Please help - best trout spinning lure

stevoman

well folks. could use some advice please. Firstly i cant fly fish and im looking for some extra sport in my trout fishing.

I usually fish for trout in the midlands locally in the rivers and have been fishing this year mostly with worm and minnow getting more success from the worms.

the problom is i keep digging my uncles garden for worms and i cant keep doing iot the whole time or he will be living in a building site.

i also fish with minnow but find it slightly annoying having to keep replacing them on the hook and reknotting etc.

so what im asking is artificul lures and spoons any good for fishing for trout and if so what are the best ones?

any help would be appreciated.

thank you very much!

coolwings

While you will catch trout on minnows, worms, spoons, spinners and hardware.
Never forget that trout eat thousands of flies and sub-aquatic insects for every one minnow or worm they eat.

What I'm saying is this, if you want better trout fishing results with more trout caught, learn to fly fish starting now. It will improve your catch more than any fancy spinner can ever do, even though you will catch some fish on those, and even though you can already spin or bait fish.
Even though you have to learn fly casting, doing this will still cause a greater increase in trout catches than new baits will.

Basic Rules of Successful Angling
Fish where the fish are.
When they are feeding
Imitate the food they eat most frequently
Don't be seen by the fish you fish for
Have adequate tackle to present, hook and play the fish.

coolwings

If you do want to stick with hardware .... make it as small as you can.
The tiniest spinners, like size 0 Mepps, or 2g Droppen will produce trout.

stevoman

thanks coolwings, methinks i may habve to start biting the bullet and learning to fly fish. how much will a good setup cost me?

stevoman

coolwings wrote: »

If you do want to stick with hardware .... make it as small as you can.
The tiniest spinners, like size 0 Mepps, or 2g Droppen will produce trout.

will these work late evenings or am i at nothing with shiny hardware like that at around sunset?

pullandbang

stevoman wrote: »

will these work late evenings or am i at nothing with shiny hardware like that at around sunset?

I think you'll find that once the river trout start feeding on flies, they are reluctant to chase spinners. In the summer evenings when they are feeding on sedge I'd be surprised if they even look at anything else.

There is also a lot more satisfaction in fly fishing, especially the dry fly so my advice is - start learning to cast a fly.

Once you have the rod and line, practise in the garden, local park, football pitch etc. Tie a small piece of wool to the end of the line instead of a hook.

coolwings

This is just a suggested tackling up policy ....
Try darker colour during daylinght, copper, black, maybe gold in coloured water.
Try silver at dawn or dusk.

When May arrives, the minnows will go to gravel stickles to spawn. At that time larger trout will switch from feeding on freshwater shrimp and olives over to minnows. Big trout don't make many mistakes but if one is going to make one and take a spinner, an evening while the minnows are shoaled and spawning is a suitable time to meet one and hook up.

Don't worry about darkness, their night vision is incredible. I regularly catch on flies imitating 3mm insects in pitch darkness. But in dark you must present high in the water, against the sky.

coolwings

stevoman wrote: »

... how much will a good setup cost me?

Now I'm taking the word "good" literally here ....

Great fly rods cost up to €600 and a few people can appreciate the difference, but the average fly caster will hit their ability limit before hitting the rod's limits, if they use rods in the €150 cost range.
To cut costs rods in the €80 - 130 area will save approx €50 to get up and running, but will probably be upgraded a year or two later.

The reel should be lightweight, with a smooth brake clutch, the rod rated #5 - #6, rod length for river fishing from 9 1/2 to 10' , or for lake fishing 10' to 11'.

1st line a floating ST6 suitable for both river and lake.
Later on (sooner if fishing stillwaters much) 2nd line is an intermediate ST6 (great on rainbow lakes) or a wet cel 11 fast sink (general deep fishing)
For backing behind the short lines I recommended, buy one level #2 floater line

Don't bother buying spare reels or spare spools, it takes only one. My float tube web page twin fly rod system explains how to swop a flyline in under 2 minutes.

A spool of 3lbs, 4lbs and 6lbs mono (not fluoro while learning to cast!) line like eg Maxima makes up the leaders.

About 30 flies and nymphs in sizes 12 to 16, floatant, a "sinkant", small unhooking forceps completes the kit.

gversey

I second the 0 Mepps...or black fury.

stevenmu

+1 on the black fury, can be a great trout spinner. Also, not sure if they'd work on a river, but on a lake perch coloured rappala plugs can be great too.

+1 on the fly fishing as well. I've just taken it up this year, and I've been having great fun. Previously most of my fishing would have been trolling spinners and lures from a boat but I was out late in the season last year watching huge numbers of trout rising to flies in front of the boat and not a single bite on the spinners and plugs (it was spectacular to watch though, almost like those videos you see of dolphins jumping in front of a boat ). I'd always had it in the back of my head to try fly fishing and this made me take the leap and I haven't looked back.

sickofcats

Yes the mepps etc size 0 and even 1 are great this time or year, but you have to remember Trout are recovering / reconditioning themselves after spawning and will grab basically anything that moves ( Have you noticed that as the months progress the less you catch on spinners? and more are caught on trotted bait like worms or maggots) Even towards the back end of the season they will start taking spinners again, building up weight prior to spawning.


