Need some advice on jigging lakers in rvr

[iraevski]

hi guys

haven't been fishing much lately but want to get back into it this summer. last year i started fishing for trout for the first time and had some success trolling for lakers in the fall. haven't caught anything this year but only gone out once.

anyways, while i do enjoy trolling when fishing with friends, i find it difficult to work the trolling rods while driving the boat by myself. so as an alternative i was looking into jiggin for lakers when i go fishing alone.

was wondering if anyone on here regularly jigs for lakers and if you would be kind enough to share some advice in terms of rigs/techniques, etc.

from what i was reading online, i can use my bass rod equipped with some 20ib braid, tipped with fluoro leader and a jigging spoon.

would appreciate any feedback.

[waynedane]

I fish solo there a few days a week, when trolling gets slow I'll find some readings and drop a binsky down and jig em up. My electric motor keeps me over the top, otherwise I'd be drifting and not sure how well that would work.

[jimmythegreek]

What I do is setup for the troll and keep ur eyes on the sonar. when u see good bottom marks make a waypoint on the plotter and as the day goes and it slows go back and jig those marks. I am a big binsky fan but crippled herring in 1oz size work great as do large tubes w heavy jig heads. I also like shiners on 1oz jigheads but you gotta get the right jig heads for that setup. Best way to troll is w the 9.9 AND the electric so u can keep the boat going in the right direction on hookups, an ipilot on a minnkota is the most valuable piece of equipment I own, cant fish without it.

I fished saturday morn and they were killing jointed F7 in rainbow trout pattern 150 ft back, also did good 10' off bottom with mini cowbells and small spoon for a pair of lakers. Most fish marked were 10-15 ft down, invest in a set or two of planer boards you can easily fish 6 lines, with downriggers stacked I can run 10 without issues

[iraevski]

I fish solo there a few days a week, when trolling gets slow I'll find some readings and drop a binsky down and jig em up. My electric motor keeps me over the top, otherwise I'd be drifting and not sure how well that would work.

i will try a binsky next time. what kind of rod/reel/line do you use? what size binsky?

[iraevski]

What I do is setup for the troll and keep ur eyes on the sonar. when u see good bottom marks make a waypoint on the plotter and as the day goes and it slows go back and jig those marks. I am a big binsky fan but crippled herring in 1oz size work great as do large tubes w heavy jig heads. I also like shiners on 1oz jigheads but you gotta get the right jig heads for that setup. Best way to troll is w the 9.9 AND the electric so u can keep the boat going in the right direction on hookups, an ipilot on a minnkota is the most valuable piece of equipment I own, cant fish without it.

I fished saturday morn and they were killing jointed F7 in rainbow trout pattern 150 ft back, also did good 10' off bottom with mini cowbells and small spoon for a pair of lakers. Most fish marked were 10-15 ft down, invest in a set or two of planer boards you can easily fish 6 lines, with downriggers stacked I can run 10 without issues

Jimmy

thank you for your response. i do have planer boards and use them regularly. i find it hard know when i have a fish on with planer boards, especially when the water is choppy and i am using leadcore. in how many feet of water do you usually troll?

as for ipilot i checked it out online. looks like a very good fishing tool. probably a bit out of my price range though. i have an old minncota trolling motor (probably 10 years old). i don't think i can connect it to the ipilot. would need to get a whole new setup which is like at least 2k from what i have seen. so the ipilot comes with its own gps?

i was also looking to learn about jiggin technique as i have never fished jigs before. when i fish for bass i mostly use senkos and you don't really need to do anything with them, just drop them and retrieve. what kind of motion does binsky/herring require?

[waynedane]

i will try a binsky next time. what kind of rod/reel/line do you use? what size binsky?

Usually an ounce, depending on depth etc. mostly use a light spinning rod and reel, 10 lb test. I'm going to be selling my min Kota terrova with ipilot next week after I get my new ulterra installed. Only 2 years old, 45 in shaft if interested. Only reason I'm selling is because the new one has auto deploy. It's 24 volt.

