Whether your trolling for salmon, walleyes or trout, planer boards will increase your catch.

COSTA MESA, Calif. (April 14, 2006) - Across North America anglers have been using Lucky Craft lures to catch a wide variety of species. Trout anglers are the latest group to discover the effectiveness of Lucky Craft in chasing their favorite quarry.

Do not be fooled into thinking 'trout' means little fish, either. We are talking about some of the biggest predators swimming in North America today. The Wisconsin record from Lake Michigan is more than 36 pounds, while the New York record out of Lake Ontario is over 33 pounds!

From the Chattahoochee River to Montana - and everywhere in between - anglers are catching trout on Lucky Craft lures. Many stream anglers prefer the diminutive Pointer 65 SP, while Jason Archie recently used a Pointer 78 SP at Mountain Fork River to shatter Oklahoma's state brown trout record. This lucky angler almost doubled the previous mark with a 17-pound, 4-ounce brown trout. In the Great Lakes region, big trout mean big baits and Pointer 100s, Slender Pointer 127s and Pointer 128s work well.

 

	Spring Break・orthern Style, ice-out Brown Trout.

Knock the Frost Off...

Spring is prime time for trout in many areas of the country. This is especially true around the Great Lakes region during ice-out. Each spring, giant brown trout are in mass exodus from the depths of the Great Lakes to the rocky shallows, which generates one of the first and finest bites of the open-water season. For intrepid anglers willing to brave the elements, the rewards of an early season brown trout hunt can be great and is the best way to 'knock the frost off.' From New York to Minnesota, these voracious predators are on the prowl after months of tough pickings and readily respond to lures. This hunger driven movement begins immediately after ice-out when water temperatures climb into the upper 30's, which generally lasts from March to May. One of the more famous brown trout locations is Lake Michigan, where both Wisconsin and Michigan offer outstanding opportunity. Other hotspots are the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota and Lake Huron in Michigan. Not to be outdone, Ohio's Lake Erie and New York's Lake Ontario also have tremendous early season action and boast giant fish.

Great Lakes Trolling Strategies

Long-line trolling Lucky Craft Pointers and Slender Pointers in depths of five to 20 feet is one of the most proven tactics this time of year. Begin your search in the five-foot zone; letting out only enough line to keep your lures two to three feet down in the water column. For the Pointer 100s and Slender Pointers, use about 30 foot of line. If you have not had a giant brown trout tank your bait in five foot of water, you have to try it! Don't let the water temperatures fool you; the Great Lakes remain cool all year round making cold spring water temperatures insignificant. Also, trolling at a brisk pace generates horrific reaction strikes. Conventional trolling speeds for these big browns are 1.8 mph to nearly three miles per hour! Past experience reveals you cannot go too fast for these fish.

Spread 'em Out!

	After a long winter, knock the frost off with ice-out Brown Trout.

The Great Lakes clear water calls for 10- and 12-pound monofilament pulled 30 to 100 feet behind the boat. Planer boards increase the size of your 'spread' and allow anglers to present lures away from the boat. These marvels of fishing technology allow you to run multiple lines and space them away from the boat and in the path of spooking trout. Side planers, as they are sometimes referred, use clips to attach your line to the board. The clip tension should not allow the board to come off when a trout strikes. Double wrapping your line through the clips will prevent the board from accidentally coming off in rough water. Retrieving these planer boards can be challenging and might require resetting all of your lines. Rod holders are a big plus as well. Planer boards and rod holders are not a requirement to do well in this type of angling, but these tools will improve efficiency and increase your catch.

Also, incorporating S-turns into your trolling run is an important aspect within this strategy. As you turn, the outside boards speed up, while the inside lines slow or stall, creating erratic action and more strikes.

Trolling Tackle

Even though we are after giant, mean brown trout; long, limber rods are the order of the day. The longer rods allow more space between lines, but more importantly, act as shock absorbers. Often, strikes are so violent the hooks frequently straighten or tear out of the trout all together. Trolling rods are designed with this in mind, and provide the best defense in preventing these misfortunes. As for reels, any will work. The only considerations might be good drags to absorb bone-jarring strikes and spool capacity.

Terminal Tackle...for the Trout that is

When confronted with the ultra-clear water present in many parts of the Great Lakes, lures with realistic finishes perform the best. Color choices should mimic the 'brownies' favorite forage - the alewife. Nothing on the planet does it better than a Lucky Craft Pointer in American Shad, Laser Rainbow Trout or MS Herring.

In spite of the usually clear water conditions, mud lines or stained areas immediately adjacent to crystal clear water are common this time of year and demands brighter colors. The mouths of creeks or rivers swollen with spring run-off push plumes of off-colored water into the lakes. These areas are fish magnets. The dirty water warms quickly and big browns commonly use it to ambush their prey. To catch them, troll Pointer 100s in the new Northern Waters Tactic colors - Red Musky or Brook Trout - along mud-lines and hang on. Do not be afraid to experiment with colors or sizes. Sometimes bigger is better. Pointer 128s and Slender Pointer 127 MRs can often make the difference. Bigger prey and more flash often mean bigger brownies. Giant brown trout eat everything and anything!

Calling All Boats...or Not!

	Planer boards give anglers the advantage of running multiple lines, covering more water, while avoiding spooked shallow browns

Fishing for the Great Lakes Brown Trout is hand-to-hand combat against one of the nastiest fighters around. Big and tough, these silver rockets produce the best small boat bite of the year. Due to the shallow water movement of big predators, many of the best bites occur close to shore. Weather permitting; anglers can take advantage of this bite with just about any water-worthy craft. It is not uncommon to see kayak anglers getting in on the fun!

Shore anglers also fare very well this time of year. Hundreds of break-walls and public fishing piers offer awesome bank fishing for big brownies, while some may catch a bonus salmon or steelhead as well. Throwing long-casting Pointers from break walls and fishing piers, anglers annually catch huge brown trout well over 20 pounds. Other hotspots for shore bound anglers are warm water discharges. Most of these types of facilities offer public fishing access and attract giant browns throughout the colder months.

Spring Break

When you are surrounded by snow and ice for six months of the year, northern anglers tend to take advantage of every opportunity to stretch their line. For those anglers willing to push the envelope a little, it can be the bite of a lifetime. So for you, if 'spring break' doesn't center on Florida's Daytona Beach, try this spring action and tackle one of the biggest and toughest fish around. Try this just once and ice-out will have a whole new meaning for you too.