Do Trouts Hit Jigs?

[FishingFool]

like the same jigs used for bass and stuff?

[HillbillyGeek]

like the same jigs used for bass and stuff?

Bass jigs are usually fat and heavy. I don't think trout feed on crayfish, so they probably would not be interested in bass jigs. Smaller jigs definitely catch trout. They love marabou jigs. You can either cast & retrieve or fish them under a float. Dink floats work best in rivers. The angle helps determine whether the jig is dragging the bottom, being pushed up by the current, or riding just right.
I've also caught trout on small curly tail grubs that were threaded onto jig heads.

[FishingFool]

like the same jigs used for bass and stuff?

Bass jigs are usually fat and heavy. I don't think trout feed on crayfish, so they probably would not be interested in bass jigs. Smaller jigs definitely catch trout. They love marabou jigs. You can either cast & retrieve or fish them under a float. Dink floats work best in rivers. The angle helps determine whether the jig is dragging the bottom, being pushed up by the current, or riding just right.
I've also caught trout on small curly tail grubs that were threaded onto jig heads.

how small is small? I got some powerbait 3" grub curl tails.

[A9]

Those might work FishingFool. Bass jigs are much too big for standard usage for trout fishing, but smaller jigs will produce fish...

[gpc]

Trout will hit jigs. Trout will also take crayfish as well. HillbillyGeek, a lot of trout dont hit craws, mostly because trout rarely get big enough to think of them as a meal. But in a lake with big trout and a healthy pop. of craws the big uns will take craws. That wouldnt be my bait of choice, just because bass are known to eat 40% of there over all mass, trout arnt, so a 10" bass can take on a 4" bait and so on. It would probally take a trout 16" to eat a craw of 3" so in a trout lake you might throw a standard craw all day with 1 nice fish to show for. I would rather catch a bunch of stockers lol.

I like the all white (pearl), glow in the dark (nit brite) and yellow and white jigs for trout. But if you think of them as a weighted fly black, browns, olive will all work fine. I like to tip mine with worms, but maggots do the trick as well

[HillbillyGeek]

like the same jigs used for bass and stuff?

Bass jigs are usually fat and heavy. I don't think trout feed on crayfish, so they probably would not be interested in bass jigs. Smaller jigs definitely catch trout. They love marabou jigs. You can either cast & retrieve or fish them under a float. Dink floats work best in rivers. The angle helps determine whether the jig is dragging the bottom, being pushed up by the current, or riding just right.
I've also caught trout on small curly tail grubs that were threaded onto jig heads.

how small is small? I got some powerbait 3" grub curl tails.

3 inchers might work, but the ones I used were more like 2". I've heard that steelhead will hit red curly-tail grubs, but they never worked for me. I've caught a lot of cutthroats with white & chartreuse grubs.

[cavdad45]

Trout and steelhead will hit jigs. River trout will hit a crappie-sized tube jig pretty good. Trout in lakes like a little thing called a Trout Magnet. And summer steelhead routinely take a maribou jig under a float in many of our rivers.

[YellowBear]

Every year in June we take a trip over to Coffee Pot for Trout and all I use is Jigs.
Weather permitting I like the 1/8th oz jighead with a 3 inch Hellgie. More often than not we will not catch as many fish as the fly guys but our fish are bigger. I have had some good days on Silver lake in Spokane county with 1/2 oz white spinner baits. Last year we caught some Rainbows out of Sprague through the ice that were plum full of 2 and 3 inch Crappie and still hit the jigs. Trout are just as much of a predator as anything else. As was mentioned before, if you want big Trout, fish a lake that has big Trout and use nontraditional tackle. Crankbaits, big spinners and Jigs.

