Trout Fishing Bait
Trout as a species are known as pretty voracious eaters, so it isn’t too hard to come up with bait for trout fishing. Many different things have been tried successfully to snag these hard-fighting fish. Natural, synthetic and human foods have all been known to work.
In addition to lures and flies, trout love live bait. Grasshoppers, crayfish, night crawlers, insect larvae and minnows are just some of the live bait that is available. If you can get them, frogs, small rodents and reptiles will work as well. If it will fit in his mouth, a trout won’t pass up a live meal if the presentation is right.
Casting with live bait can sometimes be a problem. You need something that will stay on the hook long enough for it to get to the fish. Night crawlers are good for this, and minnows can be hooked in such a way that they will stay on for a good cast. A small sinker can be added to give the line some casting weight if you are fishing for trout below the surface.
I have seen pieces of other fish used as trout bait. A piece of a pickerel’s stomach makes an attractive bait, probably due to the smell of the fresh fish. Other fish could be used in this manner as well.
Synthetic baits can sometimes drive trout into a feeding frenzy. Scented, artificial baits such as trout dough can molded around a hook and used to successfully attract a trout strike. Different scents and flavors are available, so you may want to experiment with several and see which works best for your area.
Plastic worms are a tried and true trout fishing bait. They are available scented and unscented as are many other types of plastic lures and stick baits. There is an almost unlimited selection of artificial baits manufactured. It is truly amazing to see all the different objects that a trout will bite for.
Anyone that has trout fished as a kid will probably be familiar with using household foods as bait. Corn kernels and miniature marshmallows are two of the more popular ones. Many a fish has been hooked using these two.
Cheese is another popular fish bait, probably due to its strong aroma. You’ll want to use a soft cheese, as this will allow itself to be molded to the hook, where a harder cheese will just crumble when the hook is run through it.
Salmon eggs are often sold in small containers in the fishing departments of larger stores. Different sizes and colors of small marshmallows will be seen there as well. Take a trip down to the local bait store and you may be amazed at what you will find.
As can be seen by all the previous suggestions in this article, trout fishing bait can be a many and varied thing. It’s hard to predict what the fish will be biting for on a given day, so bring along several varieties of bait and try a few until you find something that works.
