Spin Fishing For Trout – Drift Fishing Worms

As you are probably all aware, we at JRWfishing are all about spin fishing for trout and our "go to" technique is without a doubt drift fishing worms. In this post I will outline how we go about drift fishing with worms, so that you can add this amazingly effective trout fishing technique to your fishing repertoire. If you are already a drift fisherman, fear not, because you might very well find a morsel or two that you never considered before, that will help you out as well.

The first thing to be aware of when drift fishing worms is the type of water that you are fishing. Drift fishing is most effective in small to medium sized rivers, the kind of river or stream that can be waded across in places, but not in others and usually contains a combination of shallow riffles, runs, deep runs, and pools. Larger rivers, which are often fished with some manifestation of boat or drift boat, usually aren't the most conducive to this style of spin fishing.

Next we have the gear that is utilized, and when I say gear I'm referring specifically to your rod, reel, and fishing line. The best fishing rods for this type of fishing are ultralight power and I also prefer my rod to be fast "action" as well. Under normal water conditions I prefer a 5-6 foot spinning rod and when river flows are heavier I prefer a spining rod that is 6-7 feet long.

As far a your spinning reel goes, any ultralight reel that is manufactured by a quality manufacturer will work fine. I have been using Pfleuger Trion ultralight spinninhg reels for all of my drift fishing for more than 20 years and couldn't be happier. And now we have the fishing line that your reel is spooled with. The key here is that your line is as light as you feel comfortable with, but nothing heavier that six pound test. I suggest and have been using Original Stren in the clear/blue color that is 4 pound test for many years, but any quality fishing line will do just fine.

Now to where to position yourself within the river that you are fishing. It's a
good idea to approach the area that you intend to fish from downstream as mush as possible because trout will almost always be facing and thus looking upstream for a meal. This is important because if a trout sees you they are likely to become "spooked" and have no interest in anything that drifts by them. This fact is especially true with trout that are larger and more experienced.

You want to cast parallel to slightly upstream of the place that you are standing. When your worms hits the water, you want to close the bait of your reel and raise your rod tip to try to eliminate any slack from your line. As your worm begins to drift downstream you want to point yoiur rod tip at the worm to feel any bites that might come from hungry trout. I like to place my index finger from the hand that is holding the rod on my line to help to feel bites. Some people will hold their line between the fingers of their opposite hand to accomplish the same thing. Either way, "feeling" you line helps in detecting bites.

This process is repeated in all of the area's of the river or stream that trout can be found. Although the technique is extremely simply in theory, drift fishing with worms also has thousands of little nuances that reveal themselves to you seemingly every time you put the technique into practice. This all comes together to make the technique extremely enjoyable and productive in my opinion. As a matter of fact there is no better way to go spin fishing for trout in my opinion.

Fishing Mini Jigs For Trout

An often underutilized trout bait is the mini jig and in this post I will discuss fishing mini jigs for trout so that you can add this unique trout bait to your trout fishing arsenal. The types of jigs that you should focus on when fishing for trout are plastic bodies with a straight or forked tail, marabou bodies and tails, or a combination of the two. These are the types of jigs that I have found to be the most effective when fishing for trout.

Next we have the size. Seeing as how trout jigs are usually called mini jigs, this obviously means that the jig heads are quite small. I prefer to use 1/8, 1/16, and 1/32 ounce jig heads for fishing mini jigs for trout, but many trout fishermen use jigs that are as small as 1/80 of an ounce, believe it or not. The point here is that mini jigs are exactly as you would imagine, quite small. The truth of the matter is that any small jig can be effective for trout fishing, so many anglers use crappie or pan fish jigs when fishing for trout and experience plenty of success.

Many people wonder what color mini jigs are the most effective for trout fishing, and while this will vary from fishing trip to fishing trip, there are a few considerations to be aware of. When the water that you are fishing is high and muddy, darker colors and florescent patterns seem to be effective trout colors. And later in the year when you are fishing water that is very clear, white, tan, and pink all seem to be effective color choices.

Finally we have the way in which your jig is fished. Because mini jigs are so lightweight, casting and "feeling" them can be a challenge even on the extremely light gear that we all use when fishing for trout. For this reason, I like to use a small Styrofoam float that slips onto my line so that the depth at which the jig "hangs" in the water column can be easily adjusted. It's usually a good idea for your jig to be very close to the bottom of the river or lake that you are fishing, so a little experimentation with depth will be necessary. A ton of movement usually isn't necessary when fishing mini jigs for trout and "twitching" your rod tip every 30-60 seconds usually does the trick quite nicely, but again don't be afraid to experiment a little bit.

3 Tips That Will Help You Catch More Trout When You Are Fishing With Powerbait

There is little doubt that for spin fishermen, Powerbait is a "go to" bait when it comes to fishing for trout. This fact is especially true during the spring of the year when river flows become high and muddy due to spring rains and snow run off from the mountains. When these things occur, rivers become all but un-fishable and when this happens, the only recourse that many spin fishing trout anglers have is to head out to their local lake or pond that contains trout.

