Catching trout with spinning gear (Part 1)

By Seth

When most people think of trout fishing, they think of fly fishing. But that's not the only way to catch trout. Trout will just as easily take an inline spinner as they would to a wooly bugger, a type of fly. Sometimes, one works better than the other. But both seem to be very good and productive fish catchers.

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Trout are fun to catch, and it is a great way to enjoy the outdoors. 

To start off, fist you need an ultralight spinning rod and reel. Rods up to medium action are fine, but you are missing out on the fight, and it's troublesome and heavy., and your lure would not be presented as well as with lighter gear. 

Next, you need some line. Light line (less than 6 pound test) is the way to go. If you line is too heavy, you will have trouble presenting your lures. Not only that, trout are sharp eyed, and a thick line is a red flag to them. Also, be sure not to use braided line, which would show up as a rope under the water, which may spook your trout. If you want to, you can have a fluorocarbon leader (12"-18") to hide you line even more under water. Fluorocarbon is nearly invisible under water. 

You also need your lures. Trout fishing lures can be very different from a bass fisherman's arsenal.  Trout lures have to be very small. Even the trophy sized trout don't eat big things commonly, but rather many small things. Trout like flash, which look like a fleeing baitfish. Inline spinners are very effective for this purpose. 

Above: Fallfish (left) and small mouth bass are common catches when you are trout fishing. Both put up an excellent fight!

Inline spinners have a rotating blade that has thump and flash to attract trout. They are, however, quite expensive, so don't use them in water with many snags. The fact that they have treble hooks does not  help. Spinners should not be retrieved smoothly and in rhythm. Jerk it, slow the retrieve, speed up the retrieve, ect. That attracts more trout. 

The next lure to consider are spoons. They are yes, the bowl of a spoon, with the handle cut off and a treble hook attached. They are effective, and when retrieved through the water, have an erratic motion, which, along with their flash attracts trout. Some spoons sold in stores are for larger fish.  1/32 and1/8 are good sizes for spoons. The lighter the spoon, the smaller it is.

The last lure, which is very effective, especially when the trout are sluggish, are micro jigs and soft plastics.   When you are burning the water with you inline spinner,  and are getting no bites, consider these. Jigs and soft plastics are also much cheaper than spoons and spinners. Jerk around, dead drift them, swim them, or jig them on the bottom. There are many presentations for jigs.

Tight lines,

​Seth