Using Natural Bait For Trout

Many trout fishermen prefer to use artificial bait when the fish for trout, and whether they are fly fishermen for spin fishermen, many of these same anglers opt not to use natural bait when trout fishing. In my opinion (as a person who has been using natural bait for trout for more than a quarter of a century) this is a big mistake. With natural bait such as live worms, minnows, crayfish, insects, or even hellgramites you can not only catch a lot of trout, you can also catch larger trout than you might be accustomed to catching.

The interesting thing about using natural bait is that to do so effectively and efficiently, you need to do more than simply hooking a night crawler onto whatever fishing hook you have in your tackle box and throwing it into the water. Below I will outline a few tips and tricks that will help you catch more fish anytime that you are using natural bait for trout.

Lets begin with the type of rod, reel, and line that you use. I have one important word for you in relation to these three things and that word is ultralight. Anytime that you are fishing for trout, your rod and reel need to be ultralight action and the line that your reel is spooled with needs to be as light as possible. I suggest and use either two or four pound test anytime that I am fishing for trout with any type of natural bait.

Next we have the way in which your bait is presented to the trout. You always want the presentation to be as natural as possible when you are using natural bait for trout. What does this mean exactly? Simply that the more that your bait appears to the trout that you are fishing for like it does in nature, the more apt you are too fool said trout into biting your bait.

One of the biggest keys in making your bait appear natural, is that your fishing hooks are as "out of the way" as possible, which almost always means utilizing very small fishing hooks. If you are talking about normal bait holder style fishing hooks, size #8, #10, or even #12 are the way to go. If you prefer treble hooks, size #12 or even #18 are in order anytime that you are fishing for trout. When using long, thin natural baits, such as live worms, leeches, or hellgramites, using a set of gang hooks is never a bad idea as well.

Finally anytime that you are using natural bait for trout, make sure that bait is as lively as possible, because nothing will cause a trout to ignore your offering like dead or dying natural bait. Keep these simple tips in mind the next time that you hit the water in search of any species of freshwater trout and you will experience more success, there's no doubt about it.