Nice tank Laker
 

After multiple fruitless muskie trips since open water (and ice), NJsquatch and I dumped the tin can in for panfish fun this weekend. There were plenty of fish, but the size wasn't great in general and they were def picky, it had to be right in their face it seemed.

Saw decent wind forecast for monday so i rushed out after work for a quick trip...def wasn't as nice as predicted, but I was able to pinpoint a few single marks (no pods). used the new navionics map contour detail card to keep in the zone and ended up hooking up 2 on 4 hits and landing both. One was a real nice thick tank of a laker. Still trying to break 31" though :) Not sure how these fish got a reputation for not fighting well, they usually jack the rod up all the way to the surface.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...05e08edb54_800

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...0b2048fe32_800

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

Work???you do that stuff>?? blastphamy... they dont fight like that in the summer....nice feesh!!!!

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

I enjoy jigging for em’ in da winter. They thrive in cold water obviously. Never really enjoyed the battle they put up in the warmer months however! They seem to lose there heart and strength once you get em’ up into warmer water. Lakers, winter, yesssssss!!!

Nice thick deep water dweller buddy!!! I’m sure she was a good time on 4-6 lb test!!!:D

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

Chris nice fish did you keep it ?

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

What a beast dude!! Love the picture

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

Nice thick fish.... They all are super fat this year !

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

Very nice Chris!

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

Hey Chris, According to the lake trout population survey that I posted, your 31 incher is becoming more and more elusive. They are just not growing as large as they grew 20 years ago. The number of lakers has increased substantially especially since they are reproducing naturally. There may be just too many now for them to grow to truly trophy proportions. The fishery is so healthy that it's actually preventing the fish from growing too big. More of the smaller fish have to be put in a smoker so the others can grow.

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

yeah there is def a stunting effect happening. can't grow giants on a diet of shrimp i guess.

I was going to keep the smaller one (which i recommend everyone doing as often as possible) but i just didn't feel like filleting/cleaning it so i released it.

I feel like if you jig for them in the summer, you need to plan on keeping them, they just don't seem to do well coming up into warm water.

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

i try to stick to the important stuff like eating and fishing...and sometimes sleep, if there's no night bite happening.

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

Beast! Youll get that 31 inch sooner or later. You know how to target the big girls!

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Nice Lakers. Would have kept the biggun for a meal :)

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nah too rare here. plenty of 20-24" plenty of meat on them.

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Congrats, that is a really nice laker and I think your right about the available forage. The alewife is probably one of the big fish keys but an abundant plankton population is a required food source for their numbers and I don't believe it's sufficient but it can be increased by pumping water from the river into the Valley. It's also necessary for the state to consider regulations if we want big fish and that should include doing what you did, take a picture and put it back for another day. Here is a link of a Ct. study that is to me an eye-opener and the lake that I told you about had the numbers of big trout go way down.

http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/fish...gt_2014-15.pdf

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

here's one from saturday, had two like this and NJSquatch had a nicer one about 26" had about 5-6 hits too that didn't hook up. not too bad for a few hours. back at it today looking for that 30"+ monster.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.fish...0b0c93ec6e_800

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

My first non-trolled laker!

Not sure why they get a bad wrap for not fighting. She pulled hard the whole way up from 70 fow.

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

Nice fish guys.. Hoping to do some deep water jigging asap

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Wow!!!! You will get a 30 inch Laker today! Make sure you kiss it goodbye. Fish that size hard been declining rapidly for as long as I can remember. Whack em dude!!!:D

Re: Nice tank Laker
 

It was total overcast and neither me or xlyak had ANY action at all!!! I'm waiting for the sun before the next attempt! :mad: