Flathead Lake Lake Trout fishing in might isn't for the faint of heart! On the largest, natural fresh lake west of the Mississippi, weather changes occur rapidly, and together with creating it laborious to remain heat enough, or cool enough, it makes the fish activate and off like light-weight switches.
I even have been hearing from several anglers that say they're troubled to even catch a lake trout, and truth be told, I have had a handful of these days myself! once eight boats flip in fourteen fish on a waterproof Days Saturday... that's a significant indicator that we have a tendency to all have to be compelled to re-assume what we are doing. There are a couple of belongings you will do to assist increase your possibilities of success.
Remember, not like different lakes within the west that have Lake Trout, Flathead Lake doesn't have Kokanee Salmon, a significant food supply for Lakers. you need to fish this lake differently from all the rest, particularly once trolling, as lakers kill the bottom, not on the surface here.
Also, Flathead Lakes lake trout hate a blooming barometer. tiny changes they tolerate OK, however massive swings flip them off, right now. continue the fish, downsize ANd bog down your offerings. once and if the pressure starts to swing back up, like when the sky clears, then you're there prepared for them.
Undoubtedly, when fish are neutral or negative...small offerings, like flies, small spoons, small tubes or hoochies are going to be your friend. a tiny low dodger or flasher, even employing a massive spoon with the hook removed as a flasher is the right thanks to go. Watch your scent; don't offer an already fair fish any further chance to ignore you.
build your set back from the attractor to the lure a bit longer, adding 6-10" will build that lure bog down enough to permit the fish to react while not abundant effort. If you're victimization Yakima Bait Company Flatfish lures, take into account retrenchment to a T4 or U20 size. And slow it down. one mph is about right. If using hoochies or flies with Gold Star/Silver Horde dodgers and flashers go 0/0 or maybe 000.
place it in their face. knowledge way below the downrigger ball your baits swim and modify your depth accordingly. They aren't attending to chase it once in these moods. A fifty kilocycle per second electrical device offers you the wide angle you wish to check your baits and downrigger balls on your sonar, and when tuned right you'll track the ball because it drops, then watch that bait settle into its path. understand wherever that bait is.
Montanas Flathead Lake is muddy in May. The wind is returning from a special direction nearly daily, spreading that mud line East-West some days and North-South others. the faculties of bait fish, Esox lucius cyprinid fish (squaw fish), and Whitefish are on the move daily, and the Lake Trout (Mackinaw) are too. notice the clearer water, slow things down, use additional muted colors, and up your odds considerably.