at the same speed as Steelhead of you get a bait in front of them.

[SeaCatMich]

I would say that 1.7 - 1.8 mph is pretty slow and typical for lake trout. They will hit at faster speeds and often do when I'm trolling faster (2.4-2.8 mph) in theory for salmon. I'd go 1.5 to 1.8 mph on the downspeed if targeting lakers with lures that run effectively at those speeds.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Some great points guys. I must digress though just on a few observations, with all due respect. I think if you are specifically targeting lake trout on the bottom, say 70'-120' fow on bottom, you slow to .8-1.2 mph, esp. with peanuts and cowbells as the lures. Some flies/squids too. However, if you are just fishing in the upper columns, say for kings, with meat/spoons/flies, say 40-75' on riggers, over deeper water of say 100-150', you may take some unintentional lakers not really being targeted. Those fish are just running in the mix with other species imho, where baitfish may be prevalent. It's not necessarily a school of lakers, just some scattered in here and there. At least that's been my experience on the whole. P.S. Mark, I've always known Racine to be a Laker heaven, lots of them, and big ones, so I suspect the locals there know a lot about how to fish them, esp. the ones on bottom just south of the pierhead. Check with the local guys, esp. the seasoned fisherman, ones that have fished them for many years, and you may uncover some interesting facts, good luck.

[Play Dough]

I remember 1.7 mph being the target speed on the fish hawk trolling with my father out of Oscoda on Lake Huron years ago for lake trout. He used dodger/squid, wobble glows, and hot and tots near bottom. I have all the hot and tots he used to run. All the metal bills on them are all scrubbed up from digging in the sand bottom.

[Line Dancin]

We use a lot of dodgers and spin n glos or squids when we target laker. I like my speed about 1.5 mph. and i agree with what rascal said. get your stuff just ticking the bottom.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

I like to call it bouncing bottom for lakees. The rigger ball being the bouncer just barely hitting bottom. I like long leads too, 12-20' behind the ball. Our prime spot is in front of the PSP, pump storage project, 60-80 fow. After our usual limit of lakees, we go deep for steelies and kings to wrap up the trip.

[SUPERTRAMP]

I have to agree with Ed, we seldom target Lake Trout, but if we do 1mph or less and bounce the rigger ball off the bottom, keep it no more than 1 ft off if you can. When you are seeing fish laying on the bottom you have to hit them in the head with the bait to get a strike. I haven't run my cowbell for a long time, because I hate trying to troll slow enough to keep them from spinning. But with trolling bags out we can get down to .7 to 1.0 if need be. Just a really boring way of catching the grease.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

I think some of the best smoked fish is Lakers. Why? Because the natural oils in the meat and skin, keep the meat more moist and succulent to the taste bud. Just my opinion. Many would also agree with chubs and whitefish in this regard, very tasty, and good for us.

[gmfishon]

I think some of the best smoked fish is Lakers. Why? Because the natural oils in the meat and skin, keep the meat more moist and succulent to the taste bud. Just my opinion. Many would also agree with chubs and whitefish in this regard, very tasty, and good for us.

I AGREE 100% in gt bay they are eating hardly nothing but gobies and they are not like that anymore-not near as good as before.

[fishy1]

I think some of the best smoked fish is Lakers. Why? Because the natural oils in the meat and skin, keep the meat more moist and succulent to the taste bud. Just my opinion. Many would also agree with chubs and whitefish in this regard, very tasty, and good for us.

I agree hard to beat smoked chubs and lake trout,heres one to try instead of blackening salmon use lake trout and I bet you will change your opinion of lake trout as table fare.