Early morning trout?

[worm]

My Step-dad and I are taking the boat out to the lake early Friday morning. Just wondering if there are any good trout spots. I've only pulled one trout out of Hagg out of the 5 or so years that I've fished and I would love to catch some more. I usually do worms either on a float or on the bottom, but for some reason, I almost always come up empty handed. Any tips? Any advice would help.
-Thanks

 

[wormosa]

troll using ford fender, wedding ring and worm.

 

[worm]

Doesn't sound very promising...

 

[noladude]

As someone who is perpetually trout frustrated (grew up in the Midwest where bass was the game), I feel your pain. Wormosa is on to something. For trolling, that is usually the killer setup. Use a decent sized leader of 18"+ and be sure to keep lots of line behind the boat, as much as 75'. Speed is evidently critical, anywhere from 1.0mph to 1.5mph seems to be popular. Spend some time search the forum with the search box and you'll find lots of good tips. If you have a depth finder, look for breaks in the creek arms that are about 15' deep, but fall away quickly to 20-30'. I see lots of fish holding on that edge, probably so they can move up and down the water column quickly. Talk to others out there as well. There are trout in there, you just have to figure out the magic touch. It is a tricky combo of skill, finesse (lots of that), and being in the right place at the right time. Water temps right now are in the low 60's, so it won't be long before they start going a little deeper. Good luck and let everyone know how it works out.

Lots of bass being caught right now. Find the little holes where they will spawn. Plastics, jigs, and anything you can drop in to a spot seems to be the ticket right now.

 

[noladude]

Drat, posted twice for some reason, so I have to edit the second one to this. How do you delete a post?

 

[wormosa]

Doesn't sound very promising...

don't use that set up and you probably will keep catching fish how you been. And if you do not use it you will save the fish for me, i use that set up 7 days a week and i limit out, last year i caught close to 250 trout with that set up. good luck and i hope you wisen up at some point

 

[troutdude]

Agreed. If aren't willing to try techniques that are PROVEN to work by thousands of fisherpeeps, then you likely won't catch more than one trout every 5 years. However, if you are willing to listen (especially since you asked us for advice), you WILL catch more fish with these techniques!

I would add, to try wedding ring spinners w/ worm in the standard red/pink color. But, also try a wedding ring w/ a body that is 1/2 black and 1/2 green. I've gotten many trout with that color change.

Also try trolling a brass colored Little Cleo spoon / wobbler. I caught fish all year long--and often limited out--with a Little Cleo.

And Noladude has given you some great advice too.

So, it's up to you. Use our advice and catch TONS more fish. Or, you can continue to fish and not catch anything. Which do you prefer?

 

[n8r1]

Doesn't sound very promising...

You ask for advice, Wormosa gives you some EXCELLENT advice, and this is your response?

Welcome to the forum...I guess.

 

[troutdude]

Welcome to the forum...I guess.

LOL! You said exactly what I alluded too. But, perhaps I was too verbose...I guess! :lol:

 

[worm]

I'm sorry for my rude reply. I didn't know that a wedding ring was a lure, I thought that you were just listing objects, the fender of a car, an actual wedding ring, and a worm. Now that I understand your reply and appreciate your advice, I will try it and let you know how I did. And again, I'm sorry for being rude, and I would like to thank you for helping me out.

 

[n8r1]

I'm sorry for my rude reply. I didn't know that a wedding ring was a lure, I thought that you were just listing objects, the fender of a car, an actual wedding ring, and a worm. Now that I understand your reply and appreciate your advice, I will try it and let you know how I did. And again, I'm sorry for being rude, and I would like to thank you for helping me out.

Lol! I forgot that Ford Fender and Wedding Rings have 2 meanings. My bad. I assumed you knew what they were, and that you were responding rudely to Wormosa's advice anyway.

Sorry to jump on you. This is actually kind of a funny misunderstanding. Welcome to the forum!

 

[worm]

Thanks for understanding!

 

[troutdude]

Wow. I guess I can only speak for me...but I assumed that you knew something about fishing. I had no idea, that you interpreted Wormosa's suggestions so literally. My apologies for the tongue-n-cheek bashing. I do wish you success.

BTW, you can cast those spinners and the Little Cleo from the bank too. And a Little Cleo works on both trout and bass.

