Summer Rainbows?

[yoppdk]

We have several small lakes stocked with rainbows. In spring we fish from shore with floating jigheads and crawlers. Now there are too many weeds for this, plus I wonder if the fish go deep in warmer weather ...

Does anybody have advice for tactics for fishing rainbows in lakes during summer months? Lakes are pretty much walk-down access only, so we're limited to canoes or shore fishing.

Once heard that a wooly bugger trolled on a fly rod, tipped with a crawler works. Though I'm not sure if this is a summer tactic, since it implies the fish are still near the surface.

Do rainbows go deep when it gets warm? Do they ever come to the surface?

Any advice is appreciated ... thanks in advance.

[Renneberg]

Yes rainbows go deep in the summer and yes they come to the surface in the summer. With a good depth finder you should have no problem finding rainbows over deep water. Jig and twister or jig and worm should catch you a trout or two. Twister colors should be a natural color black, brown, olive, tan, and even white. Twister size should be no bigger then 3 inches, with 2 inches being best for rainbows. For trout under 20 inches I'd fish with a jig no bigger then 1/8. 1/16 is the best size jig. Rainbows have small mouths for the body size so small jigs tend to work best for them.
Rainbows tend to only come to the surface in the evening, at night, early morning and on cloudy days. Try to be as quite as you can when they are at the surface. They are easily spooked. They come to the surface to feed on bugs. Trolling a woolly bugger or a small jig is a great way to catch them.

[Renneberg]

Yes rainbows go deep in the summer and yes they come to the surface in the summer. With a good depth finder you should have no problem finding rainbows over deep water. Jig and twister or jig and worm should catch you a trout or two. Twister colors should be a natural color black, brown, olive, tan, and even white. Twister size should be no bigger then 3 inches, with 2 inches being best for rainbows. For trout under 20 inches I'd fish with a jig no bigger then 1/8. 1/16 is the best size jig. Rainbows have small mouths for the body size so small jigs tend to work best for them.
Rainbows tend to only come to the surface in the evening, at night, early morning and on cloudy days. Try to be as quite as you can when they are at the surface. They are easily spooked. They come to the surface to feed on bugs. Trolling a woolly bugger or a small jig is a great way to catch them.

[Jim W]

yoddk,

More often than not, stocked trout in smal lakes or old gravel or mining pits tend to
get into a pattern of circling!

If you can imagine, let's say the Polar Bear at Como Zoo! They have been put into an unatural setting. SO they sometimes(not always) will repeat a cycle over and over again.

There is a gravel pit in my kneck of the woods where most of the stocked trout will
repeat a path around the lake/pond. Usually it is fairly shallow and staggered!

Peering down my hole while ice fishing, I would notice small schools cruise by real shallow! If I had my presentation down, BAM, fish on!!

So finding one school or troop of trout, will really help in locating there demise!

OUt West, I fished a trout lake and witnessed a hatch. The water was boiling with rising trout. This however was a natural setting, tough to say or compare to a stocked pellet fed bow/brown or brookie.

This is one take and not the only. Spending time, will reveal many methods for successfully targeting stocked lake/gravel mine pits for trout!

Please let us know how you did, OK!!

I have noticed a lot of people who come, get their info and never report back!!! WHat good is that????????

Jim W

[Guest]

I fish at Courthouse in Chaska about once a week and have really noticed the "circling" fish. It seems like they are just doing laps looking for food. We will get action for a bit, then it stops, picks up, stops, you get the picture. The trouble I am having is which style/size hook to use. I have tried VMC/Rapala octopus and circle hooks, small staight shank hooks, tiny fly hooks. Is aberdeen the way to go? I don't want to go too small and risk gut hooking the fish.

[Speckled]

Jim W. I find your comments very interesting, because at times I have thought the same thing, but never really believed the fish are actually just swimming in one big circle around the shoreline. I'm still not sure I believe it, but it's an interesting theory.

[yoppdk]

Thanks for the replies.

If I understand this circling theory correctly, it almost pays to find a spot in their "glide path" and wait for the trout to come by ... right? I suppose if I were to troll around, say with a canoe, I might find myself in a pattern opposite to the fish and miss them completely.

[Jim W]

Well, believe it or not but it happens.
ANother place out West, I spoke with a local that was shore fishing above a place called Tosten or Toften dam?
He mentioned the the same occurence there as well.

I guess since no reproduction will occur in most cases, why not focus in on swimming and eating?

If ice fishing or floating I would recommend setting up on a gradual slope. SO you can key in on several depths locating their path!

Here is another thing to consider! Most stalked trout are(not all) are stream trout. How many stream trout sit still? In that case how many fish sit still? Especially while in feed mode?

ANy way, it's one way to focus in on them and like I mentioned earlier and in most cases, not the only!!

PS> This might be stretching your imagination, but I have found them to swim counter clockwise in their feed path as well!!!

Isn't fishing a hoot!!!!!!?

Keep the rods bendin'!!!!

Jim W

[Renneberg]

James I use panfish size lures in the summer and winter for trout. If you can't hook them with panfish lures then they must be really small trout.

Jiw W. is right people. A little thank you for your time would be nice too.

Jim W. I read about how you are thinking of heading to Ely in October. I lived in Ely for two years and I know of some great trout lakes in that area. All of them have no motor limit and most of them have camping right on the lake. The trout fishing at that time of the year is unreal. Its so good infact my parents now make a yearly trip up there that time of the year and all they fish for are trout. When its really good they go every weekend and fish for trout. They come back with enofe trout to fill a ten gallon cooler everytime. That may sound like a limit of trout but, its only about half a limit of trout. What makes it even better is that we are often the only ones fishing the lake. If your interested let me know and I'll e-mail you more.

Oh, I almost forgot. Try Birch Lake for walleyes. Its south of Ely on Hwy 1. No motor limit, camping on the lake and great walleye fishing.