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R/T |
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Posts: 94 | Just getting back in the game after roughly 15 years. I have been around a bit but have never actually fished true trout water. Planning on trout water this year. I have a general idea on areas to hit and plan on dusting off Mr. Pearson's book, but a lot has changed in tackle and currently my box contain one Buchertail 700. So I need to spend some money. What are your favorite presentations for trout water lakes? Night fishing likely out as I will have the girl along. Thank you. | ||
| JakeStCroixSkis |
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Posts: 1425 Location: St. Lawrence River | Get yourself a couple red october 10" monster tubes, one mid depth and one deep model. You can do almost everything with those. | ||
| jlong |
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Posts: 1937 Location: Black Creek, WI | My top "Trout Water" offerings are: 1. Small bucktail for "burning" 2. Rubber for a subtle swim 3. Deep Diving Crankbait to work as a slash bait with lengthy pauses | ||
| Ciscokid82 |
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Posts: 333 Location: SE Wisc | Natural colored baits and floro leaders. | ||
| Reelwise |
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Posts: 1636 | I prefer bright/fluorescent colors when fishing clear water... but, have not fished much clear water that has Trout. Here are some lures that work well when fishing deep, clear water. Magnum Bulldawg https://musky-innovations.myshopify.com/collections/magnum-bull-dawg... Pro Magnum Bulldawg https://musky-innovations.myshopify.com/collections/pro-magnum-dawgs... Magnum Heli Dawg https://musky-innovations.myshopify.com/collections/magnum-heli-dawg... Big Joe https://musky-innovations.myshopify.com/collections/live-action-big-... Swimmin' Dawg https://musky-innovations.myshopify.com/collections/swimmin-dawgs/pr... 10" Kickin' Minnow https://www.rapala.com/storm/soft-baits/kickin-series/kickin-minnow/... Titan Tube https://musky-innovations.myshopify.com/collections/titan-tubes-2/pr... Magnum Shallow Invader https://musky-innovations.myshopify.com/collections/magnum-shallow-i... 9" Shallow Raider http://www.joebucheroutdoors.com/crankbaits2/shallowraider-9 8" Depth Raider http://www.joebucheroutdoors.com/crankbaits2/depthraider-8 Lil' Ernie https://www.driftertackle.net/shop/musky-mania/ernie-lil-ernie-stand... Manta http://www.riverruntackle.com/product/pearl-tiger-2/ Double Cowgirl https://musky-mayhem-tackle-llc.myshopify.com/collections/standard-c... Tandem Nutbuster https://www.llungenlures.com/products/tandem-nutbuster/ 8" Weagle https://www.suick.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=70_80&pro... Good luck! | ||
| jackpotjohnny48 |
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Posts: 258 Location: Madison, WI | Yes, definitely read chapter 3 of Dick Pearson's book. I went to Pipestone Lake in Ontario last summer, and really made a commitment to figure out the suspended walleyes, as a means to eventually build confidence for getting out into open water for the suspended muskies. We ended up catching our walleyes in 80 to 130 feet of water, trolling crankbaits from just under the surface (magnum yo zuri crystal minnows - the floaters) to 20 feet down (magnum x rap 20s) I'm going back to Pipestone again this summer to focus more on the muskies...Getting out over deep, open water (water ranging from 40 feet to 150 feet deep) and working baits within the top 20 feet of the water column. I've read quite a bit from the guys who do this frequently, and it seems that one of the best strategies is to find an ERRATIC bait... a bait that will get noticed from a long way away. Crankbaits worked erratically (like a jerkbait, almost), would seem to be popular. (Travis Kopke used to post here a lot, and he also mentioned flashy / holoform, etc, if I remember correctly). With that in mind, some of the baits I plan on using this summer in open water would be: 1. Triple D - I got some custom painted with blue/purple top and sides, silver scale holoform, and white belly. 2. Grandma - custom painted (9-inch) black and silver or pearl white 3. Jake - 10 inch 4. Curly Sue (or Bulldawg would work too, although I prefer Curly Sue) 5. Medussa - Cisco colored 6. Weighted Suicks - With the Fudally screw in weight kits (Get the 9 or 10 inch unweighted, and add your own weight) 7. Poe's Giant Jackpot or Havana Jackpot - Blue and Silver (I think walk the dog topwaters will most likely be very good in the late evening, even in super deep water, as the ciscoes make their daily migration UPWARD in the water column late in the evening) Speaking of the daily vertical migration of the ciscoes, our best 4-hour window each night was from about 8:30 pm until 12:30 am. I also took out the spotlight and shined into the water, in 90 feet of water (There were baitfish everywhere within the 3 to 5 feet of the surface, and I think they were too high to even mark on the depthfinder, since I don't have side imaging). Anyway, here's a 1 minute video clip of our depthfinder