I Love Trout, Want to Catch Some Wild Ones

[Doorhandle]

So with the big fish migration from Lake Ontario coming soon I am getting excited to finally do some real fishing. I fished quite a bit as a kid but never had someone to give me some solid guidance, so I consider this year to be my first time really fishing as an adult. Anyways, I love trout and I want to catch some rainbows or browns when they start running up the rivers, and I had some questions!

1. I believe I am using 8lbs line, I have read that this is good for trout but should I upgrade to 10 in case I end up with a salmon on the line?

2. Can the trout be found at the same time as the salmon, and in basically every trib? I have a fair amount of spots around my area (Oakville) that I have checked out, scouted and explored but I really don't know what kind of fish will show up when the season starts.

3. Lures of bait? I have lots of crayfish imitation bait, lots of roll up trout bait, and I also bought some salmon eggs. What baits have you guys had good luck with? Also, as for lures I have been having a lot of problems with them getting snagged and me losing them. Any tips to avoid this, or is it just due to the water levels being low right now?

4. What kind of net do I need? I will be fishing from shore, I don't have a good net right now and do not want to spend over $50 on it, if somebody could recommend me something that would be great! Something that might be workable for pier fishing would be cool too.

5. Anything else I need to know?

Thanks a lot of reading and any advice I receive, it seems like a fairly close community so hopefully I can meet up with some of you guys when the fish start to show up.

 

[Mr. Bassturd]

honestly dude get out there and try it don't expect to become a pro ur first year cuz it won't happen ive been doing the salmon thing for three years didn't have any success until my second season and the steelies since last year april and I caught my first proper one in march of this year so hav patience. second off the information about lure selection and why ur getting snagged is out there if u r willing to put the effort in u may or may not be rewarded.

 

[AKnook]

In my experience (with flies/fly fishing) if your not snagging up or loosing flies your not getting the fly where the fish are.

 

[Doorhandle]

honestly dude get out there and try it don't expect to become a pro ur first year cuz it won't happen ive been doing the salmon thing for three years didn't have any success until my second season and the steelies since last year april and I caught my first proper one in march of this year so hav patience. second off the information about lure selection and why ur getting snagged is out there if u r willing to put the effort in u may or may not be rewarded.

I was hoping to get some local expertise on the lure vs bait thing, since every area is different. I have put my time in already trying to find good spots and get the best setups I can but I have no way to validate my information which makes it kind of hard to know what I am doing right or wrong. Some people learn by doing, others like to absorb as much information as possible from every avenue before getting into the real thing.

 

[Mr. Bassturd]

ok so give us a rundown of your setup? and I can go from there

 

[Doorhandle]

ok so give us a rundown of your setup? and I can go from there

I don't know a lot of the specifics, the main rod I am using is one that my grandfather handed down to me (he was a big fisher), it is on the longer side and has 8lbs test line on it. Right now I am just running a slip bobber rig with an 8" leader on it and whatever bait I need to use. I have a ton of lures as well (some cleos, some mepps, a bunch of topwater lures) but I tend not to fish with them since I always end up losing them and it takes forever for me to setup my slip bobber again (I have another rod I was thinking of using exclusively for lures but it is of much lesser quality). So yeah, I don't really know what lures to use for what situations, and am not sure how well most of the artificial trout baits out there actually work. You think a slip bobber rig will do the trick when the trout start showing up in the west tribs?

 

[Mr. Bassturd]

ok your rod and line sound decent as far as the cleos and mepps go use those at the piers u can also float fish at the piers or bottom bounce,
in the rivers and streams u would want to use the sliding float setup pretty much exclusively unless u hav a fly rod but that's a different story.
as far as having two rods setup with a float on one and lure on the other is great for the pier but just bring the float rod to the river .
live bait vs artificial I like artificial because u don't have to worry about it u buy it and leave it in ur bag ur car wherever and it doesn't really go bad for the most part.
and ur last question but when there runnin I don't know.

 

[Doorhandle]

ok your rod and line sound decent as far as the cleos and mepps go use those at the piers u can also float fish at the piers or bottom bounce,
in the rivers and streams u would want to use the sliding float setup pretty much exclusively unless u hav a fly rod but that's a different story.
as far as having two rods setup with a float on one and lure on the other is great for the pier but just bring the float rod to the river .
live bait vs artificial I like artificial because u don't have to worry about it u buy it and leave it in ur bag ur car wherever and it doesn't really go bad for the most part.
and ur last question but when there runnin I don't know.

Sweet, thanks for the info man. I have been reading more and more about bottom bouncers and texas rigs and whatnot and have been really interested in trying them out so maybe Ill give em a shot soon (I have a lot of egg sinkers and a ton of other kinds from my grandad's tacklebox).

 

[Mr. Bassturd]

no prob bottom bouncing only works at the piers tho don't do it in the river u will lose more stuff than its worth

 

[TRINIBOY]

no prob bottom bouncing only works at the piers tho don't do it in the river u will lose more stuff than its worth

All depends on the river bottom if its more sand based you can get away with bottom bouncing. It's when you get a rocky bottom you tend to snag a lot more often and will be a pain re-rigging every second cast or so. Only problem you may also encounter is bottom bouncing amist guys float fishing. These two techinics can be infuriating side by side, however if there's a large space distance between the two it can be interesting to see which setup is working best. Just my obersavations.

 

[shuynh]

October is a good month for pier steelheads. You can have succes with this set up.
Main line+ 3/4-1oz egg sinker+ swivel+ 3-4 feet of 6-8lbs leader+ size 10-12 hook+ floating roe bag.
Pm me where abouts you live and I'll share with you the few spots that I had success with.

 

[rich_ace_G]

Lures bait...its not really our decision what the trout wants to hit but go small but visible. If you're using spinners. Cast upstream and letit roll with the current. getting snagged is the name of the game. Eventually you're going to lose a lure otherwise it no longer fishing but harvesting.

 

[Icehut]

I'd strongly suggest you change your line out every season. Granpa's rod may still work just fine, but his line... not so much.

 

[W_boughner]

The best way to learn to setup I to Tagalog with someone who can show you how to read a river and what gear to use where .... We can all tell you what we think you should use but hands on training is the best way to figure it out .... Ofer gas and lunch and I'm sure some one near you would help you out

 

[Mr. Bassturd]

The best way to learn to setup I to Tagalog with someone who can show you how to read a river and what gear to use where .... We can all tell you what we think you should use but hands on training is the best way to figure it out .... Ofer gas and lunch and I'm sure some one near you would help you out

thumbs up to this answer

 

[steelhead101]

find some one who will show you the ropes, your first year will always be frustrating but if you have some one to show you the basics it will give you a huge head start. i remember when my friend took me to the river for the first time and there were about 10 chinooks in a foot of water and i couldnt even see one let alone catch one.

 

[BaitCaster]

Float fishing is a good way to start when fishing in the rivers. Here's a good video. These guys are using centre pin rods, but your grandpa's rod will work. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=01ZXTAkpHns&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D01ZXTAkpHns

 

[Dozer]

Do not use 3 or 4 lb leader for migratory fish. The video is decent but these guys are draining the fishes energy stocks using 3 lb leaders. Thumbs down.

 

[rocheleauc]

Do not use 3 or 4 lb leader for migratory fish. The video is decent but these guys are draining the fishes energy stocks using 3 lb leaders. Thumbs down.

+1 Agreed, no need to go that low with leader.

 

[Mr. Bassturd]

Do not use 3 or 4 lb leader for migratory fish. The video is decent but these guys are draining the fishes energy stocks using 3 lb leaders. Thumbs down.

so which lb test leader would u suggest for migratory fish