Bakers Narrows Lodge guide, Mac Mulligan, breaks down his setup for ice fishing for lake trout on Lake Athapapuskow in Northern Manitoba.
Mulligan typically uses a medium-heavy to heavy action rod and looks specifically for a rod that loads up well but remains parabolic enough to keep big fish pinned up. For 1 1/2 to 2 oz baits, Mulligan will run 30lb braid to a 25lb fluorocarbon leader that is 4-6 feet long. To tie the leader on, Mulligan highly recommends using a heavy duty micro-swivel because it goes through the guides and rollers on your reel easily and you can use it as an indicator to know how far away that fish is from your hole. When fighting lake trout, you’re dealing with a hard fighting fish. Using a small swivel as an indicator can help you know exactly when a fish is at the ice. Important to get the fish turned at the hole before you risk knocking it off on the bottom of the ice.
