What is your setup for Trout?

[Flymph]

6'6" IM6 Graphite ultra light with a 2500 Shimano and 6lb test of PLine, moss, 1/8 ounce chartreuse rooster tail... pulled from a lake.
All the above is good advise.


May 31st, 2023

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I'm not in a place to do it right now but I've been seriously considering even just a small row boat to get off the bank and into a little deeper water for some of the smaller lakes in the area.

If you have one you wanna get rid of hit me up lol.

I would skip the rowboat and get an inflatable. I've had canoes, bass boat, jet sled, John boat, rowboat, drift, Livingston and these inflatables are hands down the best. Will go anywhere and do anything and extremely stable. Mine folds up and will fit in car trunk. I put little 15 hp Johnson on it and it flies. Inflatable keel means you can go on lakes or ocean and deflate keel for rivers. Will go in much shallower water than a drift boat. Guy I bought it from used for scuba diving in ocean. It will float even if several of the compartments have no air. Removable wood floor. Use electric drill motor for low speed or regular trolling motor if you want to mess with heavy battery. Pretty cheap used but make sure it's hypalon fabric (like white water rafts). About 5 min to put in floor and inflate. Less than a minute to deflate. If you don't leave it inflated all the time you don't need any kind of a boat launch at all. One person can carry to shore, pump up with battery powered pump and away you go.

 

[solv3nt]

I would skip the rowboat and get an inflatable. I've had canoes, bass boat, jet sled, John boat, rowboat, drift, Livingston and these inflatables are hands down the best. Will go anywhere and do anything and extremely stable. Mine folds up and will fit in car trunk. I put little 15 hp Johnson on it and it flies. Inflatable keel means you can go on lakes or ocean and deflate keel for rivers. Will go in much shallower water than a drift boat. Guy I bought it from used for scuba diving in ocean. It will float even if several of the compartments have no air. Removable wood floor. Use electric drill motor for low speed or regular trolling motor if you want to mess with heavy battery. Pretty cheap used but make sure it's hypalon fabric (like white water rafts). About 5 min to put in floor and inflate. Less than a minute to deflate. If you don't leave it inflated all the time you don't need any kind of a boat launch at all. One person can carry to shore, pump up with battery powered pump and away you go.

View attachment 1438492

I've read those things don't last all that long. Then you have an oversized holy rubber.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I've read those things don't last all that long. Then you have an oversized holy rubber.

That's why you get hypalon. Mine has been used since 1992 and it's not in new condition but is in very nice condition. I use 303 protectant to prevent UV damage. If you get a newer one that is not made from thick hypalon then you are correct they don't last that long esspecially if exposed to UV a lot. Mine has outlived aluminum and fiberglass boats I've had because it's forgiving when you hit rocks.

 

[solv3nt]

That's why you get hypalon. Mine has been used since 1992 and it's not in new condition but is in very nice condition. I use 303 protectant to prevent UV damage. If you get a newer one that is not made from thick hypalon then you are correct they don't last that long esspecially if exposed to UV a lot. Mine has outlived aluminum and fiberglass boats I've had because it's forgiving when you hit rocks.

I was looking at dinghies for bay fishing with the kids.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I was looking at dinghies for bay fishing with the kids.

I would say don't get the PVC or whatever they are made of ones, get hypalon like what white water rafts, special forces, fast ocean boats, and rescue boats use. I use mainly for river fishing. You can do things with them you can't do with any other boat and darn near impossible to sink. If using on bigger lakes and trailering a rigid keel version will be faster. For versatility inflatable keel is better (and best option if using on shallow rivers).

Skip to 1:57 mark in video below to see example of stability. If you have ever been in small aluminum boat you know how tippy they can be. Here they have three guys getting in on only one side and still stable.

This one goes same speed as mine but looks a bit smaller. I didn't realize you could waterski behind them. I'll have to try that.

 

[Cerberus Group]

Fly rod...either a Scott G or Sage SPL 2wt and various flies depending on the hatch and time of day...love the lightweight rods and small streams.

 

[titsonritz]

 

[Joe13]

I would say don't get the PVC or whatever they are made of ones, get hypalon like what white water rafts, special forces, fast ocean boats, and rescue boats use. I use mainly for river fishing. You can do things with them you can't do with any other boat and darn near impossible to sink. If using on bigger lakes and trailering a rigid keel version will be faster. For versatility inflatable keel is better (and best option if using on shallow rivers).

Skip to 1:57 mark in video below to see example of stability. If you have ever been in small aluminum boat you know how tippy they can be. Here they have three guys getting in on only one side and still stable.

This one goes same speed as mine but looks a bit smaller. I didn't realize you could waterski behind them. I'll have to try that.

