Winter trout tactics

[brandon4455]

hey guys, ive seen a few people aask about fishing for trout in the winter.. so im going to post a few techniques as well as colors for your lures,bait that will work good. and also what to look for while fishing high and cold water during and after storms. so first off, the main problem with fishing for trout this time of year is that the water is cold and the fish are not very active. which means they won't travel to eat they just want an easy meal. so lures won't be as effective during these time periods. where bait is allowed try a nightcrawler with a split shot near undercut banks or areas where the water is a drop off right at the bank. the trout usually hide closer to the bank during high water and when it's cold. or use a wrom under a bobber or indicator and cast to the very edge of the current where the water is calm and let it drift and repeat. another key in trout fishing this time of year is imitations. a lot of salmon and steelhead are spawning in streams and the trout sit and fatten up on their eggs. so using beads,yarn or glow bugs drifted or under a float with or without scent can work very well. the most preffered colors i have found to work this time of year would be black,pink, rainbow, chartruese when its clear outside and bluewhen the water is clear. most effective way to use spinners is cast downstream into the current and just retrieve very very slow. and because you are in the current you can reel very slow and still have your blade spinning very well. this works great when the fish are slugish because they dont havew to use a lot of speed to catch up with the spinner also casting upstream or downstream near undercut banks works really well,especially with the color black because it looks a bug has fallen into the water. and here is a little secret. micro sized mag wart crankbaits i the color black kills trophy cutthroat.. never told anyone about it but im feeling good today, my dad is proof it works. he caught a 3lb sea run on the salmon river with one. back on topic lol another key thing to look for is debris or rocks blocking the current. in genral trout hide in these areas year round but i find a higher concentrtion of them hding in those areas during early to mid fall and into the winter. drifting worms in these areas works good with a bit of yarn along with tme. pink or black yarn works the best for me. and also my previous mention rig the trout bead with pink yarn and shrimp scent under an indicator. and when all else fails try various nmphs under a bubble Or and indicator. havent tried that much myself but when i did it caught fish. and for lakes and ponds. dragging worms on the bottom from a tube or toon or your boat very slow can work and the same with woolly buggers. and woolly bugger or brian chan patterns under a bubble retrieve slow and stop let it sit 10 seconds retrieve a few feet and stop again and repeat. (my favorite thing to use a JCP). hope you guys enjoy these tips, they are the result of trout fishing for 4 years straight. all the best,



brandon

 

[Moe]

Great information man!! Really useful!

 

[Brown trout bagger]

yes, thanks. btw, i am new here and was told i should introduce myself. how and where do i do that? thank you

 

[brandon4455]

you scroll down and there is a section called meet and greet. you introduce yourself there. and welcome to the forum


brandon

 

[waco]

good job!!! great tips thanks Brandon!!!

 

[brandon4455]

good job!!! great tips thanks Brandon!!!

no problem buddy always glad to help friends

 

[rippin fish lips]

a lot of good info! i like to jig a nightcrawler on the bottom of the lakes/ponds with some scent sometimes. and with lures in the cold.... the slower u real them in the better, but make sure u r getting the right action u should be getting witht the lure u are using, also twitch the rod tip every few cranks and that will make the lure bounce off the bottom and make it look like an injured fish..... which will trigger them lock jaw trout to stike!!!

 

[mrlindeman]

The only thing is that I thought all streams are closed for trout for the winter?

 

[troutdude]

The only thing is that I thought all streams are closed for trout for the winter?

Nope. NOT all streams are closed. If you go through the reg book slowly, you will spot some open turf. It may be only part of a stream, or the whole thing.

 

[troutdude]

Nice write up!

Nice write up!

Very nice job Brandon! In only four years, you have absorbed a lot and have done well. You are light years ahead of where I was at your age. I have a hunch, that you're gonna become highly sought after for your knowledge and skills as you get older. And I bet that you'll even publish, some great books about your favorite hobby.

Keep up the great work buddy!

 

[brandon4455]

thanks buddy

thanks buddy

Very nice job Brandon! In only four years, you have absorbed a lot and have done well. You are light years ahead of where I was at your age. I have a hunch, that you're gonna become highly sought after for your knowledge and skills as you get older. And I bet that you'll even publish, some great books about your favorite hobby.

Keep up the great work buddy!

thank you jay,that means a lot man. i have been told this a few times. i look forward too figuring more stuff out over the years and absorb more knowledge to help people in persuit of fish and better my fishing experience too. im hoping to fish few different places and during a few different conditions this next year to find even more out. no matter how cld,hot and challenging you will find me there testing everythiong ive got in my tacklebox.



brandon

 

[troutdude]

OK, man. That settles it. Next time we meet, I'll give you some new UV coated Rooster Tails to fling around. You can help me Beta test 'em for Yakima Bait Company.

