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Catch of the Week & Fishing Tips
Catch of the Week & Fishing Tips
​​​​​​​​Trevor's catch of the week​​
Om, a self-taught angler with this beautiful 19.5 inch Rainbow Trout caught at Eleven Mile Reservoir

Have a fish you're proud of? Share your photo.

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Fishing Tips of the Week

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​Winter Lake Trout

One of Colorado's most targeted fish through the ice

This week's tip is brought to us from Nate Zelinsky owner of Tightline Outdoors. Nate says "One of the most popular winter fish is the Lake Trout! Lake Trout can be found in a wide variety of fisheries in the mountain region and each fishery will be slightly different. Generally the Lake Trout population will be split in two maturity age groups. You will have younger fish in that 25 inch and less range hanging together and can generally find them in deep water 60 to 80 plus feet of water. You then see your mature fish, 25 inches or larger hanging together and pending the location you generally find them shallower than the young fish. Food dictates where you will find Lake Trout. The young fish generally live deep feeding on shrimp and other small item food sources. Your larger fish will be somewhat shallower feeding on a large food source such as Kokanee, Rainbow Trout, or Suckers. In almost every situation Lake Trout are feeding up while they are hunting. They get very aggressive and are aware of their surroundings. While Lake Trout fishing I generally give a location 20 minutes, if I'm not catching or seeing fish on my electronics in 20 minutes I move. I keep moving until I am on fish."


Varying Presentations

Different jigging cadences for more strikes

When ice fishing it is easy to get stuck in a rhythm and use one jigging cadence exclusively. It is important to pay attention to the fish you see on your electronics whether that be a flasher, or any other sort of sonar device. These units will provide valuable information when it comes to what the fish want that day. You can get an idea of how aggressive the fish is and adjust your jigging cadence accordingly. When you see a fish that quickly comes off the bottom to check out your bait that's a good indication of an aggressive and active fish and a more aggressive jigging cadence can produce a strike. On the other hand it is easy to tell when fish are more lethargic and more finesse is needed to get these fish to bite. A lot of times what I will do is slowly jig the spoon or whatever lure I am using up and down a couple times and then just hold it still, this change from a slowly moving bait to a stationary bait will oftentimes trigger a strike. Pay attention to your jigging cadences and change them frequently and this will lead to more fish on the ice!