Trolling for trout

[OutHouse]

Small black rooster tail nails them every time for me. Doesn't matter what the weather is they always like black. For me at least!

[Rob]

How slow is slow for lake trolling for rainbows?  1mph?  I have been 1.75 mph and not doing well.

Bottom bouncer pulling a wedding ring is what I have been pulling

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

1 word, jointed rainbow rapala. 

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As the guy usually running the boat, I would vary every rod with something different.
When I figured out  what worked I would set all the other rods to that.
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Often the forgotten rod with my j-9 rapala would catch the largest fish while we put scales on the bottom of the boat from planter fish.

[metlhead]

Small koke dodger, 12" leader to a wedding ring tipped with chunk of garden worm is the only thing I used this spring. Seemed to work just fine. Suppose you could just drag a worm and do as well.

[ASHQUACK]

Small Leo's flasher to a wedding ring or smile blade fly. I tip mine with fluorescent green power bait. Troll just fast enough to make the flasher spin. As said above start with 1/4 oz weights and move up until you find the fish.

[Southpole]

1 word, jointed rainbow rapala. 

.
 
.
As the guy usually running the boat, I would vary every rod with something different.
When I figured out  what worked I would set all the other rods to that.
.
Often the forgotten rod with my j-9 rapala would catch the largest fish while we put scales on the bottom of the boat from planter fish.

When we get bored of spanking the shoreline for bass we’ll troll around. I’m a big fan of trying untraditional lures. The 3” floating rainbow rapala has worked well, you don’t have to reel it in when you have to stop the boat and you never know what you’re going to reel in. Lately I’ve found a really hot rig. It’s a pumpkinseed colored crappie jig with a curly tail, pink berkley power maggot and a small weight 2 feet above. It’s not flashy and kinda boring to look at but Trout love it!

[BigGoonTuna]

In the 40 years I've been fishing for trout, I've caught more trout while trolling small to medium size lakes with these than any other lure.

Luhr Jensen calls them a Kwikfish

Yakima Bait Co. call them a flatfish.

Gary

ive used those for years and they work great, but always struggle with keeping fish hooked with them.

Yakima bait’s maglip now comes in a trout size(like the size of an f5 or f6 flatfish) and they are a killer. The hook hangs off the tail instead of the belly on the small size.

[rainshadow1]

Lots of the basic idea, I add another vote for adding some worm to the spinner.

My favorite is a #2 gold on gold Blue Fox Vibrax.

[TeacherMan]

I have a 14’ lake boat with troller too. To me there is one setup that works 10x better than the rest. Pop gear with a double wammy wedding ring and a full night crawler. I’ve literally caught 100s of trout on this setup, probably 1000s 😂

[WapitiTalk1]

Wanna have some fun?  Take your ultralite spinning rod (you know, that little guy with 4 lb test on it) and tie two tiny flies on the line.  One fly at the end of the line and one up the line around 24".  How do you tie the second fly on?  It's easy... just make a loop in your main line maybe 30" up from the end and tie a short leader (6-8") on to the loop and tie on that second fly.  Use the smallest flies you can, regardless of the type.  Adams, skeetos, black ants, even small nymphs work great.  Just let out however much line you want to and drag the fly rigs around the lake slowly.  You'll catch fish doing this when others aren't using more traditional gear.  A planter feels like a big fish on the UL gear.  Good luck! 

[Rob]

Great info on this thread.  I see references to "slow" in several places.   how slow is slow?  1mph?  1.5MPH?

[gutsnthegrass]

It looks like slow is when the blades barely spin? 1mph or less. I agree, there is some really good info here. Thanks all!

[jackelope]

Great info on this thread.  I see references to "slow" in several places.   how slow is slow?  1mph?  1.5MPH?

My idea of slow is float tube and fins slow.  Not measured in mph.

But also this time of year, trout in lakes are really tough if you ask me too. Prime time has passed. Earlier in the year with cooler water temps, you can’t keep them off your hooks. They’re a cold water fish. Local lake in Carnation was 72 degrees 2 weekends ago 6’ below the surface. Those trout will be on the bottom, and they’ll move as little as possible.

It’s bass season in the lakes.

[TeacherMan]

I trolled last weekend at Elsie outside Kellogg Idaho. Lake at a little over 5k feet. We killed them! Smoker will be stacked coming up.

[Alchase]

I have a 14’ lake boat with troller too. To me there is one setup that works 10x better than the rest. Pop gear with a double wammy wedding ring and a full night crawler. I’ve literally caught 100s of trout on this setup, probably 1000s 😂

 

For trout, this is my first go to rig, with 1/2 night crawler threaded up the shank of the top hook, and the tail hooked on the lower hook.

If that does not work, I pull out the Double whammy and thread the night crawler the same.

Here is the kicker. Replace the standard hooks with red Gamakatsu hooks