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Lures For Trout

Choices Abound For More Fish

By Jim Bedford

 The weighted spinner is a very versatile weapon when fishing for trout.  I like to think of it as the ultimate moving water lure.  You can cast it upstream and retrieve with the current or across and down and let it sweep against the flow.  A special feature of this lure is that it has action (spins) at a slow retrieve.  This is especially true for those spinners made with broad, French-type blades.  It also sinks rapidly enabling you to get the lure down in small areas.  High action plugs like Wiggle Worts and Hotshots also have action at slow retrieves but it is hard to get them down when retrieving with the current.  You can control the depth of the spinner by your retrieve speed and the position of your rod, that is, how high you keep the tip above the water.  This allows you to work the spinner into all kinds of trout holding nooks and crannies in a creek or river.

Casting accuracy is important when fishing trout streams with lots of cover and overhanging vegetation.  Compact weighted spinners are easy to flip into the spots with an under hand cast.  Pitching spinners into tight spots lets you show your lure to lots of trout as you work your way upstream.  The flashing blade will also draw trout out from their hiding spots.

Spoons are also good trout catchers and they are also easy to cast.  In fact, you can cast them farther than spinners of the same weight so they can be good when you need to cast a long ways in a good-sized river to reach the “spot.”  They also sink quickly when dropped into tight, deep trout-holding spots.  Their negative is that they have to be retrieved quite rapidly in order to have good action.

Stick baits or minnow-shaped crankbaits have been gaining in popularity as trout lures.  They are especially effective in relatively long runs and good sized holes.  Large trout usually become fish eaters and these plugs do a great job of imitating injured baitfish.  If a big brown gets a long look at a spinner it may not strike it because it doesn’t look like any natural food.  They are much less likely to turn down the chance to grab the stick bait.  A negative for minnow plugs is that they are hard to cast accurately in tight quarters.  With their relatively light weight but good sized profile it is easy for them to “sail” off line.  They also must be retrieved fairly rapidly when fished with the current in order to have good action.  A solution for this is to employ the deep diving types; not for more depth but for more action at a slower retrieve.

Trout, especially large browns, also love crayfish and plugs that imitate them can be very effective.  Jigs also can be dressed to imitate these large crustaceans.  Jigs can also be fished with plastic minnows and grubs or tied with buggy looking marabou or buck tail.  They are great for dropping into tight spots but the fact that it is easy to hang them up on the bottom is a problem.

Whichever lures you choose, remember to match their size and flashiness with size of the stream, clarity of the water, and brightness of the day.  Matching the conditions so that the lure gets the attention of the trout without spooking them will put more browns and brookies on the end of your line.  Use a small, black Duo Lock snap on the end of your line to connect to the lure.  This way you can quickly change the size or type of your lure to best fit the holding water you are approaching.