ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
91 
FISHING FOR LAKE TROUT IN THE 
GEORGIAN BAY 
By A. E. Argue 
Tobermory, Ontario.* 
HE line used in trolling for lake trout in 
shallow water in the Georgian Bay is about 
twenty fathoms long. It is used with two, 
three or four two-ounce leads, spaced about two 
fathoms apart. Four of these leads will put 
the line down about fourteen feet. The trolling 
spoon is about six inches long and fitted w'ith 
fins at the end to make it revolve. The amount 
of bend in the fins is determined by the speed 
of tiie boat. Below the troll is a three pronged 
hook which is usually baited with lake herring 
or sucker, tied on with fine, string or thread. 
Artificial baits are sometimes used on the hook. 
I have taken fish without any bait but prefer 
a piece of fresh sucker which is tougher than 
herring and good for a number of fish. A piece 
of clean rag is preferable to a stale bait. One 
could troll all day with a tainted bait and not 
get a bite, and then remove the bait and put on 
a piece of clean rag and catch the fish on the 
same ground. 
The size of the trout caught vary with the 
time of the year and the locality where they are 
taken. Trout caught by trolling are better 
flavored than those taken in nets as the trolled 
fish is killed immediately and retains its flavor. 
The weight of the trout taken by trolling 
varies from one to forty or more pounds. A 
twenty-five pound fish is about the limit to land 
witli a troll as with larger fish the hook usually 
pulls out when the fish is being hauled into the 
boat. A good afternoon’s sport would be about 
seven fish averaging eight pounds apiece. I 
have trolled all day without success while on 
another day have taken a dozen. I have known 
the men who make a living by trolling to catcli 
150 pounds in a single day. The lake trout 
move in schools presumably after lake herring 
which is their main food and the fish in a school 
are usually of the same size. In winter when 
fishing through a hole in the ice it was noted 
that all the fish caught for a few days were 
small, then for a few days a larger size aver¬ 
aging about five pounds, then a still larger size 
for a few days more. At the same phase of 
the moon a month later the different sizes are 
* In the summer of 1021 the Director of the Aquarium 
while cruising in the Georgian Bay captured a number 
of large lake trout by trolling. The opportunity for 
this sport was afforded while a guest on the yacht, of 
Mr. H. L. Gaddis of Detroit, a member of the New York 
Zoological Society. Mr. Argue, government wireless 
operator at Tobermory, who has had much experience 
in lake trout fishing kindly prepared this account of 
the methods employed by local fishermen. 
again caught in this way. The moon in its 
changes and the temperature of the water play 
a great part as to the depth of the water from 
which fish are taken. At the fall of the year 
during the spawning season the trout come into 
shallower water in great numbers. This is 
when the fishermen make their harvest and the 
winter supply usually depends upon the fish 
caught while they are on the shoals. Trout 
can be caught with the trolling line during the 
summer months away from the shore by using 
a line thirty or forty fathoms long with from 
fifteen to twenty leads spaced about nine feet 
apart. Thirty leads would put the line down 
about ten fathoms at a speed of three miles an 
hour which is a good speed for trolling. This 
kind of trolling is harder work and the catch 
more uncertain. The best time for trolling in 
this vicinity is from the first of May until the 
early part of July when the catch falls off. 
Trolling is again good when the fish are on the 
shoals in the months of October and November. 
During the same months one could have a good 
week’s sport with casting rod and line on the 
shoals when the moon is full but the weather 
at this season is cold and uncertain. 
Lake trout are also caught on trawl lines, the 
hook being baited with one-third of a herring 
cut diagonally, each herring making three baits. 
The hooks are attached to a small sized line 
about two feet in length, which in turn are 
attached to the long trawl line, the hooks being 
spaced about thirty-five feet apart, 1,200 books 
is the limit for any one fishing license. These 
trawls are usually set on the bottom of the lake 
with the exception of a couple of weeks in the 
month of June when the hooks are set near the 
surface on what is termed a floating line. This 
line being buoyed about every twenty books 
with a small cedar buoy, the line to which allows 
the trawl and hooks to float about thirty feet 
below the surface. The average catch for a 
trawl line is about a half pound per hook. 
Another method of taking the lake trout is 
termed “bobbing” which is done in the winter 
time through boles cut in the ice and at a depth 
of fifteen to twenty fathoms. The hook is sunk 
with a lead sinker about three inches long and 
the hook is baited with a piece of fresh herring. 
The herring are taken in nets set under the ice. 
The hook is lowered to the bottom and moved 
up and down two or three feet which attracts 
the fish. When there is a bite the fishermen 
run away on the ice with the line until the fish 
is through the hole and out on the ice. The line 
often freezes stiff' when it comes out of the water 
