I do a good bit of trout fishing in Northern Arizona. I use 4 lb line with usually very small 1/32 oz spinners from Panther Martin, Mepps, etc. This is all I have ever used for trout and I have been quite successful, but sometimes I do get no bites. Anyways...I thought I would add to my trout lure collection and see what you guys recommend. Keep in mind I fish for trout in smaller rivers, often times they are trout that are stocked, although there are some wild trout. They tend to be pretty small trout.
I know real worms on a hook are great, but "bait" fishing like that tends to be boring to me...nonetheless I am open to all suggestions!
Thanks
Get yourself a 3wt fly rod and a casting lesson and you will have more fun trout fishing than you ever have in the past. Pick up some attractor flies like a royal wulff, hoppers etc....and you will be good to go.
A white thread 1/100oz jig works great in a current no more then 2-3 fow. By far my favorite way to trout fish.
ehh...I'm not sure I want to dive into fly fishing now...just spent a few hundred bucks on bass stuff because I decided to get into bass fishing...I am a college student so I would prefer to just save my money and stick with a spinning setup...maybe down the road I will try fly fishing
I will try out some small jigs for trout though...seems basically like a spinner haha...do you work these like a spinner or like a normal jig?
try a yellow or white trout worm.
On 3/9/2013 at 4:56 AM, Siebert Outdoors said:try a yellow or white trout worm.
Alright yea I will give that a shot...what size hook and rig it like a Texas Rig or just nose hook...?
So these are my options so far for trout:
- Spinners
- Small jigs
- Trout Worm
- Small crank bait maybe?
wacky rig it. No weight except a little splitshot about 1 ft up the line.
Crappie jigs under a bobber, thomas buoyant spoons, kastmaster, roostertail, berkley nymph
the small rapalas also.. like the original floating, countdowns, jointed.. the J7 gold and black back is my go to for trolling..
if you need to get some distance out of them ive used a egg sinker with a swivel stopper and a 2' leader or so works just the same with a rubber core sinker also, just every oucne and a while you get a little line mess around the weight, for some reason i think they work better that way, i dunno why maybe they swim at a downward angle presentation thingy?
the rainbow trout pat a goodie, the brook trout pattern also.. gold and black back.
joes flys work good.. i usually use them in rivers and streams.. royal coach pattern is my go to... those things lock a trouts mouth shut good.
krocodile... 3/4oz chrome and blue.. or a gold castmaster 3/4oz... the bigger trout ive got on lures were on either one or the other of those..
Quotethe small rapalas also.. like the original floating,
New York ain't Arizona, but a friend of mine trout fishes during the parts of late fall-winter-early spring when he isn't bass fishing. His success increased dramatically when he started using the original Floating Rapalas.
Basically trout will hit anything other fish species will hit. Just present the bait to them in an inviting way and make sure the trout are actually there. Using something different than everybody else helps too. Marabou jigs spinners small cranks grubs Charlie bee jigs trout magnets etc. they all work
Rapalas are great but kind of pricey. I like the Strike King Bitsy Minnow for trout. Its basically a tiny 1/8oz version of a KVD 1.5 and they're only like $3.50 at Wal Mart.
For small rivers and streams I go with inline spinners, Kastmasters, trout magnets, or small jerk baits. You don't have to buy a fly rod to throw flies. A small casting bubble a couple of feet above a fly works well and you don't have to go out and buy fly rods and reels. You'd be surprised how many big fish you can catch on tiny little flies.
Try the little 2" rage tail crappie grub. They eat it like crazy!
Thanks for all the suggestions, I guess I will have to try out some of them!
Number one trout bait with a spinning outfit; Black With Gold Spots and Gold blade Panther Martin Spinner Bait.
On 3/11/2013 at 2:28 AM, Triton21 said:Number one trout bait with a spinning outfit; Black With Gold Spots and Gold blade Panther Martin Spinner Bait.
Spinnerbait or normal inline spinner? I have the exact spinner you are talking about...Panther Martin Black with gold Spots....but it is a normal spinner not a spinnerbait
Inline spinner bait
Panther Martin
Black w/ chartreuse spots, gold blade
On 3/11/2013 at 2:28 AM, Triton21 said:Number one trout bait with a spinning outfit; Black With Gold Spots and Gold blade Panther Martin Spinner Bait.
x2. I too fish small stocked creeks for trout in the summer and this color pattern is without a doubt my most productive. add in a silver bladed panther martin as well and that's really all i use. 1/16 and 1/8 are the sizes i use all the time. I also change out some of the trebles (it's a pain, but worth it) as stock trout tend to swipe at the bait a lot. the larger ones just hook themselves.
What Cobass said, Get yourself a couple casting bubbles ( any small float will work-it's just to provide enough weight to cast). Use a stonefly imitation or #14 nymph (gold ribbed hares ear, etc.). These are what I used in Az, and NM streams and they worked well year round.
Try a 1/12 oz. Kast Master spoon or a Thomson's Buoyant. Swedish Pimples work well too.
Thanks guys! I actually have one of the Kast Master spoons, but the trout never seemed to like it, it seemed like it was too big and they got spooked. The trout here are pretty small. I will try out some of these suggestions though when I trout fish
If your kastmaster is too big, you can get them in smaller sizes. I know for sure they make them in 1/8 oz, and I'm pretty sure they make a 1/16 oz model too. I catch a lot of smaller trout (10-12 inch) around here using the 1/4 oz sizes.
hmm..well I will keep trying it and try some other stuff as well
You can fish flies on spinning gear using a float rig. Your setup would be the same as shown in this tutorial: http://www.raventackle.com/Shotting%20Patterns.pdf
Just substitute a fly for the bait. You can also use trout dough, little worms, or even live bait with this rig. It's probably the most effective way to catch holding trout.
1/4 or 1/8 Kastmasters work around here.
Yea I suppose the way to fish for trout is fly fishing...but those setups just look really confusing and I just spent a lot of money on bass stuff...that is why I have been partial to staying with spinning gear. Even those fly fishing sort of setups using a spinning reel look a bit complicated.