When a lake or pond contains trout (often rainbow trout) it means that these fish have been stocked (or put there for the express purpose of being caught by fishermen). Well, when you are fishing for trout that have been stocked one of the best trout baits on the planet to use to catch them is Powerbait , which is a dough bait that is manufactured by Berkley. Powerbait is used for trout fishing by molding in around a fishing hook and then "bottom fishing" until a hungry trout swims by and smells your bait.

The first tip that I have in relation to fishing with Powerbait is to use fishing hooks that are very small. Small balls of Powerbait seem to always outfish large chucks mainly because small chunks are easier for hungry trout to engulf than large balls of Powerbait. If using a single bait holder, salmon egg, or set of gang hooks this means that size #10 hooks should be employed. If using a single treble hook, size #12 or even #18 hook is the way to go for trout fishing.

The second tip is to make sure that the Powerbait that is being used is as "fresh" as possible. A new jar of bait for each fishing trip certainly isn't necessary, but replacing your bait every season is. I have always found the "fresh" Powerbait will outfish stale or old Powerbait.

The third tip that will help you catch more fish when fishing with Powerbait is to be on the water at the most productive time of the day. How are you supposed to determine the most productive time of the day? By learning and paying attention to how the weather and moon impact trout fishing. You would be surprised at how much these these two factors have to due with whether or not the trout fishing will be productive.

Make these 3 simple tips a part of your trout fishing repertoire and you will catch more trout the next time that you are using the trout bait known as Powerbait.

What Are The Best Spinners For Trout Fishing?

A question that I often get asked is, "what are the best spinners for trout fishing" and my answer usually consists of some manifestation of "it depends", so in this post I will outline some of the best spinners that I personally have used to catch trout so that you can make sure that you have at least one of these choices available to you the next time that you head out in search of some trout. Are these the only spinners that should be used? Of course not, but they are the ones that work for me and I know that they will do the same for you.

The first thing to remember about spinner fishing for trout is that using the exact same spinner all the time is usually not a very good idea. You want to experiment with spinner size, color, blade color, and even hook color depending on the season and what the trout are doing on a particular day. The second thing to keep in mind is the size of the spinner that is being used. In almost all instances when I am spinner fishing for trout I like to use a spinner that is fairly small, like 1/32 or 1/16 of an ounce.

In the spring of the year, when water flows are usually high and/or muddy I prefer a spinner with a slow action. One of the best manufacturers of in line spinners with a slow action is Panther Martin . I prefer my spinners to be "dressed" because I have always found that "dressed" spinners are more effective for freshwater trout, and in the springtime gold or black spinners seem to be a great way to go. Dark or florescent color pattern seem to work quite well during the spring of the year.
 
As we move into the summer and especially the fall of the year, faster actions spinners such as Rooster Tails and Mepps spinners begin to become more effective. During these times of the year the best and most effective spinners also seem to have silver or spotted blades and color patterns such as pink, white, and green are the way to go in the clear water conditions that are often found during the summer and fall.

The bottom line is that the best spinner for trout fishing is the one that catches trout on the day that you are fishing, which means that you need to have at least 6-10 different choices available to you in your fishing vest so that you can experiment until you find the best for that particular day. My general rule of thumb is to try one configuration for 30 or so minutes and if I don't catch any trout, I switch spinners until I find the one that the trout are looking for on that particular day.

How To Fool Springtime Rainbow Trout

Rainbow trout are a very popular species of fish to attempt to catch, especially during the spring of the year and in this post I will outline some tips and tricks that will help you fool springtime rainbow trout. The biggest thing that has to be dealt with during the spring of the year is run off from rains and/or snow melt. This creates high and muddy water conditions, which means that your approach needs to change some as well.

As far as river fishing is concerned this means that you need to concentrate your fishing efforts on two times, before the run off and after the run off. And truth be told, depending on where you live, by the time the run off has subsided enough to fish for rainbows effectively, you are often well into the summer. So, for many of you if you want to fool some springtime rainbow trout in a river, you need to be fishing before the run off creates un-fishable conditions.

If you prefer to fish for rainbow trout in a lake or pond, one of the best ways to fool springtime rainbows is by still fishing with Powerbait. You see, rainbow trout that are found in lakes and ponds have almost always been stocked, and stocked rainbow trout are suckers for the trout bait known as Powerbait . A small ball or two of this unique trout bait floating off of the bottom is difficult for hungry rainbows to resist.

Throwing small spinners and spoons can also be effective for fooling springtime rainbow trout, although the color of your spinner needs to be chosen wisely. I have found that dark colors (such as black and brown) or florescent colored spinners seem to be the most effective for rainbow trout when the water is stained or murky like we have to deal with during the springtime. I have also found that gold or black blades seem to work well under these conditions as well. Give these simple tips a shot the next time that you head out fishing for springtime rainbows and you should experience more success.