That day I slipped a tiny piece of pork rind on the tail end of a No. 10 Royal Coachman, I thought I had found the magic key to big rainbow trout fishing.
Up to that time even my “last ditch” tricks failed to raise life in the big riffle. Wets, dries, nymphs, streamers, worms, grasshoppers and spinners went begging. Then I spotted the small bottle of fly rod pork rind that had been in my creel so long the top was rusted.
In a “straw grasping” impulse, I stuck a tiny piece on the Coachman and shot the fly into the same water that had frustrated me. It lazed along about 15 feet and then disappeared in a boil of water that doubled my blood pressure.
Those rainbow trout grabbed that fly like a long lost meal, and out of some two dozen hooked and carefully released, I took home three that nearly filled my creel. But my joy zoomed beyond the day’s catch. I had solved the mystery of how to make rainbow trout hit when they ain’t!
Since that time I have tried the pork rind-Coachman combination many times with an amazing lack of success. It was not a magic key but just “one of those days.”
However, I had stumbled across the key to the fatal fascination all trout have for anglers. One of “those days” is the answer. The thrill of hitting a new pattern, an odd variation, or a method that changes a barren day into a memorable one. Each trout fisherman has his tricks; some generously tell their fishing tips to you, others hide theirs from the world. Yet, they may work but once in a lifetime.
For instance, two top-notch fly fishermen were standing about 50 feet apart, dropping flies on their favorite rainbow trout hole with little success. Different patterns were tried but only small trout were being taken.
Suddenly, the short angler took off his hat to wipe his brow and happened to notice a ragged, spent-wing fly he had tied years ago before he became an expert at handling tying tools. It was a sorry looking mess, but he tried it.
When he false cast the fly, he noticed it whirled and twisted his leader. Disgustedly, he let it fall onto the stream. The tightly twisted leader started untwisting, and the fly rolled over and over. Boom — one trout after another succumbed to its charms.
His friend frantically tried twisting wings on his flies but couldn’t get the right twist. They dashed home, tied up a batch like the old clunkier, and next day beat a path back to the good hole. You have already guessed what happened — the trout weren’t having any twisting flies today, thank you. Afterwards, they worked these flies overtime, but produced only occasionally.
And, fly fishermen aren’t the only “curious folk” after the elusive rainbow. I used to pass an old codger who fished the same hole day after day. Yielding him priority, I would climb out of the stream above him and stop for a word or two.
After we had become sittin’ and spittin’ acquaintances, he showed me his brand of magic. “Soft craws,” he said; “are the deadliest trout bait there is, but you got to keep them warm.”
“How’s that?” I asked. “They stay soft if they’re warm,” he explained, “and that’s how the big trout like ‘em. And, there’s only one good way to keep ‘em warm and soft, like this!”
Suddenly bobbing his head down, he doffed his soiled tweed cap and there in the folds were about two dozen small crawfish. One look at his bald noggin and I knew this trick wasn’t for me. Laugh at the old guy if you will, he nearly always had trout –and big ones.
The preceding experiences are a composite picture of all trout fishermen, be they dry fly purists or worm dunkers. They fish for “those days” and the barren ones in between make them worth fishing for.
Names
Steelhead, Salmon, Trout, Pacific Trout, Coaster, California Trout, Hardhead, Steelhead Salmon.
Characteristics
The lavender-pink bands adorning the sides of the rainbow trout from gills to tail are its most distinctive characteristic. The intensity of the color varies with the season and waters frequented, however. The back is olive green, sides silvery green beneath the pinkish band, with small dark spots on the sides, tail and dorsal fin.
When in the steelhead stage, that is, when a rainbow is migrating from a stream into a large lake or the ocean, the markings fade away and the body takes on a light, steel blue sheen, with faint dark spots. However, upon returning to fresh water the old, characteristic markings return.
The average size will vary from 1 to 4 pounds, depending on locality.
Range
The rainbow trout has the widest range of all the trouts. It possesses the migrating instinct to the greatest degree and can survive in warmer waters than the other trouts.
Originally found only on the Pacific slope, it has been successfully transplanted in nearly all of the United States except the southern parts of those bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Also, it can be found in Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Habitat
The rainbow trout prefers swift flowing waters, not too small in size; and the fast stretches that break against undercut banks are best for consistent results. Pockets behind large boulders are excellent also.
Foods
A wide variety of insects in the larval and mature stages, worms, minnows, salmon eggs, crustaceans and crawfish.
Artificial Lures
All types of flies, wets, dry, streamers, bucktails, feathered minnows, and also spoons, spinner-fly combinations and small plugs will produce.
Methods and Tackle
Fly fishing is the most enjoyable method and the weight of the rod will depend on the average size of the rainbow being taken. In smaller streams where the fish run from 1 to 3 pounds, the 8-foot rods are ideal.
The weight should be around 4 ounces with an E level or HDH taper line. Leaders must be varied, depending on the water, the clearer it is the longer and lighter leader you must use.
Try every fly in your kit, mix up the patterns, give them a variety and usually one or two will do the trick. For those who use live bait, worms, minnows and small crawfish are best, with grasshoppers and crickets excellent in season.
For heavier fish and bigger water, fly rods in the 5 & 1/2 to 6 & 1/2-ounce class are needed, 9 to 9 & 1/2 feet in length. Lines should be C or D level, and tapered lines of HCH or GBG diameters. Leaders are based on the average size of the fish being taken.
In those midwestern streams where migrating rainbow trout, or steelhead, are found, many of these can be taken trolling with a casting rod and a fast-wiggling plug. In the far west, heavy bait rods with long butt sections and large capacity reels can be used, together with bags of salmon eggs and small plugs or spinners.
The best way to arrive at the proper tackle is to take along both your casting and fly fishing outfits, then ask the locals what to use in leaders and lures for the particular time of year you arrive.
Biological Tidbits
Rainbow trout may spawn from early winter to the beginning of summer, depending on climate, elevation and genetic strain of the trout.
They migrate upstream to spawn and the female may spend as long as two days fanning a pit in the gravel. At the time of spawning, the female, with a male on either side, hovers over the nest. They flatten their fins, open their mouths, and the current presses them into the excavation. The eggs and milt stick to the stones on the bottom, and the female moves upstream to churn up gravel until the eggs are covered with some 6 inches of bottom material. Females mature at 3 years and may contain from 800 to 9,000 eggs, depending on size.
Rainbow trout are hardy fish and may be transplanted with above average success. Best water temperatures vary from 38 degrees F. in winter to 70 degrees F. in summer.
Remember This
A big rainbow trout gets that way because it is smarter than the fishermen who have been trying to outsmart it. One of the most common errors is to let the fish know you are around by wading on the same side of the stream you are fishing.
Wading kicks up small pieces of dirt, sticks, sand, etc., which wash by the trout, and having seen this same thing take place so many times, the trout knows that a man will come along next so he gets out of the way.
Instinctively the trout becomes wary the instant it sees the debris washing by its hangout and won’t feed.
So, keep your presence a secret from the trout. Softly wade the shallow side of the stream, scooting your feet along. Drop your lure in those fast, deep runs and the only thing the trout knows is that suddenly it sees something to eat and he goes for it.
And remember, the reason there are hundreds of different lures on the market is because each of them produced fish at one time. A lure that is hot this year may be frigid the next, so keep trying everything you can think of and you’ll not only be amazed at what things you’ll think of, but also at the startling results they sometimes bring.
That’s the stuff rainbow trout fishing is made of — “those things” on “those days.”