Trout trolling lure and/or tactics

Yep, most any schmuck can trail the stocking truck and drag a Rooster Tail with realized hopes of landing a planted trout.  But them waters be warming, and them fishes be on the move.  No longer are the hatchery hands dropping fish flakes into the tank.  It's time to adapt to the bugs and other arthropods in the dietary web.  Maybe get chubby and eat the wee ones.  Nonetheless, the trout times are a changin'.

So...let's discuss.  Say the preferred method is to troll a lure.  At about 3.5 to 4 mph.  Even speed.  No Buzz Ramsey jerky erratic business.  Paddle with bonus of dinner.  The venue? Well, it ranges from Glorious Loch Hagg to hike-in High Cascade lakes reached only through arduous packing of inflatable SUP boards.  The modus? Simple.  We're on a board, mind you, and thus don't wanna pack a lot of crap.  You get a box of five all-encompassing lures.  One or two of which may be a fly.  But, whatever it is, it's attached to a 4' 8" Ugly Stick.  Spinning reel.  Ultralight.  What are you packing? Bonus points for weather/cloud cover/seasonal affective disorder suggestions...

Discuss...

For me, on those dark cloudy days I prefer a gold super duper with a red tip, a jointed fire tiger Rapala, or a rainbow trout fry Rapala.
For sunny, clear days with a little chop on the water I'm gonna go with a chrome and chartreuse dick nite or a chrome and chartreuse kastmaster. I might throw out a black with yellow polka dots and gold blade panther Martin if the mood hits me just right.
For those sunny days when the water is like glass I'm trolling one of three colors of wooly buggers. Brown, black, or olive.



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You've gotta go with the panther Martin -- either blue/silver holographic or the pink holographic in 3/8 ounce size.  Best 2 all around trout lures I've ever used.  Sunny use blue, and cloudy or murky water use pink.  If you must use something bigger....jointed rapalas (baby rainbow) work great, but you might want some weights to get them a bit deeper than they go on their own.  One day I was bored...with a tackle box full of my old largemouth bass gear.  Since limiting out wasn't a problem in the lake I was fishing, I decided to try my crankbaits.  A big fat white one outfished my $15 rapalas on more than one occasion.  On another occasion, I had a nice rainbow nail a neon green crankbait I was bouncing on the lake bottom, so there's gotta be something said for crankbaits on trout.

Try what you like, but don't leave home without the panther martins and a crankbait.

If you're trolling at a high speed like that, try a vibrax blue fox (pick a few colors til you find one that works in mama hagg)

Thanks, fellas.  Lots of good, classic lures being mentioned.  I'm making a shopping list.

Lee, is a speed of 3.5-4 mph not so good?  Got me wondering if the above mentioned offerings perform best at certain "ideal" speeds....

Every lure has an "ideal speed" Most of them have it printed somewhere on the box or in the small folded paper that came with it, or their website.  Truth about that is, it just changes the action / movement of the particular lure.

Common belief is that trout are mostly caught around 1.5 mph.  However, I've caught trout paddling at 4mph trolling a vibrax.  In fact, I caught two in a row.

For all the theory about speed, the action part is definitely true, but does that really matter to the fish?  I don't think so.  I think the #1 most important factor, is putting it in the fish' face.  I've had 6 inch trout hammer a #3 vibrax.  A fish that size certainly wasn't thinking it could eat it.  Hell, maybe it did think that.  But I'm pretty sure it just saw something shiny and nailed it, and it can't nail it if you don't put it in front of them.

I usually try to keep it 1.5-2 mph.  Slow and easy, and you can go all day

Hmmmm, good to know.  I guess it makes sense; I do seem to do better when prone paddling (as opposed to knee).  Prone is slower.  I guess I never paid attention to the recommended speed notations.  Thanks, guys....

Super Duper in rainbow trout pattern and small Flatfish in black w/ red polka dot. Half gold / half silver Dick Nite.

Andy weather and water conditions also have a bit to do with trolling speed. I vary the speed of my troll until I start catching fish. A couple weeks back the only way I could get one to strike was to keep my troll over 3mph. The next day they only wanted super slow moving flies (1 mph). The difference between the two days was sunny and clear the first and slightly windy and overcast the second.


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Don't make me fire up the SYSTAT program!  I see a factor analysis coming into play!  Thanks, RR; that is good stuff to consider.  I need to read more on trout behavior and ecology...

If you can handle the gear, I think trolling a small line of diamond rings or cowbells with a lure or better yet a worm is pretty tops.

The simplest thing though is trolling a leach or dragon fly nymph. This technique works best with floating flyline.

Course a Mepps Rooster tail is hard to beat as well. Silver or gold blades.

I'll second the Kastmaster recommendation from RR.  Always had good luck with the small blue and silver.

Purple Powerbait, just roll it into a little stogie shape and squeaze it onto your bare hook.
No weight, just P-PB slow trolled 50-100 yards behind you. 

Next up is the black, brown or purple Wooly Booger fly, trolled same as above.

That's all I got!   

I have the best success trolling in the 1.75 to 2.0 mph range.......using my steelhead rod, 17 pound test line, no extra weight,  trolling a home made kokanee bug that looks like a yellow jacket, red or green beaded wedding ring and home made #5 silver spinner with a fluorescent orange tube over the hook shank.......usually 50 to 80 feet behind my kayak.