Fish Lake macs

[ratnest]

I am planning a trip down to fish lake in the coming weeks, and am interested in trying for some macs. I will be without any electronics in a small aluminum boat.

Just looking for some general ideas on how to fish for them, and what to use.
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[PBH]

My recommendation for someone with no electronics would be to zig-zag my way up and down the shoreline outside the weedline trolling large rapalas or other deep diving plugs.
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[ratnest]

Large rapala, meaning something in the 6 inch range?

How about large tube jigs?

I am guessing the trolling is to cover a lot of ground, since I won't be able to "see" them
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[mattdaddy]

If you have access to a gps you could go to go to a sporting goods store and purchase a lake map with coordinates on fishing hot spots where macs historically hang out. Just another option if you dont own a finder.
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[PBH]

[quote ratnest]Large rapala, meaning something in the 6 inch range? [/quote]

Sure, if you have some. But if you don't, I wouldn't spend the money on them. I guess large is a relative term. 2 1/2 - 3" plugs should work. Heck, pop-gear and a dead minnow may be the ticket.



[quote ratnest]How about large tube jigs?

I am guessing the trolling is to cover a lot of ground, since I won't be able to "see" them[/quote]

Bingo. Tube jigs would be great, but without sonar you're really taking a chance at jigging over a barren moonscape with no activity. Sonar will at least give you some confidence of fish activity.

Trolling is going to allow you to cover ground. Whether you can see the fish or not, you can confidently know that you are getting the lure in front of some fish. Changing your lures to adjust your depth will most likely change the fish action you receive. Trolling shallower will probably result in more action, but more rainbows, while trolling deeper may result in less action, but more lake trout / splake.

One other thing you can try that should work is to anchor on the east side where you have a steeper drop. You could bait fish, jig, flyfish, toss spinners, float a marshmallow, or anything thing else you wanted to try. Fishing the east side of the boat should result in more action (closer to the weeds = more fish) while fishing the west side of the boat (deeper water) may result in an opportunity (theoretically) at larger fish. Just don't be surprised when the biggest fish comes from the shallow water!


(I would recommend trolling up and down the middle of the lake either -- I would try to keep outside the weed line in 60 - 90 feet of water. Obviously, this is going to be hard without sonar -- so just try to keep yourself within a reasonable distance from shore, but not smack in the middle of the lake.)
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[GEEZER]

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