Let's talk trout

[Home Wood]

I did not catch any trout last season. I used cut up sucker on a tip up and jig pole. I used salmon eggs also. I caught quite a few perch and a couple nice pickerel. What in the world am I doing wrong for these trout? That goes for lakers and bows.

[Trout Sen-Sei]

What type of lake are you fishing? Size--depth--is it stocked with trout? Here in s.w. Pa, many lakes have stockies and like live bait such as minnows, maggots, waxworms etc. Jigging with small 1/64 baits can also be productive. Give us some info and the guys on this site will help you.

[Home Wood]

I fish Lake Winnipesaukee in NH. It's the biggest lake in NH, but I don't know much about it being stocked or not. I think they throw some in there now and then. I am fishing any where from  a few feet to 60 feet of water. I like to use live shiners, but it's pretty much perch that go after them. I caught one laker on a shiner once and that was 2 years ago. Tagged rainbows are eligible for the grand prize in the rotary ice fishing derby, so that is ultimately what I want to catch.

[Trout Sen-Sei]

Rainbows can be nomadic--can be tough to find if there is a sparse population. try fishing the shallower bays where the water warms quicker--especially if there are feeder streams or any drop offs that go shallow to deeper water.

[fshnfool]

Rumor has it, and you'll get alot more info as the season gets closer.....but shallow (3 - 10 fow), sandy bottom, using single salmon eggs really hammer the rainbows at winni.... a few guys on here fish Center Harbor quite a bit and really hammer them.

[Home Wood]

That's the depth and bottom I have heard can hold good Bow's. What should I use with a salmon egg, tip up or jig pole? So, one single egg on a small hook?

[Flash_King]

If possible cut 8-10 holes along the shoreline in about 2-3ft of water and drop 3-4 eggs down each hole set ONE HOLE with trap with 100ft of 4lb floro with #12/#14 single egg hook(with the other 3-4 eggs).Set up another trap like the first-keep it ON TOP OF THE ICE next to you. Additional hole use for jigging(SMALL jigs/lures/**VELVETTA CHEESEwith bobber.Check the cut holes in about 20-30min to see if any of the eggs are gone - if so - get the set up trap in with a couple of eggs added. Winni can be SLOW!!(2 TRAP LIMIT) better if you could check out other trout ponds with 6 trap allocation.Be sure your traps have a light trip setting(That is why I use polars) and the spool is free running.Since you are fishing in Clear/Shallow water be sure you set up away from your traps/holes and be quiet as possible.*Sand/Gravel bottom is best when using eggs.

[Home Wood]

Looks like great advice. Thanks a lot. I am going to print this thread out. I have always wanted to get out to other ponds/lakes, so I am going to make it part of this years plan. Theres a spot on Squam lake that is just off the hook (pardon the pun) I heard from a wardon last year. Man, I can't wait for this winter!! I am going to by a couple polars though.

[Walltrout]

We have a lot of guys go after the trout up here in Montana.  The common theme to catch them is to put your hook about 5 feet below the ice in 20 feet of water. We use pimples mostly in the silver color, but I have heard of guys having a lot of luck on ice flys although I have never used them. 

[Home Wood]

There are a couple islands in front of the lake house and they have gravel/sand bottoms and anywhere from 1 foot to several feet of water around them. Do rainbows prefer actual shore line or do they gather around islands aswell? Maybe this is a dumb question and the fish don't know the difference, but I have never really tried close around the islands. So, maybe I should.

[deadsmelthead]

My theory on fishing trout through the ice is finding out baitfish they target as their primary food source and that can change throughout the season or one year to the next. Somtimes you gotta cut one open and find out. I have cut open Lakers packed full of smelt a few weeks later cut one open with smelt and a small perch or two a few weeks after that nothing but perch in them. Browns and Bows are tough they can be pluged full of nymphs have a mudminnow lodged in their throat and they just tried inhaling your rapala jig for desert. Do a little homework about the lake you are fishing try setting a bait trap if its legal and try every jig you own.

[Home Wood]

How about very rocky and gravely bottoms around islands?

[njsimonson]

I did my first real fishing for "stockies" last year - rainbows that ran anywhere from 14-20 inches in length. 

I found that jigging, or using tip-ups in the littoral area (usually 5-15 feet deep depending on the lake) was most effective.  I ran a standard pike tip-up (30-lb nylon line) with a barrel swivel and then a five-foot leader made out of a superline (last year I used PowerPro 10/2, this year I will try the Fireline MicroIce Crystal in 8/3).  I attached a 1/16-ounce split shot about 18 inches above a #8 Gamakatsu walleye/steelhead hook and baited it with a lively fathead minnow. 

The flags were fast and furious from just before sun-up to about 9:30 a.m., then again at dusk.  We also picked up fish during the mid-day, but not nearly as fast, say 1 or 2 an hour.  Those we often caught jigging small spoons, genz worms or deadsticking minnows under a float.

Good luck!