 

[wormosa]

i too thought everyone knew what i was talking about and i guess i need to be more clear about how i say things, i would like to say thank you trout dude and the others for having my back, i appreciate it. if you use this set up you will catch a ton of fish at hagg, i do not fish any other way. good luck

 

[noladude]

i too thought everyone knew what i was talking about and i guess i need to be more clear about how i say things, i would like to say thank you trout dude and the others for having my back, i appreciate it. if you use this set up you will catch a ton of fish at hagg, i do not fish any other way. good luck

I'm in the same boat, so to speak

What's really funny to me is that I almost made a flip comment about lending him my wedding ring and saying something along the lines that fishing is all that it is good for these days. Glad I didn't do that now. And, I don't have to worry about the Mrs. shooting fireworks in my direction this weekend!

G'luck with your intro to trout fishing. It ain't easy.

 

[GDBrown]

What does your boat look like? I may be out there Friday morning also before the crowd gets too big and I might be able to give you a few pointers on the water. I agree with the wedding ring setup and the little cleo, I've also had good luck in the past with a white rooster tail spinner trolled a foot or two under the water back and forth parallel in front of the dam 100-300 yards out. I have my best luck when I'm moving perpendicular to the sun's angle. So as the day go on I change my angle. Oh, and about the worm with the wedding ring lure, most people will only use half of a night crawler.

Hope you are successful,

GD

 

[worm]

Well, we launched at ramp A at about 7 in the morning (got a late start), and we dropped the anchor by some fallen trees at the mouth of that creek right next to the ramp. The water was around 20 feet deep. We don't have a troller, so we just stayed put hoping for the best. I started out with the usual nightcrawler on a bobber about 3 ft down. I tried by the fallen trees, out in the middle of the creek, and everywhere in between. About 20 minutes later, nothing. So I took off the bobber and put the worm on the bottom. Did the same thing, casted everywhere, still not even a nibble. So then, I tried my best with the wedding ring. I used the green/black wedding ring and put the rest of my nightcrawler on the end (didn't have a ford fender). I worked it slowly on the bottom, all the way up the the top, and all the way around the boat, no luck. So then I tried a silver Little Cleo, nothing. At about 11, we decided to move. We have an old 70's Bayliner Tri-hull(about 15 feet long) with an 80hp Mercury outboard (I think it's an early 80's outboard). So we moved across the lake to another creek, this one was a little smaller in between the dam and Sain creek. The water was a little clearer here and we anchored about 10 feet from the shore in about 10 feet of water (the bank dropped off quickly). The bottom had small rocks and mud and there were grass patches under the water. We were in between to small trees that were overhanging the water. I could see small bluegill under the boat. So I put on a fresh worm and did the bobber thing. After about 20 seconds, my bobber was submerged. I set the hook and was disappointed to see a 4-inch bluegill on the end. But the bluegill gave me hope that there might be bigger fish in the area. So I switched to my Little Cleo and casted by the overhanging tree. I tried working the bottom, the middle, and the top, nothing. Did the same with the wedding ring. Nothing. So I switched back to my nightcrawler and caught about 4 more gills of the same size. My Step-Dad was just bobber fishing with a nightcrawler the whole time, but he eventually fell asleep and caught nothing at all. We deciced to pack it up at about 2 because the water was becoming crowded.

 

[skwyrz]

The most stock fish hang in shallows in the small bay's on the west end and don't venture out for a few day's. Watch the stocking reports?

 

[troutdude]

Hagg won't be stocked again until September and October.

 

[Merle]

Hello Worm,
If you and your Stepdad are going to still fish for trout I would suggest when you anchor up that you use powerbait in green color and maybe a garlic scent. Use a sliding sinker a small split shot (will act as stopper) about 2 feet up your line from your hook. Your power bait will then float up 2 feet from the bottom. A trout comes along picks up your bait and then moves on. If the only resistance he feels is the little split shot wieght. You set the hook and you are eating trout for supper.

I like the sounds of your Stepdad's boat But it does not sound as if it is set up for trolling. That is an easy fix, you can find everything you would need to successfully troll from your Bayliner for less than $150.00 on Craigslist. The advice you recieved from the others is spot on (good advice-correct) and if you follow that advise you will eventually be bringing home more fish that you can EAT in one supper.