by Marc Phillippe Babineau

Created on: July 18, 2008   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

What good is bait, if you do not know how to properly use it, which bait to use in which situations, and how to set up a line so that the bait entices the rainbow trout to strike at it. Once the bait is set, skill and a lifetime of learning take over, as landing the rainbow trout is as hard as making it take the bait Then the campfire grill is the next destination for fish and fisherman alike! The best bait to catch rainbow trout is, inevitably, what the rainbow trout eat in the wild, and what they eat in specific to the area in which you are fishing. Rainbow trout love jumping during the hours of sunset and sunrise to catch flies buzzing over top of the water, and that is why fly fishermen are prevalent at sunrise and sunset when looking for rainbow trout.

Rainbow trout will also feed savagely on real night crawler and red worms, as long as they are presented to the trout in a realistic, natural way; the worm must appear to be swimming in the water, preferably in a weakened or injured nature. Trout are a smarter species of fish than most sport fish, and will not bite at just anything that you present to them, like perch, sunfish and rock bass. You can have a worm, all bunched-up on a treble hook sitting right in front of a rainbow trout's eyes, and they will not take the bait, so to speak.

Rainbow trout require a different approach depending upon the time of year, water conditions (including clarity, whether it is a lake, river or creek, the bottom being composed of rock, mud or hard packed sand), the amount of vegetation in the water, the current, just past and oncoming weather conditions (including cloud cover, direct sunlight, heavy or light rain, extreme winds, etc.), and the topography of the water body. An older rainbow trout will be a bit more choosey than a younger, hungrier rainbow trout with regards to what bait may attack or eat.

Aggravating a trout into attacking your bait is one definite approach that works well, as long as the trout is defending the place where the eggs have been spawned, or where it has been eating for the past few days, building up strength for the next leg of it's journey. Running your lure across where the fish is staying put should eventually lead to an aggressive territorial attack on your bait. Patience is a virtue in rainbow trout fishing. Small mouse lures (usually presented as dry flies which skirt the surface of the water) will aggrevate large rainbow's into aggressive strikes when they are hungry, orprotecting their

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