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1 Chapter 1 : Itâ s Rainbow Trout Youâ re After? 6 Top Tips for Rainbows Havalon Knives Trout Fishing Trout Fishing Tips For Any Angler Behind bass, panfish, and catfish, trout fishing are the 4th most popular fishing in North America. Trout always put up a good fight, are abundant from sea to shining sea, and are pretty tasty when anglers decide to keep them. Just the tiniest change in weather can make them stop feeding for days. Brook Trout in the lakes tend to get much larger but to Brook Trout fanatics the stream fish are more desirable because they feed almost exclusively on insects and have that dark red meat that just taste out of this world. Lake Fishing with Lures: There are well known brand names. There are many small spinners on the market that work well. The Brook Trout will be right close to the surface, especially in the evening. Try to dress in natural colors like browns and dark greens. Just make sure your drag is set for 4 pound test. In the spring you can hit the Brookies with flies. Fly-fishing is a traditional way to catch them and on some days can be very effective. In the spring you need to use bigger dry-flies that mimic May Flies. May flies do not skim across the surface at that time of year all the trout are focusing on is May Flies. They flip-flop around trying to escape their exoskeleton and dry their wings, not skim around like other water bugs. The best thing to do is cast out and then spin your rod in your hands until the fly starts to flip-flop. You may have to use a heavier lead line to get the fly to flip. In the summer later in the evening try casting dry flies where you see ripples or movement close to the water. Let the fly sit on the surface and every 5 to 10 seconds bring the fly a foot closer. Another trick is to use a wet fly with a regular fishing rod. About 4 feet from the end of the line you want a wood floater. What many people do is cut a half-inch section off a broom handle and then drill a small hole through it. Slide it up the line before you tie your fly on. Then use a spit-shot to keep the piece of wood 4 feet from your wet fly. This way you can cast a long distance and you can let your wet-fly drop down 4 feet and then pull the line to let the fly come to the surface and then let it sink again. This is a good technique for when the trout are shallow but not coming to the surface. In late spring you can set the float so the fly can sink down 6 feet. In the summer by late morning and into the middle of the day the Brook Trout will go deeper. Brook Trout do not like to go deeper than 35 feet at any time. You want to use tiny flutter lures like small Williams Wabblers, Sutton Silver Spoons or other light flutter spoons. With a 3-way swivel rig, 4-pound test and a 1-oz weight you can easily troll 35 feet deep. You want to only troll fast enough for the lure to work. Stream Fishing for Brook Trout: Casting tiny spoons and spinners will work in big pools and in places where there is not an excessive amount of overhanging bush but not practical for most parts of the smaller streams found in the area. The very best bait is a tiny hook and split-shot with a small piece of worm. When fishing a stream always walk up stream so the hole you are about to fish is not disturbed with settlement that you have kicked up. The Brook Trout will hide in the back of deep pool, under logs and tree roots and in the watercress. You want cast above where you think a trout might be hiding and let the bait flow with the water. Some log jams will be situated that you have to drop you bait from up stream. In this case walk through the bush and avoid stepping in the water. Camouflage gear also works. Avoid getting bug spray on your hands and always wet your hands before touching a Brook Trout. Picking up a Brook Trout with dry hands and then letting them go will result in a high mortality rate. A dry hand will rub off the protective layer of slime and leave the fish extremely vulnerable to skin infection and deadly parasites. Page 1

2 Chapter 2 : Brook Trout Fishing: Mid-Summer Tactics - On this page you'll have the ability to learn about trout and how to be a better trout fisherman. It doesn't matter if you're a novice angler or if you've been fishing for over 20 years, there is information on this page that will be useful to you. Who am I kidding? They arrived in May! Not only have we smashed previous years temperature records relative to the time of year in Michigan, but it has also been very dry, pushing us near emergency drought conditions. High sun, hot temps and extremely low precipitation are not three things you want to see in conjunction if you are a summertime trout bum in Northern Michigan. No matter, we will continuously chase finicky fish against all odds and test our mettle against Brook Trout. Catering our tactics to the conditions and finding what works, no matter how unorthodox. A few repeated stories hold strong in my mind from my father. One of the stories goes, that my father forgot his worms back in the truck without realizing it after work one night. With no ambition to hoof the full mile back to the truck, he spit out his bubble gum and slapped it on the hook. He filled his creel that night with one piece of overly chewed Bazooka Bubble Gum. I never forget that story! My father is who we learned to fish Brook Trout from. Hidden gems, secret spots, and our pieces of angler heaven is exactly what they are, and we return to them regularly! You could say it is in our blood, and the time we spend Brook Trout fishing has taught us to become resourceful on the stream. I typically land the bigger fish so it all equals out in my book! I have found a number of techniques for catching mid-summer Brook Trout in Northern Michigan to be particularly effective. Searching out the coldest running stream in the heat of summer will put you in prime waters for Brook Trout fishing; so long as they reside there. Do some research and a little bit of trial and error to find spring fed creeks and tributaries after the main rivers that typically harbor Brookies, turn to bath water. Like I said, do some research, drive to your pinpointed locations, make sure there is indeed an access, ask for permission if needed, and