Well, it’s still snowing here in the Keweenaw and we have over 4 feet of ice on the lakes, but I’m having fun in my basement, testing and researching in order to improve next summers’ fishing on Lake Superior. I’ll be taking a boatload out to Stannard Rock on Memorial weekend and many more charters after that, so if you want to get out there and catch some Lake Trout, Salmon or Steelies, give a call and I’ll schedule you in.
I did a video showing the normal, desired action of a trolling spoon and how Lake Trout see the spoon from behind. For most fish, your lure should be above the target fish, so they see it from below, or from the side, then are attracted by the movement, colors and action.
In order to show this, I did some underwater videos in my home-made test tank.
When trolling for lake trout, deep on the bottom, often the trout will come up from behind the lure and will see it totally different than we intend. From this view, a normal trolling spoon will be showing only the back side – the concave side – to the following fish that usually is just silver, gold or copper. A white back-side is better for trolling deep, but if you really want to keep their attention, try adding some attractor tapes or paints to the back-side of your trolling spoons.
By the way, it couldn’t hurt to do the same when using spoons when trolling for Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon or Steel-head.
P.S. Anything you do now to get ready for the up-coming season will only make it more enjoyable when you get out there. Some ideas: Check and lubricate your reels, check rods, tie some flies and or spinners, re-spool your reels, tie some leader lines, make sure you have swivels… the list goes on… just check everything related to your style of fishing and “Go get ‘em!”
Some of my trolling rods to check and repair this winter.
Brian Helminen
