Lake trout fishing from a kayak

Slow isn't always the answer.  Last summer at the South Sound Meetup on Tanwax lake, I hooked 2 trout while trolling at 4-4.5 mph.  They were quite delicious.

I hear troll slow all the time.  But I have had the best results catching at about 2.5mph.  Who knows maybe my lures only attract the spunky ones!   

Sweet video DTS. Looks like they were having a blast
I have one like the one they were using, but I was planning on using this one tomorrow to see how it works. (Just bought it)

I think troll speed also depends on the lake. Woolies for me have always worked better on a slow troll but that's not always the case.
Has anyone fishes Mepps Thunderbugs? Looks like a wicked spinner. I love the bug wing blade design.

Fast works great for vibrax spinners, but you've got to go super slow with flies. Too fast with Rapalas wont give them the right action.

Fast works great for vibrax spinners, but you've got to go super slow with flies. Too fast with Rapalas wont give them the right action.

+1 on that!

I don't add any weight to my flies.  I just tow them WAYYYY behind me. 
Almost half a spool out at least.
Erratically slow troll.

Fast works great for vibrax spinners, but you've got to go super slow with flies. Too fast with Rapalas wont give them the right action.

+1 on that!

I don't add any weight to my flies.  I just tow them WAYYYY behind me. 
Almost half a spool out at least.
Erratically slow troll.

Oh yeah,  no weights. If I need depth control I use the downrigger

Trout fishing from the kayak is my primary activity along with kokanee, Bass, and walleye.  This year I will be stepping up to steelhead and salmon on the Snake and Columbia rivers.  I found an article about a device called a "longliner", invented by a gentleman in Boring, OR.  Angler innovations is the name of his company and they apparently can be found in a few stores in Oregon and Washington.  The longliner has the ability to get your lure to great depths with a "leader" anywhere from a few inches to hundreds of feet long.  You clip your weight to the longliner, run the line through the body and clamp it closed.  When a fish strikes the longliner releases the line so it can slide freely as the fish runs. 
I have used the longliner with 4 ozs. of lead to target fish holding in 50' of water while using an F-3 frog flatfish and just slammed 'em.  Never could have gotten down there without a downrigger prior to finding this outstanding device.  I have used it with spoons, flies, with and without added flashers and trolls.  Check them out at http://anglerinnovations.com/index.html

Here is an image of the longliner

I have never heard of this Trekker. Looks perfect for trolling out of a kayak. I'm going to buy one today and try it. I was going to buy a mini dipsy diver to get me down low but this looks like a much better idea. Have you had any problems snagging up and loosing this device?

I've never lost one by snagging it on the bottom.  If I know I am fishing well above the bottom I will connect my weight directly to the front eye of the longliner with a metal clip.  If I want my lure to be very near the bottom, I use light mono to create a dropper to the weight from the front eye.  This way if the weight snags I can break it loose and only lose the weight.  The flexibility of the system is awesome.  I admire the guys that take the time to create a base for a downrigger on their kayaks but think this nearly weightless system that uses only a few ounces to reach great depths is the perfect solution for the kayak fishing I do.   You can easliy use the longliner at anchor in a stream too. 

I don't work for the company but think this may be one of the best additions to kayak fishing arsenal I have found.

I would also add that having a mirage pedal drive on my Hobie makes it much easier to deploy this system since you will want to be moving as you allow the lure to distance itself from the longliner to the desired distance.

I think you will really like this once you start catching fish with it!  Best of luck...

I don't understand how you use 2 ounces to get down deep... And if your marking fish at different depths how do you know how deep this thing is. Do you have to have a reel with a line counter, or do you just wing it. Other then changing the distance between the weight and the lure, which can be easily done with an egg weight and rubberband, whats the advantage???

You can slide the egg weight to wherever you want, pinch the line on both sides  of the egg weight together and tie them together with the rubberband.... Fish hits, rubberband pops, egg weight slides to the swivel.

I don't understand how you use 2 ounces to get down deep... And if your marking fish at different depths how do you know how deep this thing is. Do you have to have a reel with a line counter, or do you just wing it. Other then changing the distance between the weight and the lure, which can be easily done with an egg weight and rubberband, whats the advantage???

You can slide the egg weight to wherever you want, pinch the line on both sides  of the egg weight together and tie them together with the rubberband.... Fish hits, rubberband pops, egg weight slides to the swivel.

I'll bet the rubber banded egg weight was how they came up with the idea to even tackle designing the Longliner. 
Sounds like either one would do the trick. 

Yep, 4 oz. to get to 50' is a minimum.  I do use a line counter to keep track of my line length and then use the angle of the line into the water to estimate the depth of the longliner.  Have never used the egg sinker method, but I am sure it would work well in most situations too.  By using the dropperline from the longliner I can bounce the bottom with the weight, and keep a fairly constant elevation just above the bottom with spinners for walleye.  The ease of letting the line through the longliner and then simply snapping it closed is a real advantage when fishing from the kayak.  The videos on their website illustrate the system pretty well.

That longliner devise looks pretty slick. Any ideas which stores carry it? 

What's the difference between the Longliner and a standard slido?  Yes, one can clamp the Longliner anywhere on the mainline, effectively varying your leader length from your actual leader length to hundreds of feet, but why would you want or need to?  Is the thought that the fish will be spooked by a slido and sinker close to the bait?