Trout season opens this first Saturday in April, and in case you didn’t know that, you certainly will when you drive by one of our nearby trout streams. I’m sure plenty of anglers will be crowded around those locations recently stocked with trout.
Fortunately, at least as of this writing, the streams are in pretty good condition; water levels are good, and the muddy water from recent rains has cleared up pretty well.
As always, one of the big questions for opening-day anglers is, “What is the best choice of lures or baits to take trout in this early season?” The answer depends on whether the water conditions remain good and, of course, what gear you prefer to use to catch trout.
I suspect that most first-day anglers will probably be using open-faced spinning gear, while some of the younger kids may be equipped with a close-faced spinning outfit. I’m sure too that there will be some anglers working with a flyrod as well.
Your choice of lures or baits obviously has a lot to do with the gear you are fishing with, but I’m sure that a number of live baits will be high on the list of the spin fishermen.
In my high-school days growing up in western Pennsylvania, a classmate’s dad got me started fishing at Sinnemahoning Creek, and we used nothing but salmon eggs. We caught plenty of trout almost every time we went fishing, and it was a long time before I would try anything else. Obviously, other baits will work; worms, wax worms, mealworms, and anything that imitates them will probably take fish. Artificial offerings that look like salmon eggs or similar presentations will likely also take trout.
I will say that probably one of the most important factors in these presentations is not so much what you use but how you use it. Keeping your bait drifting along near the bottom naturally and keeping your rod tip high and your line tight will help in getting more strikes. Keeping a tight line goes a long way in detecting that quick strike — set the hook quickly.
We certainly don’t want to leave out minnows and anything that imitates them; these are also great choices for those early-season trout. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of getting and carrying around live minnows, then give those in-line spinners a workout; trust me, they will also take their fair share of trout. Minnow plugs may also produce some good trout action.
I’ll admit that when it comes to trout fishing these days, I’m pretty much a fly fisherman. I won’t go out on the first day of trout, but usually, I’m out trout fishing several times in the weeks just before the opening day, where I’m concentrating on those Special Regulation Catch and Release sections of some trout streams.
Recently, a fishing buddy, Wayne Smythe, and I were in one of those special regulation areas, and we managed to pick up a dozen nice rainbows with our flyrods. As expected all of our action came on nymph and streamer presentations. Salmon egg imitations caught some, and that now well-known mop fly produced as well. The Wooly Bugger was also a good producer. If I didn’t get any hits while drifting the Wooly Bugger near the bottom, I worked it like a streamer pattern and picked up a few that way. Any nymph pattern — such as a Bead Head Hares Ear, is a good early season choice, but here again, when working the bottom with a natural drift, it’s important to keep the rod tip high and a tight line to quickly pick up on any strikes.
Well, whatever your choice of equipment or lures or baits, let’s hope the water levels hold up and the weather is decent for that opening day.
