Lake trout tips

[Bigjay73]

Finally made it out ice fishing this weekend. I always drill a hole in my spot and drop a small jig tipped with a nightcrawler while setting up my shelter. A few minutes after dropping that jig on Sunday, I got a bite and was in for a ride. I almost got spooled three or four times; the feeling of that monster shaking its head was unbelievable.
I was a little overconfident in my new 20lb braid and 15lb fluoro leader. I tightened the drag a bit too much, and the line snapped after five or six minutes of getting nowhere with this behemoth. Better to have fought and lost than never to have fought at all, but the memory of that feeling has both haunted and motivated me for the last two and a half days.
I’m a lake trout newbie and really have no idea what I’m doing. I just find underwater terrain suggested in articles and YouTube videos, but I’m still pretty clueless out there. Either way, the thought of hooking into a gigantic Laker has me fired up like a dog in a bacon factory. I will gladly take any pointers anyone has. It seems most advice revolves around northern lakes filled with smelt and ciscoes, not the suckers, Kokanee, and small trout that Colorado’s big Macks forage on. How do Rocky Mountain anglers target big lake trout? How do suckers move in lakes during the winter?

 

[Goatshoes]

Sounds like small jigs tipped with nightcrawler while making a commotion on the ice above is the way to go.

Good luck!

 

[Bigjay73]

That's fair

 

[Sask hunter]

Never fished Lakers but the tube jigs seem pretty popular fo them

 

[Dougfirtree]

When the water is this cold, they can go anywhere, but I think interesting rock structure in 20-40 feet of water is a good place to start.

 

[Bigjay73]

When the water is this cold, they can go anywhere, but I think interesting rock structure in 20-40 feet of water is a good place to start.

Thanks. I caught some decent ones in 10 ft last year. They seem to be all over in the winter