Trout set ups

[icemansect]

What does everyone use for trout set ups in regards to hooks and line

[lefty2053]

What does everyone use for trout set ups in regards to hooks and line

4 or 6 lb test, Kastmaster with meal or wax worm or anything else you want to try.  1/8-1/4 Oz. I also use Berkley Power Worms in Bubblegum .
Caught a mess of trout the other day using the Metalic Perch Kastmaster.

[Seamonkey84]

My basic set up is usually fished very shallow for trout, so 2-3’ of 4-6lb fluoro to your main line. The main line doesn’t matter as much as usually it’s only the leader below the bottom of the ice. just make sure your line spoils out smoothly and your flag is sensitive. I use to use size 6-8 hooks, and it worked fine but you have to set your hook fast or they’ll swallow the bait. I now use only circle hooks to prevent gut hooking fish, but that takes more fine tuning based on size of fish.  I set with a small split shot about 10-14” above the bait.

[Tjtroutslayer89]

For tip ups or jigging?

[icemansect]

For tip ups or jigging?

Tip ups

[Tjtroutslayer89]

4-6 pound fluoro leader. Single wide gap hook with split shot two foot up and a small spinner blade half way between the split shot and minnow for attracting.

[kasilofchrisn]

For rainbow trout and Dolly varden trout I mostly use jigs that I make myself.
Usually I tip them with a soft plastic grub tail or sometimes a Mo Magic soft plastic.
My buddies a fan of the swedish pimple but the other day he got skunked on it whilst I caught half a dozen on one of my custom-made jigs.
my other favorite jigs are custom jigs and spins ratso's shrimpos and similar jigs.
Some of my favorite colors are pink, orange, and white.
But my favorite color is a top secret color combination that I'm not going to give out to the forum this color was discovered on accident and really slays the trout.
Of course it's not available in stores I paint them myself.
Almost always tip these with bait.
My favorite bait is cut pieces of raw (uncooked)shrimp. Do not use cocktail shrimp as it does not stay on the hook very well it's much too brittle.
The shrimp is cheap only cost me about a penny per bait.
But small chunks of cured skein eggs also work well as do single salmon eggs such as the pautzke balls of fire.
I've been having good luck lately with my shrimp soaked in Mike's glo shrimp oil.
I rarely fish trout with a tip up as they usually swallow the hook and you end up injuring some small fish that way.
my preference is using one of my Alaska salmon bear self setters with the same jigs and bait as above.

[FG Steve]

Basic dead stick rig:
6lb Stren Lov-Vis Green
Eagle Claw #181 baitholder hook size 4, 3 feet below a kastmaster or colorado
Partial night crawler
Single kernel of corn
Mike's Glow Lunker Lotion in Salmon or Anise

Alternate bait: shrimp

My buddy's favorite: Tiny piece of night crawler on tiny hook with no weight fished on open bail (free spool).

Jigging Rig:
Small crappie jig or paddle bug
tipped with partial mealworm (usually headless)

Been playing with a salmonbear and just got an HT ice rigger to try.

[JohnnyO19]

1 in. tube jigs, pink or white, tipped. Atomic teasers work great

[Tjtroutslayer89]

Never thought a night crawler chunk would produce but I’ll have to give it a try now myself.

[Philip]

Does anyone use spawn sacks under the ice?

[FG Steve]

Does anyone use spawn sacks under the ice?

I have put on freshly harvested spawn sacks a few times, but usually late in the day, and with no bites to date.

[kasilofchrisn]

Does anyone use spawn sacks under the ice?

Never have used a spawn sack.
But I've had good luck with cured skein roe.
The problem with cured roe is it's messy and if use commercial cures they have dyes in them that stain your fingers.
Also I seem to catch more fish on it that have swallowef the hook especially on a tip up.
It's not nearly so bad on a rod your holding or with a self setter.

[Philip]

Interesting, I hear the guys on milwaukee harbor use almost exclusively spawn sacs/roe/skine/what-not under their automatic fisherman. I havent tried it yet but was planning on it this season 

[Tjtroutslayer89]

In the milwaukee harbor or other great lakes and tributaries you have trout spawning just before the ice up so i can see why that would work. For regular lakes I doubt eggs and skein would produce as well.

[Trout Sen-Sei]

I like the ice buster bobbers with lite line and fine-wire hooks. it makes a difference with live bait to keep them alive.

[Seamonkey84]

Never thought a night crawler chunk would produce but I’ll have to give it a try now myself.

It’s a good way to target the trout, they love them but hardly anything else hits a set line/dead stick earth worm. I’ll tip spoons and jigs with them and catch other stuff, but nothing but trout has hit my dead sticks with worms (in shallow water) in the past three years. I use HT ice riggers myself, instead of tip ups

[DrCro]

I have 3 lures that are my go to. They all have one thing in common PINK.

