The Cayuga Fisher

Jigging for Lake Trout:  Behavior:  Seasonal Variations

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Seasonal Variations:

Early Spring:  Spring can be one of the tougher times to catch lake trout.  The fish are scattered and often suspended over deep water, or on very deep flats.  The weather can be miserable, with cold, early mornings, wind, and often plenty of rain.  If that's not enough to discourage you (it better not be!) it's still possible to find and jig for lake trout.  Bait is key in the spring- lakers are ready to eat after a long winter and will be searching out the depths for alewives or other baitfish.  

Depending on where the bait is schooling the fishing can be good to poor.  If the alewives stay deep fishing will be tough.  The fish may still be 150' deep or more, and jigging near this depth still necessary.  Last April I found them mid-lake at 150', for example.  They may also be in 80'... it's a transition time in the lake, and fish will be scattered.  Excessive wind in the spring can keep the lake water from stratifying- this results in relatively warm water being forced deep into the lake, allowing the baitfish and lakers to stay out of angling range.  In the Finger Lakes, most lake trout are located on the flats in the northern 1/2 to 1/3 of the lake during the spring months.

Late Spring:  Oooh baby yeah!  Here's when laker jigging shines!  When the thermocline begins to set up and the alewives invade the shallows, the lakers follow in droves and can be caught in very shallow water.  Just fantastic fishing can be had, find a school of bait and hold on!  Look in 25-50 feet of water at first, a little deeper if need be... 'nuff said, this is the best and easiest laker fishing there is.  The lakers will still be near their winter habitat, generally in the northern half of the lakes, though some remain lakewide all year.  

Summer:  Nothing beats a hot summer day like jigging up a handful of lakers!  Early Summer is an excellent time to go jigging.  Lake trout will be just below the thermocline, and your target is structure and flats in the 40-80 FOW range.  Find the 'cline! If the fish aren't anywhere to be seen, chances are the thermocline is doing something odd and you should look in both shallower and deeper water. I've found lakers in 30 FOW in August- it just depends on how the water is sloshing around in the lake basin.  Often the thermocline is wider and/or deeper on one side of the lake or the other- this can change your local fishing conditions too.  By late summer (July and August) conditions are tougher and the lake is loaded with warm water.  The end of August, early September can have more activity as the fish prepare to spawn.

Fall:  Spawning time in the Finger Lakes, fall can provide hot action if you know where to go.  Lake trout will be schooling on and near cobble structure in preperation for the spawn.  Actively spawning fish are poor feeders but will strike out of annoyance, protection, or habit.  Usually other non-spawning fish will be in the area as well and are catchable.  By this time of year the lakers are much less interested in food and are nowhere near as aggressive.  Jigging spoons can be a great choice for these short-striking fish, though starting with jigs to test the water is preferred.  In general spawning areas are concentrated along the Southwestern shorelines of the Finger Lakes, though lakers do spawn in many other locations as well.  Any area with cobblestone bottom is a welcoming spawning spot.

Winter:  Jigging for lake trout through the ice is probably the most popular wintertime angling technique, but open-water jigging can work just as well.  Most 'laker water' in our area doesn't freeze in the winter- so folks don't fish for them!  True, taking a boat out means a cold breeze and no heated hut to sit in, but nobody I know can afford a heated hut anyway.  In winter, lake trout and baitfish move to the deepest, warmest parts of the lake. Yes, in winter deep and warm is correct.  The lake bottom will remain at 39 degrees (densest water) while the surface will be 32 degrees.  

They will be in similar areas as in the summer and late spring, but deeper in the water column. Flats of 130-200 FOW near deeper water are a good place to start looking.  Some fish will be deeper yet, 200+, but the further down you go, the tougher it is to jig properly.  Start as shallow as you can locate good marks.  You'll need to gear up accordingly for winter fishing- you're jigging deep water, and heavy spoons or jigs with a matching stiff rod are necessary. Try 1 1/2 to 2 ounce spoons for deep winter jigging, heavy-headed jigs, or a big 1 1/2 oz striper bucktail.

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