Trout fishing for Amateurs! Welcome to Trout Season! Trout fishing doesn’t have to be an expensive sport. You can spend a ton of money on all sorts of gimmicks and gadgets such as a boat with a motor, a depth locator, a PH meter, a guide, or even expensive tackle. All you really need is a spinning or spin-casting out fit in working order, some hooks, some night crawlers, and some hip boots. The number one thing you need is your license (if your state requires it). It’s important to realize that there is no such thing as a “Lucky Angler”. Those fishermen know exactly what they are doing through years of practice and determination. Practice makes perfect and experience is your teacher.
There are many methods used to catch trout. Amateur anglers begin by learning to catch trout on light spinning tackle. Experience Anglers challenge themselves by using a fly rod and by fishing wild trout in crystal clear streams.
Getting started: Make sure you are in “trout” territory. Fill your reel with some heavy line. Put 30 yards of light line at the end. It may take several hundred yards of light line to fill your spool. Most of this line is wasted. Use a monofilament line no heavier than 6 pound test in cloudy or murky water and no heavier than 4 pound test in clear water. Use hooks in the #10 to #14 size range. You want your hook to be inconspicuous. Keep your reel clean so your line flows smoothly off the spool. Nightcrawlers have been said to b e the best bait. Hellgrammites and insect larva are also good. Small minnows work well early in the season but carrying a bucket around can be tedious! Match the spinners or other hardware to the fish. For example – gold for brown trout, silver for rainbow, and copper for brookies.
If you are using a nightcrawler, hook the crawler just once at either end. Approach the pool quietly from downstream keeping well hidden from the fish. Cast upstream allowing your crawler to drift naturally back towards you. Your line will float so you can tell when you have a bite. Be patient and motionless!
I’ve even read that cigarette smoking is detected by trout!
Pay Attention To Your Hands - Many anglers don't pay attention to the scents on their hands. Rainbow Trout have a very acute sense of smell and the smells on your hands transfer to your bait, whether that bait be live or a lure. If you smoke, for example, that smell transfers to your bait and has an effect on your catch rate. A good practice is to grab a handful of dirt or grass and rub it into your hands before fishing and anytime you've handled a foreign substance. This will help neutralize any "stink" that might be on your hands.
If you disturb a pool too much, you may need to move on. Stay out of the water when fishing. Boots are just for crossing the stream. The best time to fish for trout is in the afternoon in the spring and early morning in the summer.
Just another tidbit: If you have hooked a fish deeply and can’t get the hook out, just cut the line. If it’s bleeding, it won’t survive.
Trout Habitat Brook Trout Brook trout are especially particular about their habitat. They require deep pools. These pools provide the trout with a place to swim and hide from predators. The flow of the stream must stay stable so that the pools riffles and structure stay the same. Brook trout also prefer colder water and lots of oxygenation. They would have a hard time with survival if the waters reach above 70 degrees F. Brook trout also like clear water which allows sunlight to penetrate through and promote the growth of plants for food. They can also see fisherman and predators. That said, Brook trout look for Bank Cover to escape predators and find cooler temperatures. Stream trout cannot survive in large numbers of there is no bank cover. Gradual stream gradient is very important to the survival to the brook trout. If the current is fast moving and the stream has a silty bottom, water temperatures are likely to be too warm for trout. To reproduce, brook trout look for gravel or rocky areas in the fall. It is important that there is not too much instream debris. This could lead to warm stagnant pools and algae growth. Brook trout prefer streams with deep undercut stream banks, therefore a degree of curvature and bends is a good thing. Rainbow Trout Brown Trout Brown trout are called the “trophy trout” because they are harder to catch than the smaller trout. They feed exclusively on minnows. They prefer to lie hidden beneath an undercut bank and will dart out to feed on minnows as they pass by. More places that they will hide are deep cut banks, ledges, log jams, boulders, or points of islands where flow is reduced. A heavy line is needed because the brown trout will fight and get the lines all tangled up. The action can be fast and furious.
Originally, rainbows were found along the coastal rivers on the West Coast. Rainbow trout inhabit most areas of the
Happy fishing!
