Cold Lake Ice Fishing Tactics for Lake Trout

This fishing adventure started quite a few years ago back on the frozen ice of December 2012.  The location was none other than Cold Lake, Alberta.  Maybe more familiar with people in regards to the location of Canada's Air Base and weapons range, but we were more interested in the life below the ice.  This is a large open body of water at approximately 16 miles across and over 300 feet deep. For this reason it is one of the last lakes to freeze in northern Alberta and much caution should be taken when venturing out on the ice at any time of the season.  Many years it is safe to wait until mid January to get out on the main lake, while some of the smaller bays will freeze earlier in the winter.

We were in luck though since this year was a quick freeze and trucks were already out on the ice at Christmas time.  We already knew the lake after fishing it many times during the open water season. The only thing that separated us now from the fish was a few inches of ice that our auger would help us get through in no time.

So what is the big draw to Cold Lake and why is everyone still talking about it 5 years after out first adventure out there.  Well lets just say it's something in the water!  A healthy population of obese, hard fighting and willing Lake Trout have created a stir all around the ice fishing sphere!  I had been watching the popularity of this fishery grow the years prior and I wasn't about to let another ice season slip by without getting out there to try it out.  This was also the first year I had a Marcum flasher sonar on the ice to use to my advantage.

I discussed my dreams of icing fat lake trout with my uncle Johnny and he thought it sounded like an adventure worth pursuing.  We packed up and left the house early in the morning with the plan of hitting the ice as the sun came over the hill.  As with most fish these lake trout will feed most heavily during the morning and evening hours.  You might still pick up a few fish during the day, but it is often a slow wait till things get going again when the sun falls back towards the horizon.  We hit the ice and as beginners often do followed the trail out to an area where it looked like other people had been fishing.  Once we drilled some holes we realized we were on a drop off from about 80 to 120 feet of water.  We later found out that this is typically the type of water people target and usually is what you want to look for on the charts.

With great anticipation I dropped down a big 2 ounce white and chartreuse buck tail jig tipped with a smelt.  I watched as it fell towards the bottom on the flasher.  In a matter of minutes the first mark came storming in and slammed my jig.  After a great battle I landed my first Lake Trout through the ice and I was stoked!  I just love it when a plan comes together like that and in a matter of minutes you're on the fish.  Trust me it's not always that easy and we've struggled some days out there.

We kept on fishing and the fish kept on coming through slow and steady.  The Marcum was a big help as I could see when the fish were coming through and at what depth so I could crank my jig up to their location and often trigger a bite.  My uncle didn't have a flasher yet and after one day of me out fishing him in a ratio of 3:1 he was sold!  Within a few weeks he had purchased his first Marcum and has never regretted it for one moment either.

If you want to watch our adventure to see how it actually went and watch one of the first videos I ever published as The Fishing Doctors Adventures, then you have to check this out!

Getting Down to Business:

So what does it really take to catch these fish.  Well here are some of the things that I have learned fishing it over the past few years.  

#1 Get out to Cold Lake and give it a try next year and I'm sure you'll have a great time out on that big lake.  If you don't know where to fish and it is your first time to the lake take a look at the underwater maps available on Agler's Atlas.  You're looking for areas where it drops off from about 60 feet down to 120 feet.  Underwater points and humps are great places to start.  When all else fails look for the groups of fishermen and join the heard.  Probably some fish hanging around under their feet, but give them some space and try to fish the same structure line instead of on top of them.

#2 Drill your holes from shallower to deep off the drop and fish them in that order too if you get out there early in the morning.

#3 Choosing a rod and reel for lake trout through the ice.  Longer ice rods will work better for lake trout.  Chose one over 28 inches long in the medium/heavy to heavy weight.  Some people even come out with their full length summer rods too which also work well.  Any reel will do but bait casters seem to work the best and hold more line for these deep water, long running fish. 

#4 Having a flasher sonar like a Marcum, Vexilar or other brand is a game changer.  If you are serious and want to catch more fish you need to have one of these on the ice with you.

#5 Choosing a line depends on what you expect to catch and these fish can grow in excess of 20 pounds.  So I would recommend having 12 to 20 pound test.  A braided line with a fluorocarbon leader would probably be your best bet for these deep water fish, but as you see in the videos we were using mono filament which also works. 

