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Post by clocarno52 on Jul 7, 2013 12:48:32 GMT -5
I'm hoping you guys can help. I realize this is a Champlain forum but I am assuming the techniques used on Champlain will help me elsewhere . I am trying to learn how to catch trout in lakes. I do not have down riggers but I do have a couple poles with lead core line. I have always just fished for bass and pike but recently have challenged myslf to catching trout and it has not gone well. When I have gone for trout in the past couple years i have fished Lake Fairlee, Caspian,Crystal, Nelson Pond. i am more or less trying for Rainbows but i am open to any trout species. I plan on trying Peacham this fall for browns. I usually use a Dave Davis with a night crawler like my dad showed me but I'm thinking there has got to be a better, more productive method. Today I tried a variety of lures at various depths and nothing - fishing Nelson for 'Bows. i do enjoy the challenge, but im feeling like i could really use some help here.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
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Post by bomber on Jul 8, 2013 18:14:29 GMT -5
I've never fished any of the lakes you mentioned but the best thing to do is talk to some of the folks that do fish the ponds. If there is a local bait shop stop and talk to them. Talk to some fishermen at the boat ramp. I know brown trout like 60 degree water but not all Vermont waters hold Browns. I use to catch rainbows with a black fly trolled just under the surface early morning and just before dark.
Good Luck Captain Bill Birch
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Post by clocarno52 on Jul 9, 2013 9:59:17 GMT -5
Thank you Bill
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Post by Scott Johnson on Jul 13, 2013 20:20:13 GMT -5
Caspian lake has some monster lake trout. I remember reading about someone catching a 26 pounder there. Since you dont have down riggers you could try vertical jigging for them.
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Post by dylansboat on Jul 14, 2013 9:46:21 GMT -5
Look at my post in Fishing Reports on fishing Harriman Reservoir 7/12/2013. It might give you some tips. On my lead core I use from 40 t0 60 feet of root beer colored 8lb monofilament for a leader. Then I put a good ball bearing swivel on with another section of root beer colored leader of 6 to 8 lbs. Then I tie on a clip to clip on the lure. For lures I often tape my own spoon blanks but I have found rainbows like bright colored attracting lures or lures that resemble their prey. I have had good luck with spoons that resemble smelt, with black, purple & white colors, and perch colored spoons. I know a fella that does well trolling Thomas Buoyant & E. P. Spoons. I hope this helps. Jerry
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Post by clocarno52 on Jul 15, 2013 13:47:04 GMT -5
Thank you Jerry and Scott for your reply. I'll try both.
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Post by gseries69 on Aug 16, 2013 14:39:41 GMT -5
Lakes and ponds can be broken down into sections according to light penetration and water temps. Where light penetrates the lake to the bottom there will be plant growth. This is known as the littoral zone. Where plants do not grow in the middle of the lake is known as the limnetic zone and the bottom of the lake where light does not penetrate and plant matter decomposes is call the profundal zone. I will explain why these zones matter below.
Temperature is also categorized into three main sections. The epilimnion is the top section of water that mixes with air providing a transfer of oxygen to the water, followed by the thermocline, and then the hypolimnion. Why are these important? Trout require three things to survive, food, oxygen, and safety. Find this combination and you will find the fish. After ice out a lake or pond becomes a consistent 39 degrees from top to bottom. Since water is most dense at 39 degrees (ice of course is colder and therefore light than 39 degree water which is why it is on top) when the ice melts and warms to 39 degrees it sinks to the bottom and mixes the entire lake or pond. This is called spring turnover. Turnover is a necessary process to bring nutrients from the bottom to other parts of the lake. As spring and summer progress, the water begins to strattify which means that the 39 degree water which is heaviest stays on the bottom and the warmer water stay on top. Between these two layers is the thermocline were the temperature changes drastically. It is important to recognize the thermocline because below the thermocline the water does not mix with the air on top to transfer oxygen to the water. The decomposition of detritus on the bottom (profundal zone) adds to the depletion of oxygen as it is used up in the process.
So, trout requiring oxygen to live can not survive below the thermocline. Getting back to the littoral, limnetic, and profundal zones, plant growth creates oxygen and also produces food for invertbrates. The littoral zone is where plant growth occurs most. The limnetic zone may hold certain forage species such as smelt, and the profundal zone will only be able to hold insects and forage species that require little to no oxygen. For the most part you will only find chironomids, an important trout food at certain stages, living in the profundal zone. You can and will occassionally find trout in the limnetic zone following schools of smelt, but by and large, trout will be where the water is coolest or closest to the thermocline AND in the littoral zone where the food is. Depth will also provide the third requirement of saftey. Therefore, where the littoral zone meets the thermocline, trout will have access to food, oxygen, and be in the safety of depth.
In summary, to find trout in the summer, you will need to find the thermocline and then move into the littoral zone where the thermocline and littoral zones meet. That would be my first choice to find trout. You can also look for them in the limnetic zone following schools of smelt but there are typically fewer trout there because the food sources in the littoral zone are easier for the fish to harvest.
Unless there is a specific hatch occurring, trout are usually not too finicky about what they eat. However, they will only expend as much energy to catch food as the food will provide. In the littoral zone where there might be lots of insects for the trout to feed on, they will move slowly to pick off the abundance of insects. During a chironomid hatch the trout will move slowly across the waters surface sipping them from the film. Bigger meals like a smelt or forage fish will motivate the trout to chase but again if an easier meal exists in the littoral zone from insects they will spend more time foraging there.
Hope that helps!
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