2008 Ohio Trout Lottery

It's that time of year again for anglers to send in their application for the 2008 Ohio Trout Lottery. This lottery is hosted by the Department of Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife and gives anglers an opportunity to fish a controlled section of Ohio's Cold Creek - A half-mile section of the creek, located at the Castalia State Fish Hatchery in Erie County.

However this angling opportunity is limited to a certain number of anglers and selected dates between March 31 and October 31st in 2008. Lucky anglers will be chosen through a special lottery.

Anglers interested in fishing the stream must submit an application form and a non-refundable $5 application fee to the Division of Wildlife, 2054 Morse Rd, G-1, Columbus, Ohio 43229-6693 between December 1, 2007 and January 31, 2008 in order to be eligible for the random drawing. The online application fee is $3.

For more information about the 2008 Ohio Trout Lottery, click here.

Speckled Trout Fishing in Mississippi Improving

Fall has always been one of the best times of the year for trout fishing. And Thanksgiving weekend brought a cold front across much of the country - which caused trout fishing action heat up even more!

Speckled trout fishing in Southern Mississippi continues to improve thanks to this recent cold front. Below is the fishing report recently published in the Sun Herald.

As water temperatures plunged below 70 degrees, speckled trout and redfish are searching for bait from Moss Point to Bay St. Louis with the majority of the action taking place around deep drop-offs and bends in the rivers.

The only holdback has been dealing with the effects of rainfall - before Thanksgiving and after. In some places, the smaller bodies of water will be murky.

When this happens, look for cleaner water in the main rivers and bays that cycle muddy water out quicker with low and high tides.

With that in mind, places like the old Kremer Marina in Gulfport and Biloxi's Big Lake should be good.

In Hancock County, fishing remains solid off the Jourdan River near I-10 and back south toward the Bay of St. Louis for trout. In Harrison County, Bernard Bayou, Parker's Creek and the Industrial Seaway should have trout.

The Pascagoula River, Mary Walker Bayou, Sioux Bayou and the Singing River have been solid all the way from the interstate south to Northrop Grumman.

Other top spots in Jackson County are Fort Bayou - just east of the bridge on Washington Avenue - and the mouth of Graveline Bayou.

Two of the top baits for Graveline are live croakers and small minnows suspended underneath a popping cork.

Live shrimp should be available at bait shops through the end of the year. Small pogies and finger-size mullet are plentiful in the bays and rivers for those anglers using brill nets.

Slow-trolling using plastic jigs and slow-sinking lures will become more productive in December.

To read the entire fishing report which also covers redfish fishing, click here.

For more speckled trout fishing tips, click here.

Heritage Pond Stocked with Trout

Heritage Pond on the north side of Dubuque was scheduled for stocking yesterday. It's the first of three stockings scheduled. More than 1,500 catchable size rainbow trout were planted in the first stocking.

These stockings are part of an initiative by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to provide trout fishing opportunities through the Thanksgiving holiday.

More stockings are planned for January and March.

For more information about trout fishing in Iowa, click here.

Fall Trout Fishing in Arizona

Fall trout fishing continues to be excellent in Arizona. I've been taking my nephews, their friends, and others out fishing at Lynx Lake a lot this season. My youngest nephew is 5 now and old enough to really enjoy trout fishing on his little Jack Sparrow fishing pole.

Since Fall is one of the best times of the year to be out trout fishing, now is a good time to take the kids out for a day of fishing! It's a lot easier to keep kids focused on trout fishing when they're catching trout.

Here are some photos from some of this year's Fall trout fishing excursions.

Fall Trout Fishing 2007

Trout Fishing Opens on Madison County Lake Next Friday

Madison County Lake (near Huntsville, Alabama) will open for trout fishing the day after Thanksgiving.

Anglers ages 16-64 must have a valid Alabama fishing license and a daily lake permit - both of which can be purchased at the lake store. Bait and rental equipment also are available at the lake store. The lake is open on weekends until Feb. 1 from daylight to dark.

Stockings will be a bit different different this year. The lake will get its usual 3,000 pounds of trout from a Georgia hatchery, but this year there will be several smaller stockings instead of three large ones. This should give anglers more opportunities to catch trout over the whole season.

