Spring Lake Trout Fishing is the Best!
Spring Lake Trout Fishing in Traverse City is just around the corner and we are itching to get the boats back in the water to start chasing fish! This is hands down my favorite time of year to catch these Lake Trout because it takes brains and brawn to reel them in.
Lake Temperatures
In the spring, water temps are often so cold that Lake Trout are up in the shallows in anywhere from 10-50 feet of water. Shallow water lake trout fishing can be an absolute riot. Some may argue that lake trout aren’t hard enough fighters but they have never fished in the shallows.One of the best parts about shallow water trout fishing is the fight never stops. When the water is so cold throughout the entire water column, the fish are much more lively and therefore put up a stronger fight.
Equipment/Tactics
Because we are fishing so shallow, the rod selection and set ups we use on the boat are much different than what we use in the summer. If the water is calm, you can stand on the bow of the boat in shallow water and see the Lake Trout swimming. The boat often startles them, causing them to circle the bait before returning to the lines. To outsmart Lake Trout, we will usually run longer leads off of our downrigger cannonballs between 45-75ft so that the baits are coming through the area just as the fish are circling back.
Another common tactic that has proven to be successful in shallow water is fishing lead core rods attached to planar boards. This method of fishing does an excellent job of spreading lines across the entire water column. Often times when the water is virtually the same temperature 40ft down as it is on the surface, Lake Trout will be scattered anywhere. Lead core line is weighted so the line itself is what makes the lure sink. The more line you have on the rod, the deeper it will sink. In the spring 2, 3, 4, and 5 colors are pretty popular. For each color of lead core line, the bait will sink around 5ft depending on the speed at which you are trolling. For example, a 4 color lead core will be down around 20ft. Using planar boards, we can have 3 lead core rods setup on each side of the boat given we have enough people to still be legal.
Spring Lake trout fishing is some of the most exciting and chaotic fishing you can imagine. With multiple rods having fish on at once on a regular basis, it can make for a very exciting experience. Don’t wait until the heat of the summer, get out on Mega Bite Traverse City Fishing Charter in the spring and battle these awesome fish!!!