is it possible to fish trout streams without a fly rod?
Posted by admin on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Trout are very popular here in Michigan in the fall, but i don’t fly fish….is it possible to fish for trout without one? what are the best strategies? thanks!
Filed in Fly Fishing Rods | 7 responses so far
redheaton 02 Mar 2010 at 6:12 pm 1yes, but if you have to use flies just tie on at the end of your line with a split shot 18 inches above
Why_Am_I_Hereon 02 Mar 2010 at 7:07 pm 2Yes….I recommend using a short pole (5-6 feet). Size 10-12 hook, and night crawlers/worms. I fish the Northeast and catch plenty of fish. (Fish don’t care that you have 5000 bucks in fancy equipment.)
Fish areas behind rocks, in the shade and at the base of falls. Trout like well oxygenated water. Also wear clothing that blends in with the surroundings, and avoid pools where your shadow can be seen.
Chaddon 02 Mar 2010 at 7:26 pm 3Sure, absolutely. But why would you want to!?
(Kidding.)
Use a light or even ultra-light spinning rod with 4 or 6 pound mono. Not sure how big the fish are that you’re going after, but as long as they’re not 20-pound lakers, you should be fine.
Small spinners (like Mepps, Jake’s, and Rooster Tails) will take trout. In a stream, cast them upstream and retrieve them across the current through likely holding areas. In a lake or pond, cover as much water as you can with your casting, but retrieves that are parallel to the bank (or nearly so) will usually be more interesting to trout. From a boat, cast into shore or parallel to shore.
Small jigs are good for slackwater or pools in a stream, or ponds and lakes. They are especially effective in fall and early winter — brown trout are spawning or starting to spawn at these times and they get r-e-e-e-a-lly territorial and bitchy. They’ll hit a small minnow jig just out of spite. Use the little jigs — 1/32 oz. up to about 1/4 oz. Little fuzzy/buggy jigs work well too — trout see them as submerged bees, caterpillars, grasshoppers, or aquatic larvae. Cast into deeper areas and pull it back with a hitchy or jerky retrieve. From a boat just hang the jig straight down and jig it at various depths.
Worms and Powerbait are always options. Both baits reliably catch trout everywhere they’re tried. You can fish bait with splitshot on the bottom, or you can suspend it from a bobber. Just don’t put on large pieces of bait — trout take forage very gently, and they will eat a long worm away one bite at a time. Just use a little chunk slipped over the hook like a sock.
You can even fish flies without a fly rod — it’s not ideal, but it can be done. Tie a dry fly to the end of your line or leader, then place a clear water-filled bobber about a foot or two up the line (for casting weight). Then cast the dry to rising fish. You can also hang wet flies, streamers, and nymphs under a bobber and float them past areas where trout are holding.
Peter_AZon 02 Mar 2010 at 7:41 pm 4Use a light spinning rod (6 feet or so — a longer rod will help your casting distance, but it’s harder to poke through the brush beside the stream. Use very light line (2 or 4 pound test), and small lures. I like #0 or #1 Mepps spinners. Cast upstream or up and across, and bring the lure back just fast enough (barely faster than the current) to give it some action. Trout face upstream, waiting for the current to bring food down to them, so anything moving upstream will look unnatural.
Or use bait (worms, power bait, etc.) with a tiny weight, again, cast upstream and let the current bring it down towards you.
Keep a low profile, don’t stomp or splash around or thrash through the brush, as any noise or motion will spook trout. I like to work upstream, so I’m not casting to areas I’ve recently walked past.
Of course, there are some streams which are designated “Fly fishing only.” In California, you can fish these waters with a spinning rod using plastic bubble for a casting weight and a fly on a long leader behind the bubble. I’ve caught fish this way in lakes, but never tried it in a stream.
HTacianason 02 Mar 2010 at 8:15 pm 5All of the answers above are good. Use a lightweight rod with four to six pound test line and a small spinner like a Panther Martin.
When fly fishing you typically look for trout feeding at the surface and cast to them. Do the same with the Panther Martin. When a trout eats a natural fly it goes into something of a frenzy and for a few seconds will strike at anything nearby. When you see the ring the trout makes when he rises cast directly into the middle of it and reel in moderately fast.
Rob Con 02 Mar 2010 at 8:17 pm 6Get a flyrod there is nothig like catching a trout on a fly
Nathan Son 02 Mar 2010 at 8:50 pm 7I trout fish here in western NC using a 6′ ultra light rod with an Abu Garcia Abumatic 276Ui spin cast reel. I have fished with in view of fly fisherman and catch fish at a higher rate than they do. I believe that fly fishing does not keep your bait in the strike zone long enough for the fish to bite. I use in-line spinners, tiny plastics, small jigs. you can use ultra light spinning reels as well. me and my friends just shake our head when we catch trout from deep, clear pools and the fly fishermen are standing in 4 inches of water casting to 8 inches of water where there are no fish