#6 Lure choice goes along with the depth.  You will need a heavy lure to get down fast.  Usually jigs 2-3 ounces heavy will work best at getting you down to the right location quickly.  I have caught fish on buck tail jigs, tube jigs and airplane jigs.  My favorite though is a Big Hammer swim bait.  The Cold Lake Special is probably something you'll want to pick up before you head out as well.  When choosing a color remember these fish love to eat ciscoe and white fish.  So white is generally a good color, but chartreuse, silver and blue seem to be good choices as well.

#7 Bait choice is probably the most simple as most people use pieces of smelt to tip their jigs.

#8 A key ingredient is a stinger hook... don't go fishing without one as you are likely to lose a lot of short hits.  Put on a treble stinger that sits near the tail end of your jig.

#9 I find if you have a Marcum you can Yo-Yo the jigs up and down the water column and see what depth the fish are at.  You can do the same this without a marcum but you won't know where to stop or drop if there is a fish.  If fishing blind the best seems to be fishing near bottom.

#10 Don't forget to have fun and read the regulations before heading out.  You can currently keep one Lake Trout over 75 cm long.  This is a big trout so make sure you measure correctly before you take one home!  

Good Luck out there and if you want to watch some more lake trout being pulled through the ice check out these videos from other trips we took out there.

#ColdLake #Alberta #IceFishing #LakeTrout

Top 5 Fall Walleye Fishing Tactics

Autumn is a wonderful time of year with mild temperatures, beautiful scenery and big fish searching for an easy meal before freeze up.  It's the later fact of fall that gets me excited to drop a line in the water.

This past fall was the first time I actually had the chance to dedicate time for some fall fishing.  I had the last week of September and the first week of October off, so we packed up and headed off to Canada.  This had been an unusually warm Fall and I was concerned that I might hit the fall turnover.  This is a period when the water temperature throughout the lake hits around 4 degrees Celsius and it mixes top to bottom.   This occurs because water is most dense at 4 degrees Celsius.  The water during turnover becomes murky and the fish are usually turned off the chew for a few days on either side.  Lucky enough though I didn't have to deal with fall turnover at any of the lakes we visited.

We went after some big pike at other lakes, but we stuck to our home base for a few days and went walleye fishing.  Even though this is a small lake and not really known to hold huge walleye we had fun fishing with great numbers and steady action.

Previously I have come up empty handed when trying for walleye in the fall, so what was the problem? Well here are a few tips I learned this fall that may help you catch more fish.


#1 Spread Thin: In the Fall fish tend to be more spread out since the whole water column is now at a suitable temperature with high oxygen concentration.  Keeping this in mind using a strategy that covers a lot of water will help put you on more fish.  For example; I spent some time drifting with a bottom bouncer and spinner / floater set up that worked really well finding walleye along a drop off in water from 20-30 feet deep.  I find drifting or slow trolling a bottom bouncer in the fall is more effective than a crank bait.  Walleye tend to take the slower moving presentations better with colder water temperatures.

#2 Key Summer Structure: Often the key summer locations like mid lake humps and rocky main lake points will still hold fish in the fall.  These well known spots that are often covered by the weekend warriors are largely forgotten as fall approaches.  The truth is these locations may even become more productive into the fall as fish stack up to feed in these areas.  During the fall weed growth dies off and bait fish are left only to the rocky areas to take cover.  These bait fish are what those larger walleye will be searching out during the fall binge.

#3 Subtle Presentation: When the big flashy summer baits are not working you have to downsize and slow it down.  Remember these fish are exposed to falling temperatures and are sluggish at times with the fluctuating weather patterns of fall.  So go for a slow subtle presentation.  You might consider using a slip float that will hold your presentation in place just like dead sticking on the ice.  This is a highly effective method for fall walleye.

#4 The Minnow:  A top fall fish magnet is the jig and minnow.  It is simple, has been around for a long time and still produces catches of large numbers of fish.  When you find them drop this presentation down and you might be into some non stop action.  Don't forget that simple works!

#5 Big Bait = Big Fish:  In the fall this is especially true for walleye.  If you want to catch a big one and you're fishing a lake where they roam then GO BIG!  A great fall presentation is working large swimbaits 5-6 inches in length slowly through the water column.  Give it a few cranks and let it fall, crank it a few and repeat.  This slow retrieve with that tantalizing tail flicker will have some huge walleye going crazy this fall.  Give it a try with a Big Hammer swim bait.  These soft baits can't be beat for fall fishing!

Hope these few tips will help you put more walleye in the boat this next fall.  Go give it a try.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

The Fishing Doctor

Hermitage Park Rainbow Trout and Jaw Jacker Review

Fishing Hermitage Park Pond rainbow trout that lurk under ice is something I enjoy trying when home for Christmas.  Unfortunately this year I didn't make it to the lake until later in the ice season after Christmas. You see this small pond is only about 12 feet deep and stocked with 3000 rainbows a year.  As the winter lingers on oxygen levels plummet and the trout are left struggling to survive.  Sadly nature wins out and the lake consistently winter kills leaving the remaining trout dead under ice.  No one can predict when this will exactly happen as a lot of factors come into play.  For example live weeds add oxygen and dead weeds consume oxygen.  Regardless I always go out to give it a try.

The forecast was for a rapid change in weather throughout the day.  It started out on the cool side, overcast and calm.  By the end of the day it was freezing cold and blowing snow. 

I tried a faithful point on the lake in the morning, but there was no trout activity on the radar at all and no strikes on the awaiting Jaw Jacker.  I decided to pack up and walk across the lake to a deeper section and see if there were any fish around.  I drilled holes starting from a shallow bank and out every 20 feet into the main lake basin.  Shortly after I set the Jaw Jacker in shallow water it went off!  I ran over and lost the first nice rainbow in the hole.

I reset the line and returned to jigging with my rod and MarCum VX 1P.  I noticed that there was some action on the flasher half way up the water column.  I raised my Kastmaster with dropper fly to mid water column and soon had something that felt like a bite.  Then the Jaw Jacker went off again and I landed a nice rainbow at 15 inches.  I returned to the jigging rod and started to have more hits and landed another rainbow.  The trout were ON which was unusual after Christmas. I attributed the action to a rapid fall in barometric pressure which sometimes turns the bite ON!  Regardless the cause I was just happy to be the one experiencing it.

Things slowed down mid day and I moved to another hole.  I decided to try a few inches under the ice in 12 feet of water.  In no time I had a strike and then another.  I got down on my belly and stared down the hole.  In no time a rainbow was staring back at me inches from my face.  They were swimming back and forth right under my nose.  This was so cool I thought.  Turns out this is typical behavior as the oxygen levels fall in a lake.  The fish start to swim closer to the ice where trapped air pockets and cracks are the only way oxygen enters the lake late in the season. 

I quickly drilled another hole and dropped the GoPro down to see if I could get any footage.  Turns out they weren't camera shy and even though it was getting dark the footage is still pretty neat.  Check out the video links below. 

I continued to catch fish on the Jaw Jacker and rod right under the ice.  Turned out to be one of my best days on Hermitage Park Pond.  I saw several other groups of people on the ice and nobody else was catching.  Just goes to show you can't always stick with what usually works.  The fish were not on the bottom and unless you moved around and fished mid water column and up to the ice there was no catching going on.  So don't forget the rest of the water column when you are out on the ice.  Also having a MarCum Flasher can really help you understand how fish are using the water column and put your lure in the high traffic area.

I've been very impressed with the Jaw Jacker on ice.  I set it up with three small ice jigs or flies about a foot and a half apart and tip with pieces of meal worm.  Drop the set up down and wait.  More often then not when it goes off there is a fat trout on the end of the line waiting to be brought in by you.  If you are allowed a set line in your province or state I highly recommend investing in some of these.  

I previously used tip downs which I built, but usually by the time I ran over to grab the rod the fish had dropped the bait.  The Jaw Jacker actually sets the hook for you increasing your odds of catching more fish!  

If you'd like to see the action from this day click the links below.  I also do a demonstration of my Jaw Jacker rig for those of you who are curious.  

Till next time - Tight Lines!

The Fishing Doctor

Finally Fall Fishing Northern Pike!

Fast approaching the end of another great Canadian fishing adventure in early August, we started entertaining the idea of going back in the Fall.  My wife didn't have to ask me twice before I quickly found a gap in my schedule over the last week of September and first of October.  Flights were booked and it was all planning and daydreaming from there.

Fishing in the fall had always been something I read about in magazines and watched on fishing shows, but never able to experience first hand.  Generally I'd fish over 50 days a year, but these days were highly concentrated around school vacations.  Now after 20 years of education and 4 years of post graduate training life looked more promising for a fall fishing adventure.

As with all new adventures much planning and self education is required for success.  I started reading everything I could lay my eyes on regarding fishing the fall bite.  After a few trips to Outdoor World and hundreds of dollars spent on large swim-baits and crank-baits I was certain I had what was needed to put some fish in the boat.

