Lake Trout out of Oswego

[reillym]

Im trying to get a early jump on new methods and knowledge to become more experienced at this new found

enjoyment of big fish fishing,fishing out of Oswego last summer on several occassions I noticed many fishermen coming in with little or no fish at all only to see some of the charter captians coming in with lake trout

when many other types of fish couldn't even be found or marked,I guess I have several questions because I got the impression that lake trout are hard to find on a fish finder"I have the new Lowrence Elite 7" Some say they are way down, hard to locate, whats the trick to find them? understanding that time of year and the weather patterns  change suddenly out there sometimes a lot and fast makes a differance in locating any thing, one deck hand mentioned charter captains have many tips and tricks, then I was told that instead of trolling that you can jig for them when they are way down.I guess Im in need of some schooling,how do you find them,how do you know which fish are what and once you find them what are the techniques to catch them including jigging for them.All replies are deeply appreciated.Thanks

[bandrus1]

the trick is

 

put on blades and spin glows/ peanuts

 

drop your ball till it hits bottom then pull it up 3-4 feet and boom fish on

[Mortigan]

Slower speed too, under 2.0

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[Nemesis]

Fish your gear right off the bottom. Spoons are good too. Have gotten them on flasher fly also. A-Tom-Mik of course. The mud chickens saved many a charter captains trips last year. Good luck.

[Sk8man]

Bandrus hit the nail on the head. Lake trout are very "bottom-oriented" fish much of the time (but not always...e.g. summer months). They are considered a "meat and potatoes" fish by many charters because they are a little more predictable in their habits than some other species (e.g. salmon, and steelhead especially) and in that sense thought to be "easier" to catch - especially when things are slow for the other more "exotic" species.  They are aggressive feeders and will ingest a variety of baits. I have found everything from sawbellies (stuffed with them) and smelt (when they were available) to sunfish, perch, small bass, fresh water Sculpin, crawfish and shiners in their stomach contents over the years. Although lakers can be caught suspended in the water column (mainly summer) nearly all of the time they are caught near or on bottom. Traditionally, on the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario as well wire line, sinkers, cowbells with peanuts or Worden's Wobble Trolls trailing behind them and used  bouncing just off bottom have been the ticket for nailing big Lake Trout throughout the year. Other rigs are also effective such as flasher/fly and Spin Doctors/fly or both with spoons or peanuts, downriggers run short just off bottom with various attractors/lure setups, leadcore "secret weapon" rigs (one or two colors run on downrigger rod a few feet off bottom or even Seth Green rigs (run on Finger Lakes primarily....(no Chinooks to tear them up ). Lakers like action near the bottom such as anything disturbing the bottom or bouncing along it followed by a rise to a few feet above the bottom. One of the most effective rigs to use for them is a "meat rig" whether using alewives or bait you catch or prepared (brined) strips or whole dead alewives or other herring or the use of artificial plastic immitations scented for extra "realism"  As far as jigging goes  it is a very effective method when used especially for grouped fish and can be done while drifting or anchored (anchor away from the fish and let out rope until near them so not to spook them). A variety of fairly heavy jigs (e.g. 1/2 oz to 1 oz or so usually) with either cutbait attached or various plastic equivalents. Basically you let the jig hit bottom and either "drag it short distances, or jerk it upward  with a slight pause and reel it up a few feet at a time and repeat etc. Everyone has their own special technique for this but this is the BASIC idea. If you have a good depth finder you can see the fish "streaking" upward or downward after your jig and it's a real kick to see it (addictive even ). There are many other methods to catch lakers (e.g copper wire with Pfleuger spoon or Twin MInnow etc.) used on the Finger Lakes and other lakes but not much on Ontario. You always have to keep in mind the powerful Chinooks in Lake O as a possibility so some methods are less desirable there...such as copper wire that could sever your fingers with a Chinook on the other end This is very basic info ...hopefully others will flesh it outwith additional things they use. Lakers when directly on bottom are sometimes hard to discriminate from the bottom itself or from bait when real close to it (which they often are) and it may take you a while when using a new depth finder....

Edited November 30, 2013 by Sk8man

[GAMBLER]

There are two areas I find lakers and it differs from port to port. When I fished Irondequoit Bay Area, I found lots of big lakers on flats adjacent to structure. To the west of the genesee river, lakers are structure oriented. The structure oriented fish are found in the 90 to 135 zone on the bottom. The flats fish I used to find in 150 to 220 on the bottom. Peanuts and spin n glows trolled behind hammerhead cowbells are the best producers. Fish them within five feet of the bottom at speeds ranging from .7 to 1.8 mph at the ball. If you go faster, your catch rate will drastically decrease. Find out from the locals what depth they are fishing and it will be easy to find them. Zoom your fish finder I the bottom 20' of the bottom and you will see tight hooks to the bottom. 90 percent of the time those are lakers.

