The Best Bait for Trout & Where to Find Them: Trout Fishing 101

The preferable strategy for connecting a trout fishing lure is to tie a clip swivel to your line’s furthest limit and attach your lure to that. Likewise, it will consider a more reasonable presentation and make it simpler to change out between lures. By rapidly rotating through lures, you can rapidly figure out what the trout will like to eat at that given time. A sinking bait rig is a ticket when trout plunges to the lake’s bottoms to look for the colder waters during warm days. All you require for a sinking bait rig is a slip sinker, swivel, hook, and bait.

A general tip for streamer fly fishing for trout is to vary your retrieves. If you’re only using one type of retrieve, whether it’s the speed or the angle, you’re not as likely to catch the trout’s attention. Remember, everything is moving fast, so spooking them isn’t as much of an issue. This gives you more room to try various retrieves to make sure that you’re catching some attention.

For float fishing, you can use a similar main line and leader set-up as described with bottom fishing, but instead of a weight you will use the float above your bobber. For bobber fishing, most anglers will use baits that sink, including natural or artificial options. I use a similar setup while stream fishing, except that I use weights that can be set on the line or swivel during the drift. For lake fishing, especially with floating baits, I usually use a leader that is inches in length that allows the bait to float up a bit off the bottom. Small egg hooks work well if fishing a single egg in either lakes or streams. Depending on the water and climate, trout can be naturally reproducing or raised in hatcheries and then seasonally stocked in popular fishing holes to provide angling opportunities.

The Three Main Types Of Trout Rigs

Trout are notorious scavengers, raiding spawning beds of other fish constantly to feed on their eggs. Thread a few onto a size 6 hook and they will treat it like a buffet. I’m by no means an outdoors or fishing expert, but it’s something I’ve been interested in for over 20 years. I created this site to test out different gear and techniques to see what actually works.

Because trout are often line-shy, using a thinner leader will help prevent them from spotting the line and darting off. Spinners and rooster tails are the bread and butter of trout anglers nationwide. Easily changed in and out on a swivel, they get bit anywhere in a lake, but their flapping blades are suited to add flash to a river current. Crankbaits may not be your first choice when fishing for trout, but big trout will hit a crank as large as 1/3 or eve 1/2 of their size. With sharp teeth like trout have, it doesn’t take much to suffice for a snack for them, and they have no problem eating portions of a fish too big to swallow whole. Stocked trout grow up in hatcheries and on farms where they are fed pellets.

Sinking Bait Trout Fishing Rig

Rainbow troutare the most widely stocked and distributed trout in Oregon. They occur naturally in many rivers and streams and are stocked in ponds and lakes. They are highly variable in color, often silvery, with a light pink to red stripe along each side. Rainbow trout prefer cold, clear water and are most often found in water degrees Fahrenheit. Their diet consists of minnows, crayfish, insects, and other small aquatic life, making them susceptible to a well-presented spinner, flatfish or fly.

In pools, simply cast, allow the spinner to sink a bit and reel the spinner back on the slowest retrieve possible while still allowing the blade to spin. This can be easily taught, but it’s wise to use cheap spinners first, as you’re sure to lose a few to the bottom during the learning curve. There are 3 main species of trout anglers chase, and they all have somewhat similar characteristics. The Rainbow, Brook, and Brown Trout are the most common variations.

Slip a heavy sinker weight onto your line, followed by a bead. Thread the sinker onto your line and pull it down until you have an ample amount of room to tie on your other tackle. Once you’ve got your sinker in place, slide on a glass, metal, or plastic bead. Bait your hook so that it curves back into the body of the lure. First, insert the point of the hook into the molded hole in the lure. Then, push the lure up the shank until the hole end just covers the eye where your line is tied.