Trout and turkeys

I have been a reader/follower for a while and this is my first post. So hi.
I am going Turkey hunting in southeastern MN this spring. The guy is go with is a local of the area (I live in northern MN) and told me to bring my trout gear this year. That sounds awesome to spend the midday chasing trout.
The problem in lies that I have not caught a trout out of a stream before. Now I could ask my buddy and I probably will but if I can show up looking like I know what I am doing and possibly out fish him in the process. That would be GREAT!!! So what should I bring for a rod/reel set up, what kind of tackle should I bring, and what am I looking for in a presentation. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to IDO Derreck!

Pretty much panfish gear. Most of the fish you’ll get I’m assuming are not 18″+ fish. I like a light action 6′ rod with 8lb mono or fluro on a 1500 size reel. Depending on how fancy you want to get – you can catch all the trout you want with a bag of small split shots, a size 10-14 hook and a box of nightcrawlers. From there the sky is the limit, but if you just want to catch fish….that’s a tried and true way.

Size #1 Rapala Countdowns, Small Panther Martins, and also proven fish catchers

Ben

I use a 5′ ultra light for fishing streams with 4 or lb test mono. I like to use suspending small rapalas, that way I stays in the strike zone when I stop it in a pool. Panther Martins or small mepps spinners produce as well.

Use light fluro leader after some 6-8 lb main line with the above techniques. It can be a great time.

Catch some nice Browns with a couple small splitshot 18″ above a simple small hook and night crawler injected with air for floatation

5 1/2 – 6 ft ul with a spinning reel loaded with 6lb. Mono should do the trick. Tie on a 1/8 oz. rooster tail in either black with silver blade( bright days ) or dark green with gold blade ( overcast days ) this setup will catch you a ton of fish on most any SE Minnesota trout stream. Good luck on both the trout fishing and the turkey hunting. SE Minnesota is where I first learned to turkey hunt. It’s a beautiful area down there. The turkey hunting and trout fishing combo is as good as life gets !!!

Stream fishing is very wide description. Size and flow speed can make for entirely different fishing. See if you can get water condition description out of him.

Cant go wrong with a slender spoon!

You should talk to the resident “trout guru” LenH. I’m sure if you send him a pm he will be more than happy to give you the info.

Ben Brettingen wrote:

Welcome to IDO Derreck!

Pretty much panfish Depending on how fancy you want to get – you can catch all the trout you want with a bag of small split shots, a size 10-14 hook and a box of nightcrawlers. From there the sky is the limit, but if you just want to catch fish….that’s a tried and true way.

Size #1 Rapala Countdowns, Small Panther Martins, and also proven fish catchers

Ben

Ignore that meat flinging, hardware hocking heathen/visogoth Brettingen for starters.

Style counts in trout fishing. It’s not what you catch, any fool can fling a slab of meat and catch a dumb one. It’s how you do it that matters.

#4 fly rod. 9 footer. Selecion of nymphs, scuds, and wets from 12 to 18.

Catch trout. With style.

Grouse

I’ll second fishtrumpers thoughts. That black #2 roostertail is deadly on trout. 6# test line on a ultralight rod. Cast 1/4 to the stream and retrieve just fast enough to keep the blades on that roostertail spinning. Good luck and report how you did please. And welcome to this site.

Derreck Moen wrote:

Now I could ask my buddy and I probably will but if I can show up looking like I know what I am doing and possibly out fish him in the process. That would be GREAT!!!

If you do it would be luck either way, whether it’s guys online telling ya what to do or your buddy. I’d flatter your buddy by asking and soaking in all he has to know.

Panther Martins and Blue Foxes are my choice for artificial lures in streams.

Pretty much everything posted here can be effective on stream trout. I personally like to go big when fishing the local SE MN streams. I toss #9 floating Rapalas with great success. Last year I tried the Shadow Raps and they have turned into a favorite.

I also make my own spinners for trout fishing. I make a Panther Martin style and a traditional French blade spinner similar to a Mepps. One thing you will find is that just like all other fisherman, trout fisherman all claim to know the color that works. Based on feedback from people who use my spinners the most popular colors are black, white, green, yellow, firetiger, rainbow trout…you get the point. Of course, my go to confidence color is a yellow body with a gold blade.

As for gear, I would bump it up just a hair from pan fish gear. I suggest keeping it at or under a 6 ft rod. I like the Limit Creek Medium-light 5’10” fast spinning rod for walking trout streams. Like I mentioned, I like bigger baits, so an ultra-light is no good for me. Most fish will be under 18″, but trout fight hard and the current can be swift. Get a 20+ on the line and an ultra-light or light can be undersized. I use power pro for line, except when I fish with jigs…then its mono (yes, I use walleye sized jigs and plastic for trout).

Thanks for the all the input. Its all great. It sounds like I have most of the gear I need. As for the fly rod that will have to pass until I get into this a little more. Right now I am not opposed to chunking a hunk of meat in the water for a trout. One thing that I did not mention in my original post is that I will have my 10 year old son with me. Getting him success is the most import aspect of any of this. So by the sounds of it a crawler and split shot it will be for him. Do you use a whole crawler? That sounds a little big to me. I will be throwing a spinner or crank based on your input.

You can buy small crawlers at most bait shops in the trout stream areas. Full grown Canadian crawlers are a bit large. Best trout bait I ever used is the large white grubs that you find in rotted wood. You can’t always find them but it is well worth it when you do.

Bait usually always works well but is problematic if one wants to catch & release as the trout swallow bait most of the time.

I’m not after the trout that are under 18. So I use a 6’6 med lite mojo with 10 lb power pro. No worries landing bigs and you still feel a fight on the accidental smaller browns that are caught…Just noticed that your son will be with. In that case pan fish gear with crawlers and a split shot should get you some action.

We have discussed tackle, so let’s talk tactics if you haven’t done a lot of stream trout fishing. The 2 biggest key tips that I can pass onto you is to stay in touch with the bottom and keep your presentation moving. Way back in my memory banks I can remember my introduction to stream fishing for trout and the frustration of losing gear on the bottom. Discovering the right weight for the depth and flow rate will be a learning curve that you will have to go through. Start on the light side and go either bigger or heavier until you are skipping the bottom with the current. Always keep your reel in retrieve mode. The momentary stops is what makes for a lot of snags and lost gear. If it is hooks and a egg or crawler, that is one thing but $4.00 spinners is definitely another. Regarding your son, the day could easily be spent tending to him and re-tying gear so expect it and don’t sweat it.

Ask the guy if he is an avid fly fisherman. If so he probably will frown on spinning gear. Just ask if that’s ok. Some guys would really be offended if you showed up to their invite with spinning gear and they only fly fished. Also make sure what you can legally use on the water in question.

Good points. I am well versed in keeping the youngster fishing through all the broken lines and tangles. Since getting him out on the water at such a young age I would say I am advancing up the ranks to professional line untangler guy. I would put myself at semipro category currently. I embraced that part of my life long ago. If catches fish and I am tying hooks all day it was a success.

As for the person I will be going with I know he is not a fly fisherman. He may even keep one from time to time for dinner. So not really the purist. I will be checking regs. however.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Style counts in trout fishing. It’s not what you catch, any fool can fling a slab of meat and catch a dumb one. It’s how you do it that matters.

Ouch! If the only thing that counted in fishing was style…I’m a lot worse than I thought.

The golden rule of fly fishing – The higher up you point your nose up the better you become!