When you think about the term ‘trout fishing’ the first thing that probably comes to mind is fly fishing. Why is this the case? Probably because fishing for trout and fly fishing go hand in hand in many ways and movies such as “A River Runs Through It” have been made proclaiming the wonder and tradition of fly fishing. Well, this article is about a subject that fly fishermen consider to be taboo in many instances, trout fishing with live worms.
Although I tried fly fishing many years ago, the technique never felt right to me, so it was quickly scrapped. However, standing in a flowing river fishing for trout did “feel right” to me, so I wanted to keep doing it. The result was that I became an ultralight spin fisherman and trout fishing with live worms became my favorite fishing technique. To me fishing for trout in this manner (while using ultralight spin fishing gear) is every bit the “art form” that fly fishing has ever been proclaimed to be.
In any case, this article will reveal some tips and tricks that will come in handy the next time that you head out fishing for trout while using live worms as bait. The first thing that I want to discuss is the type and size of live worm that should be employed. The perfect worms for trout fishing are red worms or mini nightcrawlers because of their size. The next option are the much more readily available traditional night crawlers. The key when using traditional night crawlers as bait for trout is to pinch them in half before rigging them onto your trout rig. This makes for a much more natural and realistic presentation.
Next we have the way in which you present your live worm to the trout you are attempting to catch. Whatever type of hook, hooks, or trout rig you use make sure that you can present your worm in an outstretched and natural manner. This fact is vitally important any time that you are trout fishing with live worms. The last thing that you want to do is bait your worm by hooking onto a fishing hook over and over again creating what I like to call a worm ball. The more realistic your live worm looks to the trout, the more effective it will be as bait it’s as simple as that.
Finally you want to familiarize yourself with the trout fishing technique known as drift fishing. Drift fishing involves letting your bait drift with the current of a river or stream that you are fishing, and once mastered is as effective a trout fishing technique as there is. Learning how to “drift fish” is very important for anyone who is interested in trout fishing with live worms.
The bottom line is that fishing for trout while using live worms as bait doesn’t make you a bad person or any less of a fisherman than anyone else, although some writers, publications, and fishermen would like to make you think that it does. Trout fishing with live worms is, without question, my “go to” technique when it come to fishing for the beautiful species of fish referred to at ‘trout’.