Catching trout - low skills, low equipment.

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candlelight001

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Jun 3, 2008
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I'm a backpacker who wants to eat trout when camping near them.

Have never fished a day in my life (ok, one), don't want to buy a ton of gear for a new hobby.

I camp in Sierra's, Rockies mostly. Is there a simple fishing setup I can get that's light, cheap, relatively easy to figure out, and will help me catch dinner?

I realize it's asking alot, but the sad reality is, I ain't gonna buy a bunch of chichi gear, and I've got to many other hobbies to spend a lot of time mastering a new one. Just want to eat fish in the woods.
 
There are many inexpensive rod and real combos that will catch fish. They may not last forever, take alot of abuse, or work as smooth as a more expensive outfit; but they will work. Pick up a little spin cast rod and real set up with 6lb test line and some small inline spinners from Mepps, Rooster tail, etc. Visit a local stream or river by your house that stocks trout and start practicing.
Better yet visit your local sporting goods store and ask them the same question. They will know better what colors and type of lures the local trout like. Most will even spool up your reel for you if you make the purchase there.

Good luck not getting addicted once you catch your first fish.

Cheers
 
It's hard to get any more simple than spinning gear. Typical open faced reel with a wire bail. A cheap combo can be had for ~$30. Small 6 foot or so rod should be fine. Get some #10 hooks and a bag of split shot. For bait you can use Berkley trout bait, salmon eggs, worms, or even Velveeta cheese. Many areas are artificial lures or flies only. Spinners (Mepps #0 or #1) and wet flies work well. Make sure you understand the regulations that apply to where you will be fishing. 6lb. test should be ideal.
 
Good tips... How much practice before I can semi-reliably pull a fish out of a lake? Do you use spinners in a creek? Thx!
 
Yes. Spinners anywhere. I'm surprised your thread hasn't received more responses. Be patient. The answers will come. It doesn't take a lot of effort to catch a trout. Be aware that they have soft mouths so don't pull the rod too hard when you get a bite. Just lift up and you should have em' hooked.
 
I am a big freshwater fisherman and have 60+ rods and reels, but I have a few of these and they work great! Small, cheap and will catch panfish and trout all day long, made by Coleman and fits in your back pack easily....


http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_tr...kw=coleman+pen+reel&_sacat=See-All-Categories

There are many combo spinning and spin casting set for $15 to $ 25 at Kmart, Walmart and Dicks that include everything and lots of cheap tackel too....
 
As mentioned, a small inexpensive spinning rod/reel combo and a handful of Meppes spinners will catch all the trout in the mountain streams you could want. I've done it all my life. The whole deal including spinners can be had for under $50.

Stealth is key for trout. Approach them from behind in streams (so fish upstream) they lay facing upstream waiting for the current to wash food down to them. They stay pretty tight to cover (logs, rocks and undercut banks) so accuracy counts when casting. But using those basic tips, and if they don't see you, they are aggressive feeders and will readily take your spinners.

As someone else said, don't set the hook hard. Really, on stream trout, they pretty much hook themselves so just steady reeling of the spinner will catch them. Good luck.:thumbup:
 
All good info. There are rods that break down really small if you're interested in that. I would also recommend a spinning rod and reel and spinners. Panther Martin, Mepps, etc.
 
Buy some inexpensive crappie jigs also. They will catch a wide variety of tasty fish. Cast upstream and retrieve quickly down works a lot better than vice versa. Casting across stream works well too. Just expierment and make lots of cast. When all else fails , turn over some rocks and catch some bait.
 
Not terribly efficient and may result in some fish off the hook since you don't have the spring of a rod to help but you could consider a basic hand line set up to start.

This guy came up with a minimal kit that looks like it would work well enough. You could put something similar together from stuff around the house except for spending $20 for a few assorted size hooks, some split shot, a spool of line, and small bobbers for use with bait like cheese. Add in small spinning lures too, stick with Mepps at around $4.00 each. A 2-1/2" diameter stick about 8" long whittled smooth with line wrapped around it will get the job done too.

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As others have mentioned a "telescoping rod and spinning reel combo" is versatile and you could probably get by with as little as $15-$20 additional.

If you are in California, here is license info.

Before a trip you can google "tackle shops" or "fly fishing" in the county or nearby towns. Stop in or phone them and ask what's working and if there are any special enhancement stamps, protected species or gear restrictions for the specific water you intend to fish.
 
