Lake Trout Fishing "The Lewie Rig"

Try a new technique for lake trout fishing… I can’t wait to make the trek north a week from Friday! I have dreams of jigging for big trout and whitefish. Gord just shared with me some information on a new drop shot jig that reminded me of a technique that has been deadly for trout and whitefish…”the Lewis rig”.  

Increasing your odds for better lake trout fishing…

In Canada you can only have one fishing line. But if you read the rules you can have three sets of hooks. So when jigging for whitefish and trout in deep water, why not increase your odds? The typical drop shot rig has a weight at the end with the jig presented at a 90 degree angle a foot or more up from the weight. It allows you to present your bait to fish that are set at a specific depth. The Lewis rig is a variation on this technique. First tie on a floating jig head. There are a couple of different jigs that are made specifically for drop shotting that keeps the jig at the perfect angle. Leave several feet of line and then tie a swivel on the end of the line. The swivel prevents line twist. To that attach a Little Cleo as your “dropper weight”. Simply look for schools of fish in deep water on your locator, and jig for the whitefish and trout that school together. They typically do not have a preference for one over the other and sometimes you get a double! There are also hooks made specifically for drop shotting as well. In fact, I suppose you could probably tie a third hook on to the line. Give it a try…you will be glad you did. I may try a similar rig this year for walleyes with a lead jig on the bottom instead of the cleo.

Lake Trout fishing on Eagle Lake

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10 thoughts on “Lake Trout Fishing "The Lewie Rig"

  1. Good bit of info there Andy and now you have given me an idea for something to try next year.
    Little adjustment here and there but I think I might be able to increase my odds or make more of a mess.

  2. Good post Andy, if you happen to be near a tackle shop that sells those jigs I would appreciate getting a few packs!
    Perchmaster……drop shot rigs for perch? Scary!

  3. Gord,
    Cabelas has some dropshot jigs on clearance right now but they are not the ones I like. In fact they don’t sell the ones I like any more. I just found a guy on ebay selling lots of 6. Just search by dropshot jigs. They were always expensive…about what this guy is selling them for.

  4. I’m looking forward to seeing a wee video clip of this in action. How would you tie the lines together? And wouldn’t they get tangled up and snagged more often?

  5. Andy…Where are you going to have your nails done? They are really nice.
    Doug…I’ve been using Andy’s “Lewie Rig” for the past few years and it consistently produces a nice combo of whitefish and lakers when used as a jigging system. We usually use 10# FireLine tied to a 3-4 foot section of 10#fluorocarbon leader material. Back-to-back Uni Knots connect the two. The jig is tied about 24 inches up from the tag end. This requires careful attention due to the amount of line you are knotting. An Improved Clinch Knot works for me and holds the jig securely. The only other knot is for tying a swivel to the tag end, then attaching the Little Cleo.
    A 3/4 oz. Cleo falls quickly without snarling the jig. However, you have to be careful about snagging the Cleo on rocks. Most of my bites come with the baits close to the bottom. As soon as the Cleo hits bottom, I close the bail and lift up, sometimes several feet, and then drop the Cleo back down. Then up again. The fish are often scattered in the water column. A fast retrieve to the surface will sometimes result in a vicious laker strike close to the boat.
    This system works best when jigged perfectly vertically. Good boat control is a must in order to jig vertically. In windy conditions, a 3/4 oz. Cleo will be too light. That’s when I go heavier–up to a 2 oz. jigging spoon in order to stay vertical.
    One last note of relevance. You can catch a lot of fish using this presentation. Andy and I usually pinch down the hook barbs to allow for an easy release of these pretty fish.

  6. Thank you for the details Professor. Oh, by the way that’s not actually Andy’s hand….it is really his foot. It is quite marvelous watching him reel in a big trout using only his legs and feet……..the “Lewis Method”.

  7. Professor, Gord has a very keen eye for well groomed toes. You should know that if I was going to have a manicure done, it wouldn’t be done by Gord. We learned that lesson in “Operation Rubber Glove”. See: http://eaglelakeblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/operation-rubber-glove.html
    Manicures are best handled by the ladies. They should be called ladycures. Pedicures are a whole lot different. When you count on the toes to do multi-tasking you need Gord to whip out the grinder and baby lotion. While the Professor stumbles around with his artificial limb, I can be fishing with my hands, and tying knots with my well groomed toes. It comes in quite handy. It was the inspiration behind the Lewie rig. If I could multi-task with my hands and feet, why not do the same with my lures?

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On behalf of the Boyes Group, I would like to pass on our sincere thanks for hosting the Muskie Madness Week and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at VBL and had a great time!! This was our 7th year on Eagle Lake and we have stayed at a few other lodges but VBL takes the cake hands down! You can definitely count us in for next year. I’m happy to see you post some of my pics, they turned out well. Thanks again Gord for a wonderful week of fishing and your stellar hospitality, you run a first class operation, we look forward to seeing you next year!

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