Flatfish

[ekimjack]

I have been toying with the idea of trolling flatfish for big trout or lakers. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice, like speed, how far back from the downrigger, or is it even worth the bother. I have had some luck with rapalas, Just curious if anyone had any insight. Thanks.
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[nkunz]

I troll flatfish a lot slower than rapelas. Probably around 1.5 mph.
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[ekimjack]

Do you find you have any better results with the flatfish? Or does it just depend on the day? When would you troll a flatfish over a rapala? Thanks.
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[Therapist]

Trolling flatfish has long been a favorite technique in Utah for catching trout, from slow trolling the F7, F8's at Strawberrry and Schofield to dragging the T55's on steel line at the Gorge for Lakers. While several different colors were used at the Gorge, the GSB was the most popular. Supposedly, the T55's are now available through Luhr Jensen who purchased Henlin Tackle. Don't know if you would want to drag it behind a downrigger or not. The steel line method would drag the lure right on the bottom in 80 to 125ft of water. You had to carry replacement hooks because if one hung on the bottom, you would have to straighten it out. Very seldom would you loose a lure, but you went through a bunch of hooks.

[ekimjack]

Thank you, defiantly something I am going to look into.
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[Bigguyone1]

If you are looking to buy some used Flatfish I have a bunch I use to use at the Gorge but since moving from WY to UT I do not fish Lake Trout anymore....drop me a PM if interested as a lot of T55 size and similar
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[Beautiful-Fish]

For big Lake trout at Flaming Gorge, troll small white or pearl white flatfish 2 ft off the bottom at 1.5 mph . Use F5 or F7 flatfish
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

Flatfish are my go-to lure for trolling for lakers at Bear Lake. I've tried a lot of different brands, but the Yakima Flatfish is the one that I've had the most success with. They run true in the water and you can troll them from less than 1mph to almost 3mph. I pretty much troll flatfish from 1.6-1.8 mph about 90% of the time. I run them further behind my downrigger weight than most people. I will run them from 75-125 back, but most the time I use about 80-100'. I use from X-5 up to M-2 sizes, but most of the time I use the U-20 and T-4 sizes. Color is all about angler preference in my opinion.
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[xberto]

We used use flatfish on my buddies ski boat, mid day when there is wind and we are tired of water sports. Wind blows boat at nice slow speed for flatfish.

I recall catching many this way, blowing across Jordanelle
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[ekimjack]

Thank you for the good information. How far below your downrigger ball do you estimate those flatfish dive, if they are 75 to 100' back? Thanks again.
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[submoa]

Speed is key, if you go too fast they can spin in circles. My todo this year is to catch macs while trolling also. My 5yo has almost enough patience for Kokanee. Not even close for the Mac's.
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[submoa]

I experiment with length behind the ball. Early for Kokanee I run the lure back further than later in the year. I'm about 100 ft back now, drop that to 20-35 ft in summer. I don't know why that seems to make a difference but it seems to. With a crank or flat fish depending on how deep they run on how much line would be a factor on how far back you run them back. I'm not the pro with riggers and cranks though. Would be interested in others feedback as well.
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