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dipbait said:
Buy some inexpensive crappie jigs also. They will catch a wide variety of tasty fish. Cast upstream and retrieve quickly down works a lot better than vice versa. Casting across stream works well too. Just expierment and make lots of cast. When all else fails , turn over some rocks and catch some bait.
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Many many years ago, I was on an overnight horseback ride in the CO Rockies. There were three of us fishing a tiny stream with spinners (for little Brookies). In about an hour and a half we had caught one fish total. The others became discouraged and quit. I dug up some worms and had about 6 more by myself in twenty minutes. :thumbup: I was just a kid at the time and once again, I probably broke some game laws. :eek: To the OP: Fish and game rules are no joke. If you get caught breaking them you will find yourself in very serious trouble.
 
candlelight001 said:
Good tips... How much practice before I can semi-reliably pull a fish out of a lake? Do you use spinners in a creek? Thx!
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Learning the mechanics of casting and retrieving with a open face spinning set up shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Being in the right spot at the right time with the right bait at the right depth to get a fish on the line is more of a challenge.
 
dttomcat said:
It's hard to get any more simple than spinning gear. Typical open faced reel with a wire bail. A cheap combo can be had for ~$30. Small 6 foot or so rod should be fine. Get some #10 hooks and a bag of split shot. For bait you can use Berkley trout bait, salmon eggs, worms, or even Velveeta cheese. Many areas are artificial lures or flies only. Spinners (Mepps #0 or #1) and wet flies work well. Make sure you understand the regulations that apply to where you will be fishing. 6lb. test should be ideal.
Click to expand...

I used to hammer the stocked trout on velveeta cheese when I fished for trout in the streams near Westernport, MD and near Frostburg, MD. I used the small gold spinner with the flys attached to them too. I use them here in GA and the panfish love them.
 
Get a small shakespeare ugly stik spinning combo. Cheap, durable and smooth for the money. Next, buy a #7 rapala in hot steel or firetiger, i find they work best. Buy some rooster tails, a few dardevle's (theyre a tear drop shape with red and white stripes, a treble hook and a devil on them). And also, buy some powerbait (green with sparkles in it) it works good. Get splitshots and hooks, and maybe a bobber or two. I like the little orange styrofoam weighted bobbers from walmart. Get a stringer (for keeping the fish alive for the time being, it's string or metal chain). Umm, pliers, a knife. You can also buy a collapsable pole, if you want it to be stored in a backpack, it'll do for trout if youre just going after food.
 
And I have used most if not all of these suggestions before. One thing that is not being emphasized enough is the old live bait/bobber combo. I am relearning the love of using live bait after many years of throwing steel and plastic. No presentation or tactic will work on every occasion. Like all other things, start with the basics and keep adding to your reportoire and tackle box. Good Luck and don't be intimidated.
 
When I used to timber cruise in Northern B.C. I carried a cheap teloscopic rod and spincast real with about 6 pound test line. Ocassionally we would stop at streams/small lakes and I would try a few casts. Very seldom did I get skunked.

In addition to the Mepps spinners I would recommend Panther Martin spinners for overallall effectiveness.

If you get more into fishing and have a few more dollars, I recommend you look at a flyrod in the future (4 piece for backpacking) as flyfishing is even more effective.
 
about a 16 inch leader witha no.8 bait holder hook amd a night crawlwer hooked once through the head, drift it into te holes and overhangs.
 
for the sierras...use 4lb line...lures, get the smaller ones; roosterstails: "bumblebee" and "rainbow trout" colors...mepps: black fury and comet mino...thomas buoyant: red/gold...these are the ones that consistently hit up there...

red and gold salmon eggs work good too...and of course, nightcrawlers

i don't know why but panther martins NEVER work for me...
 
velvetta, salmon eggs, power bait... and small light weight spinning rig... just be carefull once you get into the backpacking fishing of the deep mnt rivers and streams you will not want to quit... just never pick up a fly rod because you will fall down a slippery slope... i miss the s/n and the pnw...
 
Gold or silver Kastmaster
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I use the 1/2oz ones, they go a mile and if you cannot catch a fish on one there are no fish there. Reel in on the slower end and you'll knock em dead. 28 rainbows in 4 hours is my best with a gold one. I usually take the treble hook off that comes with it and replace it with a slightly larger and better quality one. The ones that come on them are a little on the small side and they just don't hold fish well.

If you want to spend a little more a perch pattern original floater from rapala for brooks, browns and the occasional rainbow.
Top one in pic.
perch-floaters-1.jpg

Nice thing about the floater is once you play with it a while you can fish in some terrible water(loaded with trees, rocks, anything you might get snagged on) with it. By stopping your retrieve it floats back to the top, I have used the same one for 3 years now. Good luck and have fun.
 
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