Never Caught a Trout Before...

[Vitreus]

But I noticed a small lake up in northern MN, near my ritual walleye opener area. This lake is about 40 acres, oval shaped, with a 10 ft bay area on one end, and the main lake is a steep bowl that drops down to 50 feet in the middle. I only have spinning tackle... All I really know about trout is that I've heard they are finicky. Can you even catch them in early May? Not even sure if the season is open at that time... I'll be posting this and heading over to the DNR HSOforum. I'd appreciate any feedback.

[Vitreus]

Forgot to mention: the lake has brown trout, rainbow trout, and splake.

[TroutYammer]

1. Check the DNR web sight (or regulations book) Lake Finder web sight to determine if this is a designated trout lake. Just becasue there are trout in the lake does not automatically mean that it is a deignated trout lake. If it a designated trout lake read up on the special rules for fishing designated trout lakes.

2. Spinning rods are fine. In fact I catch almost all of my trou using ultralite 4lb test or my walleye rods (8lb test) with spin cast real.

3. Trout season for inland waters usually opens the same weekend as walleyes and northern...but chek the regulations for the species you are chasing.

4. Best times of year for most lakes is late May to Mid June for Rainbows.

5. Fishing with air injected nite crawlers floating up from the botton, floating power bait or cast small lures from shore are all effective methods.

Hope this helps

[finn-land]

does this lakes name start with a "b" and end with a "e"? i would try just a plain hook and a crawler with no weight about 3-6 feet below a bobber and let it float around,in by shore,out towards the middle, try to find some that want to eat. blown crawler off bottom also works. can also cast small spinners with a half crawler or little raps depending on how agressive they are. if it's the lake i'm thinking of it is designated.

[Vitreus]

Finn-land, you got me. Have you fished it before? The crawler presentation sounds easy enough... You mentioned a bobber with a hook 3-6 ft down. Would that actually work over deep water? Do they suspend up that high?

[EBass]

Yup - good ole bobber and worm. Like sunny fishin. Powerbait has worked before. I haven't tried salmon eggs though.

[Vitreus]

Cool. Sounds easy enough... So would you place your bet on the fishing being in shallow in the spring?

[finn-land]

i have not fished it, fished all the lakes around it. think that i'm going to hit it this weekend though. i know people that ice fish it and do well, have not heard any reports for open water though. have caught some nice fish next to shore in 3-4 feet of water, and the do suspend over deep. nice part about fishing with a bobber is if there is any wind use to your advantage, you can cover alot of water letting it drift around. the points on either side of the lake look interesting, deep water on one side and alittle more shallow on the other. don't over look the inlet creek either.

[Vitreus]

Thanks for the advice. If you end up hitting it this weekend, you should let me know how it goes.