On your other point of a " Good Fly Fishing setup " errrr I think a basic set up would be far more suited to your needs, small rod, small reel , basic floating line to get started.. I did notice that a " Place where I usually shop is selling the lease and does and on line business also", I have to head that direction anyway tomorrow and can pop in and see whats available, I can see a Greys series looks like Rod Reel / spare spools and Line for
E 99... I,m sure there are other set ups available cheaper than that , Grey's isnt the type of rod ya want to go breakin in half if your line or fly's get stuck in tree's or a bush. ( Dont want to post a link in case its against site terms ).

Meh if you do go down this road Its brownies then rainbows / stockie bashin then Salmon and that damn curse..... Night Fishing for White / Sea trout..... try un hooking a Bat at night , now thats fun.................





P.S. Dendrobena's those red yokes with the yellow rings are everywhere without digging, I know folks swear by blackheads / lug worms .. But for time and effort free digging these work like a gem Even Salmon are prone to taking them.... Lump of carpet in garden for a few days or any old stuff lying around they are guaranteed to be under it.

Compton

i use size 2 silver mepps, this is my favourite lure, i also put a small shot above it, the 0 and 1 sizes just cant hold the current properly where i fish.

Tinytony

OP, as a way to move towards fly fishing without the cost and practice required you could use your spinning rob with a bubble and flies tied off either above or below it.

I know some people don't like this method of fishing but it is popular in my area and is a good way to get to learn about the different type of flies. You probably won't catch very big fish this way but it can be good sport without the effort of "proper" fly fishing.

Daroxtar

size 1 gold mepps with red spots or silver with blue spots are my favourite but i mostly fly fish and you do catch more on the fly, but if i'm having a bad day or conditions aren't favouring the fly then i often catch on the mepps

Tinytony

I tried out the flying C for the first time yesterday. Only used it for 20 mins before heading home, but in that time I got two handy sized trout (both approx 9" - returned). I was fishing a very slow sluggish stretch of the river that I wouldn't normally fish. Was surprised at how successful it was.

The only thing was that one was of the trout managed to get the entire treble hook inside his mouth which was quiet an achivement. It was a bit of an ordeal to get it out and not sure if the trout was in the best shape after it, but he seemed to swim away ok so hopefully he was alright.

stevoman

update lads -

i purchased size 0 mepps in bronze and also silver with yellow and black dots.

caught on very small trout on the bronze spinner and a 2 pound pike on the silver spinner.

i also took other members advice and i have got myself kitted out for fly fishing. i have purchased an 11 foot daiwa fly rod and also a shakespeare reel and line so im good to go. hopefully i might get to start this weekend. i'l keep you updated!

zacmorris

fair play, where were you fishing?
Caught a small trout on the fly yesterday on the Barrow, up at the st.mullins weir.

stevoman wrote: »

update lads -

i purchased size 0 mepps in bronze and also silver with yellow and black dots.

caught on very small trout on the bronze spinner and a 2 pound pike on the silver spinner.

i also took other members advice and i have got myself kitted out for fly fishing. i have purchased an 11 foot daiwa fly rod and also a shakespeare reel and line so im good to go. hopefully i might get to start this weekend. i'l keep you updated!

pullandbang

stevoman wrote: »

i have purchased an 11 foot daiwa fly rod and also a shakespeare reel and line so im good to go. hopefully i might get to start this weekend.

That's a fair lump of a rod. Are you going river fishing or out on a boat on a lake? 11' is grand for a boat but can be a bit long for a river.

Anyway, best of luck - hope the wind dies down and the rain stops!

stevoman

zacmorris wrote: »

fair play, where were you fishing?
Caught a small trout on the fly yesterday on the Barrow, up at the st.mullins weir.

I fish the barrow at the laois / offally border. have been getting good foishing. all very small trout but still great sport!

stevoman

pullandbang wrote: »

That's a fair lump of a rod. Are you going river fishing or out on a boat on a lake? 11' is grand for a boat but can be a bit long for a river.

Anyway, best of luck - hope the wind dies down and the rain stops!

Its for fishing on the local lake. i was advised by most to get a 11 foot for that particular lake as its a big lake. its a great lake to learn on as i cant get tangled in anything. i hope as soon as i have a reasonable level of skill to buy myself a nice 9 foot for the river.

stevoman

well i caught my first trout on the fly last night, im delighted. i caught it on a morraugh ( i think thats the spelling) and i have to say it was a great feeling. he was 2 pounds. i cant beleive that they put up so much of a fight compared to using my course rod. Its a great acheivment for my second nigt and has given me a real boost.

thanks to all lads in the angling forum who gave me the advice to start fly fishing!

coolwings

Congrats! You have another very effective technique in your arsenal now.
Polish the skills off during the remaining easy days before the summer hits full heat, and you will be well able for fly fishing at night when it's cool and the fish are taking.

mrttattoo

get urself some rapala cdc 3s cdc 5s and tiny spinners with feathers on the hook shank