What do you throw at trout you can see?

NKlamerus
NKlamerus
I grew up sight fishing redfish and seatrout on grass flats all over Florida, live bait, flies, hard baits, swimbaits, you name it.

All of that experience is doing nothing for me, what do y'all recommend throwing at a trout you visibly see in a stream or river?

I emptied my tackle box at a school of 3-4 trout I could see from a bridge over a creek today. No flies, all artificial,and a last ditch effort was powerbait.

Nothing!

I am also going to build a lighter setup and get rid of braid as my main line. Been years since I've switched!
 
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GungasUncle
GungasUncle
Flies, usually.

They'll hit a spinner or small spoon too - start small - 1/16th oz for spinners and spoons. Natural colors - blacks, tans, olive greens, or white for spinners to start.

Small chenille jigs are also good - or "fly tied jigs" - that is flies tied on jig hooks - 1/32nd and 1/16th oz.

Braid will work fine if you put a mono or fluorocarbon leader on - just don't run straight braid to the lure. Put at least a 24-48 inch leader on and you're good to go.

Sometimes nothing works. Yesterday I threw a slew of different flies at a pod of big trout on a pond I was fishing. They wanted nothing to do with anything I presented.

Today was the same story on bass out at Hagg - I could see the fish. They would follow occasionally, but not even the bluegill would hit a fly, and kiddo struck out on lures. Guess that's why we call it fishing, not catching?


Good luck!
 
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SciFly
SciFly
Sorry to hear about the frustration. In my experience with fish you can see that are giving you the Heisman, go small on fly size and tippet. Really small. It has happened to me often enough that I no longer mess around with the intermediate stages and just drop straight to a size 20 WD40 or chironomid. This has worked many, many times for me, and it has worked on some very large fish that were crystal-clear visible and seemingly uncatchable. Works every time? Hell no. However, it is the only thing that has worked for me when I see them, they see me, everyone knows the game is afoot, all else has failed, and all hope is lost. If they still flip you the fin...tip your hat and head to the ice chest. I never get skunked at the ice chest.
 
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troutdude
troutdude
SciFly said:
If they still flip you the fin...tip your hat and head to the ice chest. I never get skunked at the ice chest.

:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
Aervax
Aervax
The experiences described are similar to mine. Keep in mind if you can see those fish, ten thousand other fisherman have thrown everything in their box at them in the past week.

If going small on the fly is not enough, go super small on the leader, too. I used to carry 2 pound leader with me for that situation on the blue ribbon wild trout water the Green River on the Wyoming/Utah border. Fishing pressure was horrendous, but it was catch and release and has something like 10,000 fish per mile. Those fish get caught and released so many times they literally don't fight when you do catch them, like they have learned that giving up gets them off the hook faster. Pods of 18" trout will feed right in front of you. They rise to the fly and sometimes even touch it without taking it in because they see some tiny thing that is off. Going super small on fly and leader will sometimes still catch a few of those.

I eventually gave up on that technique because it was not all that fun. Even on a 2 pound tippet an 18" fish was not much of a challenge to land because they would just roll over and swim with the line tension to come in. Instead, I started hiking into areas on the same river where there was less pressure and the fish were less educated. And they fought like crazy then, too.

Less educated fish are frequently nearby, but Iess visible. They might be feeding back under the willows where the average angler cannot make the cast, or under a pile of floating wood, or at the edge of an undercut bank. Look for places that the average angler doesn't think about or cannot really see, yet still offers a safe and easy feeding lane for the fish. Figure out what those spots look like and you'll be several steps ahead of the herd.

I remember as kids my younger brother decided to hand feed his line down stream with live grasshoppers on the hook. It was the only way he could thread his bait into the undercut banks and under the low hanging trees where he wanted to fish. My dad is not an angler, but drove him to the river and watched. Dad thought it was a wild goose chase, then was amazed by the results. At 13 years old my bro landed a limit of 16"- 23" wild brown trout that day. What was amazing is how many larger fish he broke off on the light line in the rocks and branches. He was only able to land one out of every 4 fish he was hooking. But boy did he have a great time. And it totally transformed how we both approached trout fishing. More imagination, and come up with techniques and places others don't think of.

