Posts Tagged ‘trout’

Stream Trout Jigs

I know you all know that I live in Arizona. And, that my favorite type of fishing is in our put-and-take lakes. But, not everybody is into the “easy” ways of catching trout. If you’re feeling up to it (and can handle loosing some tackle to the rocks of a stream) then read on to find out about how to use a jig set up to catch stream trout!

Most trout in lakes will eat whatever you throw out to them, either on the bottom, trolling, or cast and reel. (Provided of course, they’re biting at all!) Stream trout, on the other hand, feed more selectively than many game fish.

Whatever big trout are feeding on, whether it is insect larvae or minnows, it’s important to use a presentation that looks and moves like the real thing. If you can, creep up to the stream, not letting your shadow fall on the water, and see if you can spot what the trout are after. If you can’t figure it out, (and who can read a trout’s mind!) then don’t be afraid to try different baits or techniques.

Most of the major diet items for a stream trout can be imitated by a jig.

Jig: type of fishing lure, it usually consists of a lead sinker with a hook molded into it. There is then some sort of body on the shank of the hook. The jig is very versatile and can be used in both salt water as well as fresh water. Many species are attracted to the lure which has made it popular amongst anglers for years.

The head of a jig can consist of many different shapes and colors along with different features. The most common is the round head, but others include fish head shaped, coned shaped, etc. These heads come in many different weights usually ranging from 1/64th of an ounce to over 1 ounce. They can also be found in a wide array of colors and patterns. The hooks also vary. These variances can be on the hook type, color, angle of the hook or the material of the hook. Some jig heads even offer a weed guard.

Tiny 1/64-ounce jigs tipped with plastic nymph imitate nymph-stage insects, while a larger 1/16-ounce jig with a 1-inch white curlytail grub imitates a larger pupae or small baitfish.

Nymph-stage insect: stage between larva and mature insect; given to young stages of insects which undergo a partial metamorphosis. The nymph is usually quite similar to the adult except that its wings are not fully developed. It normally feeds on the same kind of food as the adult.

Jigs can be worked slowly (bounced lightly across bottom) or swum through deeper waters of pools and runs. In summer, cast jigs along under-cut banks, around deeper wood, below cascades into plunge pools, and behind boulders in runs.

Since jigs are already weighted, they often don’t require additional weight to sink them to the bottom. Depending on the way the water moves, however, they can raise in the water column, so keep an eye on how the jig sits in the water.

Readers Weigh In:

• What set-up do you like to use to fish for trout in streams?

Video: Sure-Fire Trout-Catching Setup

My Sure-Fire Trout-Catching Setup has been one of my most popular articles ever. And since it’s just the tip you need to fish for trout in weedy, rocky lakes, I wanted to illustrate just how to set it up.

Trout Fishing From Shore

I spend a lot of my free time camping and fishing, but, when I can’t get out and camp or fish, I spend my time searching for great tips that I can bring to you. What I’ve discovered is that there are a on of great tips and information available about how to catch fish, but very little of this information makes any sense, even to me! Too often, really great sites like Berkley-Fishing.com (yes, that is Berkley, as in PowerBait) have great tips, but they aren’t explained enough and are far too technical.

Here’s a great tip I found on Berkley-Fishing.com called Shorecasting For Lake and Brown Trout, but it has a lot of terms and techniques in it that I’m not sure you’d recognize. So, I’ve added in some definitions and explanations (in normal English, not the techno-babble that tournament fishers use) so I can share this great tip with you. You might also need this photo to make sense of some of the terms!

All these lures work well for trout.

On larger lakes, trout move shallow where shore casters can target them with spoons and swim baits.

This means that you will cast out and then reel in, pulling the lure towards the shore as you reel in. You should be reeling in fast enough to keep the lure off the bottom. This is a great technique if you:

1. can cast easily and with any accuracy
2. are fishing a shoreline that is relatively weed and rock free
3. are good at getting your line unhooked from snags.

