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Went out this morning got a couple lakers. First one was 29” and really fat. Smacked my vibrato suspended 30ft down over 68fow. Promptly released, definitely a greaser. Quick photo and held in the water for a 30 seconds then it took off vigorously. Warm water 75f up to 78f when I left. Thermocline appeared to be at 25 fow. All the bait in lake 1 was bottom oriented, big thick smelt and herring schools filling the bottom 40-70fow. I even caught a 6” smelt. All the big fish were swimming through around 25-30ft over the deep waters.
Went to an adjoining lake, very different, all the herring balls were concentrated at 15-25 ft down over 45-120fow. Almost no life down low. No fish were had, only one big laker mark up high amongst the herring balls.
Back to lake 1, back to original spot, found a whitefish in 68fow suspended about 50ft down. Smacked my vibrato after some cat and mouse. Skinniest 20” whitefish I’ve ever seen. Brought it home and almost no meat on it, it was crazy I shoulda just let it go.
Fished a bit more and managed another nice laker at 24”, much better eating size from this lake. Packed it up and went home.
Fun morning out. Fish were around but bait shy most of the morning. Marked more around noon when I called it quits.
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That first one is a nice size laker, whitefish looks almost malnourished, and the fillets look perfect. Do you ever remove the pin bones - I generally do once they’re over about 1.5 lbs.
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QUOTE (Drew @ Jul 20, 2025 - 05:10 pm)
That first one is a nice size laker, whitefish looks almost malnourished, and the fillets look perfect. Do you ever remove the pin bones - I generally do once they’re over about 1.5 lbs.
I do a V cut or tweezers on day of cooking. Sometimes I V cut them before I vacuum seal them. Sometimes I can get away with a single slice along the top of the pin bones and when cooked they come out easy.
Group: Members
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QUOTE (Newburg007 @ Jul 21, 2025 - 07:29 am)
Nice catch. But, ....do you think you could use some rod holders? My clods would be stepping on/crushing rods for sure. (Princess Auto)
It’s on my list. They’re usually more organized than that but I was switching things up a lot as fish seemed bait shy. I want some of those holders for my ice fishing sled that’s for sure. My boat does have storage for rods, 2 rods each side, usually I use those.
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QUOTE (mykola @ Jul 20, 2025 - 02:25 pm)
Went out this morning got a couple lakers. First one was 29” and really fat. Smacked my vibrato suspended 30ft down over 68fow. Promptly released, definitely a greaser. Quick photo and held in the water for a 30 seconds then it took off vigorously. Warm water 75f up to 78f when I left. Thermocline appeared to be at 25 fow. All the bait in lake 1 was bottom oriented, big thick smelt and herring schools filling the bottom 40-70fow. I even caught a 6” smelt. All the big fish were swimming through around 25-30ft over the deep waters.
Went to an adjoining lake, very different, all the herring balls were concentrated at 15-25 ft down over 45-120fow. Almost no life down low. No fish were had, only one big laker mark up high amongst the herring balls.
Back to lake 1, back to original spot, found a whitefish in 68fow suspended about 50ft down. Smacked my vibrato after some cat and mouse. Skinniest 20” whitefish I’ve ever seen. Brought it home and almost no meat on it, it was crazy I shoulda just let it go.
Fished a bit more and managed another nice laker at 24”, much better eating size from this lake. Packed it up and went home.
Fun morning out. Fish were around but bait shy most of the morning. Marked more around noon when I called it quits.
Nice laker and whitefish.
You saw lots of herrings? I am looking to catch some herrings:-)
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Mid-Summer Lakers, Good Morning
