How to Catch Trout - An Introduction

More and more people each year are coming to the water looking for tips and advice on how to catch trout. Some anglers will gladly share their trout fishing tips and secrets - and others will guard them closely. Worse yet, ask ten anglers a question, and you're likely to get ten different answers.

While there are some common techniques in trout fishing, there are a lot of differences too. Some people use spinning rods and reels while others use fly rods. Some anglers prefer to fish in lakes and others fish in rivers, streams, and creeks. Some anglers fish for wild trout, and others are perfectly happy to fish for hatchery trout.

Then there are the differences in trout species. Some trout anglers primarily fish for steelhead, speckled, or lake trout as opposed to rainbow, brown or brook trout. Geography has a lot to do with being able to fish for certain types of trout.

There are many factors that affect the answer to, "how to catch trout". The type of rod you use (fly or spinning), where you fish (lake or river), time of year you fish (spring, summer, fall or winter), what species of trout you're fishing for (steelhead, speckled, rainbow, etc.) .... all determine how you will go about catching trout.

There are other factors involved as well. But if you seriously want to catch trout, then you must consider these variables and then use the fishing technique that offers success for your water and weather conditions and the species of trout you're fishing for.

While anybody can have random luck in catching trout - few can catch trout consistently again and again. And the reason great anglers catch trout more often than not, is because they've taken the time to learn the science behind trout fishing.

Understanding the science part of trout fishing will help you catch more trout because, you'll know:

• When to fish for trout (time of day, season, etc.)
  
• Where to fish for trout (you'll know where to find their hiding places)
  
• What kind of bait, lure or artificial fly works best in different weather and water condition

Trout behave differently in stillwater (lakes) and moving water (rivers, streams, and creeks). And they behave differently in different water conditions (warm water versus cold water, colored water versus clear water, etc.)

Taking notes and paying attention to variables like outdoor weather (sun, clouds, rain, snow, wind), water temperature, water clarity (colored, clear, muddy, etc.) and whether or not trout are striking your offering (bait, lure, fly, etc.) will help you start putting the pieces of the puzzle together. You'll start to learn the science of trout fishing through your own experimentation.

But here are a few things to help you jump start your knowledge on the science part:

• Spring and Fall are the best time of year to fish for trout (water temperature is a big factor behind this)
• Trout are primarily concerned with safety, so if they don't feel safe (because there aren't any good hiding places or the water is clear and shallow), they won't feed
• Trout are very sensitive to their water temperature. If it's too warm, they become uncomfortable and can die. If it's too cold they become very lethargic. In both conditions, trout won't feed

As you'd expect, there are some gray areas with the variables above. While trout become very lethargic in very cold water, there are times you can entice them into striking your lure if you present it correctly giving the current conditions.

These things and more are discussed in greater detail in the "Trout Fishing Tips" eBook. But for now, these are some of the variables you'll want to start paying attention to.

Tomorrow, I'll share some more information that will show you how to catch trout.