Wallaceman,
I gotta say that you have a lot of water to search! Do you know of anyone who has caught trout out of this lake? Can you get access to the stocking program for the state? If I were to fish this body of water, the first thing I would do is find a bait shop, local information, an old salty fishermen who is yarding them in, etc. The stocking program can tell you how many fish were stocked, when, and the species. State websites "usually" have this type of information.
These little tidbits can get you started in the right directions. That dosent help much eh? If I didn't have a clue about the lake, I would find the heaviest weed beds and sit on the outer edges. Drill a ton of holes on the edge and keep moving! Tip-ups work alright on trout, but jigging is where it's at. Start with small baits on your tip-up like SMALL wire hooks baited with maggots, shrimp, wigglers, but try to stay away from minnows unless you want a pickerel! You may try a leader of either 2 or 4 lb. test, with some extremely small split shots! Light lines and no wieght is the only way to bag finicky trout. Jigging small baits(genz bugs, fatboys, etc.) , light lines (2-4 lb. test) with a sensitive rod or bobber would be effective. Try to remember the least amount of resistance is best!! The area that has the steepest dropoff looks interesting. Try to locate weeds near this dropoff, or if that dropoff is gravel, this could produce fish cruising up and down the ledge. Trout will feed voraciously under the ice, and gravel or rocky bottoms produce the food they look for, (along with those thick weed beds.) Stage your drop off holes from deep to shallow, (5-30 ft. would be a start) and work this line until you produce fish. If you get a good flasher watch the depth at which the fish are suspended or cruising the bottom. Try to fish the early hours and late hours even into dark with a good lantern or crappie light! Some lakes that get a lot of pressure from snowmachines, cars, etc. during the day, will produce at night. Trout will feed heavy at night, and you'll feel pretty smart that your the only one on the ice wackin' fish while everyone is sleeping. If chumming is allowed, go for it! Chum will draw fish into your area and narrow down the odds a little more.
Hope this helps! -Barleydog
