want to try trout fishing

[kdlong]

i've been wanting to try trout fishing.i will probly use my crappie rigs to start with. what kind of bait and or lures do i need to try. i will be fishing lower ill by gore. my wife and her parents will be there also fishing. also what do trout taste like crappie, catfish,perch or bass. whats a good way to cook them? sorry for all the questions but i really want to try this. i am very greatfull for any advice or help.

 

[crg1372]

Trout have more of a salmon type taste. When I bait fish on the Blue River I use Mr. Trout salmon eggs. When I use lures I usually use either a black or gold super duper. I've cooked them on the grill after marinating in lemon pepper marinade or dipped in egg and tossed in corn meal and deep fried. Both ways turned out really good.

 

[ProBusiness]

i have never fished lower illinois but have fished for trout in missouri.

what i learned is:
-in lake Taneycomo, medium to light spinning rod, 6lb to 4lb test line
-trout specific bait - samon eggs, plastic worms in black, white, orange, and other colors that are working for the day (these worms are a very little tube of plastic about i inch long - diameter about the size of a small zip tie)
- hook size is very important. very, very small hook, not much of a neck on them at all,
- hook must be buried in the bait, if they see the hook they will pass on it.

I have never fly fished.

I would strongly recommend going to a local bait shop and listen to what they recommend.

I tried crappie stuff and it did not work on trout at all.

when you hook them, keep constant pressure on the line but do not pull too hard, you will rip the hook out of their mouth. also when they get close to the bank, they go wild and easy to loose them at that time. i finally started carrying a net with me at all times. these were pan size fish.

this has been my experience.

 

[XD-9Guy]

+1 on light line and use small hooks/flies, trout have tiny mouths. Their mouths are soft too so keep that in mind when you set the hook, you can't really snap it like you do with most fish, you'll just tear flesh & the fish will be on his way. They're a lot of fun though - my dad and I fish Montouk SP & Bennett Springs SP in Missouri but not as often as we'd like. Good luck!

Oh yeah and like a previous poster said, if you can use natural baits salmon eggs are supposed to be great. We fish with flies only so I don't have any experience with salmon eggs but that's what I've heard from fellow trout fishermen. Where we fish a brown wooly worm with a brass spinner is what EVERYBODY likes but they are all hatchery fish, they're a different breed.

 

[kdlong]

thanks

 

[JRSherman]

i've been wanting to try trout fishing.i will probly use my crappie rigs to start with. what kind of bait and or lures do i need to try. i will be fishing lower ill by gore. my wife and her parents will be there also fishing. also what do trout taste like crappie, catfish,perch or bass. whats a good way to cook them? sorry for all the questions but i really want to try this. i am very greatfull for any advice or help.

Disclaimer: I haven't fished the LIR yet, I'm just giving out info from areas I've fished.

I don't know what the river conditions are like, but I'd suggest 4lb mono with a #8 or #10 hook to start with. If there's a heavy current, use 2 bb size split shot(I can't remember what size they actually are) or just 1 if it's lite, about a foot above the hook.

If you can find any locally, I recommend Lucky Lady or Luck-E-Strike cheese scented trout worms. To use these, the general way is tear about 1/2" off, insert the hook in that torn end, and thread the worm on until the eye will be covered. Make sure to bring the hook out the flat side if it's that type of worm, otherwise you'll wind up corkscrewing a lot and I rarely catch trout with a worm working that way.

If you can't get worms like that, Berkley Power Bait works(for anyone but me). Just scoop a little out and squeeze it over the hook like a marshmallow.

You could also try using chilled whole kernel corn, just open the can the night before and fridge it.

Try to find deeper holes behind an eddy or a riffle, they generally go together. Deeper spots in long pools will sometimes hold a trout or two as well, especially if there's rocks or undercut root wads in the water. Fish from upstream of the hole, or off to the side and up-current of it, and reel slow-medium paced.

When you clean them, it's your choice to leave the skin on or take it off. I would recommend though, when you fillet them, to make small cuts every 1/4" to 1/2", halfway down through the thicker meat above the ribs. If you fry/deep fry them, this will allow the smaller bones through that section to dissolve really easily, and less worry to the family.

As far as cooking them, there's chapters of books on the subject. I prefer to just batter mine in cornmeal or Louisiana Fish Fry and fry them in the frying pan. You can bake, broil, deep fry, or whatever you do to your fish normally though too.

I don't know if I'd characterize them as tasting like another fish, taste is a person to person thing. I really do like them though, and trout fishing is my favorite kind of fishing. When you're down on the river on an early morning, and wildlife is stirring around you, trout are jumping; these are days that live with me and I'll never forget.

 

[crg1372]

#8 hooks is what you're looking for if you're going to bait fish. If you want to catch lots of fish salmon eggs are the go to. At Blue River we've (3 of us) have caught well over a hundred fish in 3-4 hours on salmon eggs. We don't fish on bottom with them. We use a small weighted barrel cork with the bait suspended about three feet below the cork. I also add a small split shot to lower the cork in the water even more. When they grab the bait there isn't as much resistance. We cast up river and let it float down (when it makes it). Reason we do this is it presents the bait to more area where fish might be lurking.

 

[JCW355]

You can use corn, worms, marshmellows, powerbait, power worms, power balls. When I fished with berkeley powerballs I used a cone shaped slide sinker and split shot with a number 8 hook. It was kind of like a carolina rig if you know what that is. I'm a fly fisher only now and rarely touch the spinning gear now. I always caught fish using the powerballs, you might have to try some different colors though. Dave's bait and tackle is right as you enter Gore from the south end of town. Good luck.

 

[dennishoddy]

Everybody here has had good advice.
My experience with bait is to use up to a 1/2 to 3/4 oz sinker that has the hole all the way through the middle, with a swivel 10" above the hook, if your going to fish fast water with power balls.
even in calm water, if you leave a little slack in the line the fish won't feel the weight at all. Be a line watcher, not a rod tip watcher.

 

[Donato1]

I went trout fishing for my first time last week in the right below the tenkiller dam. We used powerbait power eggs the white ones got them at that grocery store there in gore. me and the guys that went with me all caught our limit within 2 hours! we used a number 16 trebbble hook at the bottom with two power egggs on it to cover the hook also make sure they will float the hook! with a swivel about a foot and a half up and a couple split shots right above the swivel. worked great! plus they stay on the hook great caught three on the same two eggs!
and like Dennis said be a line watcher
here is a pic!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=16579954&l=329d300953&id=508040243