They seem to like structure as much as any fish except it's deeper or near deeper water at least.

I've never used spoons due to the possible tangle factor but have used 1/4 - 3/8 oz silver tinsel jigs with good success (even trolling 'em) but normally it's trolling deep diving silver/blue cranks for me.

A friend of mine always swore by perch fat raps trolled slowly. In Summer I don't think it's possible to paddle too fast and when you get that telltale nip-nip, give it all you got. IMO LAkers are like bass - an aggressive fish that will hit anything they think might get away just to see how it tastes.

Do fish have taste buds?

I think this approach would work, but numbers wise for lakers, slightly smaller stuff  (but still large) would work better. They definitely will hit large lures though. They regularly eat small lakers more than 12-14 inches long so.... One thing, I think you will get more lakers with large flutter spoons, like the large Northern King type salmon spoons, as opposed to large wobbling spoons like daredevles. Of course the pike will hit anything. Also don't discount large 'regular' plugs like the number 18 floating rap.

Moonman.

I use ball bearing snap swivels with everything except jigs and live bait rigs. Cranks, spoons (especially), every bait I throw has a ball bearing snap. Otherwise, you're asking for twist and should not be disapointed when you get it. I also use larger sizes than most, and fish are not put off by them.

About the only spoons I carry are flutter spoons. I carry one daredevle for the odd situation where I may cast it. Most of my fishing is trolling, either while moving on a travel day, or to locate fish on a layover. On layover days, I will make use of the wind to drift troll over reefs, etc.

I'm a believer in big baits=big fish.

The farther up your line you have your ball-bearing swivel, the less twist you will get out of spoons.  I tie a 4-5' leader to use when flutter-spooning and put the swivel at the front of the leader.  Makes landing the fish a little more tricky but with the big wobbles, spins, and flips you get out of a large spoon, a swivel too close to the spoon doesn't stand a chance of eliminating the twist.

If you aren't using a ball-bearing swivel, don't even bother.  The cheapie swivels with no ball bearings are a total waste of money.  You are lucky if they even work 20% as well as a ball-bearing swivel.

If you DO get line twist, your best strategy is to just cut off all your terminal tackle and troll for a while while just feeding out bare line until you are past all of the twist.  This allows the line to untwist naturally as it passes thru the water.  5-10 minutes of this will usually do the trick.

Check your lure action and trolling speed next to the boat when using spoons.  It's easy to go too fast and destroy the action of the spoon.  Too fast and it just spins around in a way that doesn't produce fish.  You want that spoon to dance and dart around a lot, not just spin tightly.

Mylar spoons are awesome at deeper depths.  You get a ton more flash and it mimics the shiny gold or silver color of ciscoes, alewives, smelt, etc. which are the prey fish that swim deeper down and over open water.  You can even find mylar tape and add it to spoons that have none.

Personally, I like Berkley Cross Lock swivels. Match size to lure and line weight but generally prefer the smallest size I know to be strong enough.

Moonman.

i second the comment on tail dancers. i always carry a bunch of those.

as for line twist with spoons, the best method ive come across is using a small sized bottom bouncer a few feet in front of the lure. change out the swivel on the bouncer to be a nice ball bearing one and then use a cross lock snap on the spoon. the bouncer keeps the weight off the line so the torque to twist it is too high even for a spoon to twist it. the light weight makes sure you dont run too deep.

On the line twist issue:
When I was young and dumb we'd cast and then start trolling. As you can imaging We'd get some twist from fowled lures now and then. I've tried the let the line out and paddle for a while fix with not great success.

These days to cure annoying line twists I'll cast out, reel in and let the last 4-5 feet of twist spin my lure and let it's momentum take it as far past neutral as it will go. Cast out again to even things out. Then I repeat until all the twist is gone. A few casts will take care of all the twists those little bass you don't notice right away can cause. A spare spool is small and light insurance.

I have done almost nothing but think about how I can dredge some big boys out of Basswood this upcoming August.

My thinking is that big fish have refined eating patterns and seldom deviate. I believe big pike are apt to eat outsized meals that may hold them over for a few days...........so the window of opportunity is likely to be narrow. Add in that they may spend considerable time in the deep during summer and the game gets exponentially more complicated.

While I love the kick and vibration of spoons (fleeing prospective meal) they can be tough to fish effectively in the depths. The first prerequisite I would opt for is braid. Smaller diameter will keep the spoon in the zone longer as the lure will be less apt to kite up (small diameter of braid vs mono). I like the husky devle...........Throw it on 50 power pro with a beefy baitcaster and your in business.

One of my strategies will be to troll a Manns stretch 30 which is essentially a saltwater wahoo lure (11 inches). With 65 power pro and a muskie rod depths of 30 to 40 feet will be easily attained. The only question is how long will I be able to keep the big bad lure in the water..........can you say popeye forearms? (arrrrgh......maybe I'll hope for a good stiff breeze and troll downwind)
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That will be experimental..........a tried and true tournament winner is the cobra jig/big shadtail combo. Definitely a big fish lure with outstanding versatility.
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I'm also looking to do some butterfly jigging if the finder can show me the right spot...........
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Can't wait. Had to reconfigure my packs due to the decked aspect............I'm now the owner of a 4ft waterprood duffel (watershed), slides up inside rather perfectly.

The trial run is tomorrow.........The primary reason is to see if the depth finder will shoot through the hull..........but I am sort of pumped to see how she does. Yeehaw.

Puckster wrote on Jul 10^th, 2012 at 2:13pm:


I'm thinking helmet cam...
And: I think the mann's baits will work well for you and have seen the smaller version of the 30+ work really well for LT.

Hint: Db turned me onto the topo of Basswood.........it has all but North Bay area.

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Well worth the dough, especially if you are looking to score on the lakers.

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One of many sources for this map...