Fly Fishing Techniques for Lake Trout

 

You might see product links on this page. They are our affiliate links and we will earn a small commission if you choose to purchase anything through them. If you do, we would like to thank you in advance; it helps us keep this site up and running. There is a lot of useless junk on the market today, but you can rest assured that we don’t promote anything we haven’t used ourselves. Tight lines, Dave & Reg

A lot of anglers mistakenly believe that lake trout fishing consists of slow trolling heavy lures at great depths. They are surprised to learn that lake trout will readily take a fly. Use the right patterns and flyfishing is a very productive method of taking these fish. Here at Grizzly Creek Lodge it’s not uncommon for our guests to catch and release 40-50 lake trout a day on a fly rod. This article will show you the fly fishing techniques, and gear you can use to catch lake trout on a fly rod.

                                             Fly Fishing for Lake Trout

Before we get into the actual fly fishing techniques guides recommend for lake trout its helpful to have a basic understanding of lake trout biology.

Lake trout prefer water temperatures between 45-54 degrees Fahrenheit. This is important for flyfishers because once the surface water temperatures start to climb above 54 degrees, lake trout will move into deeper water.

When lake trout move deeper, it doesn’t mean you can’t catch them with a fly rod, it just means that you will have to use different tactics.

How deep they go depends on the geographic location of the lake. Here in the Yukon Territory where we fish surface temperatures will remain in the low 50s into July.  

A fishing thermometer is a must have item for flyfishers chasing lake trout.

Buy your thermometer here

Structure is another important consideration. Lake trout love structure. Find the right type of structure coupled with water temperatures in the low 50s and you will find trout.

For more detailed descriptions on how to find lake trout see our complete anglers guide to lake trout here.

                                             Fly Rods For Lake Trout

One of the most common questions we get is “will my 5/6 wt. fly rod handle lake trout”.  The short answer to this question is ‘yes’. The longer answer is, ‘yes but it’s not ideal’.

Lake trout are hard fighting fish with stamina that will surprise you. Expect multiple long runs into your backing because thats exactly what will happen.

The problem with a lighter rod is fish mortality. Countless studies have shown that fish mortality rates go up when fish are fought to exhaustion.

Good fly rods for lake trout start at 8wt. and a 9 or 10 wt. isn’t overkill. Believe me. The nice thing about an 8 wt. rod is its versatility. A good quality 8 wt. rod will handle the largest lake trout and is perfect for throwing big flies to largemouth bass and pike.

If I was buying a fly rod that would only be used for lake trout, it would be a 9 or 10 wt. rod, but most flyfishers will get more use out of an 8wt.

Ive been using an 8wt. made by the Moonshine Rod Company for a couple of years now and it is fast becoming my favorite rod. Their Drifter series is a good quality rod that feels and handles like a rod worth twice what it retails for.

                             Choose Large Arbor Fly Reels for Lake Trout

Fly reels are manufactured in one of two ways, cast, or machined. All else being equal, machined reels are usually more expensive. Both manufacturing methods produce good reels.

Large arbor reels, with quick change spools are the best choice for lake trout fishing. They will give you enough room for 100 feet of backing under your fly line.  

Quick change spools are a handy feature when you need to switch lines out on the water.

The drag is the heart of any reel, and good drag is essential on a lake trout rod. There are two different kind of drag systems used on fly reels; disc drags and click-and-pawl. Disc drags are the most popular, and by far the best choice for a lake trout rod. A disc drag gives you more stopping power.

                                    Top 5 Streamers for Lake Trout

There are so many streamer patterns to choose from that it can get confusing. You could spend a lot of money on dozens of patterns hoping to get a winner. I adhere to the KISS philosophy, and as such my fly box contains what I need, and only what I need. No extra fluff, or distractions.  

The following list contains the absolute best streamer patterns for lake trout in northern waters. We have been vetting them for the past 34 years.  

Clouser Deep Minnow:

The clouser deep minnow is a winner. Hands down the best fly for lake trout I’ve ever used. That might sound like a bold statement, and it is; the clouser is that good.

An interesting article on the clouser minnow can be found here

A clouser deep minnow has a faster sink rate than some other patterns, so it’s a great choice when you need to get your fly down further into the water column.  Our favorite colors for this fly are orange / white, red/white, and grey/white. A tuft of tinsel tied in makes this pattern even better.

Rabbit fur strip leech:

Rabbit fur has a unique quality in that it produces an undulating action as it is pulled through the water. If you have ever seen a leech swimming through the water column you will know what I mean. A rabbit fur streamer mimics a swimming leech perfectly.

Since a rabbit fur strip leech doesn’t sink as fast as other patterns, they are our go to fly when we are casting or trolling streamers over shallow water.