while night fishing, where the ciscoes were definitely making their vertical migration. When we drove over this stuff during the daytime, we didn't mark much of anything. When we did the same thing after dark, it was like somebody had flipped a switch, and there were literally ciscoes EVERYWHERE... to the point that we couldn't escape them. I know you mentioned that night fishing may not be in the cards, but in all honesty, I really think nighttime is the time when the light switch gets flipped on, so to speak. If you can't do after dark, you should, at the very least, stay out until dusk. That last hour before dusk will probably be your best bet. Anyway, here's the one minute video of the ciscoes moving up, and the screen was quite literally COVERED with ciscoes all over the place after dark.... Good luck with your trip, "Jackpot" John Schroeder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C9w8C5H7Ro | ||
| jackpotjohnny48 |
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Posts: 258 Location: Madison, WI | And here's one more video you should probably watch. It's a 10-minute clip from Lindner's Angling Edge, and although it is a walleye video, they end up catching an accidental musky. The principles here apply to muskies as much as to walleyes in my opinion. The late evening / dusk bite can be spectacular as the ciscoes make their daily vertical migration up toward the surface. The suspended walleyes and muskies are hanging out, waiting for these ciscoes to move up into their zone. I'm still learning how to dial it in for muskies, but my walleye success last year was a definite confidence builder. So I would recommend studying a bit of the walleye tactics on cisco-based lakes as well. Because as mentioned, I think the tactics can be modified, and applied to muskies as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55-AVdeGmuo | ||
| tuffy1 |
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Posts: 3240 Location: Racine, Wi | Most of my time is spent on clear waters and depending on the weather, there's usually a dawg on one rod. This is used when I'm marking bait fish deeper where I may need to count a bait down, and also when fishing off of weedlines (a cast or two) even when not counting down. Tend to fish them with pretty hard rips outside of at night, when I'll fish either straight cranks or sweeps of the rod. A bucktail is on another rod for when I have good wind or cloud cover and want to cover water a bit faster. Night time also usually will see blades. Cranks of some sort, usually triple Ds and depth raiders. Tripple Ds for fishing erratic during the day and D raiders for cranking weeds and rocks in the dark. Topwater - walk the dog baits (weagle mostly for me, but there are other good ones). For some reason, fish seem to move a long way for these baits, especially in June up on sand. Also, we have very good success fishing these for suspended fish out over basins. Pretty much comes down to time of day we're fishing, weather, and fish mood as to what we're fishing. One thing I've noticed is if I mark a fish say 15' down, if they're active, they'll easily scream up to hit a dawg even if you aren't counting it down. If I can't get that fish to eat up high in the water, that's when I start counting baits down to them (dawgs, heavier bucktails, and sometimes spinnerbaits). | ||
| jackpotjohnny48 |
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Posts: 258 Location: Madison, WI | Here's one more video clip I am going to include. It is a roughly 6 1/2 minutes, and is from Lindner's Angling Edge, and was filmed on Lake Vermilion, MN. It is entitled, "Why Muskies Suspend in Spring." According to the way they appear to think about this issue, it could just as easily be entitled "Why Walleyes Suspend in Spring." The key words here are "IN SPRING." If you watch until the end of the video, Jim Lindner seem to be operating on the theory that this suspended bite is super good in the spring, but tends to die down once the 4th of July arrives. The theory seems to be based on the idea that as the surface temperatures warm, the ciscoes will no longer come ALL THE WAY UP TO THE SURFACE when they make their daily vertical migrations. The muskies (and walleyes) then tend to lose interest in feeding on ciscoes, and abandon "the abyss" to instead feed on perch on the weedlines. (Personally, I don't entirely agree on this theory, at least not based upon what I've seen so far on trout waters in NW Ontario, such as Pipestone Lake or Cliff Lake, etc. I believe that the muskies and walleyes are suspended ALL SUMMER LONG on a true trout water... any water where ciscoes are the primary forage. The only difference, in my opinion, is that the muskies and walleyes may suspend A BIT DEEPER IN THE WATER COLUMN as the water warms, and as the ciscoes begin to stall out 20 feet under the surface rather than coming all the way up. So if the muskies are suspended 10 feet under the surface in June, they may be 20 feet under the surface in August. But they're still out in the same 100 foot spot that they were back in June - at least that's my current theory). Ok, here's how In-Fisherman