Lake Trout also known as (Salvelinus Namaycush) is a type of trout that lives in North America waters. It has over time been introduced to other countries of the world. These fish live in fresh water and are one of the most popular type of fish. This is also one of my favorite fish I enjoy fishing for as a Vermont Fishing Guide.

Lake trout primarily feed on small crustaceans, snails, leeches, insect larvae and other small fish. Lake trout primarily prefer to live in larger lakes that are deep with cold water. They typically spawn in the fall season depending on the weather patterns and location. 

Lake trout can be identified by their color variation, which is typically yellowish to white spots on their dark green to gray body. They have elongated stout heads like other trout. Their belly can be white at times, and they have an orange-reddish pair of fins. 

Here are some tips to catching lake trout: 

1. Trout like cold water (depth)

Most lake trout prefer cold waters, and the depth that you fish for trout is important. You will need to go deeper as you get into the warmer seasons. Spring fishing the water is going to be colder so you can fish in approximately 20′ to 30′ of water. As the spring season moves closer to summer, you’ll have to move to deeper waters. Trout will move to 30′ to 45′ of water to stay in the cold waters. During the summer months may be a little more challenging as lake trout like to stay where the water temperatures are around 53 degrees. They will gravitate towards shallow holes where cold water is fed into the lake by a natural spring or go very deep in a larger lake. 

2. Choose your lure

There are a number of factors in selecting a lure for fishing lake trout. These factors are: 

• Average size of the trout
• Current lake trout population
• Depth
• Season
• Type of bait available

Talk to you local bait shop and find out what the native bait fish is that trout are feeding on. Follow other anglers to see what works for them with lake trout. One type of lure you can try is a spoon lure. Spoon lures are great for trout, panfish, and bass. Here is a link to them on Amazon. 

Other types of lures that work great for trout are: 

• Rebel Wee Craw
• Berkley Gulp Trout Worm
• Lindy Fuzz-e Grub
• Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue

3. Consistency in fishing

Lake trout tend to stay in the same area. Find your spot and stick to it for a while. The odds are that if you find lake trout in one spot, you’re most likely to find more there. Stay in that area and keep fishing! 

4. Live bait options

When it comes to fishing for lake trout, nothing really beats a good old fashioned night crawler. If you don’t have any night crawlers, get some medium sized minnows or salmon eggs. Those two types of bait can be effective in catching lake trout. 

5. Find the fish

If you’re fishing on a lake, you need a fish finder! Most good fish finders are expensive, but they will significantly increase your odds of finding that monster lake trout. Fishfinders also help you to determine how deep you need to cast to land that monster too. 

Happy Fishing! 

Keith