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2008 Fall Prize Categories 2008 Spring Mack
Days 1st
Week-2,171 Total-9,910
Youth Total-14,415
Youth
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Lake trout are fall spawners. Temperature, light and wind are factors which contribute to the onset and duration of spawning activities. Lake trout spawn on offshore shoals, drop-offs, ledges, or steep slopes, and points near islands or the shoreline. During this time they will be concentrated in the areas described and will be easier to find. Most anglers fish using the jigging method during this season. Anglers can be successful vertical jigging-putting your lure on the bottom and jigging up- for lake trout or casting towards shore and jigging as they reel back towards the boat. Jigging action does not have to be high and hard jerks-try different jigging actions if they aren't hitting. Use a 6 or 8# test line. Most anglers feel confident with it but if you don't go to the heavier line. You will have less resistance in the water with the lighter line and the action of your lures or jigs will be better. Try different speeds-slow and shorter, softer, up and down motions-if that doesn't work go to a faster, harder motion. Some days out there you have to try everything to find what is going to work. Be versatile. Jigging areas with reasonably sheltered spots on Flathead Lake are off Woods Bay, Yellow Bay, Blue Bay, and West shore State Park. Other areas are the river delta area, Conrad Point, Painted Rocks, Cedar Island, Rocky Point, Wildhorse Island, the Narrows, Finley Point, and Gravel Bay. If the fish are still not hitting on your jig try different colors and different depths. Try the glow colors in the deeper water-color is important. Jig up off the bottom a couple of reel turns. If that doesn't work try going to the bottom and jigging up off of it. Match your jig with the depth-use heavier jigs the deeper you go. Lift your jig higher so fish can see it from a distance. A depth finder is a great tool to have on the lake. It can tell you the exact depth the fish are at, give you an idea of how many there may be, and whether they are near structure on the bottom or suspended in the water column. Lake trout will lay low and hold tight to the bottom so watch carefully to find them. Areas that are steep, rocky, drop off, or have bait fish in the area are good spots to begin your search for them. Once you find the depth they are holding to you can target it and anchor over the fish for jigging or troll around the areas where you have spotted the bait fish. Trolling for lake trout is a good technique to use and can work well for any angler regardless of experience or age. Good spots for trolling are the Narrows, Conrad Point to Painted Rocks, Wildhorse Island-Cromwell Island, Yellow Bay Point North or anywhere the shorelines are steep. Trolling can be done using flat lines or downriggers. Remember that lake trout are not always hard hitters. Check your line every so often to see if you might have a fish on. The larger lake trout sometimes will not hit very hard and will surprise an angler before they know it. Some anglers say that the larger lakers will not spend a lot of energy going after bait so troll slowly. If you don't have success then speed up a little. During the warmer weather most of them may move out to the deeper areas of the lake but there will still be a few in the shallower areas feeding. You don't have to have expensive trolling equipment to troll. There is a newer type of method being used in other areas. It may work here. Try using this light tackle technique. Use 6# test line-a light action rod, three- way swivel, and a 3 oz. weight. Tie two 4 foot pieces of line to your three-way swivel. Use a 3 oz. weight on one line and a light lure on the other. Drop your line to the bottom and reel up a couple of cranks or go down to the 40-60 feet level and start trolling. The lighter line is less resistant and is supposedly easier to get deeper. You may have to experiment to find out what works for you but once you spend the time doing that you will become a consistently successful lake trout angler. Knowing the habits of the fish will help you as an angler. Lake trout will concentrate in areas where there are bait fish or mysis shrimp-you may find a few of them in shallow areas even during the warmer weather especially during the time when the perch are in the bays. (Late June-July) Watch for surface activity where baitfish may be. Fish around the weed beds where the perch will be. Find steep banks, ledges, or drop offs, and troll close to them. Fish will concentrate in these areas because of the protection it gives them. They can go deep to escape sunlight, to feed on the bait fish, or they will use these areas in the fall for spawning. They seem to hit hardest in the early mornings between daylight and 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. That doesn't mean they won't hit at other times of the day but just that the early morning bite is a little more productive. Lakes stratify into three distinct layers during the warm weather. They will remain that way until fall. The middle layer of water, where there is a large concentration of dissolved oxygen, is call the thermocline and can generally be found from 10-80 feet down. This is not only an oxygen rich layer but is also a temperature layer as well and fish relate to it because of comfort and the fact that their bodies function better in this layer. This layer is where you can find bait fish and the predator fish looking for the bait fish. Lake trout like temperatures around 50 degrees and are most active in temperatures of 43-53 degrees. Some say that fish will rarely go out of this level except to feed and then will return to that depth or level. Thermoclines will change from day to day depending on the wind and wave actions. Anglers who are trolling may try finding the thermocline and fishing in the depths of it. Most fish can see in color and you need to remember that when fishing Flathead Lake especially in the deeper areas. When light travels through water the water absorbs the energy of the wavelengths of the color. Warmer colors fade out and will appear black as light penetrates the water column. Red is almost completely absorbed within the first 15-20 feet. Orange penetrates to 30-40 feet, and yellow and chartreuse to 60-70 feet, and green and blue will be visible for as deep as the light penetrates. White will turn gray at about 60 feet and black is always black. Cloudy days or murky water effects how far the color wavelengths penetrate the water. They fade in this order-red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Fish in the deeper water will see blacks, grays, blues, and greens and shallow water fish will see all colors. White, silver, or glow colors, flies or lures with sparkly tails or colors will work well in the deeper water. Fish also smell so use some scent oil and cut bait on your lure for some additional insurance. It is illegal to target or harvest bull trout in Flathead Lake. Westslope cutthroat trout are catch and release in the lake. It is the anglers responsibility to know how to identify these fish. If you need information on fish identification or if you have tips or information you feel will be helpful to other anglers telephone us at 406-883-2888 ext. 7294 or 406-752-5501. Bull trout will have a squared off tail, no black spots on the dorsal (top fin on the back), and will have colored spots on the back and sides. These spots can be pale red, orange, pink, or can even be yellowish. The smaller bull trout are hard to identify. Please look carefully are each fish you decide to harvest. If you don't know-let it go. We encourage all anglers to be safe. Check local weather conditions before going out on the lake. Be weather wise, and tell someone your plans, let them know where you are going and when you plan to return. Keep aware of clouds and wind direction. If you see a storm approaching give yourself plenty of time to reach your launch area or a safe place. During high wind-wave activity you may want to wait out the storm on the back side of an island, in a bay, or on shore. Check your fuel supply before leaving, and carry extra fuel. Make sure your boat is in good working condition and that you have proper safety gear on board. Safety gear could include the following: life jackets for every person on board, throwable device (life ring or floating cushion), adequate clothing, first aid kit, high calorie snacks, drinking water, visual signaling device (flares, flag, flash light), cell phone (place in a zip lock bag), tools and spare parts for boat motor, extra rope, sun screen, oars, fire extinguisher, whistle or horn, paddles, and bailing bucket. Practice the three C's- caution, courtesy, and common sense. Remember that alcohol impairs your ability to make good decisions. It is unlawful to operate or be in actual physical control of a boat while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Safe boating begins with you-please be careful.
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