preferred trout/salmon lures

[fieromx3]

probably many threads like these but i havent found yet...

i have never fished for trout or salmon before in the great lakes (looking to mostly fish lake ontario) and i have no clue what lures to use for trolling.

i prefer catch and release and keep the VERY odd fish for table so if it makes any difference lures that wont tear up a fish lol

i will be using dipsey divers and trolling slow obviously. what lures and color and sizes are preferred to catch some of these trouts and salmons and what are the best lures for particular months???

 

[M9.9]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

Hi,
Fished Lake Ontario many times and regardless of the time of year I have used the same set-up when trolling. I used planer boards in the morning and downrigger when the weather and Sun begins warming.

Many people use a variety of baits but I sticked to a chartruse 10" flasher while top trolling (side boards) with a plastic silver speckled rubber squid w/treble hook, 6' back of the flasher (note using an open loop swivel on the squid, flaher and weight leaders created more flashe and bait action) and the flasher 30-40' back from the board. On a downrigger same except flasher is Silver w/reflector and only 6' back of the weight. Everbody has there own set-ups but I prefer the above in Lake ONtario.

The weight placed just above the thermocline layer which was generally between 90-130' feet down once you hit the shelf. The shelf is about a mile out from the shore at from either Port Credit or Marie Curtis. The water depth will be about 80' for the first mile, then boom!, it drops to 175 feet. Was never skunked out there; largest caught 27 lb Salmon. Zig zagging constantly is a big factor w/ sideboard and downriggers.

 

[fieromx3]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

awsome!! thanks for the detailed reply! i wish winter was over... im to excited to get my new boat on the water and do some good fishing

 

[rolmops]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

Welcome to Lake Ontario or the big O as we call it. There are about a hundred ways to fish dependent on the time of year,depth ,water temperature and targeted fish. But there is also a very vibrant lake Ontario cold water fishing community.
We have our own website,fishing reports,twitter updates on where the fish is complete with coordinates water temps,depth and preferred lure of the day.
Go to the Lake Ontario United website and you will see a veritable Niagara Falls of instant information about fishing our lake,for both the north side (Canada) and the south side (USA).
Why wait for winter to be over? If you are close to the Niagara River you can fish either the river or the lake just outside the river for monster lake trout that often weight over 25 pounds and fight like maniacs because they are in 20 feet of water instead of the usual 120 feet.
http://www.lakeontariounited.com/fishing/index.php
Cornelis

 

[fieromx3]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

awsome!!! thank you very much for that!!!! just got back from bass pro and got 3 lures thus far:
X-rap silver universal minnow color number 12, lucky strike half wave spoon (white/red color and silver other half), husky jerk HJ-14 i hope they are not to big... they look big only cause im used to small lures fishing for bass lol

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

Well, I am not an experienced Ontario guy, but I will say that the three lures you bought may catch salmon or trout but I wouldn't put them on the go-to lure list for those fish for trolling. The flasher and "fly" program mentioned above is a producer. Dreamwaver and NK spoons will boat some fish for sure.

Wanna know a shortcut to getting a salmon program together? It will save you probably as much as the useless tackle you might buy without the shortcut but I would pay for a 1/2 day charter and pay attention to the mate(s) and captain's presentations, lure choices, and tactics, depth, etc. An alternative would be to fish with someone you know with good skills who would be willing to take you out and show you what is working and how to deploy. Either of those can take you from a learning curve to a learning spike and get you catching fish on purpose instead of perhaps wondering why you catch some days and not others. The other piece of advice I have is to get connected with a local fisherman's group whose passion is trolling the lake in your area. There is a lot of sharing of information in these circles that will get you started right and help you figure out how to put some fish in your boat.

I am no expert but take my advice. I spent a couple of years, a lot of gas, and some frustrating days on the water transitioning from occasional spin fishing for rainbows in streams and trolling for walleyes to consistently catching salmon and steelhead and being able to identify why I didn't catch on the slow days. I was reading and finding out what I could but a little observation would have saved me a ton of frustration on the water.

