EARLY SEASON BROWN TROUT BASICS
With the nice weather lately we are getting lots of questions lately regarding early season Brown Trout fishing.
We'll try to keep this brief & informative.
Browns in general after fall spawning will spend nearly all winter in close to shore, as well they will come & go from local harbours, marinas , creeks and rivers looking for food. They don't winter way deep offshore like Chinook and some other species.
A couple things though. As the water temp warms into the high 30s and into the 40s more of them will congregate together and fishing will get even better. Stained green water is what you want to look for.
From the boat, trolling in 8-15 FOW is usually the zone. Planer boards with monofilament line pulling shallow stick baits is best. Good ones are Challengers, Berkley Hit sticks, Reef Runners, Live Target Smelt, Rapala's ( floating, jointed and scatter Raps) Rebels, Smithwick, Storm Thundersticks, & Bay Rats.
Early in the season smaller baits are better to match the shiners and gobies they are feeding on.
Trolling small light spoons works good too.
Small divers, 1 color of lead core or just a couple split shot will work to get them down just enough in the shallow water.
Small Michigan Stingers, Dreamweaver Super Slims, Mini Salmon Candy, Evil Eyes, Williams are good choices.
For the shore anglers, casting spoons from shore will catch them too.
In a nutshell this should help you get more browns in the coming weeks.
If you want to learn more, you should come out to the next Strait Line Anglers Club meeting on Tuesday March 5. Mark will be expanding on this into more detail. All are welcome! 7pm at the Grimsby Legion