[HillbillyGeek]

Every year in June we take a trip over to Coffee Pot for Trout and all I use is Jigs.
Weather permitting I like the 1/8th oz jighead with a 3 inch Hellgie. More often than not we will not catch as many fish as the fly guys but our fish are bigger. I have had some good days on Silver lake in Spokane county with 1/2 oz white spinner baits. Last year we caught some Rainbows out of Sprague through the ice that were plum full of 2 and 3 inch Crappie and still hit the jigs. Trout are just as much of a predator as anything else. As was mentioned before, if you want big Trout, fish a lake that has big Trout and use nontraditional tackle. Crankbaits, big spinners and Jigs.

Hmm... now that you mention it, I know a guy who says that he catches a lot of huge trout while trolling with Norman deep running crankbaits (shad pattern).
Last year I caught a very nice kokanee in Lake Stevens while trolling a wally diver (sparkle fire tiger pattern). I even caught a chunky crappie using the same crankbait in Lake Sawyer! It was the first time I've EVER caught crappie using a bass crankbait. :thumleft:

[cavdad45]

I caught a 16" crappie while fishing a Big O in Tennessee a few years ago. Caught lots on spinnerbaits.

Caught a stocker trout on a 3/8oz spinnerbait last spring at Selmac lake in Souithern Oregon.

[VooDuuChild]

Last time trout hit me up on a jig, I was stick bobber fishin with a 1/64 or a 1/32 jig with half inch green/red tube about three feet under the bobber. Surprised the heck outta me as I was panfishin and come up with three trout that day. Of course, they were hungry trips and not regular trout, but still had a dang good time taking in seventeen inchers on two pound test and my smallest pole!!!

[FishingFool]

what's everybody's favorite casting jig for trout? i dont even know where or what to start with. I got spoons, i have some spinners. Now i need some jigs.

[gpc]

what's everybody's favorite casting jig for trout? i dont even know where or what to start with. I got spoons, i have some spinners. Now i need some jigs.

I stick to the basics. They call them "crappie jigs", but they will catch everything. If I was using my regular pole I would go a little heavier 1/32 oz jig head with a white, glo, or yellow/white skirt. If I am using my ultra light (the set up I am more comfortable with) I go with 1/64 oz in the same colors. I always use bait and prefer maggots, but have caught more trout on worms on the same set up. But.... if I am fishing a trout lake, I use "traditional" trout gear. While jigging up some panfish I have caught plenty of trout on accident, so jigs are worth trying. But with all the needle fish, kastmasters, krocodiles etc., etc., etc., on the market its kind of hard to kick those and go with jigs. But they will work, and do a fine job at that. I keep "crappie jigs" in my trout box just in case.

[FishingFool]

what's everybody's favorite casting jig for trout? i dont even know where or what to start with. I got spoons, i have some spinners. Now i need some jigs.

I stick to the basics. They call them "crappie jigs", but they will catch everything. If I was using my regular pole I would go a little heavier 1/32 oz jig head with a white, glo, or yellow/white skirt. If I am using my ultra light (the set up I am more comfortable with) I go with 1/64 oz in the same colors. I always use bait and prefer maggots, but have caught more trout on worms on the same set up. But.... if I am fishing a trout lake, I use "traditional" trout gear. While jigging up some panfish I have caught plenty of trout on accident, so jigs are worth trying. But with all the needle fish, kastmasters, krocodiles etc., etc., etc., on the market its kind of hard to kick those and go with jigs. But they will work, and do a fine job at that. I keep "crappie jigs" in my trout box just in case.

There's no way I can cast a 1/32 oz jib farther than say 10 ft. :shaking:

[HillbillyGeek]

what's everybody's favorite casting jig for trout? i dont even know where or what to start with. I got spoons, i have some spinners. Now i need some jigs.

I stick to the basics. They call them "crappie jigs", but they will catch everything. If I was using my regular pole I would go a little heavier 1/32 oz jig head with a white, glo, or yellow/white skirt. If I am using my ultra light (the set up I am more comfortable with) I go with 1/64 oz in the same colors. I always use bait and prefer maggots, but have caught more trout on worms on the same set up. But.... if I am fishing a trout lake, I use "traditional" trout gear. While jigging up some panfish I have caught plenty of trout on accident, so jigs are worth trying. But with all the needle fish, kastmasters, krocodiles etc., etc., etc., on the market its kind of hard to kick those and go with jigs. But they will work, and do a fine job at that. I keep "crappie jigs" in my trout box just in case.