check the stream regulations. A high sun and few clouds is not your ideal Brook Trout fishing sky. Brook Trout seek the dark shelter of the overhanging banks, deep holes and structure for a reason. When the sun is not glaring on the water, a mid-summer Brook Trout is more likely to come out and give you an aggressive strike. Cloud cover will be your best friend to minimize your shadow and give the Brook Trout some sense of comfort once they come out of the bank or log jam to investigate your offering. A little rain never hurts either. There is nothing worse than getting caught in a severe thunderstorm in some thick country away from any shelter. Needless to say, it was not the type of storm you wanted to get caught out in. Plan ahead and key in on forecasts with overcast days and relatively cloudy skies to help make your mid-summer Brook Trout fishing trip a success. Time of Day Matters The early bird gets the worm, right? If you are not an early riser already, become one for mid-summer Brook Trout fishing success. Getting to the water in advance of the rising sun, and the heat of the day will be your opportunity to find above average activity for feeding fish. The same holds true for later in the evening when the sun begins to set. The temperature will begin to drop and the fading light will bring Brook Trout out of hiding for the evening feast. Although not guaranteed to be accurate, a solunar calendar is generally close in regards to windows of opportunity. As you will see on the calendar, you will want to key in on time frames from dawn to mid-morning and again from dusk until dark. It goes without saying that early in the morning and late in the evening is the best time to fish. Just get your can out of bed! Think Outside the Inline Spinner or Fly Every spinning tackle trout angler carries inline spinners; and dry or wet flies for the fly fishermen have their time and place; both for good reason, but on a thick river, on a day where Brook Trout are flighty, a more subtle approach is needed. Simplifying your presentation will be key to triggering strikes. In order to do that, I like to use two techniques. The first requires no explanation. A simple hook and split shot with your bait of choice. An ice fishing or a panfish jig will do the trick, but using one for the specific cause will up our chances at success. Several lure companies make jigs specific for trout applications. I prefer to use a jig that comes undressed, without a buck tail style or artificial bait attached. To each their own here, but I like a vibrant paint scheme with the ability to dress it how I please. Finally, I tip either a bare hook or a jig with a wax worm, leaf worm or if I can get my hands on them a very small minnow. Just enough to cover the point of the hook to soften the feel from a sensitive Brook Trout. Speaking of soft, how many thought soft Page 2

3 plastic baits were just for bass fishing? Soft Plastics are Not Just for Bass A regularly overlooked technique, and one I admittedly do not use enough is fishing for mid-summer Brook Trout with soft plastic baits. Soft plastic baits intended for trout and panfish are relatively easy to find as most companies make them. If they are not specifically for trout, I have found that any variation in a product line for crappie, translates perfectly to applications on Michigan Brook Trout waters. From artificial miniature leeches to micro twister tail grubs, soft plastics can be fished in a variety of ways, presenting the fish a whole new look. The simple fact is that they work well. Dustin With A Nice Mid-Summer Brook Trout It is important to remember that Brook Trout are opportunists deeming them relatively un-picky eaters, but they always remain edgy and sensitive to anything not up to snuff in their environment. In the mid-summer months, Brook Trout habits tend to change, and your tactics for catching them should also. What enticed the Brook Trout to rise yesterday might not be what they are looking for today. If you know you are in waters holding Brook Trout, a rule a thumb I like to use, is to change up the offering if there is 15 to 20 minutes without a strike. Water, Weather, When to fish, and What to use. I hope you find some of these tips and techniques for catching mid-summer Brook Trout helpful when the going gets tougher than usual. Every angler has his truth for what works and these are just mine. I hope you will share with us your tricks and secret weapons via at lifestylelost gmail. Page 3

4 Chapter 3 : Fishing Tips - The Angler's Source for Fishing Tips, Tricks & Tactics Trout fishing is a sport for everyone. You don't need a boat and motor, a depth locator, a ph meter, a guide, or any expensive tackle. All you need is a spinning or spin-casting outfit in working order, a box of hooks, some night crawlers and a pair of hip boots. (The hip boots are optional if you. When used properly, spinners can catch all sorts of different species. Of course, the tactics for one fish are not the same as for the next. In this lesson, I will concentrate specifically on the tactics I employ for trout. Many of these tips, however, are good to keep in mind whenever you fish with spinners. So read up, take some notes, and start catching more trout on spinners! A hefty brown trout. Often this happens if I am having a conversation or distracted for some other reason. In general, this is a bad plan. Visualize the water in front of you as a clock. Cover all the water within your casting radius. Inexperienced anglers often times have little control over where their lure goes. The result is that they fish randomly in many different directions, so, even if by accident, they are fan casting. Shimano has incorporated a number of features into their spinning reels to optimize casting distance including Propulsion Line Management, and a large spool with beveled edge for less drag during casts. Counting Down Another mistake I notice a lot of anglers make is that they begin to reel in the spinner as soon as it hits the water. If the trout are holding deeper in the water column, chances are it will be a very slow day. Count your lure down. Depending on the shape and size of the spinner, a good rule is that it will sink one foot per second. After you make your cast, wait