Feeding his line on a down stream drift at the same speed as the water flow became one of his go to techniques as a kid, whether using bait or using a spinning rod to tuck a dry fly into a downstream pocket where the fish never see a hook. Now in his forties the guy is a dangerously effective angler. He takes his youngsters out and sets them up to catch monster wild trout. We all wish we had a dad like that when we were squirts.

On that note, I am starting to think the fishing obsession always skips a generation though. It did with my children. As adults they do like to join me once in a while, but none of them take it up in their own time. I have a covert plan in place to turn their children into wild eyed obsessed anglers as soon as they're big enough to hold a rod.
 
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cknowles673
cknowles673
SciFly said:
If they still flip you the fin...tip your hat and head to the ice chest. I never get skunked at the ice chest.

?? the only thing I can always count on!
 
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NKlamerus
NKlamerus
Well I found out what the school was I could see. 6# test was the ticket. Also bought a new Okuma Ultra Light and re spooled my Stradic with the 6# flouro. Heading out again tomorrow around Eugene

Saw 2 decent trout together hanging out around these pikeminnows(?) But couldn't get them to eat.
20190608_110138.jpg
 
SciFly
SciFly
Yep, pike minnow all day long. Loving the spinner selection. If it can’t be caught on a Panther Martin or a Rooster Tail, then it simply cannot be caught. Congratulations, and tight lines.
 
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P
pinstriper
There’s folks hunt fish with a bow and arrow. I swear.

The bow has a reel built into it.

Just a thought.
 
NKlamerus
NKlamerus
pinstriper said:
There’s folks hunt fish with a bow and arrow. I swear.

The bow has a reel built into it.

Just a thought.
I've done this for years lol, you can legally bowhunt stingray and flounder in Florida.
 
NKlamerus
NKlamerus
I came across another trout today in the shallows. Easily 20" and all flared up and colored. One of the biggest I've seen in Alton baker for sure.

I threw a powerbait worm on a 1/16oz jighead in there and for a second I thought I had him. He bowed down towards it but wouldn't eat it.

He spooked after that and never saw it again.....
 
Cedonulli
Cedonulli
I remember as kids my younger brother decided to hand feed his line down stream with live grasshoppers on the hook.

Wow what memories. Up in Shasta County CA as a kid we used to go out with nets to catch big red, yellow and black wing grasshoppers. Those never failed us. We also used live june bugs caught from our night porch lights. They move around a lot if you don't kill them with the hook.
 
SciFly
SciFly
Cedonulli said:
Wow what memories. Up in Shasta County CA as a kid we used to go out with nets to catch big red, yellow and black wing grasshoppers. Those never failed us. We also used live june bugs caught from our night porch lights. They move around a lot if you don't kill them with the hook.
I used to fish with a buddy in the Sierra on the upper-most portion of Bear River (Hwy 20). Creek was 100% overgrown in that area and we called it "Rambo Fishing". Belly-crawling under the bushes and trees, unweighted lines, tiny hooks, micro piece of red garden worm, Robin Hood cast (bow and arrow cast) was literally the only option. Took turns at each spot and smoked those native fish, but it was a lot of work. Can't believe I didn't get poison ivy on those trips. I seemed to have gotten it everywhere else!

@NKlamerus next time you see those fatties cruising the shallows, use a WHOLE red garden worm, unweighted, smallest hook you have, rig it wacky-style so there is minimal damage and both ends can squirm freely, ultra light rod, 4# test, stay low, no ridge line silhouette, walk softly and even be mindful of your rod tip. Pretty tough offering to resist. Done right this will catch just about anything that swims. However, you MUST embrace your inner "Hiawatha". The importance of stealth for fatties in skinny water cannot be underestimated.

Tight lines.
 
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Casting Call
Casting Call
Went sight fishing I always throw a fly called "San Juan Worm". Worms are native to the local soil. How can one go wrong? Tony
 
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Casting Call
Casting Call
Aervax re: 7/3/9 I want to comment on the last paragraph of the post "skipping a generation" NOT SO! If you lead by example and show the children how you caught the monster (no matter in the size) pic's of your outing. The experience of the day for them, they will always remember. As the years go by you will get a phone call "dad where was that place you took us camping/fishing, I want to take my children there" As old blue eyes sang " when I was thirty 35 I was alive". Tony p.s. your children knew, that my dad caught fish there.
 

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