Big Baits, Big Trout

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Now, throw away all your preconceived ideas about trout fishing. The trout you have dreamed about catching do not feed on flies and nymphs or even worms. These trout eat fish big enough to filet.

When a brown trout reaches 5 pounds or so, he’s looking for more meat at each meal. Ideally, any fish wants to extend the least amount of energy to catch and eat the most amount of food. If a trout extends a lot of energy picking off flies from the surface of the water, or flipping rocks for a few small nymphs, he’s losing the battle of life, and won’t grow up to be a potential state or world record. He needs big game- even his own species. Yes- trout eat trout. An eight-pound brown will eat a stocker rainbow- imagine what a 20 or 30-pound brown will eat.

On the White River in Arkansas, it has been a well known fact that brown trout, larger than 20 pounds, just sit in holes just below well fished areas and wait for fishermen to catch, kill and release stocker rainbows. These monsters feed on the dead and dying rainbows as they drift into their areas. Please don’t get the idea you can use rainbows for bait. It is illegal to use any part of a game fish to catch another game fish in Missouri. But will they bite on? Let’s look at some the baits that have caught big browns in Lake Taneycomo.

Scott Sandusky is our current Missouri brown trout record holder. He caught his trophy on November 20, 2009 just downstream from Lilleys’ Landing, but not on a big bait but a small one… a nugget of Power Bait. His fish weighed 28.8 pounds.

In the fall of the year, brown trout do move to the upper end to spawn. These trout seemed to be not interested in eating much, but to do their duty and go back down to their familiar territory. White jigs seem to catch their attention. A 16-ounce jigs worked just off the bottom in the current can bring good results. Rapalas worked with a hard, jerky action will either make a brown want to eat it or attack it just to kill it. Either way, you’ll have a wall-hanger. Stripping streamer and wooly-buggers at night when the water is off or running slightly is quite an experience. The trout really rare back and knock the snot of these flies and what a battle! If youre going
to tackle this trip, you need to go during the daylight hours first and acquaint yourself with the terrain. Always fish with someone close-by if case of any problems. And, for goodness sake, get out of there is the horn blows! You don’t want to get caught in the dark when the water starts to rise!

Other seasons offer good lunker hunting. In the warm months, browns are most active. Their species actually like warmer water temperatures that their cousins- the rainbow. Lures imitating larger prey bring a better chance for hooking fish. Areas in the lake to look for are brushy deep banks and ledges. From mile marker 17 down past the bridges is the area browns seem to hang out most of the summer months. The further downstream you travel, the more forage fish such as minnows and shad to see along the banks. Rocky banks hold sculpin, one the favorite foods for brown trout. Brown trout are very territorial and like cover as bass do. Number eleven black and silver floating Rapalas and the H4 Rattlin’ Rouge blue and silver thrown close to the bank or to structure, worked back hard and jerky, stopping the bait every 10 feet is a proven technique. Soft jerk baits like the bass assassin worked the same, may be a little slower, is another way to lure huge browns. Use heavy equipment when working these baits- the same equipment used in bass fishing. Remember- these fish are just as big as bass (really bigger) and they do have teeth! Fourteen to twenty-pound test is not too heavy for these trout. They don’t seem to notice the heavy line when using big baits.

Don’t be afraid to fish for these monsters in the lower lake. I believe big browns live in the lower lake in the spring and summer. They have a good supply of food with the abundance of shad, minnows and other small fish. I think you will still find browns around trees and other structure on the edge of the bank. The nice things about working these areas is that you might hang a big bass instead of a trout. I also believe the next world record brown trout will come from Lake Taneycomo. Fishing these areas with these baits could be the way to rewrite the record books-and you might be the one!!