Trout Lures (What I Use)
I've been on this sub for a couple months now and there are a lot of posts about what lures works best for trout. It seems like there is one or two a week. I thought I would share what works best for me, kind of a crash course for a novice. Sorry for the long read if you aren't interested. I pretty much have only fished Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, but I have fished a ton of water in those states for 25 years. Major rivers to tiny creeks and everything in between. The Panther Martin is by far the best lure to catch trout in this region. The Countdown Rapala is awesome on the Green River below Flaming Gorge, but I haven't had much luck with them anywhere else except some lakes and sometimes right below Gray Reef in Wyoming. Thomas Cyclones or Buoyants have done me well on the Bighorn River near Thermopolis, but once again, haven't had much luck anywhere else. I just flat out don't have success with Mepps or Rooster Tails. I've also tried casting bubbles with flies but have not tried it much or had much luck. For PM's, I almost always use gold, either all gold or gold blade and black body. The rainbow trout color has become my second go to lure. Silver is good most of the time too. I've had good luck with a #9 orange blade and yellow body on the Miracle Mile, but no where else really. The (what I call) brown trout color (brown with black and red spots) would be my second choice on small mountain streams and creeks. I always thought it was brown trout color until I went on their website and learned it is actually their brook trout color. As far as sizes, if I'm fishing medium to large rivers, I'm almost always fishing #9's. If I start catching vegetation I will go down to #6's. Small to medium streams and creeks I'm using #6's and #4's, depending on the depth. #2's are hard to fish for me, they just aren't accurate at hitting a hole unless it is dead calm and you have no cover behind you where you are casting. If anything I will drift a #2 in a tiny creek and entice some bites. I almost always fish PM's casting angled upstream. A high majority of the fish I catch are on the swing. Big rivers or fast water, it is pretty hard to cast downstream unless you can find some slack water. Small creeks you can have good success casting downstream. I hope this helps a lot of people. I am a trout fishing nut when it comes to fishing in beautiful country or beautiful water. I don't have much desire to catch stockers out of a pond. I just recently got two fly rods from my dad so I'll be giving those a go more often in the future, but my heart is with the Panther Martin. I added a pic of what I use. I'm running a little low on a few, mainly #6 gold. I just keep that box in my backpack while fishing so they are easily accessible. I had to add a couple of fish pics too since most everyone loves fish pics. Both are my personal bests, a 25" rainbow last year in Wyoming and a 19" brown this year in Utah. Just this year I introduced my two oldest boys to river fishing for trout. I've tried to keep them away from it while the rivers are high but this year everything was safe enough in my mind for them to fish. In their first year doing it they've already bested me for personal best brown trout, each catching a 20 incher. They are hooked for life now!