For more information about trout fishing on Madison County Lake, click here.

Trout Fishing Tip #2 - Watch Where Trout are Rising

It may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people will sit there watching trout rise or jump out of the water for insects and never move try and cast their line into that spot.

Figuring out where trout are hanging out is half the battle. But once you do figure it out, you can improve your chances of catching them by casting your line into that spot. Trout are lazy fish - they don't want to work hard for a meal. So if you present your offering to them, you have a better chance of getting them to take it.

But watching trout rise (or jump) is important for another reason. In addition to telling you where trout are - it also tells you that they're feeding near the surface of the water. And if you're lake fishing - this information is especially important!

Lakes are usually deep and so there are different feeding zones. As the day progresses, trout may change feeding zones. When you see them rising (or jumping), you know they're actively feeding near the water's surface - so you'll want to keep your bait near or close to the surface of the water (in other words, you don't want to be bottom fishing deep in the lake when trout aren't there).

Watching trout rise is another of those telltale signs that gives you a couple of bits of information which can in turn help you choose the right fishing technique.

Trout Fishing Tip #1 - Watch the Birds!

One of the biggest keys to successful trout fishing is being observant. There are usually telltale signs around you that will give you an advantage of how and where to catch trout.

Watching the birds is one of these telltale signs. Birds have an uncanny ability to spot trout in the water from the air! If you pay attention to the section of water they're flying over and where they're swooping down to grab fish, you'll know where the trout are!

And if you know where the trout are hanging out, you'll have a better chance of catching them!

You'll notice in the image above, that this Osprey has a trout in his claws. I took this picture a few weeks ago at my while I was fishing at Lynx Lake. I watched as he swooped down and grabbed the trout from the lake. By being observant, I was able to stay in touch with where the trout were hanging out in the lake that day and make sure our kids took home their bag limit.

Watching the birds (as well as the rest of your environment) is important when trout fishing. Being observant of these little telltale signs will make you a better trout angler!

Brook Trout Fishing Secrets

Brook trout are fall spawners so many trout anglers consider this to be the best time to catch them. And since brook trout need cool, clean streams in order to spawn, you can often find them in making their way into tributaries this time of year.

Like other trout species, brook trout like to hang out near boulders, logs and other structures that provide cover and security. They feed on worms, grasshoppers, and other insects.

When fishing in lakes, try trolling near shore with worms or spinners tipped with worms. Salmon eggs, Wooly Buggers, and dark colored nymphs are also effective. Corn is also effective on hatchery brook trout.

Artificial flies are also work well when fishing for brook trout – especially dry flies, streamers and nymphs that imitate natural food sources.

Keep in mind that of all the trout species, brook trout are usually pretty small and if fishing in streams or small rivers, you’ll need to use light tackle (2-4 lb test). In lakes, you can usually get away with using 4-6 lb test line.

Although most brook trout are pretty small, there have been some amazing trophy-size brookies caught. In 2006, an angler in Manitoba caught a 29 inch brookie. Although this catch would have most likely given him the world record, he released it after snapping a few photographs - thereby eliminating his chance of a world record. However, in 2007, the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame awarded this angler a catch and release record.

Struggling to Catch Trout - Try Trout Attractant!

Often times when I'm trout fishing my favorite lake, I'll spend the day reeling trout after trout while others around struggle to hook one. We may even be using the techniques (shore fishing with powerbait on a sinker) ... yet I'll catch trout, and they won't.

Sound familiar? Here's one of my trout tips for you ...

What these folks often don't know is that I'm also using trout attractant - which can sometime mean the difference between a good day at the lake and a bad one.

Like it or not, we have a human smell. And this human smell is often transferred to your line and bait as you handle them. If you're a smoker, it can be even worse. One of the ways to fix this problem is to put a dab of trout attractant on your leader and bait.

You can buy the stuff in any sporting goods store (even in Wal-mart). Attractant is specially designed for different types of fish (trout, bass, game fish, etc.). You'll either want the trout formula or the one for live game fish.

Although you can "spray" this stuff on your bait, I like to remove the cap and use the tube attached to the lid to wipe attractant on my leader and bait (sometimes, I'll even dip my bait into the bottle).

