3 Easy Tricks That Will Help You Catch The Biggest Rainbow Trout You Have Ever Caught

I have been fishing for freshwater trout for more than twenty years and my personal favorite species of trout to target is the rainbow trout. These beautiful fish, which usually have a large pronounced red stripe running along the length of their body, are hard fighting, tasty, and a challenge to fool when they reach the twenty inch mark and above. In this article I reveal 3 easy tricks that will help any serious rainbow trout fisherman catch the biggest rainbow trout that they have ever caught.

Rainbows can be caught is rivers, lakes, and ponds, but by far my favorite type of water to catch rainbow trout in are rivers. For this reason, these three tricks all relate to fishing in the flowing waters that a river or stream provides. The other fact that I think is important to point out is that I am not a fly fisherman, but rather choose to fish for rainbows while using ultralight spinning gear. Some people find this strange, but it's nonetheless true, and means that these tricks all relate to this style of trout fishing as well. With that being said, let's get down to business.

1. Focus On The Most Productive Areas - Large rainbow trout are usually found in certain area's of a given river system, and these are the area's that you want to focus your fishing efforts. In a given river system, larger rainbows will inhabit prime feeding area's such as deep runs and pools, especially if there is a good place withing a deep run or pool that they can lie in wait and ambush their prey. Some good ambush points are large underwater boulders or sunken trees within either a deep run or pool of the river or stream. I have also found that the 'head' of pools tend to be more productive when it comes to larger trout that the 'tail' of pools.
2. Use The Lightest Fishing Line Possible - Many years ago I used to use gang hooks that were tied with six pound test line. I generally experienced success when I was fishing for trout with these gang hooks, although on one particular day I was getting "skunked" and catching nothing. I then ran out of pre-tied hooks and had to tie some on the river as I was fishing. Since I always spool my reel with four pound test line, I carry an extra spool of line with me in my fishing vest for emergencies and had to use this line to tie my gang hooks on the river that day. I tied myself a set of hooks, baited up, and almost immediately hooked and landed a sixteen inch rainbow. Over the next hour I hooked and landed 3 more trout that were from sixteen to nineteen inches and I realized that the lighter line is what made the difference, because the tactic that I was using (drift fishing) remained the same. I have since tested this hypothesis and always come to the same conclusion, lighter line means more bites, especially from larger rainbows.
3. Do Your Best To Stay Hidden - You always have to remember that large rainbows don't become large by accident. They have usually been caught and released multiple times and have survived multiple fishing seasons, which tends to make them quite weary of human beings. Things like making a commotion when wading, wearing bright colored clothing, and casting a shadow on the water that you are fishing are all things that can "spook" large trout and send them "running for cover" so that you never get the chance to catch them. The more hidden that you can stay to the trout that you are fishing for, the more opportunities you will have at large trout, it's a simple as that.

Do yourself a favor and test these tricks out for yourself and what you will find is that these simple tricks will help you catch the biggest rainbow trout that you have ever caught.