I have a young friend from west Texas who throughout his years in high school has been dropping me an occasional note about fishing. Last January he and his father decided to drive to Colorado to fish for lake trout, their first experience with lakers in winter. Time was short before they left, so I outlined briefly via email what to expect. They went, caught nothing, and were totally puzzled by their inability to find fish. I followed up with several past Ice Fishing Guide articles about trout location and presentation options. They went out again a month later and jigged up 20 fish.

We have, over the past decades, taught those who want to catch lake trout through the ice how to do so, whether the fish are in New York, Ontario, Utah, or Alaska. The angler needs a portable flasher or TFT (which perform to -30°F) unit rigged appropriately, to see the lure below the hole in relation to the bottom and the lake trout that come into view. Jigging with a lure like a 3- or 4-inch plastic tube slipped onto a 1/4- or 3/8-ounce jighead works everywhere trout swim. Traditional spoons work, too—and also swimming lures like the Jigging Rapala.

Anglers take two fundamental approaches to fishing, either moving relatively quickly from lake area to lake area, searching for active fish; or setting up in known hot spots and sticking it out, trusting fish to move through the area from time to time. If you know you’re onto a good travel area, this latter approach can work.

I’ve always opted to move and search. I pick a goodlooking shelf along a steep shoreline or island, the tip of a mainlake point, or the point or inside turn of a sunken island; cut a half-dozen to a dozen holes at depths ranging from about 20 to 60 feet, and give each hole 5 minutes or so, unless fish are moving through.

Lake trout in most lakes, but not all, swim through at just about any depth and certainly aren’t stuck to the bottom. Indeed, I’ve caught more trout 15 to 25 feet down, no matter what the overall water depth, than at any other depth. Trout like to pin suspended prey up against the bottom of the ice.

In 50 feet of water, I might start jigging 20 feet down, then drop the jig to 40 feet and jig some more. The water’s clear and I assume that fish can easily see 20 feet—even much more. After jigging for a bit at 40 feet, I bring it back up to, say, 25 feet—then maybe up to 10 feet, before moving on to the next hole.

I jig aggressively to attract fish by lifting the jig 3 feet and letting it fall back. Often a fish rushes the jig and hits without much warning on the depth sounder. This happens a lot when the jig’s down 10 to 20 feet. The sonar cone’s relatively small at that depth, so you don’t see fish coming from a distance, unless you notice them rising up from the bottom. Other times, they rush in and hesitate. Sometime I get these fish to take by nodding the rod tip to make the jig quiver, then maybe giving it another quick lift-fall. Or, I might quiver it then quickly raise it up 5 feet, give it a little lift-fall followed by another quiver. Hesitant fish often become strikers when you tease them up.