Trout attractant gives your offering a bit of edge over other angler's. If you're struggling to catch trout, you might want to pick up a bottle and give it a try!

Fall Trout Fishing Fun!

In the past two weeks, I've made several trips to Lynx Lake in Prescott, Arizona to enjoy the fall trout fishing action. I've been teaching my nephews and their friends how to trout fish ... so we've taken full advantage of their days off school.

As usual, we've managed to walk away with our daily bag limit on each fishing trip. But in addition to sharing our boy's excitement when they reel in their catch, one of the more interesting things to me is watching others around us get skunked.

It doesn't take long before they start moving in closer to us (thinking we've found a secret trout hole), and eventually they start asking our secret - of which I'm always happy to share (especially when there's kids involved).

Anybody can bait a hook and throw it into a lake and wait for trout to swim by. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. But the good anglers are always paying attention to the little things .... such as outdoor temperatures (especially water temps), where trout are rising, and other things.

These are the things that separate intermediate trout fishers from advanced ones. If you want to be a successful trout fisher, you need to understand these things and adjust your fishing tactics accordingly. And the longer your fishing day, the more changes you may have to make.

Fall is one of the best times of the year to be out trout fishing. Water temperatures are cool, and so trout are usually actively feeding near the surface. Pay attention to where they're rising (or jumping). That will tell you where they're feeding - and if you look closely, you may even see what they're feeding on!

Trout are lazy fish - they don't want to work hard for a meal. So if you can get your baited hook to them (rather than wait for them to swim by and find it), you'll have a greater chance of catching trout.

For more trout secrets and tips, check out the "Trout Fishing Tips" eBook. Take advantage of the fall trout season while you can!

Trout Stockings Delayed in New Jersey

Dry weather and low stream flows have resulted in another postponement for trout stockings in New Jersey. As a result, the 16 lakes originally scheduled for fall trout stocking have been rescheduled for October 31st and November 1st.

A total of 20,000 brook, brown, and rainbow trout averaging 14 to 16 inches, and weighing 1½ - 2 pounds, will be distributed in 16 streams and 16 lakes and ponds statewide. In addition to these trout, approximately 1,000 broodstock trout (two and three-year old rainbow trout, averaging 17 - 18 inches) will be planted as well.

The older broodstock trout noticeably larger. This is the second year that broodstock trout will be planted in the Fall in an effort to give anglers the opportunity to catch a big one!

For more information about the trout stockings in New Jersey, click here.

Only a Few More Days Left of Fishing at Lake Pardee

On October 28th, Lake Pardee the 2007 fishing season will come to a close! This means you have less than one week left to enjoy the fall trout fishing at Lake Pardee!

After that you'll have to wait for the 2008 fishing season, which will begin on February 2, 2008.

Fore more information about fishing at Lake Pardee, click here.

Winter Trout Season Opens November 1st in Oklahoma

The Winter Trout Fishing Season will open on November 1st in Oklahoma! This means that you'll be able to fish for rainbow trout in the following areas:

• Lake Pawhuska - This 96-acre lake is about three miles west of Pawhuska. Trout season runs Nov. 1-March 31. During that time, the City of Pawhuska waives the City fishing fee.Quartz Mountain - The designated trout area directly below the dam at Lake Altus-Lugert. Trout season runs Nov. 1-March 15.

• Lake Watonga - This 55-acre lake lies within Roman Nose State Park. Trout season runs Nov. 1-March 31.

• Lake Carl Etling - This 159 acre lake is located within Black Mesa State Park in Cimarron County. Trout season runs Nov. 1-April 30.

• Blue River - The Blue River trout area is located within the Blue River Public Fishing and Hunting Area near Tishomingo. Trout season runs Nov. 1-March 31. Bank access and wade fishing is available throughout the area.
  

• Robbers Cave - Located in Robbers Cave State Park, the Robbers Cave trout fishery is located directly below Carlton Lake Dam to the southboundary of the park. Trout season runs Nov. 1-March 15. Bank access and wade fishing is available anywhere within the state park boundaries.

In addition to these areas, you can also catch trout year-round at the lower Mountain Fork River and the lower Illinois River.