 

[fieromx3]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

thanks again for the reply... im reading alot and learning. but the half day charter is definitly a good idea and i dont mind forking out the cash for it either. i go down to florida alot just to go fishing but my grandparents have a condo so i can stay as long as i like but example is this past june i spent almost 2 grand just for a 1 day solo fishing trip there.

 

[WNYSoldier44]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

Best to stick with these and you will find guaranteed success.


1. Egg sacks (yellow or pink). Salmon and Trout will kill these in murky water. Use bobber about 10inches up.

2. Clear fast moving water- Black/Green/Brown wooly buggeers right behind rocks with a 2oz split shot about 10 inches up.

3. Trout beads. 2-3 preferablly with a split shot and single barel bobber about 8inches up.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

Best to stick with these and you will find guaranteed success....1. Egg sacks....wooly buggeers...Trout beads...

And you troll with that??! And do they actually make two ounce split shot??

The original poster said,

...i will be using dipsey divers and trolling slow obviously. what lures and color and sizes are preferred to catch some of these trout and salmon...

I for one am looking forward to more comments from eastern Lake Ontario fishermen about how they do it for trolling from a boat - some speed comments and lure selections as well as presentation advice.

Always learning! (wooly buggers for trolling .shakes.head.):facepalm:

 

[WNYSoldier44]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

Didnt know you were talkig about wooly bugggers, but if you wanna go that route, trolling for salmon in lake ontario is ok, but where at? I fish the lower niagara river/burt dam with a fly rod or a noodle rod, we dont do to much trollin around here for salmon, alll in the lower creeks and damns



i have never fished for trout or salmon before in the great lakes (looking to mostly fish lake ontario) and i have no clue what lures to use for trolling.

i prefer catch and release and keep the VERY odd fish for table so if it makes any difference lures that wont tear up a fish lol


fireomx3


if you ever want to head down with a paid of wadders to buffalo, let me know well land you into something like this..

By benjaminladuca at 2012-01-29

By benjaminladuca at 2012-01-29

 

[fieromx3]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

holy thats a good size fish!!! you catch them in that little stream? looks really shallow, looks more shallow than the fish is wide lol

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

holy thats a good size fish!!! you catch them in that little stream? looks really shallow, looks more shallow than the fish is wide lol

Spawning fish in the tributaries are like that. Also can get "runs" when baitfish spawn. Not a game I know how to play but I know it happens...

 

[WNYSoldier44]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

holy thats a good size fish!!! you catch them in that little stream? looks really shallow, looks more shallow than the fish is wide lol

No, search 18 mile creek, burt damn. That is the back riing water following the stream. It runs from lake ontario. Pretty big creek.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

So if I were going to troll as OP said he was, and I was going to go and buy four different things to fish with, what would an experienced Big-O fisherman suggest? The flasher-and-fly setup was mentioned. Colors? Spoons? I am going to be near Oswego last week of May and I am thinking of dropping the boat in for an afternoon if the weather is good and stable enough for my 14-footer. Plus I want to help OP out a little...

 

[sasto]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

Cleos. Coming from Florida... what do I know.

I do know.....trolling for salmon/trout without much education in this type fishing...We killed them year after year with a Cleo

 

[rolmops]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

So if I were going to troll as OP said he was, and I was going to go and buy four different things to fish with, what would an experienced Big-O fisherman suggest? The flasher-and-fly setup was mentioned. Colors? Spoons? I am going to be near Oswego last week of May and I am thinking of dropping the boat in for an afternoon if the weather is good and stable enough for my 14-footer. Plus I want to help OP out a little...

