trout lures ,good and bad

[canuck-kid]

i would like to know some trout tactics and baits you guys would use for small creeks

[burleytog]

Baits:

Super Duper

Flatfish

Kastmaster spoon

Rooster Tail

Panther Martin

Mepps Aglia

Berkley Powerbait or Power Eggs

Some people use cheese or corn.

With the Powerbait or salmon eggs, use a small hook (#8 at most) on 4 lb. test with a small split shot (bb size) attached about 8-12" up from the hook. OR, use without the split shot when drifting.

With the other baits I listed, retrieve across or at an angle against the current. Pay special attention to current breaks (such as rocks standing above the water that create a patch of slack water downstream). Use the smaller lures (can't remember the Super Duper numbers, but I use an F4 and F5 flatfish quite often). With the other baits listed, I like then around 1/16 or 1/32 oz.

As for colors, I use gold and silver most often. I have a couple of secret colors that I just can't reveal.

I will also use a small floating Rapala minnow or a 2 3/8" Yo-Zuri Pin's Minnow. Both in silver/black or silver/blue.

One thing to consider is that all the trout I catch are hatchery fish. If you are fishing for wild fish, you will have to be a lot more selective with your lures and more careful with your presentation.

I would use a 750/1000 series spinning reel on a 5'6 or 6' L or UL rod.  I like the BPS Microlite Graphite and the Fenwich Eagle GT rods. You don't want a noodle, but you do want something with enough whip to the tip to throw the light lures.

I like 2 and 4 lb. test Super Silver Thread and 4 lb. test Vanish flouro.

[NATHAN_JAMES]

All those sound good. Corn, at least in RI is illegal , the fish can't digest it. I like rooster tails, cheese(brand is a secret) powerbait oh and crawlers, meal worms.  it's all good stuff.

[bass109]

fishing for trout, they use alot of those techniques in Northeast. ;D

[T-rig]

Small live minnows also work great.

[Water Dog]

I like to use a fly rod and fish nymphs and a few dry flys on occasion that I have tied myself.

Turn over a rock or two and notice the insect larvae and tie something similiar.  Stoneflys and terrestials like crickets, ants, and grasshoppers generally are good in various sizes and natural colors, brown or black.  I generally fish for native trout in small rivers, most likely, creeks to you.  Trout can be in very small creeks but I am not fond of fishing anything less than 20' wide.

Purists are generally dry fly only and they watch the hatch very closely.  I never was a purist and since 95% of a trout's diet is floating submerged in the water coloum, nymphs and wet flys work well enough for you to get your limit.  We always carried the fixings to build a fire and cook a few trout for lunch which a purist would frown on, might even be illegal, but we would examine the stomach contents to see what they had been feeding on and tie it and fish it.  I never have had time to fish enough to hurt the fish population.

Great fun was had by all!  ;D

You will always find a fly favored by local fishermen.  Watch the insect life in the bushes, for example green inch worms, or Japanese beetles, and throw whatever you see and you will catch fish.

[Floridabassking352]

Try using a live nightcrawler with some split shot above the hook. Just make sure you hook the worm so that 3/4 of it's body is hanging off the hook. Some guy told me to fish it this way and I got a lot more strikes. I guess it's able to wiggle a lot more and fish like the action. I was fishing for wild trout, so the nightcrawler is your best bet if you are also fishing for wild trout.

[Water Dog]

 We used to wacky rig worms going through the worm twice in the middle to cover the hook and any fish in the creek will take a bite.  Trout tend to swallow them which means that you can't catch and release if you want to unless you cut the line.  Flys will tend to be in the lip.

In worm fished streams you will catch more fish on flys maybe since they haven't seen them.

[ThomasL]

Give a trout the respect it deserves use a flyrod...

A note on that if you are fishing waters that are for flyfishing only

you better not get caught using anything else...

[T-rig]

if you can catch trout on lures and other baits, why should you have to use a flyrod?

i agree that on rivers that permits only flyfishing only fly's or nimph's should be used.

there is nothing better better then catching a big trout on a lure!

[Tom Bass]

Canuck Kid,

I like to use an ultra-light spinning rig and either Mepps or Rooster Tail spinners. The colors I have had the best luck with in California, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are white / silver and chartreuse / brass. The lightest weight of these lures seems to work better. Check your local regulations about hooks. Some states will only allow a single hook on your lure. Treble hooks may be forbidden. Rooster tail sell spinners with single hooks. If your catching and releasing I recommend single hooks for the fish's sake.

The way I fish these lures in a stream is to cast upstream and retrieve with the current just fast enough to make the blade flutter. Trout don'tseem to trust a lure that is moving upstream as much. You'll get more hook ups going with the current.

Good luck and have fun.

Tom

[timmyswetarded]

the inline spinner roostertails that are all black with small blotches of dark green are killer where i fish, in 1/8-1/16oz with 4lb line

[basspro48]

I generally flyfish for trout with a 4-weight outfit for the smaller creeks. I use a lot of small clouser minnows, woolly buggers, and pheasant tail nymphs that I tie. I also use an assortment of dryflies, depending on the hatch, but I don't tie very many of those.

[wvubassfan]

joes flies and trout magnets are great lures that are rarely used

i also use everything that people have said above

[iceintheveins]

Generally drifting half a night crawler with a couple split shot will outfish anything. As far as lures go, you can't beat panther martin spinners in size 4, 6, and 9. Lucky we don't have any flyfishing only rivers around here. I can see a few smaller, hard fished rivers being flies and lures only but never flies only. That's bull.

[lmouthbassfisher]

good bait is night crawlers a good lure is definitly an inliner spinner

[VekolBass]

My son caught a 6 fish limit today in less than 90 minutes on a white Worden's rooster tail. I caught two fish, including the largest of the day, on a Mepps Aglia.

[zara spook]

A lot of this depends on when and what type of water you are fishing. If it is a night fishing expedition...use a night crawler and some split shot. I like to still fish with this tactic and just plunk it out in a hole and let it set. If I am fishing faster water...I use a minnow threaded on the line with a #12 trebble hook so it'll spin when it hits the current. With this tactic I usually look for natural eddys or breaks where the water speed changes since trout like to hang out on these transition areas and feed. DON'T overlook the ripples though...If you are fishing for brookies they like to hide in small pockets behind big rocks and under tree roots so float a minnow past them as well.

[Tincanfsh]

I like to use a night crawler and a hook  and let the current drift the bait to the trout. If you don't have a fly Rod you could use a casting bubble and a fly.

[Water Dog]

I tried some plastics and a couple of panther martins just for the heck of it in a good native trout tail water river the last couple of days with only one hit on a nice fake minnow.  My buddy told me I would get a zero.  I used Berkley **** on the bait also.

This was an experiment and I learned what doesn't work.  Normally I would use wet flys (nymphs) but I saw a couple of fishermen using flys with not too much luck so the fish weren't feeding a whole lot.  They were hitting about a size 42 nat that was hatching.  I was hoping to come up with something that I could cover more water with and fish a greater distance than the fly rod.

I tried a little 'garden hackle' (night crawler) and caught one which was small and I cut the line since I used a hook that will go away.

Another beautiful priceless time on the river and learned a lesson or two, what can you say....no complaints here.  

Next time I'll use flys, these natives are picky and get to see good presentations.  Flys will generally out catch spinners and bait where I fish.