For more information about trout fishing in Oklahoma, click here.

Fall Trout Fishing in Utah

If you're looking to take advantage of the Fall Trout Fishing season, there's plenty of good trout action in Utah right now ...

Trout in Utah's northern streams are hitting streamers, small nymphs and Rapalas. Some of the better fall streams include the Green, Provo, Weber, Ogden, Blacksmith, Strawberry, Currant Creek, Huntington Creek, Diamond Fork and the Price River.

Fall lake trout fishing is peaking right now at Flaming Gorge and Bear Lake.

Strawberry remains hot, with fish hitting most jigs or lures all around the reservoir. Scofield, Jordanelle and many other waters are also very good.

You can view Utah's Division of Wildlife and Resources' fishing hot spots online.

For more information about fall trout fishing in Utah, click here.

Top Fly Fishing Mistakes

This morning, I read an interesting article listing the top mistakes fly fishers make. The article was written by John Berry - Arkansas Fly Fishing Guide.

According to Berry, the most common mistakes he sees are:

• Casting too much line - which results in casting beyond trout feeding zones, not being able to detect strikes or set the hook.

• Lack of Line Control - which results in too much slack or drag in the line. If there's too much slack in the line, you can't set the hook (and can therefore lose fish). And if there's too much drag in the line, your fly won't look natural, and fish will be turned off.
  

• Improper Rigging - which often in poor or unnatural fly presentation. One of the most common mistakes here is working with too short a leader/tippet.

• Not Checking Your Fly Often Enough - which can result in a couple of different problems. When you're new to fly casting, it's easy to lose your fly while casting. It's a good idea to check that this isn't happening to you. Another common problem is allowing weeds and other debris to stick to your fly (which makes it look unnatural).
  

Most of the errors described above are seen with new fly fishers. But many trout anglers tend to get a bit lazy about checking the fine details of their gear or technique and may also experience some of these problems as result.

Keeping these mistakes in the back of your mind while out fishing, will help prevent you from making the same ones.

You can read John's full article on the top fly fishing mistakes, by clicking here.

Free Fly Casting Lessons in the UK

Looking for something to do with the kids over Fall Break? If you happen to live near the Albury Park Fishery (near Guildford, Surrey) you might want to consider taking advantage of the free fly-casting lessons.

October 22-26th, the Albury Estate Fisheries will be offering free 30-minute fly casting lessons followed by a trip to the lake to catch a trout. While the casting lessons are free, there is an £8.00 fee for the fish ticket.

Fishing equipment will be provided, but you're welcome to bring your own. You'll also want to bring polarised sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a linen handkerchief.

Although this event is mostly aimed at teaching kids how to fly cast, it's open to all ages.

For more information or to book a lesson, contact Tony Hern at Albury Estate Fisheries on 07976 810737 or Email: tonyhern@alburyestate.com

Trout Fishin' Fun!

I spent most of last week taking my nephews and other friends trout fishing. The kids were on Fall break from school, so we spent most of the week on the lake.

Fishing with kids is always a lot of fun for me (despite all the tangled lines). I love watching their joy and excitement as they're reeling in fish. And I'm always happy to to take time to capture the memories on film!

I've been working to teach our boys the secrets of trout fishing - and so it's always exciting for me when they call it a day after catching their bag limit. They go home proud, knowing they're becoming skillful young anglers.

Despite the great week we had on the lake, we watched other anglers around us struggle. Although some of these anglers were fishing right next to us, they just couldn't seem to catch trout.

Several frustrated anglers came over to ask what our secret was. Each time, I was happy to show them how our poles were set up and offer some bait and fishing tips. As I explained to others, the real trick to trout fishing is understanding trout - what their needs are and how their environment affects them.

While all of these secrets are shared in my "Trout Fishing Tips" eBook, I did my best to condense the information into a few verbal tips.

Of course, I did my best to help other kids on the lake too by re-rigging poles and offering them some of our bait. And it was exciting to watch to watch those efforts pay off as they too started catching trout.

Our boys enjoyed their Fall break trout fishing adventures. Each day became a competition to see who could catch the most trout.

