NorthWest Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing => Let's Talk Kayak Fishing => Topic started by: Drifter2007 on September 29, 2018, 01:51:51 PM
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Hey all, I will be taking a trip next weekend. Going to stop at Crescent Lake on the way down on Friday and probably hit Lake of the Woods on Saturday or Sunday. Going to try to Target Lakers at Crescent and Browns at Lake of the Woods. Never tried either one before, so I would appreciate any tips and tactics or locations. Going to try primarily jigs for the lake trout. I may try to see if I can get a kwkfish or a Brad's cut plug down deep enough to troll a little if I can't mark fish to jig to. I appreciate any help!
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IMO, the most important piece of equipment you can have for lakers is a good depth finder. When you spot some marks, drop a jig on them. If they don't hit it within 30 seconds, reel up and move on until you find another set of marks. Trying to convince a reluctant laker to bite is not typically productive, so don't get stuck on one set of marks all day. Keep moving and dropping on marks, and you'll eventually find some biters.
As for browns: jigs can work on them as well, especially soft plastics like Berkley Gulp minnows on leadheads. If the water is cool (say below 60 degrees), I'd rip large minnow plugs along rocky shorelines in the morning and evening hours. Be fast and aggressive with it, browns have no problem chasing down a plug at 3-3.5mph.
Kokanee should be gearing up to spawn right now, so checking out river and stream inlets might be a good place to start.
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I agree with Clayman on the lakers, I've been fishing for them quite a bit lately. It would be a crap shoot without a fish finder. I just pedal around until I see a likely mark and drop the jig down, usually they are at the bottom but I've caught some big ones suspended 25-30' off the bottom. I've been using Point Wilson Darts on my heavier rod and Macs Sonic Baitfish on my ultra light rod, you need something to get down fast as I usually find them 80-100' down and if there is a little wind blowing you'll drift right past if you can't get it down fast enough.
Here's a 33" I caught two weeks ago, these guys can be fun!
Kevin
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Do people use the rubber minnow bodies on leadheads like bottom fish, or pretty much just the metal slab or dart type?
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Both work, sometimes it depends on the day and their mood as to which will work better. Good luck. Love that lake.
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I fished Crescent back in March. Odell wasn't open at the time but that's another great choice for mackinaw and browns. I wrote an article on it for Kayak Fish Magazine https://www.canoekayak.com/kayakfish/kayakfish-features/kayakfish-destinations/monsters-in-the-depths-mackinaw-lake-trout/
You'll need a good fish finder and heavy jigs to get down. Pline up to 3oz work great.
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i will be up there this weekend... ill let you know what I found out. Since i am a local boy and know lake of the woods fairly well I would say that you have better options for browns close to crescent... with Crescent being one of them! if you go to LoW and hook up with a brown i say congrats... they have not stoked browns in there for quite a few years and the word is they have not done well with a "spawn"... As far as laker advice goes... plenty of people have pointed you in the right direction. The only thing that I will add is to read your fish finder manual... dont just bring it and say... oh its a good one... they are only as good as the person using them.
If you are bored on your drive I did a podcast on crescent laker fishing a while back... might be worth your time.... it was worth Brad's.
https://soundcloud.com/yaktactics/yaktactics-episodes-5-targeting-lake-trout-from-a-kayak
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also... I am hoping to break 40' and 30lbs this season... this is the second biggest i caught last year...
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What do those lake trout taste like???
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What do those lake trout taste like???
They're alright...but I eat a lot of ocean-caught salmon, so I'm biased :D. Very high oil content, so cooking methods that remove oil, such as grilling, are a good way to prepare them. If you don't cook the fat off, it can give them a strong flavor. I kept a smaller one (6-7 pounder) from Crescent Lake last summer, and it cooked up fine, but I preferred the kokanee I cooked alongside it.
I imagine they would smoke really well, given the high oil content. Never tried it myself.
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This was my best so far, caught on Oct 1., 34".
Kevin
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So the weekend that I started this thread didn't work out, but I am hoping to make it up to Crescent this Sunday.