[grandpa fish on]

It's been 15 years or so since I've fished lakers out of Oswego many times with a good friend of mine Capt. Ed Dobie who died this fall.His passing has made me realize I need to get my 4 grandsons up to Oswego this summer and get them some big Lakers.

 Ed & I used mostly 5"-6" cowbells of different colors & peanuts with the colors to match the light conditions, Are these type of cowbells still used today?

 Also I've used Les Davis Flextroll baby cowbells 2"-3" long in silver& gold on Skaneateles but I'm wondering if they are to small for Ontario.Any help would be appreciated.Gary

 

 

 

 

[GAMBLER]

It's been 15 years or so since I've fished lakers out of Oswego many times with a good friend of mine Capt. Ed Dobie who died this fall.His passing has made me realize I need to get my 4 grandsons up to Oswego this summer and get them some big Lakers.

 Ed & I used mostly 5"-6" cowbells of different colors & peanuts with the colors to match the light conditions, Are these type of cowbells still used today?

 Also I've used Les Davis Flextroll baby cowbells 2"-3" long in silver& gold on Skaneateles but I'm wondering if they are to small for Ontario.Any help would be appreciated.Gary

Yes they are.  The Hammerhead blades are my go to bells.  Google Hammerhead Charters.  He is the maker of Hammerhead cowbells right here in Rochester. 

[Sk8man]

Here are a couple pics of ones I use successfully including the hammerheads to give you an idea:

 

 

 

 

[steelfire]

This summer both out of Fairhaven and Oswego the Lakers were very plenty full for me. At times they were a pain in the neck getting into my king spreads. I'm not a pro troller at all, but it seemed it didn't matter what I had on or what speed you were at. I could target them with a peanut and cowbell set up or drop a mag spoon down and we were locked. The picture I attached was a 20 pound laker taken on a flasher fly on a dippsy. It was down around 100 feet over 200 feet of water. Find the cold water and you will find the lakers. You should be able to see them with your new Lowrance. I have an older Lowrance and can watch them streak up and chase the rigger weights. Its cool to watch

Edited January 11, 2014 by steelfire

[Beyond Upstate]

Keep it simple, just get as close to the bottom as possible, pay attention to where majority of boats are concentrated, and in my experience this past summer they are not picky at all. I stayed with white and green flasher fly and occasional mag spoons in a variety of colors. Having an X4D is like cheating. If you know the exact depth your downrigger is running and the speed and temp down there then you are way ahead of the game. One thing I seem to be less worried about than what I am hearing from other post, is speed. I caught a lot of fish in the upper 2 mph range.

[Beyond Upstate]

And temp being among the most important. Gotta find the water in the mid 40's through summer. You hear people saying that find them suspended in summer at times, and that's all based on the water column and if the cold water is available up higher. The 20 lber in my post above was 100' down in 140' of water while salmon trolling with flasher fly. Those will be hit or miss occurancies. In your case trying to target them, consistent action will be on flats near structure just off the bottom. It does sound like jigging would be a fun way to catch a deep laker, and typically when you troll and find one there are many. This summer I plan to try jigging once I have found a group trolling, but can be hard not to upset trolling traffic since I fish near the trench Stoney point.

[steelfire]

agree 100 percent with beyond upstate. Its great to have the big lakers back again!!

Beyond upstate, I have an older lcx 112c. Does your x4D show all your rigger weights while trolling?? I'm just trying to decide if I should up

grade to the next generation or not.

[tuckhunts87]

agree 100 percent with beyond upstate. Its great to have the big lakers back again!!

Beyond upstate, I have an older lcx 112c. Does your x4D show all your rigger weights while trolling?? I'm just trying to decide if I should up

grade to the next generation or not.

the x4d is a fish hawk, probe, not a fish finder tho mabey that'll be the next thing to come out,  sonar from the probe!!!

Edited January 17, 2014 by tuckhunts87

[steelfire]

OOps!! LOL Sorry. I thought that was one of the new generation Lowrances you were talking about.

[Dex]

It is a probe, yes.  In addition, it shows you actual depth of the rigger you have the probe attached to as current, speed, etc. can influence blowback.  Pretty cool stuff!

[steelfire]

I run a sub troll.

[stoutner]

It is a probe, yes.  In addition, it shows you actual depth of the rigger you have the probe attached to as current, speed, etc. can influence blowback.  Pretty cool stuff!

 

I have an X4D and cannot believe how much blowback you get when running down riggers. I also noticed that running about 2.1 mph  vs 2.6 mph makes a HUGE difference in how high and back my riggers are running. At 2.6 or 2.7 with a 12 lb torpedo or shark weight you need to subtract 20% - 25% off what your downrigger counter says you are running. If you want to be down to actual depth of 100 feet you really need to let your riggers down to about 125 feet. The deeper you want to go the more blowback. If you want 125 feet, you might have to go down about 175 feet...especially if running a flasher and fly combo. If you want to go 130 feet down at 2.7. mph you almost need to have a 15+ Lb downrigger weight. 

