Trout fishing?

[tomme boy]

I am planing on taking this up this spring. I have never done this. Here in Iowa we have some very small streams. They are stocked year round from the DNR. I have a few ultra light spinning rods that I can use. A 5.5' and a 6.5' I also have a 9' fly rod that I use for bluegill fishing in the summer. But I don't think this will work well in some of these streams as they are all very wooded.

Anyway, for those that do this, what type of lures do you use for the spinning rods? I have a bunch of road runner type lures and a few Rooster Tail spinners.

Thanks for any help.

Tom

[RKJ]

I used a 5' UL rod and 4 lb Stren line with a gold hammered spinner with a brown Wooly worm fly attached. It was a killer first thing in the morning at our stocked parks but after feeding time not so much. I didn't have much luck with Rooster tails but it couldn't hurt to try. Good luck and enjoy yourself.

[rhbrink]

I don't do that type of fishing but have a friend that does and he uses a small clear plastic float that your line passes through and then you pin it for the depth that you need some even have a rubber tube in the center that you can pull out the top add water for weight and then twist the rubber tube to lock on your line. He then uses a very small marabou jig set to just bounce off the bottom. He does catch a lot of stocked trout that way. I have used these floats for pond fishing for crappie early in the spring right after ice out and will say that they do work very well. You should be able to find them on line or at your better tackle stores.

RB

[MT Gianni]

Get a panther martin or 3 in the original colors, gold spinner, black body with gold dots. That has been my go to spinner for years. I have fished No-tell-up river and had them hit so hard the paint was off the body at the end of the 2 mile walk.

[huntnman]

A 1/100, 1/120 jig or any small fly,and the water/float is a good start.Rooster tails,inline spinners all work at times.I prefer my fly rod with my home made flies.CAUTION may be habit forming!

[quilbilly]

The streams you describe sound small with limited possibility of casting anything. In those streams I use the 9' fly rod with a fly reel with about 30-50 yards of 4# monofilament. Tie a #10 royal coachman fly (or fly of your choosing) on the end of the line with a BB splitshot about 14-16" above the fly. Sneak up (!!) crouching or crawling as necessary on the pools and dabble the fly and sinker just below the surface in the slower current. Wear dark colors or camouflage but no white T shirts which scare the trout. Enjoy.

[popper]

I agree with quilbilly - fly rod with prince nymph or RC or wooly bugger(wooly worm), but use fly line(2-4 wt) with a short 3' tippet(leader). Floating line keeps it out of the junk on the bottom. Actually, if allowed for trout, you can use live bait(worms, cricket, etc) with the fly rod and it is longer to allow 'dipping' under tree branches, along the cutback bank, etc. Use a bobber if the current isn't very strong. Learn to roll cast. Mepps has worked for me when using a spinning rig, but only on small rivers with good current.

[randyrat]

Yep those trout will spook real easy. They won't sit there and watch you...I use a large night crawler, whole. If i use a half I catch suckers, use a whole crawler, drop it just before a pool and let it float in a hole.
BAMB they hit hit hard and fast. Sometimes they jump out of the water and spit the hook right out if your not ready. Using a longer pole will give you a slight advantage when fighting them and in reaching some tough spots without being seen. Ounce for ounce Trout fight like crazy.

[TCLouis]

Randyrat

i believe the serious fishermen prefer we call those "Garden Hackle Peacocks" when fishing for trout, for all other fish they can be called worms no matter their derivation.

[Kull]

I think you should not forget that fly rod.

[Ehaver]

Get a panther martin or 3 in the original colors, gold spinner, black body with gold dots. That has been my go to spinner for years. I have fished No-tell-up river and had them hit so hard the paint was off the body at the end of the 2 mile walk.

This.

also, stright silver panther martin and I have wanted to try a sliver and red, may have to make my own! Also, white strike kings. If they are not biting, worms work, they work all the time really. Cast the worm up stream and let it flow down. You can also get a short fly rod, i found a very old one at a pawn shop for five dollars. Power bait works well for stocked fish too. Green color and pink. Jigs are a cheap start.

