Splake Tips

[Corso]

Looking for Tips on catching Splake?

[Ottawa_fish]

First, find a lake with a good population of splake. Second, keep
your noise down - absolutely NO power augers. As for location,
check points, edges of drop-offs and medium to shallow bays
with not very dense vegetation. Spake tends to suspend often,
so check different levels in the water column.

[raleigh]

When ice is on the lake and the water is cold you will find splake in near the shore in shallower water. I caught my two big ones last year 20 feet from the shore line. 9 1/4 pound and 6 pound splake. They put splake in the Colorado lakes to get rid of the Colorado white sucker. So they swim the shores looking for a nice big meal.

[Fish Monger]

Same as Brookies as far as I'm concerned. Splake might actually be more agressive and hit better. I haven't caught enough of them to be sure though.

[icechipper]

i have to agree with raleigh. pretty close to shore in shallow water 3-10 ft worked for me. i used a 1/16-1/8 forage minnow jiggin spoon tipped with a 1-3 inch shiner. if a pod of fish comes through and one of them steals your bait all you have to do is jig like mad and one of them will grab it. also i've heard that if a warm spell comes through it will turn them on for a day or two. hope this helps. just my 2 cents.

[Colorado_Ice]

In mid January through late February on Colorado's Grand Lake we find Splake in 20 to 25 feet of water in the old creek bed in a subtle current. There is also some structure in the form of a few old, fallen conifer trees along the bottom there.

My theory is that the current carries oxygen from the stream that feeds the East end of the reservoir into the lake and under the ice. What ever the reason, 17" to 22" splake and the occasional rainbow are caught in these areas.

Here is what we use most often:

Tube Jigs in pearl (shown), white, glow and chartreuse.

Acme Kastmasters 1/8 oz. and up (heavier) in rainbow (shown),
chrome blue, silver and blue 'n' silver.

All tipped with a chunk of sucker or anchovie meat for the oilyness. Although I have not tried it, some people report success with Berkley PowerBait For Trout packed into the hollow body of the tube jigs.