If you’re NOT good at getting unhooked, you’ll need my three part series on the right (and easy) way to get unstuck! If you missed it, it was published on June 10, 2010.

Good areas to fish include mouths of tributary rivers, points, and other access areas like piers. Start by targeting areas closer to shore earlier in the morning and progressively cast to deeper water later in the day to find fish.

You’re looking for areas where you can easily fish the shallows of the lake but can also cast into deeper water later in the day as the trout move to deeper water when the shallow water gets warmer.

Cast spoons in the 1/4- to 1-ounce sizes and 5- 6-inch swim baits, or use thumper-style soft baits on 1/2 to 1-ounce jig heads.

A spoon is a cupped metal lure that swims through water like a wounded baitfish. These can be unpainted or painted metal and have a treble hook attached. When I troll for trout, I use a spoon lure called a flatfish.

Swim baits are artificial lures that resemble a swimming minnow when they are pulled through the water. Mostly these are hard wood or plastic, and are jointed so they move their “tail” back and forth in the water as you reel in, i.e. they “swim.”

Soft bait are those jiggly rubber worms that are also used for bass. They come in a variety of colors and sizes and (new and without hooks) are a hit with kids to play with in camp. If your soft bait lure tears, you can heat a straightened paperclip (on the camp stove) and gently melt the edges of the plastic back together by dragging the heated clip through the tear and pressing the edges back together. (Use pliers to grasp the clip and gloves to protect your hands!)

Jig heads are a small, hard plastic lure with a single barbed hook attached. There are different types, but basically think a round ball with a painted eye on it and a hook sticking out. There are round head, axe head, bean heads and more.

Experiment with retrieve speed and color. Good color patterns to start with are those that mimic natural baitfish.

This means that you’re going to test how fast to reel in and what color of lure you’re using. This is where the science of fishing ends and the experimentation begins- keep trying different combinations until you find the one that catches trout.

If you want to catch trout, and if casting and reeling in aren’t really your thing, then you’ll want to check out my Sure-Fire, Trout-Catching Set-Up for a great way to bottom fish for trout. Did you miss my Sure-Fire, Trout-Catching Set-Up? It was published on SetYourHook.com on May 6, 2010.

Readers Weigh In:

• What are your favorite trout fishing techniques?
• Do you have a favorite lure or bait that you use?
• Do you prefer to use lures (cast & reel method) or to bottom fish?

Sure-Fire Trout-Catching Setup

ESP Boss discovered this set up for our trout tackle about nine years ago and since then we’ve had excellent trout catching success.

• Size 12 or 14 treble snelled hooks (the ones with line attached are easier to use and faster to change out when the fishing is hot)
• 1/8 oz egg weights
• 4 lbs test fishing line
• Swivel
• Berkley® Power Bait

On your fishing line, thread one or two egg weights. These will slip up and down the line. Then attach the swivel. Attach a treble hook line to the swivel. Cover the hook with the Power Bait, only using enough to completely cover the hook, about the size of an olive.

The egg weights will move freely on the fishing line.

(The “fishing line” in the photo is actually sewing thread so you can see how the line is set up.)

I personally use two egg weights with my Eagle Claw fishing pole. I have a very flexible action and with just one weight, my casts barely clear the weeds on shore.

Under water, the weights go to the bottom, and the Power Bait floats above the rocks and weeds, making sure the trout can find it. I prefer the slip sinker method rather than pinching on split shot because I think the slip sinkers are more adaptable to the underwater conditions. If you pinch a split shot at 15 inches above the swivel, that’s where it is, with no flexibility.

I’m addicted to using Yellow Power Bait, not having much success on other colors. It’s a good idea to have at least a few jars of different colors in your tackle box, just in case. The other colors I use are: white, chartreuse, pink, and anything with sparkles.

If you prefer worms, salmon eggs, corn or other bait, they’ll all work with this set up, but floating bait works the best.

Readers Weigh In:

What tips do you have for catching trout? Is there a way to set up your tackle that just seems to work no matter what?

You can post comments on the blog or visit our Fishing Tips Forum.