The Cayuga Fisher

Jigging for Lake Trout:  Tackle:  The Jigs

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The Jigs:

Ah, the jigs.  Without a doubt one of the biggest questions of every outing. What to put on the end of your line?  There are two answers to that question:  jjigging spoons and lead-headed jigs.  First, about weight.  Most of the time, I set my lure weight by the depths I'm fishing.  In water under 60-70 feet, a 3/4 oz jig.  For 70-100 fow, 3/4 works on a calm day but often I'll go to 1 oz.  In water over 100 feet, 1-2 oz lure are the ticket.  Pretty simple, until it gets breezy, and you start drifting down the lake with your jig in tow!  If I'm drifting fast I'll use heavier jigs.

Jigging Spoons: Sometimes spoons work wonders.  Favorites:  The Bomber Slab, in white and silver.  Luhr-Jensen's Crippled Herring in large sizes works great as well.  The Buckshot Rattle Spoon is awesome, especially in glo-perch.  The Hopkins Shorty, for when heavy lures are needed.  Any silver generic 'jigging spoon' will catch fish!  I've caught them on Bass Pro Shops Strata spoons, and have just received (thanks Mike!) some of Cabela's spoons to try.  Weights 3/4 to 2 ounces will cover all your needs.  I've found most often a short, squat profile is best.  Experiment- lakers are voracious predators and will attack almost anything at times.  I've made them out of sinkers, and Bob showed me how to make "jigging chunks" out of lead wheel-weights!

In my opinion, the spoons are best when the fish are short-striking.  This happens mainly on two occasions- cold water, and spawning fish.  When the water is cold, lakers are lazy, and often just nip at a passing bait.  Using a jigging spoon, which features hooks at the rear of the lure, you are more likely to hook a fish that just takes a passing bite at it.  Spoons also work well on smaller fish that don't inhale the lures the way big lakers do!  In the fall, spawning Lake Trout can be caught with spoons too.  On the spawn, the lakers don't actively feed, but they will strike at perceived threats- and a baitfish looking for laker eggs is definately a threat.  For spawning fish, I found it virtually impossible to hook lakers with lead jigs- the best lures by far were the spoons.

On the other hand, agressive lakers will take the spoons too deep, and "catch and release" becomes a lot harder.  If you catch a few that are hooked deeply, it's a good sign to switch to the lead jigs.  I also cut one of the barbs off of my spoons and make them double hooks.  As soon as you buy your jigging spoons, immediately remove the hook it came with.  Sometimes it's a #6, or a #4, which you don't want, but always the hook needs to be upgraded.  Replace all hooks with quality #2 or #4 trebles (I favor Gamakatsu hooks, both round bend and EWG) and cut one barb off of half your lures.

Lead-Head Jigs:  Any heavy enough jighead will catch fish.  I fished all last summer with BPS brand round 3/4 oz jigheads.  They work, but aren't ideal.  Your ideal jig has a baitfish-shaped head and a thin, strong, sharp hook.  Basic white and silver work great, and don't be afraid to dip some in paint- flourescent white and black.  These four basics will cover all your jigging needs.  For head style, round heads are fine, but I like something with a baitfish shaped head.  Tube jigs and tails also work, but fall slower-better for shallower water.  To get the perfect jig head I started pouring my own 1 oz jigs.  These have great hooks on them, stand up on the bottom of the lake, and have a great baitfish look.  For pictures and more information, I am selling them here.  (Please forgive the site, it is under construction.)

Heavy jigs can be hard to find in freshwater fishing stores, but look around.  It's worth it to find a good jig.  That's why I started pouring!  Also, The Storm Swim series is great in shallower (<70 fow) water- these are packages of very lifelike ready-rigged jigs.  Buy a Striper bucktail and judiciously cut out about half the bucktail.  Not shorter, just thin it out.  This helps the jig fall faster.

Flukes are the most common style of soft plastic I put on the jigs.  Tubes also work, as will anything you can down 100 feet and is roughly the right shape!  Bob catches them on wheel-weights he pounds into shape with a hammer.  That's a spoon, but it makes the point.  Zoom Flukes are my favorite- they're what I learned on and I've never seen a reason to switch really.  I have tried other brands and they all work.  Key here is movement- you want something that will be flapping a 'tail' around as you drop, jig, and retreive your lure.  Most of these plastics are also imbedded with scent, which definately helps with catching Lake Trout.  Just plain old 'fluke' is fine- nice slim profile to help get deep fast.  Super-flukes can produce well at times too, but they are better in shallow water, as are the Storm Swim series I mentioned earlier.  Bite (or cut) the front 3/8 - 1/2 inch off of the head of the fluke before threading it on the jig.  This integrates the jighead with the tail, and brings the hook point a little closer to the end of the lure.

Common "flukes" and colors:  Bass Pro 2-toned tube, cut black fluke, Baby Bass fluke, Fin-S Shad, and Zoom White Ice super-fluke. Sometimes lake trout are selective and it's good to have a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

Colors, while key, aren't nearly as important as you may think.  Lakers looking up see everything against the sky, so it's all about contrast.  White is a consistant producer, as is silver.  When it gets really bright out, I'll switch over to darker colors such as green, pumpkin, or black.   Try to visualize what the background looks like that day, and choose your color accordingly.   Lakers are most sensitive to two very similar shades of green (halfway between 'green' and chartreuse), which makes sense when you think about their enviroment. Green light penetrates the furthest in the deep water where lake trout live!  If you need empirical evidence, green spoons have long been a favorite of trollers and copper guys.  Depth is a factor- past 30-50 feet there really isn't much color- most fade quickly in water, and appear as black anyway.  Your choice of lure colors should also reflect the color of the water you are fishing. In the Finger Lakes, the water ranges from fairly clear in winter to green (algae) in summer. Most US lake trout waters are similar mesotrophic lakes except for some Western reseviors, and most Canadian lakes are clear and oligotrophic.  Regular fishing rules apply here- you want to attract the fish but not scare them off!  Brighter lures in deeper, more colorful water, and more subdued and natural colors in shallower or clear water.  

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