Lake Trout

1
Lake Trout

• Fly Fishing Strategies

2
The Fish

• Lake trout are char
• Salvelinus namaycush
• Require cold, clear, well oxygenated water
• Preferred temperature range 48 to 52 F
• Fall spawners
• Diet
• fishes - whitefish, cisco, perch, minnows
• insects

3
Where

• Deep cold infertile lakes
• oligotrophic Canadian shield type lakes
• Algonquin Park - 150 Lakes
• Spring less than 20 feet of water
• Summer - deep water 50 - 100 feet
• Thermocline, oxygen and forage

4
When

• Best times to fish
• right after ice out late April and early May
• overcast days, early or later in day
• slight chop/wave action generally means better
  fishing

5
Fly Fishing Techniques

• Important to cover water
• Trolling (depth varies based on line and speed)
• troll with all of fly line out, impart jigging
  action
• Casting to specific areas
• Combination of trolling and casting

6
Prime Locations

• Main lake points (close to deep water)
• Sunken islands, reefs, shoals
• Deep drop-offs, cliffs and rock faces
• Narrows with current
• Saddles between islands

7
Spots to Look For
points
reefs
sunken islands
saddles
drop offs
rock faces
8
More Spots

• Underwater points
• Narrows between deep lake areas
• Deep troughs

9
Equipment - Rods and Reels

• Rods 7 or 8 weight, 9 to 10 feet in length, med
  fast action
• Reels durable large arbour
• accommodates line plus at least 100 yards backing
• cassette systems/extra spools

10
Equipment - Lines and Leaders

• Full sinking lines (type III to VI)
• Integrated sinking heads - 150 to 300 grain
  (Orvis Depth Charge, SA streamer express and wet
  tip express)
• Shooting head systems (versatile!)
• Backing - at least 100 yards of 20 or 30 lbs
• Leaders - 7 to 10 feet long
• Tippet - at least 2X tippet or 10 lbs, mono or
  fluorocarbon

11
Equipment

• Watercraft (canoes, pontoons, tubes, power boats)
• Stripping basket - highly recommended if casting
  
• Depth finder
• Rod holders

12
Successful Flies

• Imitators
• minnows, ciscoes, perch
• insects
• Attractors
• (chartreuse, yellow, black, blue, red, white)
• Patterns
• rabbit strip streamers
• clouser minnows, deceivers
• muddlers and woolly buggers
• boobies

13
Resources

• Books
• Fishing in Algonquin Provincial Park, The Friends
  of Algonquin Park
• Fishes of Algonquin Provincial Park, The Friends
  of Algonquin Park
• Stillwater Flyfishing Tools and Tactics, Paul C.
  Mariner
• Bob Sheedys Lake Flyfishing Strategies
• Bob Sheedys Top 50 Stillwater Fly Patterns
• Ontario Blue Ribbon Fly Fishing Guide, Scott E.
  Smith