When people think trout the first thing that comes to mind is a fly rod. Hard to argue, since it’s of the most exciting ways to battle a rainbow or brook trout. While I enjoy using a fly rod to catch these fish, there are times when I want to up the odds on catching larger fish.
During certain conditions and times of day I use multiple different set ups while fishing trout. As I wrote about before I truly love slip bobbing with leeches, by far my favourite method. Last year during the summer I was struggling to catch the size of trout I normally catch during the spring with the slip bobber method. The two anglers fishing with me wanted to troll. One guy had a willow leaf set up with a small spinner and worm and the other a sinking fly line and a leech imitation. I was thinking about putting on a lure I had recently received in an order of Bagley crankbaits in the shallow Minnow B model. The prime forage in this lake are large stickleback minnows that carry a dark green/goldish tinge.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT!
With matching the hatch in mind, I decided to try a gold and black one. I knew it was a shot in the dark trying something new I hadn’t used much on this lake before. That didn’t discourage me because I always love to experiment. That willingness to experiment has resulted in many of the big fish methods I use today.
During the first couple laps around the lake I was net man, my crankbait drawing a blank on this calm day. As the boys made fun of me for not taking it off after about an hour of washing it around the lake, the wind started to blow. It became very overcast and the freshening wind made the surface of the lake choppy. I believe this made some big fish come out of the depths towards the surface to feed. We were trolling up a shore line when my drag started screaming like a boat was hooked one the other end of my line.
BIG FISH TIME
Suddenly both of my friends were yelling in excitement as a huge rainbow leapt out of the water behind the boat. The battle was on! One of the craziest trout fights I have ever been a part of the fish ended with me landing a giant rainbow measuring just over 30 inches. After a quick picture we released her to be caught again.
JUST LUCK?
The boys figured it was a fluke so they stuck with the methods they had started with. They kept catching lots of smaller rainbows and brook trout during the next another half hour. Going back through the area I had landed the big rainbow we noticed in the ripples huge piles of stickleback minnows from the surface to probably around six feet down. As we went through that area my crankbait ran right through the school of minnows. As soon as that happened my drag went crazy again! This time the fish was holding down like as it was a walleye.
I turned and said man I hope this is a brook trout because it may be the biggest one I have ever had on my line! Barry yells, if it’s a brookie it could be the record. That really got me a bit concerned over losing this fish of a lifetime. This second huge fish caught on a crankbait made my two fishing partners believers. They quickly grabbed a couple more crankbaits and said ok not a fluke!
WIND IS A HUGE FACTOR
The day went on with multiple big fish hook ups while the water stayed choppy. Several other trips through out last year and this year it has gave us many big fish during those conditions. First thing in the morning and right before dark have also been peak times for big rainbows and brook trout. It’s not a way to fish if you expect a lot of action but generally most of the fish are worth the wait.
THE METHOD
The best part of this pattern is its very low maintenance and very relaxing. Simply putting your crankbait out 80-100 feet behind the boat and your rod in the holder. I like a speed .8 to 1.5 mph, but always change the speeds as you troll along. The most important thing about this method is to pay attention to surface activity throughout the lake.
Whether it’s having one guy watching for the baitfish schools or someone watching for leaping rainbows on different parts of the lake it’s very important to be observant. These factors can speed up the process of catching a big fish. Since we started using this method and paying attention to those key points it’s unbelievable how many giant trout we have seen jumping halfway across the lake. One of which last summer looked like a spring salmon!
HIGH IN THE WATER COLUMN
Many of the trout lakes we fish are generally stocked with fingerlings each year. These smaller fish like to spend a lot of time high up in the water column. Big trout eat way more of those fingerlings then we will ever know. Witnessing them chasing the fingerlings many times over the years we should have been using this method along time ago!
EQUIPMENT
For this long line trolling use a spinning rod and reel versus a level wind. With rainbows and other big trout, you must be able to pick up the slack line. I generally run ten-pound braid on my reel, then tie a trolling swivel attached to a five foot fluorocarbon ten pound test leader to the crankbait. The spinning reel is much more ideal drag wise and picking up slack line quicker when the fish jumps or runs towards you. It’s also important to use a long rod, usually at least eight feet in length with medium action to absorb the explosive strikes. This eliminates line breaks and absorbs head shakes while keeping enough tension on the lure that the hooks don’t pop out.
NOT TOO MUCH RATTLE
The Bagley Minnow B 04 and the Rapala original F9 or F11 are by far our most productive baits. The Bagley carries a light rattle in it which seems to do the best out of all of them. During experimenting we tried these two and a shallow diving Live Target that had beautiful colour to match a stickleback but turned out it’s loud rattle was too much for the trout.
Depth is not really a factor and your better off covering as much different area and looking for bait and surface activity. Some of the big fish we caught were at the surface in 10 feet and some were at the surface in 30! Every day is different but finding the baitfish or schools of fingerlings and should increase your chances of catching big fish that day. This is a method that must be used during the low light and or windy conditions.