Dropper rigs for rainbows

[mt.redneck]

Anyone try using dropper rigs, spoon with a jig or a fly underneath, and had success with rainbows?

[meandcuznalfy]

I put a lady bug jig, ice ant or any small ice jig under swedish pimples, buckshots, vmc spoons, it's a great tactic that works well for trout, panfish, bass.

[mt.redneck]

Thanks. I am thinking about doing a big trout tournament next year and i know some small midge larva flies work well but they are not necessarily the best at calling fish in from a distance or fishing fast in general while searching. Will have to try it if i fish that lake this year and see how it works

[meandcuznalfy]

Your welcome, I have a couple rods set up that I use quite often, it works well.

[mt.redneck]

Nice. I just need more time to try these thing out haha

[meandcuznalfy]

Lol, I agree with the needing more time. What tournament you wanting to do?

[mt.redneck]

Its the big naifc tournament on hebgan lake. I know the lake pretty well and the feeding habits of the rainbows in there i have just been a little Leary of doing this big tournament

[meandcuznalfy]

That'd be a cool tournament to do. With your wealth of information I wouldn't be afraid to do it.

[mt.redneck]

The biggest thing is i dont have access to a snowmobile so would be limited to covering what i could on snowshoes, but it is what it is haha. The 250 dollar entry fee is a little hard to swallow also lol

[meandcuznalfy]

Lol, yea I could see where that would cause some hesitation.

[mt.redneck]

It really just comes down to i need to explore the end of the lake where the tournament is held and figured it out a bit. I usually fish the shallower end and stay in 20 feet or less but the tournament is held closer to the dam and most of it is a very steep drop off right by shore into 50-70 feet and i dunno if the rainbows will have a tendency to stay closer to the shoreline and the drop off or roam the open water in the 50-70 foot depths. There are a lot of browns in the lake as well and both rainbows and browns can break the 10 pound mark but only rainbows count for the tourney

[eyeflyer]

Anyone try using dropper rigs, spoon with a jig or a fly underneath, and had success with rainbows?

I have tried them with chironomids, scuds and leeches/balanced leeches. All caught fish but haven't had a time yet when they did a lot better than the small tungsten jigs under a dropper. I would have thought the chironomids and scuds would have done really well, as I pumped a couple fish I had caught and they had lots of both in them.

[mt.redneck]

I have tried them with chironomids, scuds and leeches/balanced leeches. All caught fish but haven't had a time yet when they did a lot better than the small tungsten jigs under a dropper. I would have thought the chironomids and scuds would have done really well, as I pumped a couple I had caught and they had lots of both in them.
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Did you feel the flies did worse or just about the same under the spoon then just using a small jig and bait?

[eyeflyer]

Did you feel the flies did worse or just about the same under the spoon then just using a small jig and bait?

If the fish are active and moving the chironomids did better, sometimes just tied by themselves (tungsten head) I have almost always done better with a dropper setup and rarely fish a presentation for trout in the winter without it. I use different styles and sizes of dropper spoons, my best luck with smaller silver ones but use chartreuse/orange as well. Dropper rigs are used when fishing 10 ft or deeper to get the small hooks down, shallow just use a hook. Like my spinner rigs in summer,  silver on sunny days and chart/orange on cloudy ones. Unlike summer fishing when I get a good pattern I can have success with it all day, in the winter I switch around a lot more.

I tie up 6 rod/reel rigs before I go out and most times I change at least 2-3 of those when I get home that night on the rigs I had no hits on or to patterns that match the "bugs" in the trout I pumped. Sometimes completely new rigs, sometimes just a bit of variable to what I had success with.
This pic is a kastmaster with a water boatman dropper. also has a slider single hook on top of the kastmaster

This pic is a balanced leech on bottom silver chironomid up about a foot

This pic is chartreuse setup for deep water, cloudy days, willow leaf with a hornet jig dropper

[mt.redneck]

I have a midge larva pattern that works very well but it just dosent have a lot of calling power. Will habe to experiment with it below a spoon along with trying a normal dropper with a jig and bait

[the force]

Let’s bring this one back to life for 2020 as am always looking to maximize success with rainbows under ice. I have caught them with chrinomids and bloodworms in their stomachs, though have had limited success fishing those presentations in the winter. Is a bit odd seeing as how well you can do during summer months on such a simple presentation. If they are in a off mood and selectively picking bugs out of the mud I often do best on a teardrop tungesten jig and mealworm fished dead stick style... that is my go to. If they are more aggressive bigger jigs or spoons get more love. I need to work more with droppers.

[WALL E GATOR]

I did a strange dropper rig that worked well a few days for trout. Took on of those Live Target Bait Ball Rattle Rap lures pulled the Trebles off and put a small 8-10" leader with a small tungsten jig with maggot off the back treble location. Run it aggressively up n down the water column. The rattle in the LiveTarget Lure calls em in and then they can't seem to let that trailing jig get away. Tons of hits on the drop. Worked better than I was hoping, plan to try it more this year. Really want to try it on Lakers and see if I can get them to hit it like the bows did.

[meandcuznalfy]

I use a crappie jig, ice ant, tear drop, or other small jig tied to the treble of my bigger spoons like swedish pimples, buckshot's, works great for trout, walleye even panfish

[the force]

Wall E, that is super interesting! I’ve got a lake in mind where I’m sure that would work. We’ve got a few lakes that are super clear and have spooky Pennask strain rainbows, even a small jigging spoon will sometimes spook them off, though there are some more aggressive strains that would be all over it. Those more aggressive fish I will often get them on an actively jigged slender spoon and they won’t touch a simple tungsten and mealie.

Yeah I need to use my pimples and buckshots more for trout... work well for perch and walleye for sure.

[Fishermen1137]

11:45

[eyeflyer]

Best luck last year was using a variety of micro leeches in various colors. These are tied on a size 10 or 12 hook with tungsten beads and simi seal or marabou for the body. Fishing just the leech and sometime under a  dropper. Majority of fishing was done in about 12 FOW.

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