 

After seeing how bad it was, I now run a 20 LB shark on my rigger with the probe and 16 Lb Torpedos on my other riggers.I don't have to compensate much at all anymore and can go really deep if I need to.

 

If you are trolling for Lakers and are 2.1 mph or under, 10 or 12 lb weights will do the trick but those cowbells have the same effect on reducing the depth. As long as you run them like 1.5 - 2.0 you would probably be o.k. 

[steelfire]

Not sure if this is the right thing to do or not but the past two years I have been setting my riggers with my sonar. I'll put the sub troll probe down first,find temp then use the sonar to set the other 3 riggers around the probe rigger. I also move the the riggers around once I start finding targets and bait on the sonar. It seems to work better for me then trying to figure out the depths with blowback in the equation. I have been running the 16 lb torpedoes on my big Jon Riggers. Some days when the currents are really bad using the sonar to see where the riggers are parked really makes life easy for me.

[Shelby Lynn]

Keep it simple, just get as close to the bottom as possible, pay attention to where majority of boats are concentrated, and in my experience this past summer they are not picky at all. I stayed with white and green flasher fly and occasional mag spoons in a variety of colors. Having an X4D is like cheating. If you know the exact depth your downrigger is running and the speed and temp down there then you are way ahead of the game. One thing I seem to be less worried about than what I am hearing from other post, is speed. I caught a lot of fish in the upper 2 mph range.

ImageUploadedByLake Ontario United1389899606.141294.jpgImageUploadedByLake Ontario United1389899627.956896.jpg

Seems like pugsly would buy you a big cooler to keep them fish off the floor! Can't wait for spring!!!!!!

[Beyond Upstate]

I hear ya. They stay on ice in the live well but had to pull them out and get measurements to check on slot limit for legal fish since only 1 per person can be between 25" and 30". Seemed like a good photo opportunity. I definitely can't wait to get out, but I don't think it will be mid march like last year.

[stoutner]

Not sure if this is the right thing to do or not but the past two years I have been setting my riggers with my sonar. I'll put the sub troll probe down first,find temp then use the sonar to set the other 3 riggers around the probe rigger. I also move the the riggers around once I start finding targets and bait on the sonar. It seems to work better for me then trying to figure out the depths with blowback in the equation. I have been running the 16 lb torpedoes on my big Jon Riggers. Some days when the currents are really bad using the sonar to see where the riggers are parked really makes life easy for me.

 

As long as it works for you, that is the right thing to do.

 

Using the sonar to figure out how deep your riggers are running does not work though. Your sonar measures a straight line from your transducer to your ball. If your ball is "out" 100 feet and it is blowing back at a 30 degree angle, your actual depth would be about 85 feet. Your sonar would still show it at 100 feet because it is 100 feet from your transducer to your ball. If you are running a 10 or 12 lb ball you might be blowing back at about a 45 degrees angle if you are running about 2.7 mph. At 100 "out" and a 45 degree angle your ball will be about 70 feet down. Your sonar will still show it at 100 feet deep if it is still picking it up.

[Little Crappie]

the trick is

 

put on blades and spin glows/ peanuts

 

drop your ball till it hits bottom then pull it up 3-4 feet and boom fish on

you can feel your balls hit bottom lol. then reel up for a second or 2,(using peanuts and cowbells) and get ready for nonstop action. Once you get used to it though its like stealing from the blind, sometimes though you'll get something big!!

[bluewater]

I have targeted lake trout heavily out of Oswego the last several years during slow times. My absolute number 1 setup is hammerhead cowbells with spin n glows, peanuts work well also but I get more on spin n glows . When im fishing for them I stay between Wright's and 9 mile usually right in the middle between both is best. I fish between 90 fow to aprox150 fow from a couple feet to about ten feet off the bottom . 100-120 fow seems to produce the most for me, I had several double digit laker days this past season

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[reillym]

I have targeted lake trout heavily out of Oswego the last several years during slow times. My absolute number 1 setup is hammerhead cowbells with spin n glows, peanuts work well also but I get more on spin n glows . When im fishing for them I stay between Wright's and 9 mile usually right in the middle between both is best. I fish between 90 fow to aprox150 fow from a couple feet to about ten feet off the bottom . 100-120 fow seems to produce the most for me, I had several double digit laker days this past season

Sent from my C811 4G using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Im curious as to how are you locating them or are you just trolling away at the above mentioned areas,Im still learning how to use my new Elite 7 to locate fish on the bottom,I here it a sensitivity issue. I have used cowbells in the past my problem is with the drag they create,it was hard to get the rigger release set right so it wouldn't go off with the tension, then sometimes it seems I would hit something near bottom and there gos the set up,I've posted before asking what the structure is out there but no replys,hopefully with this downscan that will make that easier,what size cowbells do you use? have you ever tried jigging for them out there?Thanks