Old Salt makes an excellent point re: "erratic action" prompting lake trout to strike. 

Years ago, I had been trolling a flashy silver spoon in a Woodland Caribou lake that was well-known for its lakers.  We had gone what seemed hours-on-end without any action whatsoever.  My bored paddling partner had given up and was alternating between snoozing in the bow and (occasionally) motoring me around the lake.  Suddenly, he woke up, saw me "still at it", and just shook his head.  In what must have been an inspiration from "dreamland", he suggested, "Hey! Try raising & dropping your rod tip in repeated elongated motions - about 5-6 feet or so - and slow down your retrieve.  If that doesn't work, vary the speed of your retrieval."  The suggestion seemed funny coming from him since, to the best of my knowledge, he was strictly a "pitch-buzzbaits-to-bass" fisherman.

Since I certainly couldn't do any worse than I was already doing, I immediately gave it a shot & adopted the tactic, even as he spoke.  No lie, a really nice lake trout slammed my Sutton Spoon on about my third dip!  I went on to catch a few more nice ones in relatively short order using that same technique.   

My buddy told me he uses that "erratic action" technique with certain saltwater species "to trigger fish that are otherwise tentative about striking."  Nowadays, when it feels like the LT fishing is dead, it's a "go-to" tactic that I use with some success.  Generally, I'll put on the flashiest spoon in my box and have at it.  If, after 20 minutes or so, that technique fails, well... you know it's time to paddle back to camp and enjoy whatever libation might be on hand.

Later,

Jimbo   8-)