Dorado Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 So, I may have found a place to go trout fishing. I've never fished for trout before. I do fly fish for bass and crappie on occasion, and I have a light rod. But I don't know what to look for when fishing for trout. I found a lake that is stocked with Rainbow and brown trout. What sort of flys or other lures would y'all suggest and are there any kind of structures I should look for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 My favorite lake fly is a Wooly bugger in tan, brown, black or olive. Olive seems to wrk best here. Dry flies will not be your best bet unless you see a hatch coming off the water and you can get something similar in size and color. I would recommend fishing subsurface. The top five feet of water will be your friend. Soft hackles are a good bet because they represent small nymphs rising in the water column. Do you have a floating or sinking fly line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorado Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 Floating line. I've only ever used poppers and dry flies for bass and crappie. I'm going to be bringing a couple of rods with me including a light spinning rod. I figure if fly rods aren't doing the trick a small spoon might work. If nothing else I could tie a light leader onto my spinning line and fish with salmon eggs or corn. I might just toss a line out with something like that and continue fly fishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 My favorite lake fly is a Wooly bugger in tan, brown, black or olive. Olive seems to wrk best here. Dry flies will not be your best bet unless you see a hatch coming off the water and you can get something similar in size and color. I would recommend fishing subsurface. The top five feet of water will be your friend. Soft hackles are a good bet because they represent small nymphs rising in the water column. Do you have a floating or sinking fly line? Ya know, you could get a pretty good education in fresh water ichthyology and riparian ecology from a long time fly fisherman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 HAHAHA. Not this one, Joe. Back to the business at hand. Trout will take marshmallows and garlic flavored marshmallows of all things. Worms are always good too. Salmon eggs are a treat, but I doubt that there are a lot of salmon where you are. I would stick to the basics until you see what works and what doesn't. As far as fly fishing goes, a floating line is good. A sink tip or sinking line will get your offering down faster but there are some tricks to using a floater that will work too. Remember, the top ten to five feet of water is where you will most likely find trout. Trout are cruisers and not like pan fish that like to school and hide in structure. Get your offering in the neighborhood and sooner or later somebody will want lunch. You are going to want a leader on that fly line. Fluorocarbon leaders will sink, Nylon will not. A small bead on the fly will help with sinking as will wire wraps. That is one reason I like the bugger so much. You can wrap a dozen coils of lead under the body and nobody will know. Any fly with movement will be more productive than one with out movement, USUALLY. Nothing is cast in cement with fish. They are pretty much like cats and do what they want, so get used to is. Here are some suggestions for trout. Floating flies Red or yellow Humpies in size 12 14 or 16 Adams parachutes size 14 or 16 Pale Morning Dun in 16 or 18 Fished early morning to mid morning or later afternoon to dusk. Sub surface flies. Woolie Buggers in size 8 10 12 or 14. Partridge and Orange soft hackle size 14 16 or 18 Partridge and Green soft hackle same size as orange Prince Nymph is 12 or 14 maybe 16. Gold Ribbed Hare's ear size 12 14 16 Pheasant tail nymph size 12 14 16 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 And check whatever is hatching. Trout are much more finicky than Bass and Crappies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Big browns are cannibals, big streamers, minnow and leech imitations usually appeal to the lunkers rather than tiny flies, But you can catch a lot of 12"-15" fish on nymphs size 12-16 floated without drag just under the surface. At least this is what the books and magazines will recommend. If you haven't caught anything after an hour or two, thread a small worm on your hook about a foot below a split shot sinker (if allowed) and let it bump along the bottom. Post pictures of your creel full! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Bob is correct. A stop at the local fly shop to get intel is a good start. Those guys will be able to steer you on to the hot flies and what is not so hot. Trout will key in on the current offering and sometimes will ignore a major hatch to key in on a completely different color or size of fly that may be hatching at the same time. Dang things just don't play the game fair. Of course, they are on the menu and not you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorado Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 HAHAHA. Not this one, Joe. Back to the business at hand. Trout will take marshmallows and garlic flavored marshmallows of all things. Worms are always good too. Salmon eggs are a treat, but I doubt that there are a lot of salmon where you are. I would stick to the basics until you see what works and what doesn't. As far as fly fishing goes, a floating line is good. A sink tip or sinking line will get your offering down faster but there are some tricks to using a floater that will work too. Remember, the top ten to five feet of water is where you will most likely find trout. Trout are cruisers and not like pan fish