Three Times To Use Large Baits On Lake Trout
A couple of years ago I helped design a special series of tube baits (Tora Tubes) for Canyon Plastics. My particular designs covered the 8-, 10-, and 12-inch sizes. The idea came to me while cleaning a 12-pound “pup” lake trout that chased a large 10-inch swimbait almost all the way back to the boat one spring day on Flaming Gorge. The fish inhaled the bait as if it were 3 or 4 inches in length.
Since we wanted to bake a trout for a family dinner, we kept the trout and while cleaning it we pulled out three rainbow trout between 10 and 14 inches in length. My immediate thoughts were: if smaller lake trout will still eat trout more than a foot long, why were we trying to catch larger lake trout with 4 inch tubes? Why not develop a tube that better mirrors the actual size of the prey lake trout are targeting?
From that humble beginning, the tubes were developed and have been a hit with avid lake trout guides and anglers. Let’s explore three circumstances and situations that warrant their use when targeting large trout or lake trout.
1. When forage fish are large. This might sound obvious but several times we’ve been fishing for lake trout immediately after a stocking truck had planted thousands of 8-inch rainbow trout in a small bay near the boat ramp. The trout were surfacing and they were easy to see. Within minutes of the stocking, lake trout of all sizes began roaming the small bay in search of the rainbows. We threw swimbaits of a similar size and caught several great fish.
2. When you’ve located huge lake trout on your finder. At times, the largest lake trout will congregate together in very deep water. This happens in late spring and will continue through the summer and early fall, at least in Utah. With the finder on manual sensitivity and by dropping the large tubes directly down the cone angle to the bottom, you will be able to clearly see your bait and attract the interest of the fish nearby. This is a great way to “anticipate” the bite — watching your screen until a lake trout wanders over and picks up your bait.
3. When you want to swim your tube. I’ve had many opportunities to swim my Super tube through active schools of lake trout. These large lake trout will generally swim up behind the tube and inhale the entire bait from the rear. There are times that a large tube will represent a bait fish much better than a hard jerkbait.
These three situations occur frequently on lake trout waters. It is crucial for you to be observant and notice the size of the forage. Lake trout can be finicky but in the end, they all have to eat. Wait them out and get ready for a great time on the water.
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