Hooked contributor Tom Armstrong tries to get out on the ice any time he can. Things have slowed down just a bit with a new addition to the family. Still, he does live on the north shore of Lake Superior though, so access is not too far away.
One of his favourite species through the ice are lake trout. For those in the know, right now is a pretty darn good time to target them. Tom recalls a trip a few years ago when he was out with a group of friends on a lake noted from lots of eater sized fish when things changed.
FISH OF A LIFETIME
“Not long into our trip I was jigging a tube in about 80’ of water, and saw a rather large mark show up on my Humminbird flasher. It looked suspiciously like a large, suspended lake trout half way up the water column. I quickly brought my tube up to it, and it took barely a twitch on my jigging rod before he attacked that tube with a fury.
He was on, and he was big!
After what seemed like an eternity I managed to get this beast of a lake trout to the hole, squeeze his giant head through and onto the ice. As I hoisted this trophy of a lake trout, it was another great reminder of how productive fishing for suspended lake trout can be in North Western Ontario.”
LAKE TROUT CAN BE ANYWHERE
As so many lake trout anglers before him have found out, fish at this time of the year love to cruise everywhere in the lake. There certainly are no restrictions when it comes to water temperature, so forage is the key. If the lake your fishing has a lot of suspended open water forage, then that’s where you will find lake trout. There are a few key areas you might want to consider though to improve your odds. On Canadian Shield Lake, steep bluffs are a real consideration, especially if you can find a bit of an inside turn on the structure. Deep flats in the 50 to 60-foot range can be dynamite. If you they are adjacent to both shallow and deep water even better!
Shoreline points and sunken islands are always options as well. In March I have found some big lakers chasing perch in 10 feet of water. Hang on when that happens.
ELECTRONICS ARE A KEY
For quite a few years now I have been using a Humminbird Ice 55 to spot those suspended fish. Having good electronics is a real key and I can hardly wait to get my new Humminbird Ice Helix 7 for my next laker trip. I use the Helix 10 with the Chirp and mapping technology on my boat, but now with the Ice Helix 7, I will be able to have everything in a manageable, portable package which comes with a complete ice kit. This also includes mapping which allows me to bring along all my waypoints collected over the years.
The ICE HELIX 7 CHIRP GPS G2N offers multiple screen views designed for the ice angler. Flasher view features a split-screen next to 2-D sonar, which lets you track the history of a lure and fish, a real cool feature in case you are distracted.
NOT JUST FOR ICE FISHING!
The cool thing that I am looking forward to during the open water season is the ability to use it on my fly in trips. Most lodges just don’t provide good electronics (if at all) on their boats. The ICE HELIX 7 CHIRP GPS G2N unit comes with everything an angler needs to go from ice fishing to open water fishing.
WHAT TO USE
When it comes to baits for this, Tom Armstrong has a couple favourites.
“My go to jigs would be any sort of white tube jig, or a smelt patterned jigfly, my choice being the Mighty Mitch and Jungle Joe jigflies. I generally fish these baits without a minnow, although some prefer tipping their bait with a minnow to add to the appeal. I find lake trout are generally willing enough to bite a tube or jigfly that I don’t often need to add bait”
For a rod he prefers something in a 32-42” length. Tom prefers a medium to medium/heavy rod, with a fast action. He says a rod in this length is long enough for a long sweeping, jigging action, and can help handle the abuse a big laker doles out. “Large eyes are always ice to help prevent ice accumulation, and having a longer butt on the end helps when leveraging larger fish.”