Fishing depths run about the same as before. Lots of anglers think of trout as inhabiting deep water, which they often do during summer. No such prerogative exists during winter. Again, trout push bait up against the first principal drop-off into deeper water. In most Canadian Shield lakes, that means the first major drop in from 15 to 25 feet of water.

Again, we catch most of our fish at 20 to 40 feet, whether the water is 20 or 80 feet deep. We also catch some fish near bottom in 40 to 60 feet of water. Occasionally, most of the fish are riding deep. Still, when fish are feeding, they usually do so up higher in the water column, whether they’re associated with this pattern or the previous pattern. We have, for the most part, given up searching for fish near bottom in water deeper than about 60 feet.

The third principal pattern isn’t written in the books of most trout anglers, because it relies on structural conditions seemingly more akin to fishing for perch and walleyes. Perch probably are the main forage here, although we don’t know for sure. Perhaps darters are important. Perhaps ciscoes move into these shallow saddle areas more often than we know to feed on insect larvae or on fish fry. We know, however, that lots of lake trout often inhabit these areas during most portions of the winter season, particularly during early-ice. Many years, this pattern is the principal pattern for scoring lots of trout.

Most Shield lakes have major shallow bays connected to the main lake or to portions of deeper bays connected to the main lake. These shallower areas during much of the summer attract walleyes, pike, and baitfish like perch and perhaps bluegills, crappies, darters, and other minnows. Trout often gather at the mouths of these areas, moving in and out to feed.

Some of these areas are large by comparison to our first two principal patterns; so sometimes it takes a little time to explore the general area to find where most of the fish are roaming. Cut enough holes, though, and you’ll usually find trout.

We usually concentrate on the mouth area instead of pushing too far up into the bays. Occasionally, fish are well up into bays, roaming in water 20 to 30 feet deep. Most of these areas are ringed by sandy, gravely, or even rocky bottom with weedgrowth extending into 15 to 20 feet of water. Harder bottom gives way to soft bottom beyond the first drop-off.

Presentation

We never spend long in an area, preferring to cut lots of holes, searching quickly for aggressive fish. When trout are active and haven’t seen baits, they usually bite in short order. It takes longer to search for fish in bay mouths, although if we spend 40 minutes on any area, that’s a long time.