There may be a slight misunderstanding as to my family annual income lol and my slush money

I was thinking row boat because of cost. Although a decent kayak has been a thought as well but only holds one person…

I grew up on the ocean and around lakes, rivers etc. I even got an invite to be a guide for a private river rafting tour company owner when I was 16 so I've done quite a bit on the water including sailing

 

[solv3nt]

There may be a slight misunderstanding as to my family annual income lol and my slush money

I was thinking row boat because of cost. Although a decent kayak has been a thought as well but only holds one person…

I grew up on the ocean and around lakes, rivers etc. I even got an invite to be a guide for a private river rafting tour company owner when I was 16 so I've done quite a bit on the water including sailing

I took the kids out in the river mouth in a tandem kayak for salmon fishing. The yak is a barge, by my 8yo daughter caught three coho last fall.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

There may be a slight misunderstanding as to my family annual income lol and my slush money

I was thinking row boat because of cost. Although a decent kayak has been a thought as well but only holds one person…

I grew up on the ocean and around lakes, rivers etc. I even got an invite to be a guide for a private river rafting tour company owner when I was 16 so I've done quite a bit on the water including sailing

Used should be same cost as rowboat. Worn out crap = $100. Ok condition = $300. Nice condition = $500 (or $750 for large sizes).

Motor of course is where you have a lot of variability. 15 hp Johnson if the right year only weighs 67 lb. $350 on low end to $550 on high end. If just piddling around or maneuvering when drift fishing rivers then cordless drill motor = $45, trolling motor = $110 (have to add a battery too though).

 

[JohnnyMac]

A gold or silver Kastmaster has been my Go-To for years and very rarely disappoints.

 

[huntpotter]

Blue fox vibrax. Caught many many trout. Lakes and rivers.

If they aren't biting spinners, it's a worm, and a dried old marshmallow, on a single hook, with a bobber.

 

[Unicykle]

I would suggest watching things like craigslist for a entry level pontoon boat like outdoor creek company or Outcast or bucks bags for a couple three hundo. That'll allow you to float all the lakes and reservoirs and a good portion of the rivers. I started out on one of these and quickly Upgraded to a cataraft for multi day trips. In the middle of summer dragging a cricket or a black ant about 60 yards behind your boat across any reservoir or lake with stocked fish tends to do well.

 

[jbett98]

These Luhr Jensen # 70 Hot Shot frog colored trolling lures should be illegal, as they are irresistible to trout.

I troll these with a small lead split shot placed a couple of feet above the lure and run it 30 feet behind my boat.

I would think you could cast these from a bank and carefully retrieve it with short rod tip held reel high cranks.




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[No_Regerts]

If I was going to buy one rod to do everything from throwing small jigs and spinners to plunking, I'd go with a 6'6" to 7'0" light to med-light spinning rod with a soft tip but plenty of backbone. The reason is you want a soft enough tip to load up when casting light lures while having enough backbone to set the hook on a long cast. The softer tip also absorbs some shock and prevents breaking off.

The perfect action, IMO, was the G. Loomis GL3 6'6" 4-8# spinning rod. Kinda spendy, but an excellent rod. Much cheaper and very similar are what the bass guys call a "drop shot" rod, named after a popular finesse technique.

But, if I was being totally honest, I believe its a 2-rod venture when bank fishing. Toss lures with a 6'6" light spinning rod and fish bait rigs and float rigs with a med-lite 7'6" spinning rod.

 

[DunRanull]

I don't do a lot of fishing these days, but when I do I use a 6 foot Ugly Stick with an ultralight spinning reel. I did manage to catch the nice rainbow trout pictured below not that long ago. I wasn't sure, but @solv3nt told me it was a rainbow trout.

View attachment 1436348

If that's a rainbow trout, I'm a leftist dhimmicrat...

 

[DunRanull]

Hi guys, I haven't been fishing in close to a decade and am looking to get back into it. I'd like to start off just going for trout and I'm wondering what everyone uses for their setup. I will mostly be fishing streams and lakes from the bank about equally, and have pretty much settled on a size 20 or 25 spinning reel, and a light power rod, but I am torn on what length. I am looking at rods between 5'6 and 7' but can't settle on a size, because I am trying to decide between ease of use (using around trees etc.) and casting distance. For those of you who fish from the bank, what length rod do you prefer?

Works wonders at the fishin hole when taped to a rock and pitched... Alas, the years of my misspent youth- one could still buy these legally back then...

 

[Jcremer24]

Are you married to gear/spinner rod? I love fly fishing. I run a Sage Sonic 590-4 with a lamson guru reel. 5 wt. I have used this rod for most freshwater streams and rivers in both WA and TX. My record day was 18 rainbows on the Guadalupe in Texas. Very successful. Ive seen the same success on the skykomish river, green river, and definitely the yak. Its more about your flies that day (and your cast) but I am happy with the rod too.

 

[drstrangelove]

Kayak trolling black wooly bugger behind a small gold dodger. Pure money. Roostertails and panther martins work great for casting. Dropshot 3" power worms is also very effective. While I don't fish bait much, nightcrawlers work very well injected with air and tipped with a marshmallow on a sliding sinker setup for bottom plunking. If bottom too weedy, the crawler with 1 split shot under a clear bobber works great as a suspended finesse bait rig.