Jigs
Hair jigs work great for lake trout. Vertical jig with them over deeper water and you should do well. It is one of the more popular lures for lake trout.
Jigging minnows are used a lot among anglers when they ice fish or when they fish for panfish. Lake trout will eat these baits as well. When the lake trout are deep, these jigging minnows can be very effective for catching them.
Rigging soft plastic minnows and jerkbaits on your favorite jighead can be a great way to target lake trout. Use a heavy enough weight to get your baits down to the bottom and you should do well.
Curly tail grubs are also very good for lake trout. Rig them on your favorite jighead and vertical jig with them in deeper water and you should get plenty of bites.
Spinners
In-line spinners can work well when lake trout are shallower early in the year. When lake trout go deeper, these can still work, however, you may want to throw them on a Carolina rig so you can get them down deeper.
Spinner rigs are used mostly for walleye and perch, but they can work for lake trout too. Rig a soft plastic minnow or curly tail grub on these and you will catch some lake trout. Just make sure to get them down to the appropriate depths when using them. Some anglers do well fishing with larger minnows too.
Underspins can work great when lake trout are in the shallows or in deeper water. Use your favorite minnow-style soft plastic bait or a curly tail grub and you should get some bites.
Spoons
Jigging spoons are very popular for lake trout. Make sure to pick a spoon that will get down to the deeper water where these lake trout are hiding and just jig it up and let it fall. Most of your bites will on the fall.
Casting spoons can work great for lake trout early in the year when lake trout are in the shallows. When lake trout go deeper, you can rig these on a Carolina rig and some anglers will troll with the casting spoons. The trolling spoons are made specifically for trolling though and they tend to do better when trolled.
Some spoons are made specifically for trolling. Their action is good and lake trout love them. Just make sure to get your baits down deep enough. You will most likely need downriggers to get down deep enough.