My oldest nephew (pictured on right above) usually caught the most trout - but my youngest nephew (also pictured above in the middle) usually caught the largest trout! His biggest for the week was an 11.5 inch rainbow trout on his little Jack Sparrow fishing pole!

My nephew's best friend (pictured above on left) caught his first fish ever that particular day (not to mention several more). He was so excited that we told him to take the all the trout home and tell his family he was providing dinner that night!

The whole week was like this! We caught our bag limit every outing - and captured many new memories on film.

Fall is one of the best times to be out trout fishing due to cooler water temperatures. And since trout are easier to catch this time of year, it's a great time to get the kids out fishing. Enjoy it while you can!

How To Catch Your Limit While Trout Fishing Lakes

Lynx Lake is one of the nicest fishing lakes in Prescott, Arizona. I spent much of yesterday fishing there with family and friends ... and despite the water levels being very low (lowest I've seen in 30 years), we were still able to catch our limit of rainbow trout.

And of course, as we continued to reel in trout after trout, folks continued to ask us to share our secret - which we were happy to do. But few realized that as the weather changed, so did our fishing tactics - which is what allowed us to keep catching trout when others weren't.

We started off the morning fishing spinners - which worked well. The water was cool and the trout were feeding on the surface. So spinner were very effective.

But by about 10 am, the sun was starting to get a bit warm. As we took our off jackets, we knew water temperatures were rising and trout were no longer feeding on the surface of the water. So we put away the spinners and rigged the poles for bottom fishing.

My favorite bottom fishing rig consists of adding an egg sinker above a snap swivel, and then adding an 18-20 inch leader with a treble hook to the swivel. I like to use the 1/2 oz. egg sinkers because it gives me greater casting distance. We were also using 6-lb test line.

There were three of us fishing yesterday, and some of us used nightcrawlers and some of us used powerbait (all colors). Another thing we did was to add a bit of trout attractant to the leader and bait (many anglers don't think to do this).

Bottom fishing worked very in the late morning and early afternoon hours. And because we were able to recognize when trout changed their feeding zone, we were able to keep catching fish (when others weren't).

These are the kind of secrets that I've revealed in the "Trout Fishing Tips" eBook. Learning to recognize changing weather and feeding patterns is one of the biggest secrets of trout fishing.

Not only did we catch our trout limit yesterday, but we had a fun watching the bald eagles catch their trout too. And I was even fortunate enough to catch some great photos of the eagles. You can check out some of our pictures below.

Good Fishing Day

Extended Trout Fishing in Eastern Sierra Nevada

No need to put away your fishing gear come November 15th! The trout fishing season has just been extended for three prime trout fisheries in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

So come November 16th, you can keep fishing in the East Walker River, Hot Creek, and the Upper Owens River ... and you can keep fishing until November 15th, 2008!

The change was made for two reasons. First, it was determined that closing these waters didn't help the fishery any. And second, it was determined that by keeping them open all year, might help relieve some of the fishing pressure in other regions while providing greater angling opportunities.

This year is a test, to see how things go. So enjoy it while you can!

There are special fishing regulations in effect for these trout waters, including the use of barbless hooks and artificial lures. So be sure to check the rules and regs before going fishing.

Trout Fishing Being Restored at Lake Davis

Most anglers know you're not supposed to release non-native fish into the water. Why? Because it usually ends up destroying the existing fishery. Sure enough, that's what happened Northern California's Lake Davis.

For a while now Northern Pike have been destroying the trout fishing at Lake Davis. Pike are believed to have been introduced into the water back in 1994 by anglers used to fishing for them in the Midwest and Great Lakes. But the problem is that pike are voracious predators and they've been eating the trout - thereby destroying the trout population and fishing.

This past week, California's Department of Fish and Game dumped gallons of rotenone (which is harmless to humans and other animals) into the lake to remove the pike. The goal is to restore Lake Davis to a prime trout fishery.

The whole process will take about 45 days. Lake Davis will be restocked when it's free of any of the rotenone - which is anticipated to occur before the reservoir freezes over.

The majority of the stocking will occur in Spring 2008 rainbow and brown trout.

However, the fear right now is that some pike may escape into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, thereby threatening the salmon and steelhead populations in California's river system.

For more information about Lake Davis and the current problem, click here.