The Horizon Airlines pilot announced we'd be arriving at the Edmonton International Airport in a few minutes.  Gazing out the window I could see the John Deere combines working the fields and fall colors on the trees.  The weather had been great and the first cold weather was set to hit while I was in town. This was fine with me since everything I had read stated a cooling trend in weather turns fall fish on the chew.

My target fish of choice was northern pike as I'd never really caught much over an 8 lb pike in open water.  Pinehurst Lake in North East Alberta has always been a favorite lake to catch summer walleye and monster northern pike through the ice.  I figured given the presence of large pike in the winter this would probably be our best bet to hook into a dandy.  Keep this in mind if you are after trophy fish, you have to fish waterways known to hold them.

The weather report said we could expect a high of 4 degrees C, wind, overcast and rain showers throughout the day.  We geared up and put a tarp on the 12 foot aluminum boat.  Dressing appropriate to survive a day like this is key.  Layer your clothes, wear a rain suit and don't forget to wear something warm on your feet like winter boots or insulated rubber boots.  This will make all the difference on those cold fall fishing days.

We launched and started to troll large crank-baits on the south shore along deep water rocky points.  These are known fish holding structures in the summer and fall.  As the weeds die off the small bait-fish will move to these rocky areas to find cover from predatory fish.  Naturally the walleye and large pike are drawn here in search of food.  After a few minutes of trolling my dad hooked the first pike of the day, but far from a monster.

Shallow weed lines and reeds can also hold large fish as the waters cool to temperatures that large pike can tolerate while in search for a meal.  We next headed across the lake to a very large weed bed and cast large crank-baits.  This seemed to be the ticket as we started having explosive strikes and hookups on hard fighting northern pike.  I knew we were on the fish and it was only time until we found a big one.

Slow retrieving a 6" jointed crank along the surface was drawing some great strikes.  Then it happened.  I could see a freight train of a fish streaking towards my lure and inhale it.  The line zipping across the water and off my reel, then NOTHING!  What happened?  I reeled up the excess line and found my 30 pound fluorocarbon leader had broke.  This brings me to another tip.  When fishing for these toothy critters it is a good idea to use a steel leader or if using fluorocarbon use at least a 100 pound leader.  I found this out the hard way and that pike was now carrying an expensive lure as jewelry.

We caught many more pike before evening approached and my dad started to suggest we head back across the lake closer to the boat launch.  I suggested we try trolling along the reeds where we had seen a lot of white fish surfacing.  Since big pike eat whites and tulibee I figured there must be some lurking.  I cast out the lure and pumped the rod as we trolled along.  BAM!  another big hit on the line and this time the fish is pulling drag.  I slowly coerce her up to the surface some 50 yards away and notice this fish has a wake, not the usual spiraling snot rocket on the surface.   Soon the big fish was beside the boat and into the awaiting landing net.  It really happened, a big pike!  My fall fishing dreams had really come true.  We snapped a few pictures and video before letting the large female pike swim away for another day.

What a great end to another awesome fishing adventure.  I think I have a new addiction that will have to wait until next fall!  Till then check out these pictures and video of the day.

http://www.youtube.com/v/eMyBJtMuudk?autohide=1&version=3&attribution_tag=by_6mQG05IM3f-z6nBT-NA&feature=share&autoplay=1&showinfo=1&autohide=1CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO OF THE REST OF THE PINEHURST ACTION, COULDN'T GET IT TO SHOW UP.

Kokanee Fishing Wood Lake British Columbia

British Columbia is a very attractive place for most Albertan’s to head during the summer months. “Why?” some people may ask since Alberta has it's own stunning outdoors. If you haven’t been to Alberta I’ll fill you in…. Mosquitoes! There are a few other reasons my family enjoys going to the Okanagan Valley including tasty fresh fruit, hotter days, beautiful lakes to water ski on and camp at without that Alberta algae. So what is an avid angler to do surrounded by the watersport center of British Columbia? Quite simply put, they fish! We usually stay in Oyama, which is a town between two adjoining lakes, Kalamalka and Wood Lake.

Kalamalka is known for its spectacular blue green waters that make you feel like you’re some place tropical. Fishermen on the other hand will tell you it is well known to hold some monster lake trout in its depths and fair sized rainbow trout. Wood lake on the other hand is known for a population of fat kokanee that school in the lake. While the lake trout fishing seems tempting we often head out after kokanee salmon to take a little break from water skiing. There is one small problem. The best fishing and calm water skiing times seem to coincide in the early am hours. Lucky for me the kokanee in Wood Lake usually are eager to bite most of the day and later afternoon.