and count. This will give you an idea of how deep your lure is. I will usually reel in one cast on the surface, then let the next one sink down for two counts, then 4, 6, 8 counts and so on. Eventually, you will know where the bottom is. This will help you focus on the entire water column. All right, and now for some advice that might sound silly at first. I count out loud. Why, might you ask? Sometimes though, in the heat of the battle with the trout, I will forget what number I was at. I find counting out loud helps me keep track of where I was. So there you have it, between fan casting and counting down, your lure you will be covering much more of the water in front of you, and reaching more trout. Brook trout technically a member of the char family are typically smaller than other trout species, but make up for it in their aggression and willingness to bite spinners. Source Snap Into Action! You need to keep that blade moving. Often times, the blade on certain spinners will stick. How to solve this? Right when you start to retrieve the lure, give the lure a jerk with the rod. The tension on the line and the rush of water over the blade will get the blade to jump into action. I do this on practically every cast. Spinner with a Dressed Treble Hook Hooks dressed with feathers and mylar, like the one seen above, add extra motion and flash to your spinner. Experiment with tying your own dressed spinners! The only thing better than that is having it strike. The truth is, a lot more trout probably follow your lure than you will ever realize. The idea is to convert as many "follows" into "hits" as possible. One way to do this is to twitch your rod tip towards your lure. The slack in the line causes the lure to pitch to the side and change pace. This often times can trigger a bite from a trailing trout. A word a caution- if you put too much slack in the line the blade may stop spinning altogether, killing the action, and any chance of catching that trout. So keep it subtle. Cast Further, Feel the Strike! Having a sensitive fishing rod will allow you to detect even the lightest bites. And plan on buy several more. Life is good when you have a St Croix in your hands" Cast Upstream This is one that seems to get a lot of attention. When fishing in streams or rivers, cast upstream, initially, and let the lure swing around as you retrieve it. There are a few reasons for this. For one, trout must face upstream in order to fight the current. Additionally, almost all food will be drifting downstream, making this the natural presentation. A second reason to cast upstream is to get your lure deeper. On downstream casts, the force of the current will cause your lure to rise up and skip along the surface. You lure never has a chance to get down to the fish. If however, you cast upstream, your lure will be able to sink deeper to where the fish might be holding. Instead, cast well past the cover, then use your rod tip to guide the lure past the cover. Gaps in weed beds, trees hanging into the water: Sure, you might snag up; you might also get "the one". Vary Your Retrieval Speed Reel fast, reel slow, change it up. Depending on how aggressive the trout are feeling, one might work better than another. As a general rule, retrieve more slowly in cold water and faster in warm, but this is by no means Page 4

5 set in stone. Just keep trying until you find what works. Page 5

6 Chapter 4 : Brook Trout Fishing Tactics Fish location, behavior and fishing tactics will vary depending on whether you're fishing in still waters or moving waters. Finding trout in lakes and ponds In still waters trout are on the move, "cruising" the water looking for food. The rig is very simple. Take a small egg-shaped sinker and slip it on your main fishing line. Tie the end of the line to a small barrel swivel without a snap attached, and then tie on 18 to inches of two- to four-pound test leader material to the other end of the swivel. It is best to use leader material is lighter in breaking strength than your regular fishing line. To the end of the leader, tie on a No. Mold a small ball of floating bait around the treble hook, just covering all of the hook points. Use as light a sinker and swivel as possible that will still allow you to cast a good distance from shore with your fishing gear. This same type of rigging can be used with an inflated nightcrawler, only you should use a size No. The hook is placed lightly just under the skin through the collar on the bait. A worm inflator available at most sporting goods stores with instructions for their use is used to add air under the skin of the worm so that it floats up off the bottom. After casting out, this rig should be fished with an open bail on your spinning reel. Many anglers believe the bait should be kept in one spot so the trout can find it by sight and scent, while other anglers move the bait a foot or two per minute, working the bait back in slowly, and reopening the bail each time they move the bait. Very often the trout cruise at a certain depth, and by moving the bait, you can often fish where the fish are hanging out. Always keep the rod in your hands and as soon as the trout starts taking line, close the bail and set the hook in a single motion. Adding scents to all of these baits is not a bad idea. Nitro Gravy is a popular add-on, but there are dozens of others on the market, and many anglers simply douse their baits with garlic oil from the super market. All add-on scents serve two purposes â attracting the trout and masking the human scent that gets on the bait and hooks from your hands. Lure Rigging There are two types of lures that are effective at The Lake. The in-line spinners like Roostertails and Panther Martins and the small jigs originally designed for crappie. The spinners are the easiest to fish. You can tie them directly to your fishing line or put a snap-swivel on the fishing line and then clip the lure into the snap. This also reduces line twist. Vary your speed to see which speed the trout prefer that day. Sometimes they prefer slowly-retrieved lures this is especially true in cold water and other times a lure that moves quickly gets their attention. The key to success is to experiment with speed and depth you fish the lure until you are successful. With