I've fished northern Manitoba for Lakers often. Our main lake is gin clear and for winter fishing, we still drop down to 80 or 100 feet. Chum hard with sucker, bait up with same and hold your jig just off the chum. We don't have to worry about current. I use 3/4 or 1 ounce jigs(sometimes glow) and the theory is, when they hoover up all that chum they'll eventually make that fatal mistake. I've found most strikes are like a perch tap. At that depth set it hard unless your using that new fangled braid. If after a few whiskeys you find your drink is slushing up, you might want to try the reel up-drop down approach. They often love to chase bait and I've seen them coming up the hole after a jig. Watch your sonar and you'll see what type of approach you'll need to take.
As far as time of day, the fish have always dictated that as far as Lakers go. We've had great mornings, lousy mornings, great afternoons, lousy afternoons, but when the sun starts going down, they usually slow down. Thats speaking for my neck of the woods. North of 54.
I never use a lead, just tie jig direct and about 3 feet of mono up to a heavy swivel. Lakers aren't toothy critters like Pike, unless your going to be giving up some strikes to Pike as well. I've got my sonar so sensitive I can read my swivel way down there and have seen fish checking out the swivel. If you go with a wire lead, you may be giving up a few potential fish as they may be distracted.
We have caught them in shallower water with just a jigging spoon and no bait but they weren't huge. They relate to Suckers because it's an oily fish that generally lives in the deeps with the Trout. Another deadly bait is Whitefish, again oily, deep and is easily caught in the fall when they run up rivers and streams to spawn. We head out after dark with flashlight, net and waders in the fall and get a whack of em. Structure for us is not that critical, when you dump some chum down they will move in.
