MARK STIFFEL
A fine spread of Eastern Townships whitefish . ( opposite )
A selection of Mark ’ s favorite trout lures . ( bottom right )
Finding warm-weather Townships trout
FOLLOW THE WATER TEMPERATURES TO FISH WHERE THEY ARE
The big lakes of the Eastern Townships in southern Quebec are smelt-based . Memphrémagog and Massawippi excel for lake trout , rainbows , browns and landlocked salmon which feed on them . It works like this .
Trout follow smelt movements throughout the year . In spring , smelt are concentrated at stream mouths for the spawn . As summer progresses they move out deeper where they can retreat in midday . First light and evening find them close to the surface . As the day progresses they descend to follow photo-sensitive plankton . It ’ s not uncommon to mark smelt blocks at 150 feet during the afternoon and then see thousands of them pinning on the surface in the evening with trout boiling through them .
The key is presenting your offering where the trout are . As summer progresses and water temps increase and the temperature gradients stacks up , trout of all species move deeper .
Lake trout prefer the coolest water and by midsummer will be found from 80 to 150 feet and deeper . The next species in the deeper water , but above the lake trout , will be landlocked salmon or ouananiche . Rainbows and browns prefer slightly warmer water and will be found in the 30- to 45- foot range . Depths vary as the summer progresses but the deeper water will hold lake trout and salmon throughout the year .
A smelt imitation is the bait for all Townships trout . Spoons like the Mooselook Wobbler ,
Williams Dartee , HQ , tandem streamer flies in smelt patterns , or body baits like Rapalas will produce when presented where the fish are . The most important phrase is “ presented where the fish are .” Depth control is paramount in summertime trolling and electronics are a must . Basic sonar will tell you where the bait is and where the fish are .
Lake trout will relate to the bottom but will also suspend over deeper water with depths of close to 400 feet across miles of mid-lake water . Landlocked salmon , rainbows and rrowns suspend at different depths depending on time of year , heat of summer and time of day . If you are picking up bait balls at 100 feet mid-day and marking fish at 80 feet , odds are they are lake trout . Fish at 60 feet are likely landlocked salmon and at 40 feet they could be brown trout or rainbows . In the morning you may mark fish at 25 feet , but as the day progresses they move down .
Early morning and late evening are prime time . Smelt move up overnight and descend in the morning , when fish are feeding . Likewise , in the evening smelt are ascending and fish are active . What to use Smelt-imitating patterns in spoons , streamers and body baits are all effective . So are silverfinish spoons with pink and blue accents like the Mooselook , HQ or Dartee . A Memphrémagog smelt pattern is a classic tandem streamer , and so is the Grey Ghost .
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