1 inch pink tube jig with gamakatsu hook, 2 inch HD Ice in Bubble Gum color and a tugsten jig with plastic worm or without.  Adding a waxie or mealie to replace the plastic does the trick.

[kpd145]

Never thought a night crawler chunk would produce but I’ll have to give it a try now myself.

If you can find a steady supply during ice. It's a great bait.

[Trout Sen-Sei]

lite jighead with Berkley trout worm is also very good. all colors available---pink does work well.

[FG Steve]

If you can find a steady supply during ice. It's a great bait.

My Wal-Mart has 'em year round.

[Fishermen]

I like the troll for trout through the ice by pop and holes along the shorelines drop in Salmon eggs and each whole three or four and then check in the holes to see which eggs are missing and then put a tip up in

[kasilofchrisn]

My Wal-Mart has 'em year round.

Nightcrawlers are extremely rare in the wild in Alaska I don't believe I've ever seen them or seen them for sale here.
I have seen regular worms for sale in the summertime and I suppose a person could find them at Petco or something in the winter for a premium price.
Then again I'll likely stick to what I have found works for me.
Though I wonder how baits like this would actually work up here even though they're not natural here?

[FG Steve]

Though I wonder how baits like this would actually work up here even though they're not natural here?

That would be a fun experiment, as long as the foreign bait is legal.  I have also used some of your methods down here, including shrimp, with success.

I assume you have leaches?  Some claim that a 'crawler is a natural leach imitation.

[kasilofchrisn]

That would be a fun experiment, as long as the foreign bait is legal.  I have also used some of your methods down here, including shrimp, with success.

I assume you have leaches?  Some claim that a 'crawler is a natural leach imitation.

Yes we do have leeches in the waters up here.
And we do have worms that are naturally in the soil here. I guess those are quite similar to a nightcrawler?
I think the reason shrimp work so well is it has a similar scent do the scuds or freshwater shrimp that are found in abundance here and found in abundance in the bellies of some of the fish I catch.
Last weekends fish were full of sticklebacks.
Might have to check out Petco before I go fishing next time just to see what kind of worms they have in stock?

[Noon]

Basic dead stick rig:
6lb Stren Lov-Vis Green
Eagle Claw #181 baitholder hook size 4, 3 feet below a kastmaster or colorado
Partial night crawler
Single kernel of corn
Mike's Glow Lunker Lotion in Salmon or Anise

Alternate bait: shrimp

My buddy's favorite: Tiny piece of night crawler on tiny hook with no weight fished on open bail (free spool).

Jigging Rig:
Small crappie jig or paddle bug
tipped with partial mealworm (usually headless)

Been playing with a salmonbear and just got an HT ice rigger to try.

Unrelated, Steve, I notice a few more pictures in your signature. Good work (or should I say good work to the wife  )

[FG Steve]

Unrelated, Steve, I notice a few more pictures in your signature. Good work (or should I say good work to the wife  )

Thanks, man.  I realized the other day that I had a pile of other pics that would add nicely, so I pulled more in.  Feature: The pics are clickable to enlarge...  It is so amazingly cool that my wife of 30 years is willing to get up early and go fishing with me. Her restriction is to depart no sooner than 4:00 a.m.  The giggle she emits when a large trout goes on a run is pure heaven.  What's more she likes to eat fish, too.  We made a deal as newlyweds that I never had to change a messy diaper and she never had to bait a hook or unhook a fish.  All the guys think I got the better deal and all the gals think she did.  I feel bad when some of our IS friends badmouth their spouse.  Not me, my marriage is hands-down the highlight of my life.

Can't wait 'till our date next week when she gets to try out her new Striker suit and Cabela's Inferno boots.  Gotta get some ice pictures down there in my signature.

[sploke]

When you guys are fishing shallow water trout, where are you setting the bait?  Right on the bottom, or right below the ice?

[JohnnyO19]

My Wal-Mart has 'em year round.

Mine too 

[FG Steve]

When you guys are fishing shallow water trout, where are you setting the bait?  Right on the bottom, or right below the ice?

Short answer: It varies.  But here are some rambles:

I have seen nice trout caught in 1 foot of water.  At or near that depth, in the middle is a no-brainer.

Our normal initial setup is about 3 feet off the bottom, with holes extending perpendicular to the shore, from near the edge into deeper water away from shore.  Then watch electronics to see if/where fish are suspended.  I've seen just-below-the-ice days and hug-the-bottom days, but more luck over the years just above the bottom.  Near the shore hits can come any time but seem to be more plentiful morning and evening.

I'm eager to see other responses to this.