Species · 04
Ontario lake trout trips: cold, deep water and a hard fight
Lake trout are the cold-water heavyweight of Northern Ontario — a fish that pulls like few others and, for a few weeks after ice-out, comes surprisingly shallow.
Species · 04
Lake trout are the cold-water heavyweight of Northern Ontario — a fish that pulls like few others and, for a few weeks after ice-out, comes surprisingly shallow.
Why lake trout
Lake trout need cold, deep, clean water — which is exactly what Northern Ontario has in abundance. Most inland lakes up north hold healthy populations, and many consider them one of the best fights on a lure or fly.
The Ontario record laker came out of Lake Superior in 1952 and weighed 63 pounds. Most fish you'll catch run four to eight pounds — plenty to bend a rod and burn a reel bringing them up from the depths.
In spring, cast spoons and swimbaits in the shallows while the water's still cold. As summer sets in and the surface warms, trout drop to 40–60 feet, where trolling spoons like a Williams Wabler or jigging shoals and humps is the game. Fall cooling brings them back up again.
Lake trout reward patience and the right lake. A guide who knows the deep structure will shorten your learning curve dramatically on a big, unfamiliar water.
Time it for ice-out and you can catch cold-water trout shallow. See which regions fit.
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