68°F
Below is a chart showing the preferred and optimum temperature ranges for the trout and salmon found in Lake Ontario. This table is just meant to be a starting point; salmonids will venture out of these temperature zones. Lake trout like the water temperature to be 52 degrees or colder; therefore, lake trout can feed all the way up to the surface until the first of June. During the last two weeks of May, an angler can troll a lure just under the surface of the water and catch lake trout. That said, there is a considerable consensus that all three major trout species (brook, brown and rainbow) begin to experience some level of stress at around 68°F (20°C), with that stress increasing rapidly as the temperature rises further. Add in some bait fish, Along with the preferred water temperature, the presence of forage, bait fish in this case, must also be present or nearby. The main forage for trout and salmon in Lake Ontario are the alewife and rainbow smelt. Like the trout and salmon, smelt and alewives also have a preferred temperature zone and are usually found in and around the thermocline. The upper limits of the temperature range within which trout will feed, grow and remain unstressed by thermal conditions varies by species, however not all that significantly. These upper limits -- which may be as high as 80 degrees depending on the species -- can be misleading. At 50 feet and deeper the red appears black in color, the lake trout are attracted to the white or the silver backside of the spoon. During most of the season at our Ontario fishing lodge, lake trout fishing is 45 to 55 feet down in 60 to 100 feet of water. As temperature rises and dissolved oxygen decreases, fish begin to experience stress. These stresses begin to set in well before the water temperature reaches lethal limits. For example, rainbow trout are said to be able to survive in temperatures up to and exceeding 77°F (24°C), but stop growing at 73°F (23° C). The color of lures that are the most productive for lake trout fishing in the Spring are fire tiger, fluorescent orange, chartreuse, white, silver and gold. The first thing to do in lake trout fishing is to use your fish finder to locate lake trout suspended in the water column.
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what temperature does rainbow lake trout like