spinners you can use heavier line than with the floating bait rig, but most anglers still do not recommend line heavier than six-pound test because it kills the action of the lure. Fishing small jigs requires more skill, more finesse. If fishing a spinner is like walking around the block, jig fishing is like doing the tango around the block. Small jigs may be the most effective fishing lures or baits used at The Lakes. It seems like the smaller the jig you can fish, the more effective they are at catching the trout. Mini Jigs and Finger Jigs are two of the most popular brands, but there are many others. Jigs this size almost mandate that you fish ultra-light line in the two- to four-pound test range. There are two primary ways to fish the small jigs. The most popular method is to tie the line directly to the jig, cast it out, allow it to sink to the desired depth often the bottom, and then retrieve the lure in a dancing, bouncing motion. This can be done at a variety of speeds, but in each case the lure is popped up through in the water column with a snap of the wrist and then allowed to fall slowly back down. Then the jig is snapped up again, and then allowed to fall. The speed and depth is varied until you find what the fish prefer. The erratic motion of the jig attracts the trout. Fished this way, the small jigs actually look very much like a tiny, wounded minnow. The second method used to fish jigs is with a bobber or float. You can use a variety of floats, but one of the most versatile method is to use a tiny, clear bubble float. This float is egg-shaped and has a plastic tube that runs through the center of the float. The tube can be pulled out and the float filled with water to give it more weight for casting. The fishing line is run through the tube and a jig tied to the end of the line. The bobber stops catch at the bubble and prevent more line from moving through the float. This allows you to set minimum and maximum depths where the jig will be in the water. When this rig is cast out, the jig will sink either to the bottom or to the depth where you have placed a bobber stop. The bubble or float will remain on the surface when you cast, allowing you to fish a specific area precisely. Most anglers then simply twitch Page 6

7 the jig ever so slightly to get it to dance up and down an inch or two. Often a cruising trout will rush over to a jig that rises up a foot or two in the water and then snap up the lure as it falls back toward the bottom. This is especially effective when the bottom has weed cover and the trout thinks the prey is escaping as it falls. These methods are very effective when trout are holding in a specific area or cruising along an edge or weed line and you want to keep the jig in that zone. The bubble float allows the jig to be danced more effectively and stay stationary in that zone better than small clip-on bobbers. Clip-on bobbers, however, are also effective. When the wind is ruffling the water, a simple clip-on bobber allows the jig to hang at the depth you set. The wave action makes the lure dance up and down, requiring almost no effort on the part of the angler. Jig Tips â Scents are essential. There are dozens of different fish attractants on the market, but most jig fishermen spray or dip their lures in scents like Nitro Grease. The boat allows them to get out where the fish are cruising and they can use the boat to help play out line. The boat or tube also allows them to position themselves so the lure can be retrieved along weed lines or drop-offs instead of across them, as they most likely would do from shore. Dancing a jig right in front of their nose, vertical jigging style from a boat or off the tip of a long rod from shore, will often result in a strike. Some regulars at The Lake carry jigs in several weights and sizes, and some even have spools filled with different line weights so they can experiment. Sometimes freshly-planted trout prefer bright colors â orange or chartreuse â and dark colors â black or brown â will often be the most productive on cloudy days or at dawn and dusk. Remember, good fishermen will usually always catch fish because they try different techniques throughout the day until they find the one which is working best. As conditions change throughout the day, so should your technique. Hopefully, this information should give any fisherman a good technical start. If you are not catching fish, try something different or move to a new spot. The fish are there, these Lakes are stocked with more fish than any other lakes around. Page 7

8 Chapter 5 : Saltwater Fishing Tips: Spotted Sea Trout (With Videos) SkyAboveUs Trout Fishing Articles Our collection of expert articles give you a vast wealth of information to help you improve your skills or simply to learn how to fly fish for trout. From the basics, to more advanced topics you will find articles covering every trout fly fishing topic you can think of. This is important information any serious fishermen must be aware of when asking the questions, "Where do I find them? They hang out in grassy flats, estuaries, bayous and bays. Their food sources include squid, mullet, crabs, and other small baitfish. Getting some ideas on how to catch them yet? A simple secret for "perfectly positioning" your bait hooks trigger more strikes. Enter your first name and address to begin receiving the "Simple Saltwater Fishing" newsletter each week I understand that my address is safe with Dan. It will never be rented, traded, or sold. Privacy Policy You can catch them with any of the baits above, and there are some lures that work as well. The next thing you need to know about the habits of a speckled trout is they spend their entire life in the same area. They do not migrate at all. Once you find them, as long as a spot is not overfished, you can catch them in the same spots through the years and decades. Spawning time is form May to July, and this is when they are most active for feeding. They will also spawn multiple times during this range. Here are some speckled trout fishing techniques that have proven to work well: Drift Fishing Drift your boat over sandy flats, oyster beds, rocky bottoms, and wrecks. I recommend using a double "jig rig". Use split-tail grubs, soft plastic