Wooly Bugger:

It wont surprise many to see the wooly bugger make our list of top lake trout streamers. Pennsylvania fly tyer Russell Blessing gets the credit for creating this pattern way back in 1967. This fly has probably caught more species of fish than any other pattern. Black is the go to color for this fly.

The wooly bugger is perfect for those warmer calm days when the fish get lazy. One of our favorite tactics for a wooly bugger is to slowly work it along the edges of underwater structure.

Lefty’s Big Fish Deceiver:

The deceiver is another well-known and trusted pattern, designed back in the 1950s by the late great Lefty Kreh.  Available in a variety of sizes and colors this pattern is useful for everything from bass to sharks. Few flies are as highly regarded for the salt water as is the big fish deceiver.

Larger sizes up to 5 ½ inches long work great for lake trout especially when we switch to a full sink line.

Mike’s Meal Ticket:

This articulated pattern is relatively new compared to the others on our list of top lake trout streamers. A fly tier from Ohio by the name of Mike Schimdt designed this streamer and it’s a real winner for both lake trout and northern pike.

Mike’s meal ticket is a larger fly that really gets a lake trout’s attention. This pattern really shines when lake trout are feeding on large schools of ciscoes. It stands out so well it will initiate strikes even when cast in amongst a school of baitfish.

That’s it. Those are our top 5 streamer patterns for lake trout. Have a collection of these streamers in your fly box in an assortment of colors, and you have everything you need to catch lake trout anywhere in northern Canada, and probably anywhere else.  

                                         Trolling Flies for Lake Trout

Trolling flies is one of the fastest ways to find and catch lake trout with a fly rod. With an intermediate sink tip line your streamer will run relatively shallow. This is the setup we use early in the season when the surface water temperatures are still below 54 degrees.

Some of the best locations to target early in the season are shallow shoals, spits or points of land, and across the mouths of inflowing and outflow streams. There are a couple of important points I want to make here. The first being that large schools of lake trout will often sit suspended in a very small area. This means that you might need to make a few passes over an area before you find them. When you do get a strike, hone in on that area because chances are good that there will be a lot of trout there.

If you have never fished for lake trout before you might be unaware that these fish will bump their prey before they strike. They do this to stun prey fish. Sometimes while trolling flyfishers mistakenly think they have touched bottom when in reality what they felt was a lake trout bumping their fly.

Later in the season when the surface temperatures start to warm up lake trout will move out of the shallows into deeper water. When this happens a lot of flyfishers think they are out of luck, but that’s not the case.

Switch over to a fast full sinking flyline and troll big patterns like the Deceiver or Mike’s Meal Ticket. Slow up your trolling speed will get these streamers down even further. The results will surprise you.

                                      Casting streamers for Lake trout

Casting for lake trout is considered by many to be the holy grail of fly fishing. The clouser minnow is my favorite pattern for this type of fishing. It doesn’t hold as much water or catch as much wind as the larger streamers.
On unfamiliar waters, the fastest way to locate productive areas is to troll until you find fish. Once you have a location identified, you can set up in a place that will enable you to get your flies on target.
Some tricks I have learned over the years have helped me land more lake trout. —-Even in still waters, there will usually be some underwater currents—-Wind direction plays a significant role in how I fish a given location.—-Birds like loons and gulls will often be seen over productive areas.

                                       Take Advantage of Underwater Currents   

Underwater currents will determine how lake trout utilize a particular location. An example of this is prominent points of land that jut out into lakes. These points of land will continue underwater out into the main lake and are favorite locations for lake trout.

They will sit suspended right on the tip of these underwater points, and will be facing into any underwater currents. To fish these areas effectively, cast your fly across these points and a few yards upstream of the current. Let it sink down to the depth you want to fish and start your retrieve. This method will put your pattern in front of fish almost every time.  

                      Use the Wind and Wave Action to Get your Flies in Front of Lake trout  

Strong winds are the bane of flyfishers. High winds make it much harder to cast big patterns especially when you need to cast into the wind. A trick that has helped me put my clients on fish is to locate natural windbreaks and fish the natural eddies these windbreaks create.  

As the winds blow across a lakes surface waves will build up and move downwind. As the waves are pushed past natural obstacles like points of land or bays large eddies will form on the downwind side. The eddies will be on the downwind side right where the wave action starts to subside.

Lake trout will congregate in these areas in windy conditions and by positioning yourself on the leeward side out of the wind you have easy access to productive water.  

Few fishing experiences can rival a day on the water chasing lake trout with a fly rod. These hard-fighting fish will test you and your equipment to the limit. Don’t for a second believe the myth that the only way to catch lake trout is by trolling big heavy lures in deep water.