EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Had plenty of OK days recently but i hadn't seen a real nice sized fish in a while or great numbers...that all changed saturday! Took my co-workers son, Skye, out for a third try on the lake trout. He'd been trying to get the hang of it on our other two trips but the bite was tough and he hadn't gotten one fully into the boat yet.

Tweaked his set up and technique a bit and he got the feel down and it was game on! Hands down the best day i've had jigging lake trout in 2.5 years both for number of hits and size of the fish.

we only fished about 4 hours and had over a dozen fish landed with just as many or more hits that didn't hook up, one broken line and 3 others popped off. only 2 of the fish were under 23" and half of them were over 26" and up to almost 29"...only thing missing was that monster 31" :mad:

Skye took video of the trip with his go-pro and edited a real nice youtube video, def check it out and follow him if you like it, cause i'm sure we'll be making some more soon!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6x...ature=youtu.be

Here's some pics too

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...0880a2e79d_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...0880e7d3dc_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...0880e8e053_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...081c31816f_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...0880e6ecb6_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...081c87a9a5_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...081cee77b9_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...081c909f93_800

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Oh and this trip totally overshadowed the day before, where i took him out to catch his first hybrid striper. wasn't a great bite but we got what we came for....and just for the record...the nice sized lakers fought a hell of a lot harder on the jigging gear than the hybrids did on the light trolling gear :D

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...081cb6f387_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...088045c30d_800

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Those are some nice lakers Chris, well done!

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Thanks Jim.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Cool video! solid action fo sho

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Chris great catch ! I wish they were biting that way last week when we went. I hit a couple yesterday in a couple of hours both were 26 - 27 nice fish.

Now I have to disagree with you regarding the fight. 9 out 10 times the Brids fight a lot harder with drag ripping runs not to mention the initial strike of the rockets. IMO

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Great stuff !!! Keep any trout for the grill or smoker ?

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Wow! Who would of thought a self sustaining Lake Trout fishery in NJ, awesome!

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Amazing! I never associated lake trout with July heat and NJ...might be time to let the porgy population in my area recover lol

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Those are some good ones Chris, this month and next should be your best bet to whack a breeder. Lost a beast there last year this time of year trolling. Next state record is coming outta there!

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Can you tell me how many oz the jig head is, and how deep you were fishing. I am new to jigging Lake Trout, I set up a new rod and reel just for jigging in upstate NY, waters are the same depth basically, buying all kinds of jigging spoons, different blade baits, and rubber. Any help would be great

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

This definitely makes up for all the just ok days. Probably the best action you can get around this area when it comes to jigging Lakers in the summer. Well done Chris and other weird videographer guy!!! Nice fish!!!!:D

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

i can usually get away with a half ounce, but i have 3/4 on hand. depending on the day (sunlight, wind ripple, etc.) they can be anywhere from 20-70' or deeper...everyday seems to be different. They shallower they are the easier it is to target them properly so i start at 20-30' spots and work my way deeper if i don't see fish or they aren't biting.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

bah, the ones i caught that day just dragged in...lazy bastards! I know they usually fight harder but it was def funny to go from that to the aggressive lakers the next day haha

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

not this time...the cooler takes up a lot of room in the tin can, I don't always bring it haha

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

one can only hope!

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Awesome red hot fishing for biiiiiiig lakers! Nice job on the stripes, too.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Have you given an thought as to maybe getting a little larger boat like a 12 footer instead of a 10 foot boat ?

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Absolutely awesome! I cant wait to get out there.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

WOW :eek::eek:

Amazing pics and video!!

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

WOw looked like an awesome trip.. Cool video as well. You've got those lakers dialed in this summer.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Hey Chris, are you using a Hummingbird fish finder?? Model? Looked like a cool set up that you have going to really see the fish on the screen. My son just bought a 12 ft boat that he hopes to have the same success on. Thanks for any help.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

epic indeed... that was cool to watch those were nice fish you guys caught. well done thanks for sharing.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Thanks for the info

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

that's a 12 foot tin can andy hahaha

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

it's a humminbird helix 7...got it on sale a few years ago. it does everything i need for about half the price of the really expensive ones.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

Thanks for the net job the other day. Probably a little premature on judgment of size by myself. I'm not overly experienced with these big lakers. However I'm still overwhelmed by that fish and the epic battle that occurred. The pic came out great!
I hope you and your buddy had a great afternoon. Best of luck to you both on your quest. 👍

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

That's an amazing video to watch. I've wanted to fish the lakers for more than a decade. Tried for them from a canoe in Maine 2008, jigging spoons, and we were marking fish but got no hits.

Caught one from shore four years ago. Have had the squareback two years now, but no time with other priorities to try for them...maybe I'll land a job with normal hours.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

thanks bud, anytime, see you out there! I've bumped my gear up a bit because when we do hook an even bigger one it'll be too long a fight and in this water temp, not going to be good for the fish i guess.

Re: EPIC lake trout jigging w/ video
 

well in case it isn't obvious, my number one rule in life is 'make time to fish'! gotta do what you gotta do, but if fishing is what you love to do, gotta make time for that too! Glad you enjoyed the video Bruce, my co-workers son, Skye, edited it up.