Trolling for Lakers?

[ray koziatek]

Lakers in lake onterio for some reason rarly have much fight sometimes you get a small7/8lbr and he'll shake his head a little,, small lakers from the fingerlakes is one of the best tablefare fish (trout) you can get in fresh water,if you catch a 20 lb salmon its 2.5 to 3 years old not many years to store up toxins,a 20 lb laker is Probly closer to 10 years and feed on a lot of bottom feeding fish so the toxin levels should be higher , ive never eaten lakers from onterio so i cant comment on there taste but it cant be too bad seeing that it was a commercial fish years ago that was persued to near extinction in the great lakes,, i bet the guy who won the spring loc derby a few years back with a 29lbr smiled all the way to the bank with his poopy catch........also if your not going to eat them only target them as a last resort as the laker population is in a bad state on lake onterio due to issues at some of the main fish hatcheries that supplied lake onterio for the last few years

[big_fishman]

I have never seen them fight in lake michigan either.

If yo cook them right they are good to eat but are kind of like fishing bullheads

[WalleyeLJ]

I haven't caught any Lakers in Lake Ontario yet. But on Lake Champalin they're the top fish size wise. If you fidh for them with 8-12# test, and light-med action 6-6.5 ft rods, you can have a good time. Not a King Screamin' good time , but a good time nonetheless!

[ray koziatek]

with a name like walleye i suppose a laker would be a fight(breath deep it was a joke just couldnt help myself ive never done anything like this before)

[Fishtails]

Gotta Bite,

Most of what you've heard on lakers in lake O is spot on, but they are decent eating. I agree with Ray on the size....only keep the smaller ones under thev 25" slot.

I trim the belly meat off, skin the fillet and V section out the darker meat on the outside back.

As for a fight...there isn't much. When pulling one in, it't like pulling in a huge clump of weeds. You'll feel the rod tip bounce a few times, and that's about the only indication you will get that it's a fish.

It's fishing...and any fishing is good in my book. The Salmon, browns and bows are just more sporting, that's all.

Rod

[WalleyeLJ]

Ray,

After such a kind birthday wish from me, I didn't think you'd tear apart my moniker like that. Be nice to me or I'll sic my Ninja Monkeys on you...

[Missdemeanor]

Lakers are like the Rodney Dangerfield of trout. No respect. Years ago we used to fish for them. We had some good times pulling 20-30 fish days. And we did have some hogs in the 20# class. It seems like the laker population has taken a dive.

If you want to catch them, just go out to around 100ft(maybe a little deeper) and look for the long lazy hooks on the bottom. Drop down the bells all the way to the bottom. One the ball hits the bottom, crank up the ball so it barely bounces. And its that easy. Could turn a bad day into a good day....Fellas just make sure to revive the fish before sending them back. Burp the air bladder and the fish will swim right down. If not, the fish will stay on the surface and be lunch for the flying rats........Good luck Matt

[landingzone]

Here's one thing you might try with your cowbell/peanut rig. A few years ago when we targeted lakers at times due to a shortage of kings, I set up 2 rods with 30# spiderwire. One of the main reasons you don't feel much fight from lakers is that they are "head shakers" rather than running with the lure. Since they are usually caught 2-10 feet from the bottom and sometimes in 150 FOW, the usual mono rig stretches like a rubber band and you can't feel the fish. The braid gives you a solid connection to the fish and much more feel. Try trolling 1.5 - 2.0 mph. Bounce your canonball on the bottom and bring it up 3 ft. Repeat every few minutes.