Photo by Ron Anlauf.

Lake trout are fussy eaters and ice-fishing for them can test an angler’s patience. Hook up with one, however, and you’ll be addicted, especially if you love the taste of fish.

According to the DNR, lake trout swim in thousands of acres of Minnesota waters, but the biggest populations are found in Cook, Lake and St. Louis counties that form the tip of the state’s Arrowhead region.

The list may be deceiving -- many of the lakes haven’t been stocked in decades or lack recent DNR reports -- but the lakes listed below offer some of the finest lake trout ice-fishing in Minnesota, according to local sources and DNR fisheries offices.

Lake trout anglers are no different than their open-water counterparts in that they love to fish the opener. Depending on where you go fishing, the opener begins in late December or early January, so check the regulations. Anglers who have the knowledge and the time know lake trout can be caught through the ice throughout the winter, well into March when the season closes.

Drilling a hole in the ice over sharp breaks or humps and tossing down a jig, spoon or plain hook tipped with meat is about as complicated as lake trout fishing is at its most basic. Just like any other kind of fishing, an angler has the right to make it as complicated as he wants, but most die-hard lake trout anglers will tell you that’s as crazy as they get.

SNOWBANK LAKE
Lake County
Snowbank Lake is probably the most accessible lake trout water in the Arrowhead region. With hefty populations of lake trout spread across 4,273 acres of fishable ice, it could be the best overall lake trout water in the state. But Snowbank is an entry point to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, so snowmobiles and power augers are not allowed on the northeast half of the lake.

Dennis Schmitt, one of the owner’s of Smitty’s on Snowbank resort and an avid lake trout angler, said he’s found lakers in water as shallow as 6 feet and as deep as 100 feet.

“Lake trout like cold water and it’s all cold that time of the year, so you have to be willing to move all over the place,” he said.

The shallow-running trout are most likely chasing perch, while the deeper swimming ones are after ciscoes, so adjust your colors accordingly, he said.

“We set our ice houses up on the dropoffs where lake trout feed on schools of forage fish. They usually come in a few times throughout the day,” he said.

Because anglers are allowed to fish two lines, Schmitt usually has one tipped with a frozen cisco that he sits on the bottom, while the other line is a jig, spoon or tube. “Sometimes I’ll tip it with a minnow head, but usually I don’t -- airplane jigs work good, too, if nobody else is around you,” he said.

For more information on Snowbank Lake, contact Smitty’s on Snowbank at (800) 950-8310 or online at www.smittys-snowbank.com./” (Continued)

LAKE SAGANAGA
Cook County
“Big Sag” or plain old “Sag” is what you’ll hear most local anglers call this large, sprawling border lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail. Sag is known for excellent summer walleye fishing but is also a great place to drill a hole and fish for lake trout. With plenty of deep water, islands, underwater humps and points, there’s enough structure to keep a lake trout angler happy for a lifetime.

Buck Benson, owner of Buck’s Hardware in Grand Marais, has fished Sag quite frequently over the years and said it’s one of the most beautiful places to fish for lake trout in the winter. “It’s a different type of fishing, however, because it’s such a big lake. You should pick a day when the wind isn’t blowing and it’s not colder than crap,” he said.