When I first started fishing, I loved watching fly anglers on a popular pool near my house every weekend morning. I’m sure I was not especially popular there — a little kid loudly flipping rocks and asking a million questions — but, because of all the small dry flies and nymphs they used, I came away thinking trout only ate tiny things.
It wasn’t until a few years later, under a fall moon, that I saw a bunch of huge brown and rainbow trout in a backwater of that same stream absolutely gorging themselves on creek chubs and golden shiners. That’s when I realized trout went for bigger prey than I thought.
My years of trout fishing across the Northeast, Appalachia, and the Great Lakes have taught me that these fish will eat almost anything, but your presentation has to be darn near perfect, especially when using natural or prepared baits. Over time, I’ve discovered a few highly effective trout fishing rigs that aren’t as widely known in the trout world.
The PowerBait Rig
Here’s the deal: Stocked trout are not nearly as exciting as wild fish. That is a fact. But in some parts of the country, that’s all the trout exposure anglers might have. Heck, I’m not too proud to admit that sometimes wrangling a pile of tank scrubbers makes for a darn good time, especially if you can share the experience with a newbie angler.
Products like PowerBait are made to mimic the food trout are given during their time at the hatchery and tend to be buoyant, so the presentation floats off the bottom.
Components:
- Egg Style Sinker
Bass Pro Shops Egg Sinkers - Bead
Sea Striker Round Beads - Barrel Swivel
Eagle Claw Barrel Swivel - Leader Material
Shimano Mastiff FC - Treble Hook
Eagle Claw Treble Hook
To rig dough-style trout bait, I prefer a classic slip sinker style rig, consisting of an egg sinker, bead, barrel swivel, leader, and a treble hook. While other rigs may work, the free-sliding weight of the egg sinker allows trout to pick up bait and keep swimming, resulting in lots of hookups. The treble hook allows anglers to pack and squeeze commercially prepared trout options onto the hook.
This is not just for PowerBait; crawlers, shiners, and crayfish can also be fished on this trout fishing rig very effectively. It’s one of the more versatile bank fishing trout fishing rigs out there.
The Drop Shot Rig
You read that right, the drop shot is not just reserved for bronzeback beauties and cold front largemouth, any fish will eat a bait that is shaking in their face. Also, drop shots can be worked very fast to cover a bit of water while still staying very stealthy.
Components:
- Droopshot Hook
VMC 7119 Spinshot - Dropshot Weight
VMC Dropshot Weight Cylinder
I was blessed with a set of fat and rather clumsy digits, and I try to minimize knot tying as much as possible. So, I find the VMC Spinshot hook my best option. I also like that the hook is offered in trout-friendly sizes like #6 and #8.
As far as weight goes, a cylinder style has always resulted in far fewer snags for me as it can be walked across the bottom with ease.
When I’m drop-shotting for trout, I like to use a long dropper — sometimes up to three feet, especially in deep water. As long as you can cast it, it’ll work.
Like the PowerBait trout fishing rig, you can use almost any natural bait, but I usually stick with a nightcrawler or red wiggler, hooked lightly at either the head or tail. A few aggressive shakes of the rod tip make that worm dance and wiggle, and if there are trout around, you’re in for some fast action.
The Live-Lining Trout Fishing Rig
Before witnessing the aforementioned “trout blitz” as a youngster, it never occurred to me just how ravenous and aggressive trout can be. However, as trout get bigger, they lean more and more on natural forage to keep their fat stores up. While shiners can be fished in a multitude of different ways, presenting them as naturally as possible is never a bad idea.
Components:
Unless you absolutely need to reach lower levels of the water column, the addition of any weight will make a live bait look unnatural. But, in situations where a ton of forage is present, adding in a little wrinkle can help seal the deal. To do this, simply put a Colorado-style blade above the eye of the hook before letting a live bait meander its way through the water.
In my opinion, this does two things. First, it appeals to trout as they are highly visual feeders and tend to be drawn to shiny objects. Second, the blade will oftentimes spin irregularly, adding a bit of vibration that calls trout in from long distances.
More often than not, I will hook my live baits through the lips when live-lining as the slight weight of the hook forces the bait to head deep.
Float and Fly
I was introduced to the float and fly after becoming obsessed with Bobby Gentry and the world-record-quality bass that prowl Dale Hollow Reservoir along the Tennessee and Kentucky border. While not a natural bait offering, the float and fly is the most subtle artificial option you’ll find.
To tempt fish in cold water, the float and fly excels because it suspends a small fly or hair jig in the water column under a float: an irresistible snack to even fish infected with a bad case of lockjaw. While I have caught plenty of smallmouth with the technique, I often find myself catching big trout as bycatch.
Components:
- Float
Thill Pro Series Slip Bobber Floats - Bobber Stop
VMC Sinker Stop - Fly
Bass Pro Shops Marabou Crappie Jig
The rig is incredibly simple; it’s essentially a standard slip float rig with a hair jig tied on the business end. While the tendency is going to be to fish very slowly, that really is only dependent on the mood of the fish. Some of my best days with the float and fly for trout have been when I was aggressively popping the float, with lots of fish biting before the fly settled back motionless.
I have found that somewhere around 3 feet above the fly is a good place to set your float. If action is limited, I almost always go shallower.
While many folks prefer jigs around 1/32-ounce or lighter, I have found that big trout have no problem with eating a 1/16-ounce jig or even a 1/8-ounce at times. There is no shortage of options available for purchase in big box stores or online retailers, but if you have a fly fishing buddy, it might be worth trying to have them tie you up some custom patterns as color options can be limited.
Bottom Walking Rig
Trout will often hang out in fast-moving sections of rivers where rocky snags are everywhere. This makes fishing tricky. You could try using a heavy weight to keep your bait planted on the bottom, but that usually doesn’t work. A trout isn’t likely to go for a bait that’s just sitting there in the heavy current. So, what’s the answer? We’ve got to “bottom-walk” our bait, letting it drift naturally downstream all while trying to limit snags.
Components:
- Swivel
VMC Three-Way Swivel - Weight
Bass Pro Shops Casting Sinker - Hook – Eagle Claw
Eagle Claw Model 038 Classic Salmon Egg Hook
Start by tying your main line to the top eye of a three-way swivel.
Next, tie a short length of line (about a foot) to the bottom eyelet using a simple overhand knot.
Then, attach your sinker to the end of that line. This way, if you snag, you’ll likely only lose the weight, which is what usually gets hung up anyway.
Finally, tie your hook to the remaining eyelet of the swivel using a leader.
Once cast, the weight dropper will hit the bottom and begin to walk downstream while the hook section of the line is pushed away from the rig and drifts just ahead of the weight. It is important to note that this rig needs to be fished on a taught line as slack causes the rig to tangle almost immediately.
Since this is already a tough rig to cast, I like to keep baits as small and compact as possible, normally a small section of Nightcrawler, or a single salmon egg.
Experiment with Your Own Trout Fishing Rigs
Trout fishing, whether in stocked streams or wild rivers, offers a unique set of challenges. While these fish aren’t always as picky as they are sometimes made out to be, presentation is key, and the right rig can make all the difference. So, whether you’re a float-watcher or a live bait enthusiast, don’t be afraid to experiment with your trout rigs — mixing things up can often pay off.