Sadly this past summer (2013) the kokanee fishing was closed on wood lake due to a population collapse from a couple of bad spawning years and fishing pressure.  So hopefully the fisherman leave them alone and let the fish rebound so we can once again catch some kokanee in the years to come.

Like I've said the best fishing is usually in the early am hours when the sun peaks over the mountain.  Fish are readily caught almost all over the lake in depths ranging from 60-120 feet of water.  These fish are usually suspended somewhere between the surface and 60 feet down.

Our typical set up is very simple and goes to show that likely anyone will be able to catch them.  Just get any sort of lake troll or Ford Fender flasher rig.  Then put a kokanee shock leader which helps prevent the hook from being torn out of these soft mouthed fish.  Next you need some sort of lure.  They will bite on all sorts of lure from small spinners, spoons, plastics, and plugs.  Our favorite to use on this lake is the watermelon colored Apex by Hot Spot.  These are killer tipped with a few maggots or just fished bare.  We find these keep the fish hitting even when they've not been biting anything else.  When the fish are biting you can't go wrong with a pink wedding band and a few maggots.

Once you are set up we usually had 1-3 ounces of weight to the front of the lake troll to get it down to the fish.  Typically you want to let out 40-60 pulls of line to start.  Then add more or less if nothing seems to be happening.  One of the most important things is slow trolling.  Go about as slow as possible.  If your boat wont go slow enough then just take it in and out of gear or drag a sea anchor.  The slowing and speeding up action which causes the lure to rise and fall through the water column often causes strikes.  Another way to slow the lines is to troll in an S pattern or make frequent turns.  The inside rod on a turn will often catch the fish as it is moving the slowest.

Having a landing net is a good idea if you want to get more fish in the boat since they like to go air-born beside the boat and will get off right beside the boat if you aren't ready.

Best of all they taste great!  I can't wait till they re-open the lake so we can get back out there and catch some.

Trophies of the Past - Fishing Seibert Lake

The sun was just cresting over the horizon as dawn promised a beautiful day. I was in the back seat of my uncles Chevy listening to the stories of old exchanged between my uncle and his father in law. We were headed off ice fishing and spotting dear in the never ending glistening snowy fields of northern Alberta. Now this may have been over 20 years ago, but I still remember the stories they told about fishing Seibert Lake. That famed Trophy Lake where you weren’t allowed to use bait and the monstrosities of fish would just cruise on by.

Over the years I’ve fished Pinehurst and Spencer, but never stopped to see if the fish were biting at Seibert Lake. That is until this summer.

We were visiting family in Canada and were fortunate enough to have a neighbor lend his fishing boat to us for a few days. I had been researching all the lakes north of Edmonton and decided that the one I’d most like to explore was Seibert. I’d never been there and the chance to keep a walleye for dinner had me excited to go.

Now considering I have a 6 month pregnant wife, a daughter who’s a few months from two, a 15 year old brother and the parents along I wasn’t expecting to leave at the crack of dawn. So we got a late start and headed out to Seibert Lake. If you’ve never been there the last 20 km of road is a sandy forest road. We pulled a 16 foot aluminum Lund behind my Dad’s Escalade and needless to say it was a little muddier than when we started.

The sun was shining, the wind was blowing and the fish awaited us. We launched and headed up to the north side of the lake where I hoped to find some structure. We trolled a drop off with deep diving crankbaits in 20 to 30 feet of water. The fish finder was marking some very nice arches. The only problem was that all these arches (sonar fish) were right on the bottom and were refusing to take our offerings of Rapala and Reef Runner. There didn’t appear to be any suspended fish either which are usually more likely to hit trolled crankbaits.

This predicament required a change in attack, so we sped around to the other side of the lake and found some weed beds. My Dad was the first to hook up. It seemed to be a pike on the line and dragged him right down into the thick of the weeds. We had to position the boat against the wind in order to try and pull the fish out. When we finally got the line free there was only a fishless crankbait covered in weeds at the end of the line.

Nearby a gentle point on this very featureless lake beckoned me to give it a try. I decided there must be some walleye hanging around, so we stopped and anchored off the point in 20 feet of water. We selected lures and started casting. I went with a personal favorite to use on bait ban lakes, the chrome and glow Cicada blade bait.

