DougMD

Went to a place last week where they stocked trout a few days before, and two guys were leaving after catching 9inabout two hours. 5 minutes into fishing,my 6 year old son tried casting and tripped over a rock into the pond, so we had to leave before he got hypothermia.

I went to anotherlake today that was stocked two days ago.We get there, and two guys are leaving who got their limit. One gave me afew pink salmon eggs and told me where to setup. I did and got one pretty quick (my first ever freshwater trout). However,we didn't get a single bite after that for two hours plus, though we had three rods in the water with differentbaits.A guy near us caught about 4 in that time with similar bait, but said this was the first day they started to bite, as they were"stressed" from being released and sometimes take a few days to acclimate.

Question: Is it best for trout like it is for other fish, morning and near evening? If so, I'm going at the wrong time. Also, it appears it's not so good to go right after they've been released, due to stress, which is something I didn't know about before.

JoshKeller

honestly, i've never had much luck trout fishing on lakes. They tend to just swim aimlessly and are pretty hard to figure out when they are hatchery fish. Stream trout are much more consistant to catch, and you can look at the stream and guestimate pretty accureately where they will be. The current also helps in aiding a natural presentation

troutslayer

Try fishing them closer to shore and near the bottom, also with trout i find them alot more weary in lakes, so try and go with mono line and i go with 4lb test. Yes they do like the moring and evening more just as other fish. Some lakes if they are more on the murky side they like live bait cause the live bait will actually give off small electrical signals and vibrations in the water that the fish pick up on which help them locate the food. And yes fishing them right after being stocked is never a good idea. I wouldnt go back for another week then they will be more then settled in. For stocked trout my favorite baits are corn, worms, wax worms, cheese, and powerbait during open water(find it doesnt work as good in winter) also instead of using just plain bait hooks i like to put small jigs or just colored jig heads with the bait on them, find it helps attract them alot more then just the bait itself. I also like to put a weight on then have the bait stationary but if that doest get you anything, take the weight off and put a bobber on then toss it out and let it slowly float back to shore, may help you locate where they are and helps with the natural presentation. Good luck the next time you head and congrats on your first trout.

Phil from Maine

I am sorry to here about your Luck Doug,

Trout can be strange to fish for sometimes.. like troutslayer stated early in the morning and just before dark as a rule. Stocked trout are different though as they need a few days to get used to the water and to start feeding again. I can remember when I took my children to a trout tourney just for kids. They had a big net set out in the lake. It was just a half circle with the outside edge just far enough to make casting difficult to reach the side of it. They let the trout go that morning and the trout swam back and forth the edge of it. Some trout were caught by using a bobber and letting the bait set 2 feet below it. Some were caught by letting the bait set on the bottom. Others were caught by a lure called the super duper, it was a small lure that was casted out and retrieved rather quickly. This lure worked out better on the trout in this case. These were trout just released that morning into the net. They opened the net after the durby was finnished that afternoon.
Trout that has had a chance to settle in normally will find structers like old logs on the bottom or floating from the bank to hang around. Also areas where the pound or lake gets deep rather quickly. When using bait I normally only fish them with worms or peaces of night crawlers unless the lake has some pretty big trout in it and if the law allows me to use live bait. Here some lakes do not allow live bait on them. Even when they have been released trout tend to find those structers mentioned above to hang around. If you can locate a few of these your luck should increase somewhat.. I also forgot to mention that a small spinner in front of the hook will help to draw thier attention at times. Congrats on your first trout..!!!

Good luck to you..Phil

hillbillyhunter1

How long have you been fishin with the boys Doug??

I'v got a 7 month old and he's going to be an ace fisherman (if the old man has anything to do with it)

Fishing for stocked trout in a lake doesn't sound like something that's gonna hold youngsters attention for a long time. It's very fickle fishing. Plus you gotta consider, for every fish that's caught by someone else...that's one less fish in the lake...as stocked trout fisherman rarely practice catch and release.

I'd say the best bet for catching them is going to be your standard night crawler and patience (if there is enough)

You might even consider using split shot then blowing the worm up slightly with a hypedermic needle (getting them to hover just OFF the bottom)

cloudy/overcast days willprobablybe best

If I was you I'd go find some bluegill or other panfish (if possible) then take the boys to fish for WILD trout when they're technically proficient enough.

best of luck..have fun

Jimmy S

I agree that stocked trout need a day or two to settle.
Trout are natural bottom feeders. They will rise to take flies, etc but will tend to stay close to the bottom.
Unlike bass and other warm water fish,trout require cold temps because of their need for oxygen. The colder the water, the more oxygen.

If you plan to fish from shore, here'sa fewsuggestions that have worked well.
You can use worms, salmon eggs, power bait, ect but when you cast out,put just enough weight to reach where you want go.
I use small split-shots sinkers with #8 or #10 Eagle Claw snelled hooks.
Too much weight may cause a resistance when the trout takes the bait.

After you cast out real in just enough slack so you havea slightbow in the line. When the fish takes your bait, you will see the line straighten.
Finally, and maybe most important, move the bait every few minutes. Simply real in just a few feet. This will help attract attention to your bait.

Good Luck!!

buckmaster

I have to disagree about trout needing time to settle. Where i fish, Your not catching nothing, they come dumped the fish in.... 15 minutes later BAM... your in business. Not always, but mostly.

Phil from Maine

What kind of trout are they stocking for you to fish Doug? That should of been the first question askedI guess.. As up here we fish mostly brookies, and not rainbows or much in the line of browns either. Letting us know may give us all a better understanding to try and help you out.

DougMD

OK, here's the deal. Went out today to the same place and caught 3, lost one at the shoreline. We used powerbait that looks like salmon eggs, 1 per hook. Got three on white, one hit on pink.

I tried a little slack, but we could mostly tell bites from the rod tip, as it was a little windy and we didn't pick up on the string going out.

The kids loved it! Made me take them home and clean them. They are NOT brown trout, and range from about 12 inches to 16 or so.

Thanks for all the advice. I guess it was just patience needed and another day for them to settle in after being stressed. I hear if released from net, they are stressed. If dumped in via tube, no stress and bite right away...

Phil from Maine

You are welcome, I think alot of the released trout will bite better if the water temps are favorable for them. Here they use the tube, buckets, nets, and airplane when stocking fish. Each lake can be different as they want to scatter them out across them if they can. While some of the areas are hard to access doesn't leave them much choice if there is a need to stock it. Most salmon and laketrout they have alot bigger operations when stocking them. Here most brookies they will stock in the fall and the put a few more in during the spring. Most of the lakes they stock in the fall are closed when they stock them so none will be getting caught until spring. This makes them a little harder to fish for but they still will bite..