Lake trout fly fishing

[Chief16]

I have a trip planned to the Yukon this year for the end of may/start of June. I have done a ton of research on catching lakers on the fly at this time of year while they're chasing bait fish in the shallows and what not. I was just wondering if anybody on here has person experiance targeting lakers on the fly and what worked for you, lines, flies, rod weights etc. thanks for any help!

[FlyTheory]

Give up, not worth it.

[J D]

I have caught lakers on the fly fast sink tip 3ft leader and heavy flies. Use patterns that you would target bulls with double bunnies, clousers, or any other baitfish pattern in the 3-5inch size. White, chartreuse, purple, yellow, and black with lots of flash white was top colour.

Did this with my 7wt lakers I caught ranged from 2-10lbs.

No pro at it but I caught lakers

[Norman]

When I went to the east arm I caught lakers anywhere from 5-24lbs, I used an 8wt rod with a 30 foot sink tip line with 20lb mono for a leader. Anything big with white and blue worked great. I fished around the drop offs around the islands

[Chief16]

Ok thanks for the feed back! Basically what I had in mind but just wanted some reassurance

[GuideLife]

Is there going to be a lot of open water in the Yukon at the end of May? You would be surprised how effective fly fishing for Lake Trout can be when they are in the shallows. White, blue and chartreuse streamers have worked best for me. In most cases a sinking line isn't necessary but it completely depends on where you are fishing and what the structure is like. Where I am (East Arm of Great Slave), Lake Trout can be caught in 4-10 FOW all season long, so I prefer not to use sinking line. One of these days I will get them to hit dry flies! lol

I use an 8 wt but I am targeting large fish. I personally wouldn't go lighter than a 7wt. Those cold water Lakers fight harder than anything else I have ever caught.

Have fun!

Guidelife

[goldscud]

The year I was at Kluane in SW Yukon the ice went out June 11. The lakers there had lots of color like the one in this picture. Great surprise. Where are you headed?

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by GuideLife

Is there going to be a lot of open water in the Yukon at the end of May? You would be surprised how effective fly fishing for Lake Trout can be when they are in the shallows. White, blue and chartreuse streamers have worked best for me. In most cases a sinking line isn't necessary but it completely depends on where you are fishing and what the structure is like. Where I am (East Arm of Great Slave), Lake Trout can be caught in 4-10 FOW all season long, so I prefer not to use sinking line. One of these days I will get them to hit dry flies! lol

I use an 8 wt but I am targeting large fish. I personally wouldn't go lighter than a 7wt. Those cold water Lakers fight harder than anything else I have ever caught.

Have fun!

Guidelife

There should be, it's been a warmer winter (as in only two weeks of -40, not two months). The research I've done on guides websites usually say they start up around then. If not, there are the river systems which should thaw sooner and if that doesn't happen, it still will be great to get up there regardless! Thanks for the info as well, helps a guy plan better for sure!