fall tactics for trout

Was wondering what are some of your favorite tactics for fall trout? Do spinners and cranks still produce in fall as well as they did earlier in the year? Do the fish relate to specific structure (deep pools, riffles, ) more than they do in the spring and summer? I have heard that they migrate upstream to spawn in the fall, does this shut down fishing or enhance it? Alot of questions from someone who fishes them hard in the spring but hardly ever in the fall.

I was out yesterday for the evening fish on the upper north branch of the white water…Nothing on spinners……nothing on Raps…caught a few on leafhoppers ..but no gang busters…i did catch a few suckers…so I went to cut bait just to see…???..Just Went nuts with trout….Seems they want a more substancil meal…anyway…caught more trout in the last hour than most catch all day….

Birdman,

Fall can not only be a great time to be on the water, minus the bugs, with the itch weed and burning nettles losing their “punch”, it’s a great
trout bite too!

Yes they are putting on the feed bag, gearing up for the Fall Trout “how do you do”! You can find Fall trout in all of your summer spots. However,
they are more prevelant outside of the typical, meaning look for shallow rock/rubble lined stretches. Preferrably, in smaller tributaries or branches least trodden!

If you know of a good trout stream, look for smaller feeder creeks or shallow stretches adjacent to good flow and deeper water!
The trout will “do their thing” up shallow, while returning to feed in near by deeper waters! No real secret here, right?

Generally, the spawn doesn’t occur until the colder air of October settles in! Hence, the end of Trout Season Sept 30.

If you value your fishery, please return large fish this time of year, especially this time of year!

Now back to the question. I focus in with large minnow style baits, preferrably the Original floating rapapla up to the # 11’s. I will work the same holes, runs etc., but will key in on heads of pools in and near fast water.

LOw light periods or cloudied waters will enhance the catch ratio! If you want to catch a big fish, head out just for the last hour of light! Don’t bother wasting your time getting up in the early AM or fishing all day. Pick your
pleasure, then sneak along until it’s too dark to cast accurately! The sow browners will really turn onat this time of day in the next couple of weeks! Gin clear/low waters make it a tad tough, but if you have put
your time in during the season, researching good spots you WILL be rewarded!!

I hope this helps!!!!

Keep the rods bendin’!!!

Jim W

Jim and Swany, thanks for the replies. After reading them I decided to try fishing right before dark tonight. Started about two hours before dark and threw Super Bows and Rapalas for about an hour with no luck. As I approached the catch and release section of the stream I was fishing things started picking up. Ended up with 5 trout ranging in size from 14 to 18 inches. Four browns and one rainbow. All fish were caught in the slow moving water of the deep pools. Tried fishing the rapids that fed the pools with no success. All fish came on a number 9 rap. (I caught the first fish on it and never took it off.) All fish were released but I did notice that their not nearly as fat as they were this spring. Is this normal? I thought maybe they’ve been eating to many bugs and not enough meat(minnows).

Fishing has been fantastic lately on all branches of the Root and small entering streams. Rapalas,Rapalas and Rapalas , 9’s and 11’s , especially blue/white. One pool generously offered me 9 trout on 9 casts(10-15 in). !! The best part about this time of year is you will have most of the water to yourself. I found evenings good but dont overlook the first light of day either Good Luck!!

Yup,it’s all true!I agree wholeheartedly with Jim W.and Hybes.I would only up Hybes advise on Rapalas by including sizes 3,5 and 7 and my own preference is the the gold and black pattern.Also,the brown trout pattern can be very effective right now.It seems trout can be quite the cannibals.I fished wednesday morning on a stream that was still borderline from all the rain we had last week.I did manage to catch 8 browns,8 to 16 inches and had several nice fish,hit and miss.Those big ones seem to educate quickly.The trout are becoming very colorful right now before their spawn too.All in all,it’s the best time of year to wade a trout stream.Mike

I finished up “my” season like my last post…Cut bait…I know some of you might not like this technic….but I fish to catch fish…and the bigger the better…I kept no fish the last 2 weeks but caught an enormus amout of trout …cut bait by far took the largest fish….now I will go to the raps with the larger #’s …and n trout patterns as they do cannibleize….this time of year…..

swany, cut bait is a very effective way to fish for trout. I used to use chub strips all the time and did catch alot of nice fish on them. I guess I just don’t have the patience to wait for a bite when I could be casting. The only thing I didn’t like about it was if you wanted to release them you had to make sure you set the hook before they swallowed it to far.

I’ve been out a few times this past week too. Most of my fish have come from the bigger and deeper holes. It almost seems that they are schooling by the numbers in these deeper holes.

Yes cut bait is very effective this time of year….using light line (4#) and circle hooks minimize deep hook ups..If they do get it deep, just cut the line as close to the mouth as possible..I caught one just before the end of catch and keep with 4 in of fire line and a circle hook still in its mouth ..one hell of a fight !!!
They Were all in the deeper steches of pools with a good rapids feeding in…Wonder if they are telling us of a ..hell of a winter coming in as it seemed pretty early for them to be in there “winter” holes?