minnows, or a combination of both. Bottom Fishing Bait a Kahle hook with live shrimp you can also use baitfish like menhaden, pogies, or croakers. Use a Carolina Rig with a light weight to get the bait down, but allow it to swim as naturally as possible. Use this rig in open water or inland bays. Surf Fishing and Wading These are very popular methods for fishing speckled trout, and they lend themselves to fly fishing as well. You want to fish in the "guts" of the surf Do NOT wade into the guts. Stand atop the sandbars and cast INTO the guts. If you see a flock of birds in the water, get ready. Speckled trout and other predators are tearing through bait fish, and the birds are picking up the scraps. Get into position, and cast right into the fray. Johnson spoons, Zara Spooks, bucktail jigs, and Mirro Lures. Finally, I highly recommend fishing for speckled trout in the winter. Live shrimp is best during this time. The bites will be lighter as well My name is, and my address is. I know Dan will respect my privacy, and that my address will never be rented, traded, or sold. Page 8

9 Chapter 6 : How To Catch Speckled Trout Spinner fishing for trout has always been a favorite of mine. When used properly, spinners can catch all sorts of different species. Of course, the tactics for one fish are not the same as for the next. There are two important prerequisites, though. First and foremost, you need to know where big trout live. The good news is most of what you need to know can be gleaned from books, magazine articles and loose-lipped anglers. Figuring out how to best deliver an offering to denizens of the deep is more difficult, something that requires both patience and careful study on your part. They favor large lakes and deep reservoirs, and they exist in larger rivers having abundant food resources. While you may find an occasional big trout in a small body of water, you need to up the ante to consistently catch them. One step in your quest is to focus on water bodies managed specifically for trophy or quality fishing. Look for streams and lakes where catch-and-release or limited harvest regulations e. Many of these same water bodies are managed to maintain wild stocks. Regulated rivers, or those rivers where flows are managed from operation of upstream storage reservoirs, provide more consistent flow, which translates to productive conditions for stream trout. In contrast, freestone streams have more variable flow conditions due to seasonal snowmelt and rainfall. Trout respond to these conditions in ways that may confuse the uninformed angler. Local guide services and tackle shops can help point you in the right direction if you are new to an area. Locating bigger trout often means learning their habits before making a cast. Trout generally grow faster and attain larger size in quiet water environments. What do big trout lakes have in common? By and large, they have shallow shoreline areas that support growth of submerged vegetation, abundant insect life and forage fish. Deep-water refuge and a range of cover are also essential to maintaining populations of big trout. Another way to locate where big trout live is to consult state fish and wildlife websites. Management agencies routinely list the number and poundage of fish stocked along with dates and locations. Inland lakes often receive plantings of so-called "jumbo" or triploid trout, which may be several pounds in size. These plantings occur throughout the year with most occurring in early spring. There is a good reason for this preference. According to fisheries scientists, feeding activity involves a series of programmed behaviors, each linked by a decision train. The first behavior involves searching. Once a trout finds a particular food item or prey, they must decide whether to eat it or keep searching. If they choose to eat, then how long before they quit and search for more? The theory is that the net energy gained per feeding event is maximized over the course of time, either by minimizing energy loss or maximizing net gain per item. Big fish have an advantage because they can consume a wider size range of food items than small individuals of the same species. The rub is the amount of time spent to locate and consume small food items may be more costly in terms of energy expenditure than a large item. What does this discourse mean to the well-informed angler? For one, it means that it takes as much energy for a big trout to grab a tiny mayfly from the surface as a giant stone. That they might sip caddisflies during a seasonal hatch, but ignore and chase minnows the rest of the time. This knowledge should be factored into your approach. I spent much of my early career in the hinterlands of Oregon and Washington, where you could catch trout all day long. You could imagine my surprise when I visited a certain iconic river in central Oregon where giant redsides are purported to live and failed to bring a single trout to the net at the peak of the famous salmonfly hatch. I got better, but it involved hard work. The lesson is to adapt your approach in heavily fished waters because big trout are wary. They are wary of movement, wary of noise and wary of gear tossed at them. You could say big trout are wise to the ways of anglers, certainly more difficult to fool when the sun is shining bright overhead. Consequently, your success rate will improve if you fish early morning and evening, what I call the "magic hours" of the day. The odds of fooling a trophy-sized trout are also higher on overcast days or during foul weather. Targeting big trout is a different game that might involve sight-fishing rather than random casts. Let shadows on the water arise from landscape features rather than your backside. Take time to observe, approach the shoreline cautiously and pause before you enter the water. Because stream trout are used to taking items that drift in the current, the biggest, strongest trout will often reside at the head of a pool. Cast upstream to reduce the chance of spooking big trout, most of which will face upstream, a behavior known as "positive rheotaxis. Knowing Page 9

