Another summer has come to a close, and with the seasonal camping now over, it was time to take camp down for another year, and to target some late season lake trout. I hooked up with a couple local friends and one guest visiting from Australia. Our plan was to target some late season lake trout on Reed Lake.
After organizing the boat getting the proper lake trout gear together and checking both downriggers it was time to set out on the big lake for an afternoon of fishing.
With the warm weather still hanging on and water temperatures still warm we would be targeting trout in the deep water, trolling over 80 feet of water we set the one downrigger at 62 feet.
Since the wind had picked up quite quickly we decided to just use the one downrigger and set the other rod on a planer board called a deepsix, this line was set at around 45 feet, Keeping our eyes on the weather and the waves, we were trolling at speeds of 1.5 to three mph, using Northern King spoons, its always a good idea while trolling for trout to change your speed slow down speed up and even kick the boat motor into neutral for a few seconds, this will trigger many bites. What was probably less then 10 minutes we had our first bite at 62 feet. After a short fight a decent size lake trout would be caught picture taken and then released.
With the wind really picking up and waves getting bigger on the lake, it made it difficult to troll patterns, once you find the fish and get the right trolling speed and pattern down you can be in for a great day of fishing, but with the heavy wind, we had to adjust to trolling into the waves and trolling straight lines, it was a real challenge. The lake trout bite continued and we ended up landing a few nice trout with one around the 32-inch mark. We did not see any parasites on the gills of any of the trout we caught. Unfortunately the weather was not co-operating and our trip was short lived, we decided to head back to shore. It would be my last lake trout trip for this year.
Angler's edge: With fall now here and temperatures starting to get colder, it's a good time to target lake trout as they will start to move shallow as the water starts to get colder on the lakes, you can now put away the heavier gear and pull out your lighter rods and tackle, fishing from the shorelines casting small spoons, or if trolling in the boat try flat lining spoons and shallow diving Rapalas. Rainbow trout and brook trout will also be another good option as they also get very aggressive this time of year. Locally the walleye bite is starting to pick up, I went up the Burntwood River with my wife Nicole and we had one great afternoon of fishing for walleye with a few going back as they were too big Unfortunately the next day the fish were not there. If we get lucky and have a long fall I would expect a great run of fish on the rivers and anglers getting rewarded big time. The Konrad twins from Saskatoon have done it again, recently they broke their own world record, and they landed a 48-pound rainbow trout out of Diefenbaker Lake in Saskatchewan. This fish measured in at 42 inches with a 32-inch girth! Reminder the deadline for your boater's card has come and gone deadline as of Sept. 15. Everyone operating a boat needs one now.
Looking for some local fishing updates? Have any great local fishing stories or photos? You can get in touch with Dave Colibaba by e-mail at: [email protected]