[9.3X62AL]

Get a panther martin or 3 in the original colors, gold spinner, black body with gold dots. That has been my go to spinner for years. I have fished No-tell-up river and had them hit so hard the paint was off the body at the end of the 2 mile walk.

This pattern is one of 3 that I ALWAYS have with me in the Sierras when trout fishing. The plain silver or chrome model is another, and the silver spoon/yellow body with red or orange dots is the third pattern. Best source is the maker, who always has all patterns and sizes in stock. Relying on most sports stores to have them is hit-or-miss, at best.

Another good lure is the Kastmaster, in solid gold or solid silver colors. These also come in several sizes, and all of them can cast like bullets using tackle of the size proper to the lure weight.

90%+ of my Sierra and southern California trout get caught on these five lure types. Smaller-sized Roostertails work once in a while, but the others are FAR BETTER. Owens River brown trout in winter are push-overs for the pattern Gianni described, Size 9 brings the big boys out. Don't use UL tackle, unless you enjoy being spooled.

[LeftyDon]

All of the above has been good advice and the 9' fly rod would be my 1st pick myself. One extra thing that I'd point out is that you said you're going after stocked trout and hatchery trout can be a lot easier to catch than wild trout. A fresh dump of hatchery rainbow trout can be pretty dumb when it comes to natural foods and power bait or even canned corn kernels can work on them too. If the state is stocking brown trout and rainbows then you'll catch 10 times as many rainbows as brown trout unless you fish dusk and dawn and master stalking skills. Brook trout can be the easiest to catch if you find water pure enough and cold enough to support them. My own feelings towards trout is that native or self-reproducing wild trout should be caught, photographed and released. Stocked trout can hurt self-reproducing fish populations and in 99.9% of them are caught before they can become wild. So take enough to eat and enjoy them. You can tell stocked trout from fish that were born in a stream be looking for a small fin on the top rear part of the body, if it's missing then it was removed by the hatchery to indicate that it was stocked. A wild stock trout, should any exist where you fish, after a few years in the stream will still be missing the fin, but you'll be able to tell it's wild by the way it fights.

[9.3X62AL]

What Lefty Don said. You fish for rainbows, cutthroats, and brookies. You HUNT for browns and goldens.

[TCLouis]

Small spinners and fish upstream.
Cast to the smallest of holes and retrieve quartering downstream

[Nomadnailer]

Use the fly rod and learn to role cast. All you need is two flies, the wollybugger and an Elkhair caddis.

[9.3X62AL]

Use the fly rod and learn to role cast. All you need is THREE flies--the Muddler in earth tones, the wollybugger and an Elkhair caddis.

There......fixed now.

[220]

Sounds similar to the small stream we have at the farm here in Aus.
I usually use a light 5-6' spin rod 1000 series real and 4lb line, favourite lures are the small blue fox vibrax celtas.
I have a light fly rod but rarely use it, very average fly fisher and the heavy undergrowth prevents me getting a decent cast in.
Easy enough to flick a little celta among the undergrowth, you don't need to cast great distances, most of my fish are in the 8-12" range although the odd 20" plus fish is about.
It is surprising how little water fish will hold in and how many fish can be present, brother managed to pull 3 16-20" rainbows from one hole 5y wide and 12y long just before Christmas.

[Edward]

Panther Martin any color any time !

[johnson1942]

my young son fish rapid creek in the black hills with spinning gear and the smallest red and white daredevil he could find, it was tiny and he caught all kinds of trout on it. from 6 inchers to 5 pounders. it was a hot bait. also small crappie lures that are like a bent wire in a v shape. the top end has a streamer and the bottom a vigerous plastic minnow. catches crappies and bass and trout like nuts. their is a larger one for northern pike, get the smallest one you can and trout go after it like nuts. have fun, trout taste very very good.