10 this, fly-fishers mend their line or use a strike indicator to keep from snagging on the bottom. Gear anglers cast slightly upstream, let their spinner or spoon sink until it bounces off the bottom, then hold the rod tip high to allow the lure to work slowly across the current. You might employ a similar technique for a jig. Give it a toss, feel it touch, twitch, follow the drift. Keep your line as short as possible to reduce slack. Experienced bait-fishers are better at this technique than most. Longer days and increased sunshine lead to warmer water temperatures and big trout becoming more active. While stream trout tend to conserve energy via a lie-and-wait strategy, quiet water trout move around more to search for food. Focus on an active presentation to get their attention. In between hatches though, you may need to go deep. A European nymphing technique that involves dragging beaded flies along the bottom is effective in many waterways. Or you might dead-drift a heavy nymph. Sometimes different is good. If all else fails, downsize your offering. Consider that caddisflies and midgeflies are present in almost every western stream. Neither insect is large in size, yet provide a year-round source of food for trout. Which reminds that some of my best action occurred in the middle of a stonefly hatch think No. Be observant while entering clear waters, and cast upstream to avoid spooking resident trout. I attended a recent seminar where a trout guide discussed how to catch big trout in still water. He pointed out that mayflies move vertically in the water column during their emergence cycle while dragonflies and stoneflies move erratically at depth before they crawl out on vegetation and rocks. Knowing these behaviors, you should adapt your presentation by varying leader type, length and sink rate and possibly type of line to ensure that your offering mimics insect activity. Big trout can tell the difference. Big trout eat little fish and also crustaceans. Work the edge of the shallows, where highest concentrations of trout prey reside, with a spinner, spoon or jig. Or cast a streamer-type fly that imitates the color and size of forage fish. Sometimes a float tube or pontoon boat allows you to fish water not accessible to others. One last piece of advice is to match your tackle to the scenario. Although you might hook a inch brown on a three-weight or ultra-light outfit, can you land it? In summary, find out where big trout live, study what they eat and put your lure in their strike zone. Finally, practice safe catch-and-release. Big trout are too precious to be caught only once. Page 10

11 Chapter 7 : Fly-Fishing Tactics for June Trout - Game & Fish Want to catch a rainbow trout? Here I will give you some basic information about trout, valuable information on how to catch rainbow trout including fishing gear, methods, and techniques, and then some great tips that you will find to be most helpful to bring in that extra catch that you might have otherwise missed. Main Lake Trout Fishing Page Upon your arrival, your host, Richard, will spend time reviewing a map of Sandybeach Lake to show you where to go lake trout fishing. Richard will mark the "hot spots", explain the depth of water to fish for lake trout, and explain which lures and colors are currently the most productive. Even in Canada, you cannot fish just anywhere. Lake trout like the water temperature to be 52 degrees or colder; therefore, lake trout can feed all the way up to the surface until the first of June. During the last two weeks of May, an angler can troll a lure just under the surface of the water and catch lake trout. The lure can be a spoon, stick bait, or an in-line spinner. Bright colored lures are best in the spring for fishing lake trout at our Ontario fishing lodge. The color of lures that are the most productive for lake trout fishing in the Spring are fire tiger, fluorescent orange, chartreuse, white, silver and gold. The first thing to do in lake trout fishing is to use your fish finder to locate lake trout suspended in the water column. This new down imaging technology gives you picture-like clarity below your boat on a high definition color screen. I prefer to ignore lake trout located near the bottom. The suspended lake trout are feeding and more active; therefore, easier to catch. The key to catching a lake trout while trolling is to "trigger-a-strike". A zigzag trolling pattern with the boat and variations in speed will trigger a lake trout to strike at your lure. With a straight trolling course, the lake trout tend not to strike at your lure. The angler must produce changes in direction and speed of the lure while lake trout fishing to "trigger-a-strike". If you are changing directions and speed and still not catching lake trout, it is time to change your lure or its color. The fish finders on our boats are used to locate lake trout suspending and feeding in deep water. The angler will attach his line with his lure to a downrigger clip to be lowered by one of the two Cannon Downriggers on our boats to 45 to 55 feet depth. Your host, Richard, will explain how to use the downriggers during the safety checklist review of your boat at check-in. The downrigger, with its cannonball weight, simply gets your lure to the depth of water where fish are located. The lake trout look up to feed, so you want your lure located 5 to 15 feet above the fish you see on the fish finder in Canadian lake trout fishing. As described in "Spring Lake Trout Fishing", you need to troll to "trigger-a-strike". At the depth that you are lake trout fishing in the summer, we recommend blue, green, purple, white, silver or gold colored flutter spoons. Spoons are made with three purposes of jigging, casting, and trolling. A jigging spoon is thicker and heavier than your normal casting spoon. A trolling or flutter spoon is lighter and thinner than your normal casting spoon. The thin flutter spoon moves more in trolling; therefore, it is better at triggering-a-strike while lake trout fishing. Some anglers prefer jigging versus trolling while lake trout fishing. The angler locates lake trout near the bottom and jigs. Bucktail jigs, lead-headed jigs with plastic grubs, slab spoons and jigging spoons are commonly used in weights from 1 oz to 3 oz for lake trout fishing. At the depth that you fish in Canada lake trout fishing in the summer, we recommend blue, green, purple, white, silver or