There's no way I can cast a 1/32 oz jib farther than say 10 ft. :shaking:

Very small jigs are castable if you use a bobber and a split shot or two. If you don't want to fish with a bobber, 1/16 oz jigs are easy to cast with 4 lb line, and 1/8 oz jigs work well with 6 lb line.

[gpc]

Yeah while fishing from the bank a jig is hard to cast into water that is deep enough. And a bobber op split shot are needed for that in most cases. But with my ultra light set up ( 5 ft micro light pole micro light reel and 4lb test) I can cast between 10 - 20 ft, (w/ a 1/64 oz jig head) depending on the conditions. But not my first choice from the bank.

This style of fishing is where I am in my prime and I am very comfortable doing this. But this has taken MANY years of practice, so dont get too frustrated if it dosnt work right off the bat. Practice makes perfect.

Now if you drop down to 2lb test you can cast a lot further and you will catch more fish. I fished 2lb for a weekend and it worked great. A little too light for me. But I have a lot to learn, I have fished with 4lb for 15 years now. I am comfortable enough to fish with my ultra light for salmon w/ 4lb test. But 2lb is a whole diffrent ball park for me. It not a huge diffrence "on paper" but its a whole diffrent ball game.

But if you are fishing from a dock, its a pretty safe bet that the dock is at least in 10 ft of water. So a 10ft cast will put you in the right depth. Take advatage of jigging and using light gear while pier fishing. Save the 1/2 oz weights and kastmasters for shore fishing.

Let me know if you need a a good trout spot around your area. I really enjoy looking up new spots and doing reserch on lakes/areas for future refrences.

[VooDuuChild]

I use the 1/64's and put a weighted foam football shaped bobber that walmart sells and that thing flys with 2lb test..of course with 1/64's, I don't try and retrieve them, they don't stay down too well....if I'm retrieving, I go for the heavier ones, usually spinner jig.

[FishingFool]

Yeah while fishing from the bank a jig is hard to cast into water that is deep enough. And a bobber op split shot are needed for that in most cases. But with my ultra light set up ( 5 ft micro light pole micro light reel and 4lb test) I can cast between 10 - 20 ft, (w/ a 1/64 oz jig head) depending on the conditions. But not my first choice from the bank.

This style of fishing is where I am in my prime and I am very comfortable doing this. But this has taken MANY years of practice, so dont get too frustrated if it dosnt work right off the bat. Practice makes perfect.

Now if you drop down to 2lb test you can cast a lot further and you will catch more fish. I fished 2lb for a weekend and it worked great. A little too light for me. But I have a lot to learn, I have fished with 4lb for 15 years now. I am comfortable enough to fish with my ultra light for salmon w/ 4lb test. But 2lb is a whole diffrent ball park for me. It not a huge diffrence "on paper" but its a whole diffrent ball game.

But if you are fishing from a dock, its a pretty safe bet that the dock is at least in 10 ft of water. So a 10ft cast will put you in the right depth. Take advatage of jigging and using light gear while pier fishing. Save the 1/2 oz weights and kastmasters for shore fishing.

Let me know if you need a a good trout spot around your area. I really enjoy looking up new spots and doing reserch on lakes/areas for future refrences.

I use Sunline FC Sniper 5# test on my rigs. I can cast most small 1/8oz lures a good distance. I can bomb 1/4oz kastmasters like Tom Brady.

But if the lure is large for it's weight, man do they suck for casting, for me...

During this winter time, I've been fishing down in Olympia at Black Lake. But my local lake is Lake Meridian. The fishing @ LM is very slow. You'll be lucky to get a bite there if you're at the dock all day.

Black Lake has died down quite a bit, but action is still fair.

I use to fish Lake Morton too. Just wish they had a dock.