Fishing For Rainbow Trout When They Are Spawning

The other day my buddy and I headed out for a little spring trout fishing and quickly discovered that

the rainbow trout that we were fishing for were actively into their spawning routine on the particular lake that we were fishing.  How did we figure this fact out?  It was pretty darn easy seeing as how we could see some nice rainbows not more than 10 feet from shore circling in and around each other.  In fact one of them was actually protecting her bed from any would be evil doers. 

I had no interest in fishing for the trout that I could see, as I assumed they had more pressing business on their minds than eating, but I know from experience that rainbows that have recently spawned are are going to be spawning in the future are usually susceptible to being caught, so I rigged up a drop shot rig and got to work.  After forty minutes or so with nary a nibble, I decided to try a simple technique that had enabled me to catch spawning rainbows in the past, still fishing with eggs.

Eggs are often a good trout bait choice for spawning rainbows, so I figured this would do the trick? Since the bottom of the lake was quite weedy, I rigged up a single # 10 hook with a small egg sinker and a two foot or so leader.  I then baited the hook with a couple of pink Berkley Power Eggs and casted the rig out for a little still fishing.

Although the trout weren't biting like crazy, with a couple of hours I had caught and released a nice seventeen or so inch rainbow trout, fought and lost another that felt the same size, and missed multiple trout that were nibbling at my eggs.  This made me remember the fact that the best bait to use for rainbow trout in and around spawning time are eggs, and although I was using artificial power eggs, I'm sure salmon eggs would have been effective as well.      

You've Tried Berkly Power Eggs, Right?

For many years I have been using Berkley Powerbait to catch stocked trout.  There are plenty of posts using Powerbait to catch trout throughout this blog for because this particular trout bait is so darned effective when you are fishing for rainbow trout that have been planted into a body of water.  But the other day I was introduced to another form of Powerbait that for some strange reason had not been on my radar for all of these years?  Actually it's probably due to the fact that because the dough style of Powerbait has always resulted in success, so I had never tried to investigate the situation any further.  You know,  the "path of least resistance" rule?

In any case, due to one of my colleagues (whom I hadn't seen in quite a long time until the other day when we got a chance to wet a line) I am now abundantly aware of Power Eggs and I couldn't be happier. These little buggers are great!  All of the trout attracting power of the Powerbait dough bait that we are all so familiar with, but power eggs have a couple of unique distinctions.  The most important in my estimation is that Power eggs are much more durable and easy to use than the dough style Powerbait. 

Power eggs come in the same variety of colors as the dough style trout bait that we are all so familiar with, but stay on the hook much longer than you are probably used to.  As you are no doubt aware, traditional Powerbait becomes slimy and disintegrates in the water after a period of time (30 or so minutes in my experience) and comes off of the hook fairly easily for a variety of other reasons as well.  Well this is not the case when it comes to the much more durable Power eggs.  These unique fishing eggs stay on the hook, even after multiple bites.  My colleague actually caught 3 trout from 10-13 inches the day we were out fishing, without having to put on a new Power Egg!  I can promise you that nothing like this ever happens when traditional Powerbait is being used as bait.  I mean sure you'll catch trout, but you'll be re baiting after every caught trout.

The bottom line is that if you use dough style Powerbait when fishing for trout, do yourself a favor and give Power eggs a try the next time you head out trout fishing.  You may never buy the dough bait again?  Power eggs are just as effective, without all the hassle of the traditional version of Powerbait.