 

[Drew9870]

I might have to try some of your tricks

I might have to try some of your tricks

Nice write up. Keep up the learning on every trip, and you will have no problem becoming a guide. I think this should be a sticky in the trout section.

If you don't mind, I will add a little bit on the stocker Trout.

It is hard to leave a stocker pond skunked when you mainly know how the fish feed, they were raised around hearing a series of small splashes (pellets hitting the water of course) and seeing something slowly sink. Bugs also land in the hatchery water, possibly even those water beetle things as well which swim in a quick twitching motion. They don't chase meals down (not 'naturally' in the hatchery), so a freefalling or very slow presentation looks more natural.

When reeling a spinner, reel it just enough to get the blade spinning or fast enough to keep it off the bottom, whichever comes first. A Worm with no weight is one of my favorites, if you use 4-6lb Maxima UG and an ultra light setup, you won't have a problem with casting, which leads me to the size B split shot and Powerbait. Powerbait no doubt contains Fishmeal, which is the main ingredient of most fish foods and mimics the 'natural' diet of the Pellet Head. Using a size B split shot and a size 14-16 sharp, wire Treble, will allow the Powerbait to sink slowly along with not having much resistance against the fish while it runs with the bait, I prefer a slack line since it also allows no resistence against the fish, I would say a lot of the time they drop the bait once they feel pressure, if it isn't windy, I'll fish an open bail.



Test those knots, especially after unhooking a fish.

 

[mrlindeman]

Nope. NOT all streams are closed. If you go through the reg book slowly, you will spot some open turf. It may be only part of a stream, or the whole thing.

That is rockin!!!!! I will be reading a lot tonight. I though I would be sol for stream trout all winter

 

[brandon4455]

OK, man. That settles it. Next time we meet, I'll give you some new UV coated Rooster Tails to fling around. You can help me Beta test 'em for Yakima Bait Company.

sweetness! when i tried that one at the lake it was weighted very well and i like the uv coated blade also. these wioll be fun to test with you. lets catch some fish!!!

 

[brandon4455]

Nice write up. Keep up the learning on every trip, and you will have no problem becoming a guide. I think this should be a sticky in the trout section.

If you don't mind, I will add a little bit on the stocker Trout.

It is hard to leave a stocker pond skunked when you mainly know how the fish feed, they were raised around hearing a series of small splashes (pellets hitting the water of course) and seeing something slowly sink. Bugs also land in the hatchery water, possibly even those water beetle things as well which swim in a quick twitching motion. They don't chase meals down (not 'naturally' in the hatchery), so a freefalling or very slow presentation looks more natural.

When reeling a spinner, reel it just enough to get the blade spinning or fast enough to keep it off the bottom, whichever comes first. A Worm with no weight is one of my favorites, if you use 4-6lb Maxima UG and an ultra light setup, you won't have a problem with casting, which leads me to the size B split shot and Powerbait. Powerbait no doubt contains Fishmeal, which is the main ingredient of most fish foods and mimics the 'natural' diet of the Pellet Head. Using a size B split shot and a size 14-16 sharp, wire Treble, will allow the Powerbait to sink slowly along with not having much resistance against the fish while it runs with the bait, I prefer a slack line since it also allows no resistence against the fish, I would say a lot of the time they drop the bait once they feel pressure, if it isn't windy, I'll fish an open bail.



Test those knots, especially after unhooking a fish.

thats some great info to add to the arsenal,thanks and i second a worm with no weight ive tried it a few times but i get to pissed because its hard to fling out on a spinning rod..Lol




brandon

 

[tomriker]

any suggestions for triploid trout that are in 20-40ft of water?

 

[Drew9870]

If the weather isn't bad and you have no current, then you can get away with a Worm and no weight in that deep of water, I have fished no weight (in freshwater) in 63ft of water at Munsel Lake, a size B or BB shot won't hurt.

I sometimes use a slide sinker like a downrigger and troll a long leader with quite a bit of Worm, but I am not exactly experienced with Triploid Trout, so you could probably get a better answer.

 

[brandon4455]

trolling wedding rings with a d-rigger tipped with a worm is good from what i heard. or just jiggin spoons tipped with corn...kinda a koke thing but works for deep water trout to im pretty sure..

 

[brandon4455]

gunna be writting somthing sorta like a book..more like stapled together printed pages with pictures and text. i have learned a lot more since this post and im going to do a write up about trout fishing different times of year and everything. i'm sure it will turn out great. ill be copying it after i finish on the computer and pasting it to a new trout thread.