Hi i'm sort of new to this forum and trout fishing as well. I did catch a trout at this river last year but mostly just by luck. I mostly like to go for bass in the summer.
I would like to get more into targeting trout.
Other than a worm or roe, I was wondering if anyone use lures like the smaller mepps or panthers? I find they work really well with bass but not sure if the trout would take those.
Also, how do people usually time the runs? Is it after rain fall? sunny warm days?
Any tips would be appreciated.
I'm also looking to fish a lot more when april and may arrives.
tony
Hey Tony, how's it going buddy
Andy, nice to meet you
I'm new to this forum as well, but definitely not new to fishing, especially trout fishing. I generally find that trout are tough to catch unless you know what you're doing and/or conditions and timing is right. I find trout to be extremely picky as to when they'll bite, but not necesarilly what they'll bite. Timing timing timing, can't stress that enough. I'll touch more on timing later on in this post.
As for bait, fresh roe works best ( brown trout and rainbow trout roe is best, but salmon roe is fine), I don't personally use worms that often for trout because most baits will work just as good, if not better, and you don't need to touch those gross little buggers, all squirmy and shizz lol. As for mepps and panthers, and other small spinners and spoons, the smallest ones work best I find, but only in certain types of water or areas of a creek. The spinners will work great in ponds and deeper water, in a slow retreive style. As for using them in the creek, its best to use a smaller rod, (walleye or bass type spinning rod is fine) and try to use the spinners in deeper pools with very few ppl floating roe down stream (casting and retrieving tends to annoy noodle rodders for obvious reasons). Just slowly real the spinner in and try not to catch the bottom, you'll be able to feel the bites very easily with this combo. I don't use the spinners as often, because I enjoy using my noodle rod combo instead. For the record, trout LOVE spinners, absolutely love, Jessica Alba type love.
As for general bait, the the good stuff include roe (bright colours), spinners, single eggs, small plastic Berkley pink worms, maggots (fake or real), worms, sponge (literal sponge), flies, small crankbaits, etc, to be honest, trout will hit anything as long as they are active and hungry. I personally prefer to use roe, with a small (not too small) mustad hook, with 3 small splitshot about 8 inches apart, and a bright green or red/orange float about 2 feet from the hook. I use 6lb test or 8lb test line (nothing higher). And of course an 11' noodle rod (you can find decent brands for under 100$ when on sale, such as Shimano etc) (great for beginners). The best presentation is to drift in 3-4 foot pools and make sure to remain patient, cause sometimes these buggers won't bite for the love of god (even if you can see 30 rainbows in a pool).
As for timing, fall time and spring time are the optimal times. In the falls the trout come up the creeks and streams to eat the salmon eggs and in the spring they come up the same creeks to spawn. Both times of the year are equally as good, aslong as you know what you're doing and know where to find them. Generally, opening day around southern Ontario is 3rd saturday of April (I believe) but you'll basically be shoulder to shoulder with fisherman just like yourself in search of the beautys. You'll have to figure your way around that, generally I like to wait for a few days after opening day so there's less ppl. In some areas you cant fish for trout way before April, once the ice melts pretty much (south of CN tracks in Oshawa and Bowmanville creek, my home creeks). The best time to chase the bows is right after a big rain, except you should wait a day or 2 for the water to go down and for better colour (greenish water is amazing I find). Cold mornings are best, and cold evenings are good as well. And here is the most important thing you need to take note of, I find that the trout ONLY bite like crazy for about 30mins-1hr EARLY morning (just as the sun rises) and about 30mins-1hr JUST before it gets dark. Its really odd, but those are the best chances at hooking into them. Later in the day and later in the morning are OK as well, but like I said, not nearly as good as dusk and dawn.
My only other tip is to have fun, a lot of the times you'll get skunked fishing for rainbows and browns, but I always say, its better to get skunked fishing than it is to be working.
Hope I provided some info for your future trout missions, good luck!
Andy
