Help With Trout

[Wavemaster]

I need some help with fishing on on a stocked trout pond. The max depth is about 25 ft. The fish are not fed any pellet food. Live minnows, dead minnows and corn can NOT be used as bait.

The best set up today was a tip up set with a small trout hook and a slip weight. I used berkley trout paste and covered the hook. I had around 10 hits with this. I didn't land any! I tried letting the fish run before setting the hook but every time I grabbed the line the fish would escape with the bait. Any help on what to do differently would be much appreciated.

The one and only trout i caught today was power minnow that I was jigging inside the hut. It was my first trout ever through the ice and man was it ever a good fight!

I am going to give it another try tomorrow so any advice on what to try would be great.

[jgouldin]

If you can use any other baits try cocktail shrimp or macoroni and cheese.  Or put powerbait pellets on your hooks and not the paste.

[coboy]

This time of year the bite typically slows down. Trout tend to mouth the bait and will quickly spit it out if it doesn't feel right. I think you'll have better success in the hut especially if you can
see the trout taking in the lure. You can increase your chances of catching when it disappears in their mouth, and then set the hook. Tip-ups allow them the time to spit them out. Tipping a
small jig with a wax worm or meal worm may work also if you're allowed to use them.

[nitram]

Try a small jigging spoon set the hook right a way. Or small jig like for blue gills if you can use wax Worms try them set hook as soon as fish has bait in its mouth.

[Fishrmn]

JawJacker.

[Trout Sen-Sei]

If you are keeping them to eat, use a very small treble instead of a single hook--like a size 16 and small piece of powerbait.

[Trout Sen-Sei]

Also, use lite leader line 2lb test and small split shot--just enough to sink your bait.

[Wavemaster]

Thanks for the tips.

I tried the pond 2 more times since my last post.  I couldn't trigger a bite even though trout were constantly swimming by my jig. I also tried dew worms.

What jigging set ups should I try? What small spoons and jigs do you recommend?

[Reel trouble]

On ponds like that i like to use a jig head white and pink with a red  salmon egg seems to trigger some good hits.  orange trout nibbles seem to work as good.

[Trout Sen-Sei]

Try jigging a small forage minnow or swedish pimple--tip them off with maggots.

[Derik]

worms and crawlers, and take them running.  tip your jigs with worms too.

[BackCountry Kyle]

I fish trout lakes here in the west almost exclusively. I love using jigging spoons like pimples, slender spoons, and pk's. I tip them with a whole mealy but maggots seem to hold on longer and a bit of crawler could be just as effective. If you miss a hit or two, make sure you still have that mealy on there. I jig and don't stop jigging, they seem to be attracted to the flashy. I will also use some scents like anise or shrimp. Even if it doesn't trigger a strike it seems to get their attention. There is a product called Mike's Scent but really I think you should try a few and see what works best for your body of water. The wild trout I catch (browns and bows) also seem to love the chase, like lake trout, hitting it as you reel it up or on the fall. Drop it to the bottom and jig it all the way up the water column a crank at a time spending a bit of time at each crank and don't get in too big of a hurry. I like gold and copper spoons, but like I said whatever works best for that body of water. Good luck and hope this might help.

[fishaman]

 Try  1" Berkly Power Nymphs in green/char or yellow/org on a with matching 1/8" jig.