[Capt. Lou]

Deep jigging I like braid use 10# , top shot fluoro 8# 10'plus.
Rod I prefer 7.5 spin med power moderate fast taper.
Jigging spoon should be chosen to swim/ flutter on lift & drop.
Sometimes a variation in method is required but I've always prefcered a sharp lift coupled to a tight line drop
Spin rods easier to jig with for me since I jig in front of reel thus it lightens load , UR now just jigging rod blank not lifting reel & full rod length
Like any jigging u must be on the fish , pay attention to down temps that's UR strike zone & it remains the same all over the lake.
This time of year thermo is setting up & fish become more active in preferred temps !
Using the FF is only half the game where these two marry is where u wanna concentrate efforts !
Sometimes drifting over open water while jigging proper depths & temp range will garner strikes from active fish at random.
Jigging deep wAter one of my fav ways to fish especially in late fall!
Certain species tend to congragate while others roam the depths within there comfort range & seldom gather except @ lunch time !
Remember the thermo in clear lakes such as the valley can be 20' +thick , so outline this & UR at least fishing decent holding water.
Like trolling if UR not on active fish keep moving to find em ' but try to stY in preferred temp ranges this time of year for best results !

[Chrisper4694]

bring chum, lakers can be ravenous. you can jig them feeding like schooling bluefish if you find a good spot and have chum.

[jimmythegreek]

no need for leadcore this time of year unless you are targeting lakers, all the bows and browns are up high in the water column. As for boards get offshore boards w the tattle flag kit you will never miss a strike, they are the only way to go, church tackle has boards similar now w a flag system.

when jigging deep u wanna use braid, you need to feel the bites and ticks of the bottom, mono/floro wont give you that in deep water. I also drift and jig, and also drift a few rods w fishfinder rigs right on bottom w shiners/herring the lakers hit those too. if you get some good marks you can definitely chum them and they go nuts, save your dead bait and cut them with scissors into 4 or 5 pieces and chum the water up wind and up current and jig the other side, they will rise 20-30 ft to hit a jig when fired up

[iraevski]

bring chum, lakers can be ravenous. you can jig them feeding like schooling bluefish if you find a good spot and have chum.

Chrisper, thank you for your response. What kind of chum are you using? just cut up dead baitfish? seems like you would need alot of chum to have any effect, was wondering if you could get bigger fish and just cut it up

[iraevski]

no need for leadcore this time of year unless you are targeting lakers, all the bows and browns are up high in the water column. As for boards get offshore boards w the tattle flag kit you will never miss a strike, they are the only way to go, church tackle has boards similar now w a flag system.

when jigging deep u wanna use braid, you need to feel the bites and ticks of the bottom, mono/floro wont give you that in deep water. I also drift and jig, and also drift a few rods w fishfinder rigs right on bottom w shiners/herring the lakers hit those too. if you get some good marks you can definitely chum them and they go nuts, save your dead bait and cut them with scissors into 4 or 5 pieces and chum the water up wind and up current and jig the other side, they will rise 20-30 ft to hit a jig when fired up


Jimmy

are you using any mono/fluoro leader with your jigs or tying directly to the jig? also are you using any swivel between jig and line?

[Chrisper4694]

you know when you go fishing and it sucks so you have a ton of live bait left over...save it, freeze it in a ziplock bag or something and after a few trips you'll have a bunch of chum. chop it all up or mush it grind it whatever. anyway i'm sure pretty much any ground of chopped up bait will work. I bet chicken liver will work too on lakers but i've only tried it on hybrids in other lakes. Cheap catfood in fish flavors might work.

[iraevski]

you know when you go fishing and it sucks so you have a ton of live bait left over...save it, freeze it in a ziplock bag or something and after a few trips you'll have a bunch of chum. chop it all up or mush it grind it whatever. anyway i'm sure pretty much any ground of chopped up bait will work. I bet chicken liver will work too on lakers but i've only tried it on hybrids in other lakes. Cheap catfood in fish flavors might work.

what about cutting up some fish from the fish market (something cheap like white perch or something?) i don't really use live bait so it would be hard for me to collect the chum.

chumming sounds like a really good idea, didn't think about it. when i fished in Europe they always chum but they mostly fish for carp and other non-predator fish

[Chrisper4694]

i am sure that would work, but i've never tried it. I rarely use live bait but my friend would have a collection saved up frozen from previous trips and that's what we'd use. I'm sure any oily fish ground or chopped up would work. some days doesn't take much to get them going good. just need to find a good spot with the fish finder.

[briansnat]

what about cutting up some fish from the fish market (something cheap like white perch or something?) i don't really use live bait so it would be hard for me to collect the chum.

chumming sounds like a really good idea, didn't think about it. when i fished in Europe they always chum but they mostly fish for carp and other non-predator fish

I've heard of some RV anglers using canned corn for trout chum. Never tried it myself.