Jumbo Lakers

Each summer anglers from all over the United States, ply the waters of Lake Ontario in search of Jumbo Lakers. Lakers don't offer the adrenaline rush of a line burning King salmon or the chaotic frenzy of an acrobatic Steelhead. What they do offer, is the thrill of anticipation! "How big will the behemoth at the end of my line actually be?" In the mid 1980's a Lake Trout in the 10 to 15 pound range would make anglers sit up and take notice. Today these Jumbo Lakers best the 20 pound mark on a regular basis and some fish are breaking 30 pounds. Here's when and how to lock up on big Laker action.
Lake Trout can be taken regularly from April through September however, the stable weather conditions of the summer months tend to group big fish together. It's a noted fact among Lake Ontario's veteran anglers that Lakers will often group by size. Most fishermen on "The Big Pond" consider a Laker that exceeds 30" inches to be a trophy sized fish so they concentrate their efforts on schools of fish that are in this size range. Many anglers begin their hunt for big Lakers in the 140 to 150 foot depth range. Using cowbells, they work the area near the bottom where big fish stratify in their cold water haunts. The thump and spin of the cowbell blades will arouse deep water Lakers and cause them to investigate the disturbance. As Lakers approach the rotating blades they encounter the lure offerings being trolled behind the cowbells. Big Lake Trout are extremely opportunistic so with very little effort, they engulf the bait and the fight is on! A really huge Lake Trout will exhibit brute force and tenacity as they struggle to stay in the cooler temperatures that they prefer. The biggest fish provide a "tug of war" battle as the angler gains a foot of line at a time. Once big fish are located, mark the spot with GPS technology and continue to work the area. When cowbell offerings produce smaller Lakers, continue to troll towards deeper water until bigger fish are encountered. In the sweltering heat of summer it would not be uncommon to consistently fish the bottom in 180 to 210 feet of water.

Top Cowbell Combinations
After much consideration, I've narrowed down what I feel to be the best four combinations for taking Jumbo Lakers. These cowbell combinations don't always produce the most fish but the fish that exceed 20 pounds do seem to like them.

Combo #1 - This is a chartreuse herring bone cowbell (produced by Randy Orbach-PA) with a strike of silver lazer tape, 27" inches behind this cowbell is a medium sized chartreuse peanut with a lime green face. Two to three color coded beads are strung behind the peanut and the rig is finished with a #2 Eagle Claw Lazer hook. This combo is usually run within 6 inches of bottom and 8 feet behind the downrigger ball on a back rigger. Combo #1 consistently puts big fish in the boat year after year and is the best volume producer of lunker lakers. This needs to be in your bank of rods at the beginning of each day.

Combo#2 - This rig is also an Orbach bell and features a silver herring bone center with a royal blue halo around the outside edge. Our fleet nickname for this cowbell is the blueberry and behind this blade we troll an X-5 Flatfish or Kwikfish of similar size. The best color combination for the Flatfish is silver chrome with red dots. This bait is also trolled 27" inches behind the cowbell. Notice that we have upgraded the hooks to take the pressure exerted by enormous fish. We have also added a bead chain to the front eyelet of this flatfish. The weight of this bead chain helps control the Flatfish at higher rates of speed and also prevents bite-offs from large fish that engulf the bait! This combo does not produce with the consistency of Combo #1 however it has earned the title of "Big Fish Rig" because it's the #1 producer of fish over 20 pounds.

Combo #3 - We call this cowbell combination the "Alewife" and it consists of a Luhr Jensen cowbell with a customized tape job. Starting with a brushed silver cowbell, we tape half of the blade with black metalflake tape. We then run a single strike of silver herringbone tape directly alongside the black and leave the remainder of the blade in it's original brushed silver state. Behind this cowbell is a medium sized glo-green spin n' glo followed by two or three color coded beads and a # 2 Eagle Claw Lazer hook. On dark overcast days this combination is deadly on fish that exceed 30" inches. When Lakers go off the hit, this cowbell will get you back in the game. It also accounted for several fish over 25 lbs. last summer.

Combo #4 - The "Lemon Lime" is also a customized Luhr Jensen cowbell. Starting with a plain brushed silver cowbell, half of the blade is taped with chartreuse herringbone tape. Next, a single strike of glo-green tape is run directly alongside the chartreuse. The remainder of the cowbell is left in it's natural color, 27" inches behind this cowbell is a medium sized spin n' glo (chartreuse with black hash marks). We refer to this spin n' glo as the "Bumble Bee". Notice that behind this "Bumble Bee" spinner is a small bead chain. When Lakers are inactive and only nipping at the bait, the bead chain helps to drop the hook back and into their mouths as they pursue the bait. This is an excellent combination to run throughout the summer and is best when trolled near the bottom on the outside riggers.

Although Lake Ontario is not subjected to dramatic tidal changes, subsurface lake currents can change dramatically from day to day. These current changes are the primary reason that we have included two different style cowbells in our pick of the top four. When currents are slack in the lake, the Luhr Jensen cowbells seem to perform better. These baits troll better and the blades engage at the slower speeds achieved during slack current periods. This allows the angler to literally crawl his fishing boat and present the baits to lethargic Lakers for a longer period of time. Most mid-summer fishing is characterized by limited current flow. This is primarily due to the stable weather conditions that keep the lake calm and the fish grouped together. In the spring and fall, changing weather systems are produced by the movement of high and low pressure fronts. These fronts cause the lake to ebb and flow which produces current changes. When sub-surface currents are raging, angler's need a cowbell that is a bit more forgiving. Orbach bells will tolerate a variety of speed changes and can be trolled more consistently at higher rates of speed. These are the cowbells that get the nod when speed control is an issue.
Finally, be conscious of what is triggering the Lake Trout bite. It is not always a particular bait that is triggering a feeding response. Often, it's the combination of baits surrounding the active rod that entice Lakers to bite. Years ago, fishermen paid little attention to lure colors below 60 feet. Lake Ontario's waters were turbid and light penetration was at a minimum. Today, water clarity dictates that we pay close attention to color patterns, terminal tackle and presentation of our baits. The Jumbo Lakers are waiting and with these four combinations some truly huge Lakers will come to net this season!
Capt. Bill Saiff III is the owner of the Saiff Fishing Fleet and has been guiding for Chinook Salmon for 22 years. He is also the host of Bill Saiff's "Rod & Reel", public television's premier fishing show. Contact Bill at 315-782-4665 or www.BillSaiffOutdoors.com