Hot Lures For Cold Water Trout!

Which ones are your best trout catching machines?

Every angler has their favorite fish catching lures to put down below the waters surface! With major tackle manufactures coming out with new colors, louder rattles and swim baits that look like the real deal, which lures do you need to make your next cold water trout fishing trip a success? Every angler including myself has that one or two lures he reaches for first from his repertoire. Usually it’s the lure that has produced in the past, or that lure he read about from magazines or books. Most fishermen will buy these lures and fish them with some success. I believe lures need to be tested often and frequently to find out just how good they are! You need to fish them and truly get the feel of every wiggle and wobble that lure has to offer. You need to fish them for more than just one species of trout to find out just how versatile they really are.

So what lures shall we buy and which lures should we avoid? Fishing lures that are made of inferior materials which are durable in cold water circumstances are your best bet! When the water is really cold, cheep lures made of low quality materials will be prone to defects such as cracked bills after bumping the river bottom a frequently. Their hooks are of low quality metals that can and will break off without difficulty. These lures do not look realistic and reek of fakeness to an old wise trout. So they should be avoided and omitted from your selection. Lures made by trusted tackle manufactures need to be added to your list. Lure makers like Rapala, Blue Fox, Panther Martin, Mepps, and many other tackle companies which make high quality materials and work very well under all weather conditions and water temperatures.

Winter fishing can be fun and productive if you have the right tackle. I open my back pack and pull out a tackle tray loaded with Rapala’s. I usually go with a Rapala right off the hop. I like color patterns that resemble the local prey in my river. I know browns eat other browns and they also eat rainbow fry. I select a brown trout Rapala and use it for a half an hour before I switch it out for a new offering. This first half an hour is a test to see what the fish want and how they want it presented. Slow with a twitch, medium speed with a long pause or just cranking it fast back into shore. The Rapala’s I like to fish in cold water conditions are the X-Rap the Husky Jerk and the Original Floater. You can fish these Rapala’s slow which is optimal for cold water trout fishing. The Jointed Rapala is also a sure fire bet for that monster river trout!

The Blue Fox product lineup has great hard baits and spinners for those hungry trout. The Minnow Spinner is a sure fire hookup with fish of all species. I use the minnow spinner in the fall when the water levels are low. I can fish the minnow spinner in shallow water conditions and still hook those monsters presenting a minnow imitation! I also use them in the winter and into the spring season. I have many of these lures in my personal tackle store under lock and key in my basement. These lures are heavily guarded by several snipers ready to fire at will. They work that good!

If I get no action with a crank bait minnow imitation I then choose a spinner. I like the Panther Martin sonic spinners for trout. They have been proven for me to work very well for all species of trout from Browns to finicky Cut Throat trout in high mountain lakes and streams. There are a few ways I fish the Panther Martin spinners. The first way I fish them is the bottom bouncing method. When the water is cold and the fish are sluggish, I cast directly upriver and let the spinner hit the bottom. Once I feel the spinner bouncing off the bottom I lift the rod tip up high and reel according to the speed of the current. The lure skips off the bottom and then back up into the river as I raise the tip higher and increase the retrieve speed. This method works well and looks natural to your prey. The other way I use the spinner is to just cast the spinner upstream and let it flutter to the bottom. Once it hits the bottom I pick it up and reel in slowly letting it hit the bottom once or twice on the way back in. This is sure to get those bruisers stirred up and on the end of the line!

The lures listed are a few choices from my personal fishing arsenal. Buy a few of these pieces and give them a try on your next cold water fishing trip. Success is just a cast away!