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I'm going to head up to Yellowstone for a canoe trip up into Shoshone Lake this summer. Have done it a few times before, it is incredible.
On Shoshone we catch a lot of lake trout. About the only lure you need is a gold Jakes. However, I was hoping to try something different this trip. I've wanted to try something other than the Jakes and was wondering what I could use. I don't know a lot about Lake Trout but my understanding is that they feed on Cutt's....correct? If that's the case, are there flat fish that look like cutts, or anything else you can suggest that I use to catch these fish?
Just looking to try something new.
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I dont know what other fish that the lake trout in the lake have to eat but they well eat what ever there is in the kake that is small enuf for them to eat.. if cutt's are there only food then that would be a good bet..if not i would look into minnows of some kind in the lake as a food sorce..and mach up the flatfish to that.. and i have found in the past that sometimes they will go after something that dont even look any thing like something they are use to seeing as food.. like red with black spots..or a perch patern and frog patern..but flatfish can be a great way to catch them..
another good way to catch them here in utah is to jig for them useing tube baits and bucktail jig's tipped with sucker meat..
dude on fish?
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What time of year do you head up there?
I'm going to go up in July for a canoe trip. My buddy goes every year, but this will be my first time. He usually catches 98% cutts with a lake trout thrown in here and there. I don't know if you're fishing the same lake as him or not. He's on the main Yellowstone Lake. I assume that where you're fishing that they also request that you kill all lake trout caught? He has shown me some pics of some beautiful macs that he's caught and then just slit their gills. Seems like a shame, but I guess if it will save the cutts and help rid the system of the unwanted transplants, then it's best in the long run.
I'd like to target some of the lakers up there just so I can stock up on some meat to bring home. Do you troll with the jakes, cast them, or jig them?
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I have been to Shoshone on several occasions. My recollection is that there are cutts in the river that runs through the guiser basin but I have never caught one in the lake its self. I'm sure they are there but mostly you will catch Macks and Browns. I have also found the best bet being a gold Jake's.
We usually go in Aug. Some years the Lewis River just above Lewis Lake has some nice Brown in it. I caught a couple several years ago on a black Panther Martin with yellow spots on the blade. Two years ago my son got about a 6 lb brown on Shoshone on a Jake's.
I have used other things but will little success, that being said the guy that first took me to Shoshone always used a #0 red and white Mepps and fished it deep. Another guy I met at Bear Lake this year ice fishing, always uses a red and gold Crocodile.
It would be fun to tube for them but the wind is always a concern and I wonder about the lead free policy of the park and the use of lead headed jigs?
One more thought on Shoshone. There is a small lake just north of Shoshone called Pocket Lake. It is full of Brookies and fun to fish with a fly and bubble. All brookie caught must be kepted or kill due to over population. It is about a hour hike from Shoshone.
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yeah you cant use lead in yellowstone that is a bummer. you cant use anything that is toxic. i make my own jig heads. so before i go to yellowstone i whip up a batch of biologically safe jig heads. it makes it nice to fish with them and not have to worry about getting caught.
jr8fish
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I was told that you have to keep any macks that you catch on yellowstone lake.any truth to that?
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[cool] You don't have to keep them, but you do have to kill every lake trout you catch in Yellowstone Lake. Here is the language from the regulations:
"ALL lake trout [/url]caught in Yellowstone Lake, its tributaries and the Yellowstone River must be killed. If you do not want to keep the fish, puncture the air bladder and drop it into water as deep as possible. Anglers that catch lake trout must report the number and catch location to the NPS (verbally or by using the report card provided with the permit)."
Here is a link to a press release the Park Service put out last Fall on the issue:
[url "http://www.nps.gov/yell/press/03113.htm"]http://www.nps.gov/yell/press/03113.htm[/url]
Hope that helps.
Don
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I caught a nice lake trout casting a Silver Kastmaster from shore on Lake Yellowstone last summer.
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I have always gone up in the latter part of July, crossing over into August. In the past the campsites I wanted didnt open up until then but now they are opening up a few weeks earlier. Other campsites on the lake open up in May & June.
I've canoed Shoshone several times and have caught lots of big fish each time. I've also fished the river in-between Lewis and Shoshone with success. It is a very beautiful area.
I've also canoed Yellowstone Lake. I took a bunch of Varsity Scouts on a 50 mile canoe trip there in 98 and have canoed it on other occasions as well.
In the past the only thing we ever even took with us was the gold Jakes because everything else was just a waste of time. On Shoshone we would only keep what we could eat. And since the fish were so big we coulnt eat very many.
The way I have always fished the Jakes is by just sitting off shore in my canoe and casting them. On Yellowstone Lake you can retrieve them at a normal clip....but on Shoshone it was best to reel in very, very slow.
I went one time with a buddy who did rather well using a wooly bugger and his fly rod. I had mine with me, but never pulled it out. I'll be trying it as well.
Thanks for all the tips. We are going to spend most of one day on the river and the rest of the time on the lake.
I've seen some pretty wicked waves on that lake (and Yellowstone Lake) in the afternoons....that is when we sit at camp and tell lies.
Thanks again everyone
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You are going to laugh but the time I went into Shoshone we took in a canoe and a 14ft jon boat. That was murder rowing against the wind and 3ft white caps to get to the camps on the other side of the lake. Anyway, we took in a fisher finder and fished with popgear and lures. Fishing was pretty slow when we were there but we did better than most. We found a concentration of fish using the fish finder and then marked the spot with markers. We trolled through that same area over and over to catch our fish. But I would not say that the pop gear was an advantage. We caught just as many on crocodiles and lures like that. The lakers weren't very big for us. They only went 17-18 inches. It was a little dissappointing compared to a neighbor of mine that caught one years ago that was 26lbs and 34 in. That one is still hanging on his wall.
m
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Hey Don, here's a Jake's Spin-a-lure.
[image]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=3620;[/image]
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[cool] Thanks Cat_Man !
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] When you say you've caught lots of big fish from Shoshone, how big do you mean? And, what's a "Jakes"? Thanks.