For some reason, lake trout are the Rodney Dangerfields of Maine’s sport fishery.

They get no respect.

During my stint with the Maine Fish and Wildlife Department, I attended a number of sportsmen’s forums during which anglers cursed “the damned togue (lake trout)” and demanded the stocking of “more salmon.”

In some ways, our romance with the fighting landlocked salmon is really contrary to nature’s fishery scheme. In lakes like Moosehead, Schoodic and the Fish River Chain, which are natural lake trout habitats, our preoccupation with salmon has resulted in a diminished lake trout fishery. Don’t take my word for it. Ask a fisheries biologist. Lakes can be like gardens with different soils. Some bodies of water are meant to grow lake trout. Moosehead is one. Following the recent struggle by Greenville residents to improve the salmon fishery at Moosehead, my mind flashed back to my childhood and fishing Moosehead with my dad. At day’s end, it was common during the 1950s to watch angler’s come ashore with 18- and 20-pound togue.

Perhaps, if lake trout can regain their stature as a cold water game fish, anglers will one day find Maine waters with lunker lakers. Togue fishing the dog days of August, when most other angling action has gone flat, can be pleasurable and rewarding.

Here are some tips for catching togue during the dog days.

Pick a windless, hot day. Use a boat and motor that trolls slow. If you don’t have a downrigger, you must have a stout rod and a big reel with a couple hundred yards of lead core line. To the end of the lead line, attach a chain swivel and a large copper or silver Murray spoon. Behind the spoon, attach 6 or 7 feet of 10-pound monofilament. If you’re a serious angler, sew on a smelt or medium-to-large shiner. Otherwise a rapala or flatfish will do.

If you must have a fishing partner, select a boatmate who is a person of few words. Or ask your spouse to bring a book. (Togue fishing requires intense concentration). If you don’t have a depth finder or map, ask a local angler where the lake’s deep holes are located.

Once over the deep hole and trolling as slow as possible, let out line until your pulsating Murray spoon ticks the bottom. This is where things get tricky, but this is really the essence of togue fishing. Togue are cold water (50 degrees) bottom dwellers, especially during the dog days. The togue troller’s challenge is to keep that slowly pulsating spoon (and bait) within a foot of the lake bottom.

Equally challenging is learning to tell the difference between a fish strike and simply bumping off the bottom. This will come with experience.

Lake trout, which have been known to weigh up to 30 pounds in Maine, have bony mouths. So when one does strike, you must set the hook forcefully as though you were tying into a 100-pound grouper.

To be honest, a 5-pound togue hooked to an 8-inch Murray spoon and 100 yards of lead core line is not the angling experience of a lifetime. Fly fishers liken this kind of sport to dredging for scallops. Tournament bass anglers would rather count their jigheads than stoop to such skulduggery to snag a slimy salmonid.

But, hey, there is still a knack to it. Not everyone has the patience for togue fishing. Many aspiring togue fishermen have given up in disgust after “hooking up” the second or third time and losing a $15 trolling spoon. For my money, though, it’s all worth it. A baked stuffed lake trout goes well with those late garden vegetables.

Some togue lakes worth your time – Sebago Lake, Beech Hill Pond, Tunk Lake, Schoodic Lake, Millinocket Lake, Munsungan Lake and West Grand Lake. If you are looking to fish for lake trout farther north, consider this list from Al Cowperthwaite, director of North Maine Woods, himself an avid fisherman.

“As for lake trout, these are my personal preferences: Clear Lake, Spider Lake, Eagle Lake, Chamberlain Lake, Churchill Lake, Ross Lake, Crescent Pond, Togue Pond, and 1st and 2nd Musquacook Lakes.”

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal.He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 6 p.m. on 103.9, and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.