In this tip, Bakers Narrows Lodge guide Mac Mulligan explains how he sets up his dead lines when targeting lake trout.
In Manitoba, anglers are allowed 2 lines. Mulligan explains the benefit of using that second line, and how he prefers to set it. He emphasizes that small ciscoes work well as bait, but will also put down bigger baits hoping for a larger fish.
With the larger-sized baits, Mulligan recommends laying them directly on the bottom so the fish can easily scoop them up. Lakers generally eat bait head first, so Mulligan always points the treble hooks toward the tail end of the bait so that when the hook is set, it goes straight in the fish’s mouth.
An important thing to remember when sending down larger ciscoes is that they have an air bladder that will cause them to float. Give the bait a couple pokes to make sure that bladder decompresses and fills with water to allow the cisco to sink. Once the bait is down, let out a few extra feet of slack line to the deadstick and be ready to start running when that flag goes up.
