Northwest Fishing Reports

Looking for ideas. Was in Lake Smelling. It is a tiny, super deep lake. Was TONS of returns at 40 feet, while sitting in 70-100+ feet of water. I'm seeking suggestions on how to fish in that scenario. In ... let's say 40 minutes, I had 2 bites on a worm drug about 4 feet behind a 1 ounce weight at about 40 feet. Caught one fish.

I tried dropping a little jig ... let's say 1/8th ounce. It' is just too light to jig at that depth. At least to jig like I would for salmon. How heavy a jig will trout actually bite? Is this even an effective method? Commentary appreciated.

Will trout bite a suspended worm at that depth or does my presentation require action behind just suspended drift?

Any other ideas? I do not have downriggers, and for most of these lakes I will not have an electric motor.

Thanks.

Use a Little George, or a small thick 1/2 oz spoon.

would the smaller version of a buzz bomb work perhaps?

Should.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Buzz-Bom ... _l=Unknown" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've never tried to jig anything other than standard salmon jigs, which weigh what ... couple 3, maybe up to 5 ounces? So they actually go up and down. I had no such luck with my quarter ounce jig. It went up, then I guess was drifting down but I couldn't tell if it was overcoming the slow drift of the raft. I want something that might actually work, but is heavy enough to be able to be jigged ya know, even if the raft is slowly moving across the lake.

By the way, still seeking stories from people who have successfully jigged for trout. What where when how etc.

Thanks!

I would bet a large sum of money that the returns you were seeing at 40' was the thermocline. As the season wears on, it will drop, lower and lower, eventually disappearing when the lake finally "turns over." That being said, the trout are usually found just below the thermocline and can be caught with a number of jigs and spoons. 3/8 to 1 oz spoons/jigs will do just fine, don't worry about the size too much. Krocodile and Kastmaster spoons work in this application as do many of the lead slab jigs that mimic the Point Wilson darts. Tip the hook with a little bait and/or scent, if allowed, and if the fish are around, they'll let you know.

Gibbs minnow, small buzz bomb, or krocodile.

I think Gman has solved it , now that you mention it , I'm sure you are right, its got to be the thermocline, with a few fish sitting just under it. Also im not sure if those giant lures will work on the 8"-12" cutts of smelling lake. Maybe, I just don't see those giant lures being the ticket. I think that lake will be most productive fished near the plentiful structure surrounding the shore and right on the surface, and near the creeks, IE where the food is most plentiful, after all, the fish have alot of competion for food there, so find the food find the fish, and most importantly find the feeding fish that are most willing to bite. Whatever fish are hanging near the thermocline are going to be harder to target and catch as compared to the swarms of willing biters near the surface or structure. I also found that they prefered smaller flies when I fished it last, for sure I was getting better hook ups because the small fly actual completely fit in their little mouths, where some bigger spoons were getting hits but not hook ups, I believe because it wasn't fitting completely in their mouths.

Jigging a spoon huh? Interesting idea. I have a 3/8ths castmaster. That might work.

I'm really set on finding ways to catch trout on anything but the surface. Almost every lake I see returns somewhere other than the top. Hell even Lake Bosworth there were tons of returns in the bottom 5 feet of water. Whether suspended half way down or 5 feet off the bottom, I will eventually figure out how to catch them, and when I do it's game over in trout land.

As for Smelling - I caught exactly 1 fish above 8 inches. It was from 40 feet down. There have got to be huge fish in that lake. I need to learn how to catch something other than surface minnows!