John Kranick: The Essential Trout Fishing Guide

What are we waiting for? Let’s go fishing together!

stopped raining in days. At least that’s what it felt

like. Now, from just this, do you know what type of

lure to use?

The Secrets Professionals Refuse To Share33

CHAPTER 5

Trout Tips, Tricks & Techniques

What’s that you say? You love to fish, but can’t for the life of you figure out why you’re not catching more trout? Ahh, you’re not alone in those thoughts.

There’s not a fishing enthusiast alive who hasn’t pondered that same monumental

, philosophical question sometime in their fishing career.

For all of you who spent time answering that question, this chapter was written just for you. It’s a compendium of some of the most effective and tightly-held secrets about trout fishing you’ll ever find.

It’s a grouping of tips, tricks, and techniques for you to read, digest, and most importantly, use on your next fishing trip. Imagine the surprise of your fishing buddies when you go from the one who caught the least amount of fish to the person who caught the most.

Always stuck buying the drinks because you come in dead last in the “friendly” fishing bets? Now, you can shock your friends and force them to come up with a couple rounds of drinks once you start putting these tried, true and little known hints to use.

Have I convinced you yet of the value of this chapter yet? Good. Then what are we waiting for? I’m eager to teach you every trick in the book (and hopefully then some) on how to be mistaken for a professional trout fisherman

WEAR CAMOUFLAGE CLOTHING

DO YOUR BEST ELMER FUDD

What? Are you kidding? Nope. I’m serious. You’ll IMPERSONATION

blend in with

Now you really are kidding me, right? No. “Be

your surrounding area better and you’re harder very, very quiet. We’re catching wabbit,” is Elmer’s to see. And I don’t mean that the other anglers will mantra. Let yours be “Be very, very quiet. We’re fishing have difficulty finding you.

trout.”

Feel stupid wearing camouflage? Well, then at least

Yes, I’m telling you the trout can see and hear

dress in blue and green. These are the two colors you. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself. What trout can’t see. If you wear these, your chances of have you got to lose, anyway?

catching fish should increase.

34 The Secrets Professionals Refuse To Share

SMALL STREAM 30-SECOND

JUST BEGINNING?

TECHNIQUE

TRY THE “DOUBLE-TAPER DRY

Once you’ve “snuck” up on your intended trout, LINE.”

then cast your line in the water. If you get a nibble,

This type of line is perfect for beginners. It’s a

wait 30 seconds and tug on the line. Check to see if stiffer line which means it glides through the eyes of he’s still there. If he is, then pull the line tight and the fishing rod easier. Not only that, but it doesn’t give it a good tug. Remember, this technique works get tangled as easily as some of the other types of for small streams.

lines.

FOCUS ON THE BACK CAST

THINK ABOUT YOUR ROD

Whether you’re a novice or a veteran just trying

No, you really don’t have to meditate on it and

to regain that competitive in casting, focus your efforts experience Zen with it, but do give it some thought.

on your back cast. This, after all, is the basis of a Rods with different sizes from two feet to sixteen good cast. Why? Because it provides the basis for feet are yours for the choosing. Just as the fly line propelling the rod forward again.

are designed with specified weights, rods are to be

Of course, you need to guard against overcastting. used to match those weights.

But you also need to give yourself ample time for all

Think about it. A six-weight line needs a six-weight

of the line to go fully out behind you as well, and rod. Sound reasonable? For the most part, most trout this takes practice.

fisherman use rods within the range of one to nine-

weight. But there are reasons for using heavier weight

A CLEAN FISHING LINE

rods. A heavier rod, for example, is perfect for sea fishing.

Okay, you might have heard this one before. I

Your choice depends on three factors.

hope so. But it still rings true. Take time to clean

your fishing line. And I don’t mean just at the

Size of your anticipated fish. Type of water. Kind

beginning of the fishing season when you’re full of of fishing. Yep. That’s it in a nutshell.

vim and vigor. You need to clean your fishing line

on a regular basis. I know it’s not the most exciting BRIDGES?

activity in the world but if you want to keep catching

trout, it’s essential.

Of course, you know that where there is a bridge,

there’s bound to be trout. But keep this little known

When your line is dirty with algae and other debris, tip in mind as well. The lower the bridge, the bigger you’re going to discover it’s a lot harder to cast the trout will probably be.

properly. Once you have cleaned your line, then dress

it to maintain that smoothness for easier casting. The

But then there’s the corollary to this tip as well. It is

act of dressing your line also helps with its more difficult to cast a fly up under the bridge far enough

“floatability” and this in turn helps to facilitate roll to cover them. (Maybe that’s why the fish are so big?) casts.

The Secrets Professionals Refuse To Share35

THE ESSENTIAL TROUT FISHING GUIDE

But, let’s delve into this situation just a little bit bait, then you’ll also want to attach a floater to your longer. Because, if you’re fly fishing, I just might have rig. And this is just about mandatory if you’re fishing a solution for you. It’s true that the lower the bridge in shallow water. Other good choices for night fishing the more difficult it is to maneuver your standard fly include chubs and worms — just about any type of rod. After all it’s upwards of nine feet in length. But live bait. And don’t forget the flashlight. You’ll need who says you have to fish with the entire rod?

to see enough to hook those guys.

Here’s what you do: Remove the fly reel. Place it

in an open pocket. Be sure that it’s in a place where NIGHT FISHING

the fly line can be free to pull off of it. And if you NETS BROWN TROUT

have a two piece rod, remove the butt section. Use

only the tip section when casting your fly. Clever?

Night fishing is a particularly good time to catch

brown trout. Yep, this is their normal feeding time. If

After a little practice at this, you’ll discover you you’re lucky, you may also be able to land a cutthroat can really get quite good at it. In fact, some anglers as well.

can aerialize some 15 yards of fly line casting in this

fashion. And that’s good enough to cover trout hiding