Rainbow Trout – 3 Ways To Catch More Rainbows In Rivers and Streams

For more than twenty five year fishing in rivers and streams has been a passion of mine and while I have fished for and caught many species of freshwater fish fishing in rivers and streams, one species stands out above all of the others as my "favorite", the rainbow trout. In my opinion, there is no better way to spend time than fishing for and catching rainbow trout from the flowing water of a river or stream, and in this post I will outline 3 ways to catch more rainbows when fishing in this manner.

The first way is my favorite, a technique that was taught to me more than two decades ago, drift fishing with a live worm. The technique was taught to me by my best friend and his father and has served me well for my entire fishing life. The basics of drift fishing are as follows; a live worm such as a red worm is rigged onto a set of gang hooks and this worms is cast into the water, the bail of your reel is closed, and the worm is allowed to drift with the current of the river or stream that you are fishing. Often weight is needed so that you can obtain the perfect "drift" and this is accomplished by adding split shot sinkers to your line 12-18 inches above the bait.

The next way to catch more rainbows in rivers and streams is to cast, retrieve, and/or drift an inline spinner through the current. Small inline spinners are an excellent bait to use for trout in a river or stream. I prefer to use very small spinners, such as 1/32 and 1/16 ounce, however larger spinners can also be very effective at times as well.

The third and final way to catch more rainbows in rivers and streams is to drift fish a streamer. Your streamer is rigged in much the same way that a live worm is rigged, trading the gang hooks and worm for a streamer (such as a wooly bugger or Muddler Minnow) and the split shot sinkers for a 1/4 to 1/2 ounce bullet weight. Let the streamer drift for the first half of the drift, then reel it in while 'snapping' the tip of your fishing rod. Retrieve the streamer right along the bottom of the river or stream for the best results.