that like to school and hide in structure. Get your offering in the neighborhood and sooner or later somebody will want lunch. You are going to want a leader on that fly line. Fluorocarbon leaders will sink, Nylon will not. A small bead on the fly will help with sinking as will wire wraps. That is one reason I like the bugger so much. You can wrap a dozen coils of lead under the body and nobody will know. Any fly with movement will be more productive than one with out movement, USUALLY. Nothing is cast in cement with fish. They are pretty much like cats and do what they want, so get used to is. Here are some suggestions for trout. Floating flies Red or yellow Humpies in size 12 14 or 16 Adams parachutes size 14 or 16 Pale Morning Dun in 16 or 18 Fished early morning to mid morning or later afternoon to dusk. Sub surface flies. Woolie Buggers in size 8 10 12 or 14. Partridge and Orange soft hackle size 14 16 or 18 Partridge and Green soft hackle same size as orange Prince Nymph is 12 or 14 maybe 16. Gold Ribbed Hare's ear size 12 14 16 Pheasant tail nymph size 12 14 16 18 Garlic flavored marshmallows?? Guess I'll have a look around next time I go to walmart. Give my hot chocolate a funky flavor though.lol I have a few different parachutes and a couple of red humpies I tied. I think I have a smallish brown wooly bugger size 10 I think. I have a couple of leaders a 6lb and 8lb nylon, and I think I have a 4 lb fluorocarbon. Big browns are cannibals, big streamers, minnow and leech imitations usually appeal to the lunkers rather than tiny flies, But you can catch a lot of 12"-15" fish on nymphs size 12-16 floated without drag just under the surface. At least this is what the books and magazines will recommend. If you haven't caught anything after an hour or two, thread a small worm on your hook about a foot below a split shot sinker (if allowed) and let it bump along the bottom. Post pictures of your creel full! I do have several streamers I made. The crappie here love them. Usually flip them out next to reed beds. I was reading up on using worms. It was suggested that I use half a night-crawler about a foot below a split shot. And if I wanted it up a bit more to inject some air into it with a syringe. Was also told large kernel corn works well too, a couple of kernels below a split shot about 5-8 feet below a small slip bobber. I'm hoping I can get a few trout. Limit is 6 no culling no size limit. If I get a few I'll definitely post pictures. Would love to catch me a trout dinner. If I'm lucky and catch a few I'm thinking pan fried whole in olive oil with a little butter and garlic. Bob is correct. A stop at the local fly shop to get intel is a good start. Those guys will be able to steer you on to the hot flies and what is not so hot. Trout will key in on the current offering and sometimes will ignore a major hatch to key in on a completely different color or size of fly that may be hatching at the same time. Dang things just don't play the game fair. Of course, they are on the menu and not you. I don't know if there are any fly shops nearby. There is a Bass pro with a fly shop inside. I'll ask them if nothing else. Gotta week to figure it out and another week to enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noz Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 I'm not a purist but my go to has always been Green Giant Niblets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugs Bonney SASS # 10171 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 My son in law and I threw everything we had at trout a few years back. Corn, Salmon eggs, flies, spinners, spoons, nothing worked and we were skunked until we tried worms. We both limited out in about 15 min.Point is that Trout are hard to second guess. Be versatile and keep trying until you find what works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Worms seldom fail, and they work for most game fish. I think it is because they move in the water. Fish will take a moving object over a still one, most every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 I think it has a lot to do with smell, seriously. Have you ever caught a fish and immediately caught another with the same lure? I think the first fish's juice on the lure made it more attractive. If we were more careful about what is on our hands when we tie the fly on the line, we might catch more fish. There are fish dopes and scents on the market that some folks swear by, but I do not have enough experience with them to judge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Fish, like dogs, have an acute sense of smell. The lateral line on the side of the fish somehow picks up scents and transfers them to the brain. That is why the pro's are always endorsing some spray or another to catch fish. Gas and oil are two culprits on the hand, that will kill fishing for the day. I suspect that the coffee and fried eggs that you had down at Momma's Diner may also have something to do with it. Common practice is to wet the line or leader with saliva when you tie a knot. Voila, scent. And not one I am certain that the fish would like. Hey, I have done it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorado Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 I guess I'll bring a variety of things to throw at them. If I was making cut bait I'd usually save the innards and set up a line with that. Works really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frio Kid, SASS #31915 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Just about all fish eat worms - when all else fails a nice juicy night crawler often works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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