The Cayuga Fisher

Jigging for Lake Trout- Technique

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Electronics:

Modern fish-finding technology has taken the guesswork out of a lot of fishing, and jigging lakers is no exception.  Incredibly useful in locating pods of bait and lakers, today's electronics can make a day on the water the best fishing game in the world!  To explain, everyone likes to know how deep the water is and if there are any lakers around.  For this, I recommend a decent FF for everyone.  Depending on your angling preferences, you can also watch the jig on the screen.  This can make for some heart-pounding tension!  You can track the jig as it descends to the lake bottom- and with luck, witness several lakers rise to meet your lure...

The Jigging Game is a lot of fun, and a deadly way to catch lake trout.  As stated, you track your jig on the screen, and when you see reactions from the lakers, you can usually get one to grab the jig- fish on!  There are several approaches to this.  The simplest and often most effective is reeling like mad.  Wait, as you see the laker's streak approach the falling jig.  When the two lines nearly intersect, start reeling!  The trout will follow it up and within seconds you'll feel a mighty pull on your rod.  If this fails, and you reel up thirty feet without getting a strike, immediately drop the jig back down again.  At this point it's a good idea to watch for strikes on the drop- if you didn't get a take by reeling, often the lakers will grab it on the way down.  I think they feel cheated- I imagine the fish thinking, well, that was a waste of energy for nothing... and just then, your jig goes flashing past on the way down again.  Chomp!

Play around with the retrieve- start fast, then slow down.  Or start slowly, and accelerate your retrieve.  Stop halfway up and jig that spot a few times.  Watch your screen to see what the lakers want.  Certain days they are very agressive and will chase your lure almost to the boat before hitting.  Other days, you're lucky to raise them more than five feet off the bottom.  Then, it's time to focus your jigging energy on the very bottom.  Whack those rocks, stir up mud.  Sooner or later even the laziest, most inactive lake trout will come by for a look.

Jigging By Feel, however, is how I learned and what I prefer.  Maybe because every strike is a surprise!  First, it helps to have a fishfinder.  I didn't at first, and this leads to a lot of searching the water, but it's still possible.  Use your fishfinder to locate lakers on the bottom.  Ideally you'll see a pod of suspended fish underneath a big cloud of bait- this is where your jig looks just like an injured baitfish falling out of the school.  Most of the time, though, this won't happen, and you are looking for fish holding tight to bottom.  Many depthfinders won't register bottom-huggers at rest, but will pick them up while moving.  Slowly motor in a likely area until you find marks, but don't be disappointed if the screen looks blank when you stop- it's not!  At this point it's time to focus on your rod.

Strikes can take many forms.  The easy ones to detect nearly rip your rod out of your hand, though most of them do require you to pay attention.  When I'm on the water, everything I do is designed to increase the amount of time the jig is on bottom, decrease the amount of drag on the line, or maintain light contact with the jig.  Jig contact is very important- if you pull it three feet up and drop it, many times lakers will hit the jig as it falls again.  Will you be ready?  Raise and lower your rod with the jig, don't just yank it upwards and let it fall again.  If you feel anything different- anything at all- set the hook.

The main disadvantage to fishing blind is "on the drop".  If I have a monster laker rising from the depths to take my jig, I won't know it- and it's probable I never will.  The fish could rise, strike, and be gone, all while my jig is falling and I'm picking my nose.  There are things you can do to help with detecting these hits-  baitcasting reels help, and pick your nose later.  Watch the surface of the water for changes in your line.  You may see a loop or two of line form on the surface- set the hook.  You may think, "huh, did that just speed up a little?"  Set the hook.

Given the limitations of not seeing the lakers chasing, I've developed very bottom-oriented techniques.  I don't try to catch fish on the drop, it's too frustrating without watching the fishfinder.  It's also not necessary, spend time working the bottom and you'll be able to catch fish just fine...  forget the drop for now and focus on "the jig" until you've got that down.  Don't sneak peeks at the screen either, it just divides your attention.  If you want to use the fishfinder, do so wholeheartedly!  But trying to combine the methods has not worked well for me in the past.

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