Trolling for ice-out lake trout is the first open water fishing I do each season. Doubling as a shakedown cruise for the boat and a chance to put a bend in the long rods, it’s definitely something to look forward to. I sometimes hit the lake while ice still lingers over parts of it. Running planer boards adjacent to the ice edge isn’t exactly commonplace — but when open water calls, lake trout are ready and willing. Trolling is an easy and effective way to target early-season lakers. Covering water is its biggest selling point, and by using different trolling techniques, covering multiple depths is easily achieved. I rely solely on three techniques: long lines, planer boards, and Dipsy Divers. These three basic approaches will catch early season lakers province-wide. Long lining By far the simplest approach, long lining involves attaching a bait, letting out some line, and putting the boat in gear. While line-counter reels and rod holders are useful tools, they aren’t always necessary. There’s nothing more satisfying than feeling your rod load up with the weight of a scrappy laker. I remember one spring outing trolling for lakers with a friend. We launched the boat and began digging through tackle for baits to troll. As we puttered away from the dock, I tied on a small minnow bait and started letting out line. With about 150 feet of line out, I closed the bail and settled in. To my surprise, my partner tied on a white four-inch tube jig — the same one he’d been jigging with through a hole in the ice only a few weeks earlier. “You’re going to troll a tube?!” I said, half asking a question, half making a statement. “Yep,” he replied confidently. “It doesn’t spin or twist your line?” I asked. “Nope,” he said, lowering it beside the boat for me to see. Sure enough, it tracked straight as an arrow through the water. He lobbed a lazy cast about 90 feet behind the boat and closed his bail. The ¾-ounce weight brought the tube down roughly 10 feet, and he occasionally popped his rod tip to give it some action. We hadn’t been trolling more than a few minutes when he casually exclaimed, “Fish,” as I looked up to see his rod folded over. After netting his third laker in short order, I asked if he had any more tube
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