gold. Some anglers say they do well with a red and white Blue Fox Torpedo jigging spoon. At 50 feet and deeper the red appears black in color, the lake trout are attracted to the white or the silver backside of the spoon. At our Ontario fishing lodge, trout-on-the-reef or spawn will normally occur the last week of September. The lake trout fishing season ends on September Our anglers can enjoy one week or less of awesome lake trout fishing depending on water temperature. Our guests know the spawn is occurring, because they see lake trout spoiling on the surface and swimming beneath their boats at the shallow reefs. This is an easy time to catch lakers, if you want to go lake trout fishing. The angler can use just about any lure in their tackle box for lake trout fishing during the spawn. I would also recommend spooling your reel with 12 to 20 pound line. Lake trout have teeth and like to roll; therefore, I recommend 30 pound 12" steel leaders. Catch and release only on Lake Trout 28 inches and over, except in September. In September you can keep only 1 over 22 inches and under 28 inches. Lake Trout in the 12 to inch range are the best tasting size trout. Please let the bigger ones go if they are not injured. The Lake Trout is an extremely misunderstood fish. Traditionally the only thing you ever hear Page 11

12 about Lake Trout is folklore created by people who have never caught one. In actual fact, Lake Trout are extremely common, especially in Ontario, and easy to catch any time of year. Rumors about them tasting fishy or being a fatty fish are completely false. In actual fact, Lake Trout is one of the best tasting fishes in the world. Lake Trout is very mild and does not have that skunky smell that salmon and big Rainbows have. The Ojibwa People called it a Tuladi. The Cree People called it the Namaycush. Most people refer to them as the Lake Trout. Just after ice-out and the first few weeks after, Lake Trout will stay shallow. Many times they will be very close to shore and casting off shore with Cleos and Mepps Cyclopses is very effective. You can also cast off a boat. Lake Trout will be found at the mouth of rivers, in the rivers, off rocky points and shoals. The very best spot is in dark water off a sand bar. The sun heats up the water on sand bars in the spring and the minnows go up on the sand bars to enjoy the warmer water. Lake Trout will sit off the sand bars in darker water and hit minnows that come to the edge of the sand bar. Trolling for early spring Lake Trout might seem like an easy thing to do. Just cast a Cleo off the back of the boat and troll. This does work but you can do something to triple your strikes. When you are trolling in the spring, the Lake Trout hear the boat and move out to the sides. They can swim 50 feet or more to give your boat a wide birth. With this in mind, cast out sideways and then let the boat pull the line straight. Then reel in slowly and cast out again. You will find you get way more fish and the Lake Trout usually hit your lure in the first 5 seconds after it hits the water. You can also use this method with Walleye. The big trophy female Walleyes will go deep in the summer. Use this method in 20 to 25 feet of water with a worm harness and hit those big trophy Walleyes. You need a light action rod with 6 or 8-pound test line. You can also use the ultra-thin braided lines. You also need three-way swivels and a 1 or 2-oz weight depending how deep you want to fish, which depends on what time of year it is. Diagram showing the setup: By using light line, the line has less friction with the water and slices through so that your line goes down to the bottom without having lots of line out. Tie two 3-foot pieces of line to your three-way swivel. Use a 1 or 2-oz. Lake Trout like small lures more than big lures. The very best lure is a small Sutton Silver Spoon. Small Cleos or a small Mepps Cyclopes are also good. A 1-oz weight with 6-pound test dark green line is good for fishing down to 40 feet. A 2-oz weight is good for fishing down to 65 feet. Best Lures with a 3-Way Swivel light weight: Page 12

13 Chapter 8 : Spinner Fishing for Troutâ Try These Tips for More Fish SkyAboveUs Jim Matthews Outdoor Editor Rigging for Trout The Floating Bait Rig The most effective way to catch trout at The Lakes is to use a sliding sinker rig and one of the prepared floating baits such as Eagle Claw Nitro Bait. They are especially known for jumping, though less inclined to do so in cold water. Photo by Mike Bleech Brown trout, brook trout and rainbow trout are stocked into many streams and lakes. While the three have similarities, they also have important differences. One difference is eating habits. Since eating habits is what fishing is all about, different fishing tactics should be used for rainbow trout. That difference is greatest between rainbows and either brook trout or brown trout. Odds are good that stocked trout in your favorite stream or lake are all rainbow trout, or include a large portion of rainbow trout because rainbow trout are particularly suited to fish culture. In other words, they fare better in hatcheries than other trout species. Rainbow trout have been feeding on salmon eggs in their wild, native state for countless generations. Throughout the native range of rainbow trout â the portion that links with the Pacific Ocean â salmon spawn in the cool, rapid streams. Maybe some genetic link makes rainbows know that salmon eggs are food. Or maybe all of that is nonsense and rainbow trout just like the looks of salmon eggs. The standard way to rig salmon eggs is to impale a single egg on a salmon egg hook. These hooks are especially sized and shaped to be hidden in an egg. Then add a split shot several inches up the line. Photo by Mike Bleech Early in trout season, rainbow trout are likely to be feeding mostly near bottom. The size of the split shot should be just enough to tick along bottom. What is less known is that at this time when the water is cold, the distance between egg and split should be only about six inches. This keeps the egg, which drifts above the split shot, near the bottom. Increase the distance as the water warms to as far as a couple of feet. Of course every angler knows that one nasty thing is bound to happen quite often