[afishman]

i dont have a boat any suggestions on bait or lures? thanks for all your help

 

[1eyered]

Well.... I'm kinda new to this lake myself, but I've been up there twice and did fair so here goes. As far as I know, it's stocked with rainbow trout and there's a healthy population of puppy lake trout. I don't know what other kinds of trout there are tho. The last time I went up, my girlfriend caught a hefty one. That was like last Tuesday. There were many small macks (bout 14" to 20") surfacing and gulping bugs off the surface near shore (and til that day, I always thought mackinaw don't do that stuff) so maybe bring a fly rod if you're "fly-fishing competent."

Some of them gulped bugs right next to my boat and I clearly saw that they were macks. For some reason.. For as many as I saw the last time I went, I didn't get many hits as the 1st time I went when nothing was surfacing... Hence, the fly rod.

What worked for me was pitching big white tube jigs torwards points and stuff. Some hit like as soon as the lure would drop in I'm guessing 5 to 10 ft of water. Some hit as I worked the thing back to the boat. Well...... That's pretty much all I know. I'm sure some more seasoned mackinaw hunters will help you with better tips and whatnot. Oh yeah and...... Prepare to lose a bunch of lures to snags.. And prepare to retrieve a bunch of fishing line. I reeled up like two or three wads, but I stashed them in my grocery trash bag that I brought along. It sucks to get that stuff caught in your prop as I learned up there. Hope you do the same..

Good luck.. Catch fish.. Take pictures.. And post a report..
1eyeReD

 

[BubbleFlyGuy]

Good of you to take away the line wads. Birds, fish get tangled up as well as props and the like. People just leave that stuff all over. Thanks again for cleaning up a little.

 

[afishman]

thanks oneeye i will post tommorow night

 

[jeremycallahan]

There is also splake in there too 1eye.

If your after just rainbows with the occasional mack, the inlet is good. On the west side there is a small waterfall/stream comming into the lake and just north of that is a small point (sort of like an entrance to the inlet "cove". There you can see the weedline meet the sand and it is about 15ft there. I would sit on the point and just cast out a night crawler threaded on a hook and slowly reel it back to you. I caught about 30 fish there, mostly rainbows, but a few macks. Its a long walk there however. There is a point on each side of the lake where the entrance to the inlete cove is, either one will work. If you make the trek, it will keep you away from the crowds.

 

[1eyered]

Those two points by the inlet are the ones I focused on. My 1st trip there, I did well at the point on N side. I've yet to try the point on the south by the little waterfall thing. However, the last time I was out there I couldn't catch much at the 'usual' point, but the wads of fishing line and weeds were hittin left and right.

 

[1eyered]

There is also splake in there too 1eye. 

Just curious... How do you identify a splace from a mackinaw? :-[
Oooh.. I'll have to go re-examine the pic of my lady's fish. My lack of knowledge about these graceful creatures is embarrassing.

 

[tal0362]

Ieye,

Many of the "lakers" in Jefferson are splake-especially the small ones. The splake have a wormy pattern on their back where lakers have just spots. It is pretty hard to tell the difference at times.

Terre

 

[jeremycallahan]

Here is some other things i have found in a book i have. 1. Splakes tails are not as deeply forked as lakers, 2. their fins are more rounded then lakers, and 3, what talo said, more of a worm pattern on their backs from brook trout.

I am still debating if the fish at the bottom of the pict is a laker or a splake, what do you think? The tail is deeply forked leading me to beleive its a laker. The coloration however is almost more of a splake look.

 

[tal0362]

IMO

Laker

 

[1eyered]

Man..... The way you guys explain it, I'd imagine it being difficult to identify. Sounds pretty much like the same fish to me. So do them splake get as large as true lakers?

 

[work2fish]

I am still debating if the fish at the bottom of the pict is a laker or a splake, what do you think? The tail is deeply forked leading me to beleive its a laker. The coloration however is almost more of a splake look.

IMO, it looks like a splake:

http://wildlife.state.co.us/fishing/Fish_Identification/index.asp

and that tail looks ripped rather than deeply forked. The page says you can usually tell the difference in that splake have tri-colored pelvic fins but that is hard to tell from the photo... Also, I think that the second fish from the top is a zombie trout, a rare undead species. ;D

1eye,

Splake, which are of course a hybrid of a brook trout and a laker, don't get as big as pure lakers... Here are the state records for comparison:

http://www.coloradofisherman.com/colorado_fishing_records.htm

 

[1eyered]

Ahh I see.. Thanx.

 

[TroutFishingBear]

During late fall, you catch a splake and it looks like a huge brookie. heck even sometimes in may and june on the mesa they have looked like brookies. (the mesa doesn't have many splake anymore, and they are just began to start stocking them in island after stopping in 1990.) They look like brookies in the fall though, except they have a forked tail.

 

[TroutFishingBear]

During late fall, you catch a splake and it looks like a huge brookie. heck even sometimes in may and june on the mesa they have looked like brookies. (the mesa doesn't have many splake anymore, and they are just began to start stocking them in island after stopping in 1990.) They look like brookies in the fall though, except they have a forked tail.

 

[1eyered]

During late fall, you catch a splake and it looks like a huge brookie. heck even sometimes in may and june on the mesa they have looked like brookies. (the mesa doesn't have many splake anymore, and they are just began to start stocking them in island after stopping in 1990.) They look like brookies in the fall though, except they have a forked tail.

Ah.. Yes, I've seen some pics before with large brookies from CO that I couldn't quite put my finger on.. Those that I've seen...... Well, except for Slayer's gargantua brookie.. Were probably splake. Thanx for the k-nowledge.

 

[tal0362]

Work2fish might be right,

but, it is really difficult to tell. Even in broad daylight.

In the upper peninsula of Michigan we have several subspecies of Lake Trout as well as splake. We have "Fatties" or Siscoits which are really really fat, we don't like to eat - (its a different fish that ussually lives deep- 150-300 feet), Mackinaw which are thinner and good eating live 10-150+ feet, and we have what is called redfins which are best - really red meat and inhabit the same water as Macks. Siscoits have rough skin texture and are fat in the belly! Macks and Red Fin have smoother skin and are thinner in the belly.

In upper Michigan one can look at the color of the pectoral fins to determin Macks or Redfin - if they are red with a light leading edge (like a brookie) it's a Red Fin - really a good eat , if it is a skiny fish with smoother skin and ligher coloring on the pectorial fins it is a Mackinaw-good eats. Of course none of this is absolute. If it has a wormy pattern (the dark part or the pattern - not the light dots) on its back, it is probabaly a splake. The tail being V shaped or more squared off is even more judgemental - IMO.

For me it is the dark part of the pattern on the back of the fish (which we can't see very well in this photo) is what I use to decide if I call a fish a laker or splake... A dark wormy pattern and it a splake, no dark wormy pattern... it a laker,,,, my boat log comes with a eraser and I reserve the right to change my mind.

Terre