summarized the "4th of July" Theory in their book "Walleye Fundamentals: Critical Concepts book 1" (but in the attached video, you will see that they apply the same logic to muskies that they apply to walleyes) QUOTE (from p 54 and 55 of the In-Fisherman Critical Concepts book) When surface waters warm into the upper 60 degree F and 70 degree F range, ciscoes no longer approach the surface, despite plentiful plankton. They remain near the thermocline, where walleyes apparently don't hunt them. After studying this midsummer phenomenon for years, In-Fisherman contributor Bruce Carlson surmises that "there appears to be a gap between the lower comfort zone of walleyes and the upper comfort zone of ciscoes. When ciscoes stop rising near the surface, walleyes switch to a diet of yellow perch." END QUOTE. If you watch the attached video, you will see that Jim Lindner appears to be saying exactly the same thing as Bruce Carlson, the only difference being that Lindner is applying the theory to muskies, rather than to walleyes. As noted above, my own results do not agree with this (based on my experience with walleyes on Pipestone Lake, ONT). Last summer, I was on Pipestone Lake from August 11 - 18, and the surface temps were warm. (can't remember exact surface temp, but it was quite warm). Also, the air temp every day was 92 to 95 degrees. We were still catching walleyes after dark on Magnum Yo Zuri Crystal Minnows, which we were flat line trolling about 3 to 4 feet under the surface, in waters that were between 80 and 130 feet deep. (This was all done in the first 3 to 4 hours of darkness every night). I've never fished Lake Vermilion, MN. So I can't say whether or not the "4th of July" theory does, in fact, hold true there. But my (admittedly limited) experience on Pipestone seems to suggest that the walleyes, at least (and probably the muskies), are suspended all summer long. (And this may be related to the fact that ciscoes appear to be the only game in town on Pipestone Lake. My guess is that the ciscoes to perch ratio is much higher on Pipestone than it may be on Vermilion). In any case, here's the video, if anybody would like to watch it, and then would like to share your input / feedback on what I am terming the "4th of July" theory. Thanks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpEk8rew1Ak "Jackpot" John Schroeder | ||
| ToddM |
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Posts: 20230 Location: oswego, il | While I do not fish trout water I do fish some clear water. I second eratic baits. Think about double jointed lures that can achieve some depth. Zalts and the 9" zam if you can find them. I wish Nate still made the Nate bait shad, nothing better at being nuts in the water than that. | ||
| jackpotjohnny48 |
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Posts: 258 Location: Madison, WI | ToddM - 1/26/2019 1:08 PM While I do not fish trout water I do fish some clear water. I second eratic baits. Think about double jointed lures that can achieve some depth. Zalts and the 9" zam if you can find them. I wish Nate still made the Nate bait shad, nothing better at being nuts in the water than that. ToddM, Speaking of Zalts, do you have any idea where I can get my hands on a Zalt Zam 16 or Zam 16A? These things look like EXACTLY what I'm looking for. I am assuming they are not available anywhere in the United States, and that I might have to order from overseas. But these may be EXACTLY what I am looking for in terms of trolling for suspended walleyes after dark. (I'm trying to find a website, written in English, where I can order these, and where prices are quoted in U.S. Dollars. If you know of such a source, please let me know). To me, these baits look absolutely awesome for what I'm attempting to achieve... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqi3oU951h0 | ||
| ToddM |
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Posts: 20230 Location: oswego, il | I am not sure where to get them now. The original zam came in a 4, 5.5 and 9" models. Sinking, suspending and floating. They are a great slash bait twitched. Nothing else quite like them. I wish a US tackle retailer would carry Zalt's products. Just before the late Mike Hoffman bought the US distribution rights I had Zalt and R&H both interested. They are baits worth having. | ||
| Theripper |
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Posts: 7 | Speed the faster the better | ||
| jdsplasher |
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Posts: 2277 Location: SE, WI. | Usually Jig/Creature is a productive presentation in clear water, especially when there is deep cabbage, and coontail. Crayfish present even makes it more productive! JD Edited by jdsplasher 1/31/2019 10:07 PM | ||
| jvlast15 |
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Posts: 304 | I have always found bright baits to work better in clear water as well. I have never fished true trout water, but I have fished in some clear water, and for some reason, clown/firetiger/orange tiger have always worked better for me than matching the hatch. | ||
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