while ticking a split shot along bottom; the split shot is going to hang on the bottom. While fishing stretches of water with nearly constant depth, rig the egg and split shot under a small bobber. Adjust the amount of line between the split shot and the bobber so the split shot drifts just off bottom when the water is cold, then raise it a few inches as the water temperature climbs. Why Your Bobber Makes a Difference To be least obtrusive to trout, the best bobber has a light color on the bottom side, and a bright color on top. I prefer a light gray bottom and a bright red top. A bobber also should be small and torpedo-shaped so it exerts minimal buoyancy when a trout pulls it under. Salmon eggs are available in varied sizes, colors and odors. Which one you use can make a big difference in success, so carry a few different types of salmon eggs. Grubs, especially maggots, are excellent bait for rainbow trout. Rig them about as you would a salmon egg, except just impale the grub once without trying to hide the hook. Rainbow trout have smaller mouths than other trout species. Photo by Mike Bleech Some trout anglers will find this objectionable, but it is just plain fact that jumbo kernels of corn will sometimes catch rainbow trout when nothing else will. I have experienced this in streams far and wide. The first time was in a high mountain stream in Tennessee. After a couple hours of fishing with salmon eggs and spinners with absolutely no success, my fishing companion pulled out a jar of corn and impaled a kernel on a hook. In short order he had our first hard-bodied rainbow trout. When he offered to share the corn I accepted, starting a very fun afternoon of trout fishing. Even large rainbow trout will take a kernel of corn, just as they will a salmon egg. Rig corn on a small, fine wire hook. From there rig it the same as other baits. Try using half of a nightcrawler to target bigger rainbow trout. It follows with other baits â rainbow trout generally prefer smaller baits than brown trout or brook trout of similar size, likely because their mouths are relatively smaller. Hook the half-nightcrawler in the middle just once. This gives it freedom to wiggle. Rainbows do better in fish hatcheries â so your fishing strategy should aim for them. Rainbows have a long association with salmon eggs, and a clear affinity for them. Grubs, maggots, and even large kernels of corn rigged similar to a salmon egg are terrific rainbow baits. Rainbows have smaller mouths than other trout, so hook only half a nightcrawler and give him freedom to wiggle. Over the years he has become an expert at hunting the Allegheny National Forest and other public lands, and an accomplished trout fisherman. Page 13

14 Chapter 9 : Crucial Tactics for Catching Big Trout - Game & Fish TROUT (BROOK, BROWN, RAINBOW) FISHING TIPS WHERE. Habitat -- Cold clear lakes and streams, and some rivers. HOW. Bait -- Minnows, worms, salmon eggs, corn, cheese, prepared baits fished on light wire hook drifted on the bottom. About Trout oncorhynchus, salmo and salvelinus Trout is a term used for several types of fish that are a part of one of three genera: They live in freshwater, but some trout do spend time out in the ocean and return to freshwater to spawn, just like salmon, which trout are closely related to. Several common types of trout are brown trout, lake trout, rainbow trout and steelhead. Trout are a very popular game fish and many state wildlife agencies stock lakes, ponds and streams with trout for anglers to catch. You can locate trout in lakes and streams with cool water. The ideal temperature range is 50 to 60 degrees. Juvenile trout can also be known as fry, troutlet and troutling. They tend to mature around 2 to 3 years of age. The lifespan on trout depends on the species. For example, a rainbow trout can live up to 7 years while lake trout can live for several decades. Trout are not only popular with anglers, they are also popular on the dinner table. We hope the tips are as effective for you as they were for us! Deep pools created by the current can hold a big trout, but smaller trout can also be found in them. The large trout will most likely be in these pools during dawn and dusk. Using the wrong type could make you miss out on opportunities. For optimal performance, we recommend the Panther Martin Spinning Lures. Native trout will not bite on powerbait. The only reason that stocked trout will is because they are fed pellets in the hatchery and will eat anything that resembles or smells like the pellets. The Best Live Bait â Night crawlers are an effective live bait for catching trout, along with minnows and crayfish. Mayflies, when native to the area, can be great to use during the fall season. The Silver Spoon â Trout, especially lake trout love to bite on a small silver spoon. The best way to use this to your advantage is to buy a lure that mimics a spoon. Our top choice is the Kastaway Trophy Spoon. Trout Fishing Records Listed below are the world record trout caught by fishermen just like you. Llyod Bull caught a lake trout salvelinus namaycush in Great Bear Lake located in Canada on August 19th, that weighed Sean Konrad caught a rainbow trout onocorhynchus mykiss in Lake Diefenbaker located in Canada on September 5th, that weighed Cook caught a brook trout salvelinus fontinalis in the Nipigon River located in Canada on July 1st, that weighed 6. Additional Resources for Trout Fishing Hopefully the information provided on this page will make you more successful at catching trout. However, you may still want to expand your research and look into additional resources. If you found our tips useful then please share our website with your fellow anglers, friends, family and co-workers. Trout Support â The best online training videos available for catching trout. Learn how to fish like a tournament pro. Fishing Records â IGFA â Get real-time information on trout fishing records and records for all other types of game fish. Trout Legend â Forum â A great community of fishermen who love to catch trout. This is a great place to meet other fishermen interested in trout and other types of game fish. Trout â Wikipedia â Learn more about the different species of trout and get specific information about each species. Page 14