I started my fan casting pattern to cover the water by tossing it as far out as I could. Let the lure free fall to the bottom with a semi taught line. Using this technique you can tell when your bait hits bottom or a fish takes it on the drop. When the lure contacts bottom pull the rod tip 1-4 feet and let it flutter back to the bottom under light tension. This method may imitate a feeding or wounded baitfish.

It wasn’t long before one of those pops off the bottom led to a subtle tap. Without hesitation I loaded up the
rod and sunk those barbless hooks into a nice fish. After a short battle a fat walleye was in the boat. It measured over the 50cm size limit and went into the ice chest for dinner. After the success my dad and brother switched over to the Cicada and started catching walleye as well.

Soon the afternoon sky darkened as large rain clouds headed our way. We thought they might miss us, but then the down pour came rapidly. We pulled the anchor and headed straight for shore to hide under some trees until it passed. We weren’t even under the trees for 5 minutes when the rain subsided. You have to love Alberta afternoon showers! The sun came out and the lake was glass calm.

We decided to have a little shore lunch since we were already on solid ground. After finding some dry wood we started our fire, dried off and ate some yummy hot dogs before heading back out on the water.

The rest of the evening was spectacular and we continued to cast blade baits for a walleye here and there. It wasn’t fast and furious action, but we did manage to release a bunch and take home a couple for dinner. Good fishing considering we were exploring a new lake in August. What a great way to spend the day with family.

Another great adventure, creating my own story fishing the Trophy Lake of Old.

Cold Lake Alberta Trolling for Lake Trout in the Summer

COLD LAKE, ALBERTA 

Summer lake trout fishing with downriggers was all I could think about when planning our trip up to Canada.  It had been a few years since we last fished Cold Lake and from everything I had been hearing the lake seemed to be on fire!  We flew into the Edmonton International Airport from LAX and headed out to Garner Lake where my Grandpa Les lived.  

We discussed our plans and checked out the weather forecast as this is a very big lake and heading out on a windy day can leave you stuck on shore.  For forecast looked very promising with temperatures to 28 degrees Celsius and minimal wind.  After seeing the amazing Alberta day ahead of us we got all packed up and our gear prepared for the great day of fishing ahead. 

I woke up early to make some lunch and waited patiently for my Grandpa and Wife to get ready and head out on the road.  Cold Lake is about 1 hour and 20 minutes from where he lives so it really isn't too bad to head out for some Lake Trout.  

After a short trip on Highway 28 we arrived at our destination.  We made our way through the provincial park to the boat launch and unloaded the boat for what looked to be the start of a promising day.  Grandpa fired up the engine and headed out of the bay.  We had been planning on heading down to the Saskatchewan side of the lake, but coming out of the bay we spotted a whole bunch of people fishing near by so we went over to check things out.  It appeared most people were trolling with downriggers and a few people were jigging.  We saw a couple fish caught and decided to give this spot a go. 

We were running two downriggers and three lines off the back of the boat.  Our lures of choice for the day were the Manistee, Williams Wobbler and a large silver apex behind a Hot Spot Flasher.  One downrigger was running two lines about 20-30 feet apart.  We would put one at 47 feet which always seems to be our lucky number and one deeper down at 70-90 feet.  It wasn't long before we were hauling in one lake trout after another.  

Now it is important when fishing large spoons behind the downrigger that you use a treble stinger hook or you are not as likely to catch many fish.  The lake trout are notorious for short strikes when trolling and the stinger hook will likely catch 70% or more of your fish.  So don't forget to add this extra special touch.  Also it is important to vary your speed going slower and faster to encourage the following fish to strike.  This can also be done by making turns as you troll.  

Well turns out we caught fish like crazy all day long!  We landed over 20 big lake trout and lost probably twice as many before they got in the boat.  We were catching fish from the surface all the way down to 120 feet.  The largest was probably around 12-13 pounds, but did not have a scale for definite weight.  We were trolling at a good pace in the new boat and it seemed to be working well.  What a day, an epic day! 

  

We only fished till 5 pm or so and the fish were still biting good when we left.  Even got some double headers including one big set fat Lakers!  
If you're planning a trip out to Cold Lake this summer get yourself some downriggers, some large flashy spoons and your are ready for a fishing trip of a life time!!!  




Check out these Youtube videos from our day of fishing Cold Lake! 

Subscribe to my youtube channel for more great fishing videos! Click Here: http://www.youtube.com/Brandonkop