Casting & Jigging Charters for Lake Trout - Grand Traverse Bay
- Mar 12
- 4 min read
Grand Traverse Bay
Located on the Northwest coast of Michigan's Lower Peninsula of Lake Michigan. This 32 mile-long, over 600' deep bay is divided into an East and West arm by the Old Mission Peninsula. Elk Rapids is located halfway up the East side of the East Bay; Traverse City is on the southern tip of West Bay; Suttons Bay is halfway up the West side of the West Bay; Northport is on the Northwest portion of the bay
What is Jigging and Casting?
Both of these methods of fishing are single-rod, hands-on, and a more interactive approach to fishing when compared to the traditional multi-rod trolling techniques that you commonly see used on the Great Lakes. Lake trout jigging and casting has became popular in recent years, especially with the introduction of GPS controlled trolling motors with their ease of anchoring in deep water with the push of a button. Forget the days of manually deploying and retrieving an anchor in deep water!
Vertical Jigging for Lake Trout
Best Months: July & August
To fish with a vertical jig on the bay, we drop a jig straight below the boat and move it up and down to attract fish. We like to use 3/4 - 2oz jigs depending on current and the depth we are targeting (we normally jig between 50-120'). On most of our fishing charters, 1oz seems to be our weight of choice as it's a good overall weight for most depths to get down quick, but not too quick as you still want a little hangtime/flutter with your jig. One of the most important and overlooked areas of jigging, is the jig cadence. We start our jig cadence with a strong upward motion of the rod, immediately followed by a slower downward motion, and then pause for a split-second before repeating. Leave a slight slack in the line (line coiling on the water surface) on the down motion to allow the jig to fall freely by dropping the rod faster than the fall of the jig, but don't drop the rod too fast (too much line coiling). A fish will bite at the pause, upstroke, or fall of the jig. You will feel the bite at the pause or upstroke, but not normally on the fall. So that's why it is also very important to watch your line as the jig falls with a slight slack of the line/no pressure on the jig. When a fish bites your jig on the fall, you will either see your line stop, move upwards, or some sort of change in direction from a normal fall. And if you do, set the hook! Fish on! Sometimes we even bounce the bottom a little to stir up the sediment and create a cloud of debris for fish to investigate.
Casting for Lake Trout
Best months: April - June
When we are targeting lake trout in shallow water areas, we cast away from the boat towards the shoreline, shallow flats, or on sunken islands/reefs. Casting is so effective on Grand Traverse Bay as the waters are so clean and clear that fish can see your bait from a great distance away. The downside is that the sunlight penetrates the water deeper here, making fish more susceptible to seeing your boat, shadows, and disturbances on the surface. Get that bait out and away from the boat as far as you can! Typically, we will be fishing in areas of 20-60' deep depending on conditions and time of year. Once we go deeper than 70', we will switch to vertical jigging as it's more effective. Another advantage of casting that is not mentioned enough is working your bait horizontally rather than vertically. Most prey of lake trout move in horizontal directions with erratic movements, and that natural movement is what we are mimicking by casting out away from the boat and working it back in. We use many baits to cast to the shallows like sinking lures, plastic swimbaits, blade baits, and casting spoons/jigs, but one of our favorites is the Heavy Hitter from Fish Bum Tackle. This casting spoon is made of tungsten and not lead, allowing the jig to have a smaller profile and descend quicker compared to a lead spoon of the same size (also great for smaller mouthed fish like cisco and whitefish).
Rough guideline: Depth, current, conditions, and type of bait will determine weight to use.
1/2oz: 15-30'
3/4oz: 30-50'
1oz: 50'+
What type of rod, reel, and line to use for Jigging & Casting?
Rod Length: 6'6" - 8'6" (we like 7' - 7'6")
Rod Power: Medium-Heavy (sometimes heavy for deeper water and 2oz+ jigs)
Rod Action: Medium to Fast (sensitive tip to detect bites and animate heavy jigs)
Spinning Reel Size: 2500 - 4000 (we use 3000)
Baitcasting Reel Size: 200 - 300 (low profile preferred)
Main Line: 15 - 30lb braid (normally we use 15 or 20lb)
Leader: 4 - 8' of 8 - 14lb fluorocarbon (for water clarity & zebra mussel abrasion)
Booking a fishing charter
If you'd like to book a charter with us to enjoy casting and jigging for lake trout yourself, check out our website or message us on our Facebook page.
Captain, Tyler Smith
Pure Angling
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