Even A Blind Squirrel Finds A Trout Every Now And Then

Since the weather has been warming quite dramatically in recent weeks, even though the past few days have been in the fifties during the daytime, I figured that the run off would make the Swan River all but un-fishable.  But with an afternoon of unproductiveness staring me in the face, I thought to myself, "why not head out and take a look?  Maybe Pacific Park will have area's that can be fished?"  And with that thought, I began to gather my equipment.

Waders and boots, fishing vest with back up gang hooks, Polarized Sunglasses , a bite to eat and I was off.  Within 30 minutes I was at the river and by the grace of God, no one was there (I prefer to fish alone whenever possible).  Withing 45 minutes of thinking the above thought I was standing in the water, basking in the glory that brings me as much peace as any single activity that I can engage in. I'm glad I had the thought and more importantly took the time to act on it!

Within minutes of starting to fish I had a bite and missed the son of a gun.  "It's okay I thought, I'm rusty this early in the season".  Two more casts and a hooked a fish (presumably a rainbow trout?) and as it shook it's head, threw the gang hooks from it's mouth.  I couldn't believe it, because that rarely happens, but oh well, right?  Over the next 15 or so minutes I hooked and lost four more fish, so I moved downstream a bit.

I was fishing the edge of a very large pool, where the water was raging in the center.  The edge was the only place that I could get a good drift and the fish obviously preferred the slower current as well.  Finally, I hooked what felt like a decent little rainbow and this time I could tell I got a good hook set.  I knew the fish wasn't huge, but it's sometimes hard to gauge this early in the year, so I took my time.  Within a minute or so I was admiring a nice, fat, little 12 or so inch rainbow trout before returning her to the water from which she came.  This was a well fed rainbow, that reminded me of one of those little Nerf footballs that I used to have when I was growing up.  Yep, she was a fattie!

The bottom line is that even a blind squirrel like me can find a trout every once in a while. 

Trout Fishing Techniques - Mastering The Art of Drift Fishing

There are many different techniques that can be used when you are fishing for trout, but one of the trout fishing techniques that I have been introduced to over the years and is one that I think that every spin fishing trout angler should be aware of.  Drift fishing is, without question, the most effective of the many trout fishing techniques that I have been introduced to over the years.


On it's surface, drift fishing is a very simple way to fish for trout, just let your bait, fly, or lure drift with the current of the river that you are fishing and reel in some hungry trout, but in actuality the technique is a little more involved than this. Below, I will reveal some tips and tricks to mastering the art of drift fishing, so that your learning curve will be a little shorter than mine was. But the bottom line is that when it comes to trout finishing techniques, drift fishing (once understood) is as effective a method as there is.

The key to drift fishing is patience, mainly because the act of "getting snagged" can be a very common occurrence, especially when you are just starting out. You see, a key to this particular trout fishing technique, in most of the situations where bait (either live or synthetic) is being employed, is to keep your bait as close to the bottom as possible as it drifts. This means that ideally your bait will be bouncing or rolling along the bottom of the river or stream is it drifts, which means that until the proper amount of weight is achieved on your line, getting snagged is quite common. This simple fact can be extremely frustrating to beginning as well as experienced fishermen. The good thing is that as with most new things that you try in life, with practice and experience you become more proficient. This means that with time you tend not to get so frustrated and also tend not to get "snagged" so often.

Mastering the art of drift fishing for trout also means that you need to be flexible with the types of baits and lures that you employ. At certain times of the year, certain baits and/or lures will outperform others and the fisherman you need to be flexible enough to change baits as conditions change. For example, during the spring, salmon eggs can be a very effective bait (especially for rainbow trout) whereas during the summer salmon eggs tend to be much less effective. Trout fishing with live worms while drift fishing is extremely effective during the fall, while during the winter and spring, not quite as much so. And drift fishing with small spinners is one of the best trout fishing techniques that there is when the trout are focusing on an insect hatch. If you want to be a "master", you need to be flexible with the type of bait or lure that you use and when you use it.

As I said at the earlier, when it comes to trout fishing techniques, drift fishing is as effective a technique as there is, and once mastered will easily become your "go to" technique anytime that you are fishing for trout in the flowing waters of a river or stream.