In the end of May I would not fish for salmon near Oswego, because apart from some Cohos most of the kings and Cohos are on the west side of the lake near the Niagara bar and the salmon fishing will be fantastic when you go out of Wilson and Olcott.
Oswego and Mexico Bay will be jam packed with brown trout weighing up to 20 pounds although the cookie cutter version of 4 pounders will be the mainstay. You can catch them in 5 to 30 feet of water, trolling while flat lining using 8 pound line with stick baits of the boards or one color of leadcore with small (2.75 inch) brown trout lures. You can also go a bit deeper and fish for cohos and steel head of the riggers and the boards with red or yellow Jensen #0 flashers with either dreamweaver super slims in orange and red or short "popcorn" coho flies. (This year may be different because of warmer temperatures during the winter and you may need larger lures and flies because more large bait fish has survived). In the end of May I would troll at 2.6 to 2.9 mph measured with speed gauge at the rigger ball not GPS. Be careful with those browns. Set your slip loose and do not winch them in, they have a very soft mouth, so do not "set" the hook ,instead bring them in with constant very steady pressure. Also ,while fighting the fish,do not slow your trolling speed.When they come close to the boat make sure to keep their head up because they love to go straight down. Your constant speed will get your hooked fish in a straight line behind the boat so you do not get tangled with other lines and when that fish hit,it hit because you did something right. So keep on doing it and you will start getting doubles and triples, that is the stuff that makes it so much fun.Once you have found the place where the fish bite,make sure to reset your lines at the same distance and depth from the boat as when you caught fish and circle right back through the same place again, because that fish was there for a reason.
If you want to mostly catch and release,just take the treble hooks off your lures and put on singles with the barb removed.
Good luck.

 

[rolmops]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

No, search 18 mile creek, burt damn. That is the back riing water following the stream. It runs from lake ontario. Pretty big creek.

Please do not mention names of tributaries, they are overfished as it is and advertizing them only makes it worse.

 

[fieromx3]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

i agree to not publicy name tributaries off... but if someone like me wants to release all fish caught mentioning them wont hurt via PM. i do wish more people would release more often... i see videos all the time where only 3 or 4 guys on the boat but they will keep like 15 fish... like really?? 1 each will do completly fine especially if it is a larger fish 1 fish can feed 2 people...

 

[LongLine]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

If you're headed to Oswego late May for browns & want to troll plugs, make sure they're tuned to run right. i.e wabble left and right equally. Also look at running a fluoro leader.

Cleos are great for casting. Used to be a mainstay of the trollers but have faded off. Many guys will have at least one clean spoon running way back. Suggestions are the Dreamweaver super slims, NK28's, Stingers. Oranges for Browns, Greens & glows for kings. Kings off Oswego generally going deep late May. Browns hang in the nearshore thru June. Come 4th of July, Browns often get hard to catch. (try night time or real early) If you run into steelhd, then drop the lines down - Kings will generally be under them.

Tom B.
(LongLine)

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: preferred trout/salmon lures

....Oswego and Mexico Bay will be jam packed with brown trout weighing up to 20 pounds although the cookie cutter version of 4 pounders will be the mainstay. You can catch them in 5 to 30 feet of water, trolling while flat lining using 8 pound line with stick baits off the boards or one color of leadcore with small (2.75 inch) brown trout lures. ....

If you're headed to Oswego late May for browns & want to troll plugs, make sure they're tuned to run right. i.e wabble left and right equally. Also look at running a fluoro leader. Cleos are great for casting. Used to be a mainstay of the trollers but have faded off. Many guys will have at least one clean spoon running way back....(LongLine)

rolmops, longline, et al:

Now that's some good stuff! I learned a lot and I hope that gets OP some idea of what to do. I am not sure about running to Niagara Bar for a day - I need to give myself a geography lesson but last time over that way that is a pretty good drive. However, that stuff sounds great and you have whetted my appetite enough I may just have to do it!

I have my leadcore rods (full 10 colors on Magda Pro 40s) set up with 40 feet of 20# clear mono leader as shock absorber and to give me a little visual avoidance from the braid. Then a tiny swivel with about 8 or 10 feet of 15# Seaguar Fluorocarbon tied to that.
Q: Is that an acceptable leader setup to you guys?

Q2: my 'rigger rods are spooled with 14# clear mono and the same 15# fluorocarbon as a rod-length leader. Am I OK with 14# mono? It is more than enough here in VT except maybe for the once-a-year laker. Just wondering.

Most other rods are 30# Power Pro with again 15# fluorocarbon leaders about a rod-length.

Thanks as always-

Mark

EDIT: Since my boat is an MFG "Niagara" maybe I will HAVE TO fish the Niagara Bar. That would only seem appropriate don't you think? LOL