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Show The arv of baiv fishing is refined By Hartt W'ixom Vernal Express Outdoors Writer Recently I became even more convinced con-vinced than ever that the art of bait " fishing is a refined one. 1 watched an angler who repeated-ly repeated-ly connected on 2'2-t lb. trout while cost of those around him couldn't do civ more than hook suckers, or nciicg at all. The successful fisher-r;n fisher-r;n even avoided snags. When he bean reeling, a nice trout was on the other end. - He drifted a single salmon egg into s deep holding area alongside a brush, Dear but not right in direct current. He : kept the rod tip raised to let the egg ; fcmp bottom where the fish were. tore than likely these trout were con-v con-v cctrating on sucker roe, for any other tiit caught nothing but the suckers stich were there in abundance. But the zeroed-in fisherman took them to 2 inches, beautiful rainbows and - cchroats. Itee particular fish seemed to ' cove in spawning schools, with new . Est on hand every several days. fewer the main question : how to en-; en-; see them. The "magic" he employed here works anywhere trout are feeding. On many streams, including Utah's Duchesne, Hill Creek on the Ute Reservation, lower Provo, Logan, and Green River below Flaming Gorge, w orms for one angler merely drown, w hile they attract fish by the score for someone else. In the Uintas worms are probably the fastest way to bring in the larger, bottom-dwelling brookies, although it is true they can sometimes be enticed to flies late in the season. But more about lakes later. In stream fishing much depends on the following: how fresh and lively the bait appears: impaling the worm or other bait so it has a much better chance to wriggle rather than being wound around in a ball: using sufficient suffi-cient weight to get near bottom, but not so much as to cause "mouthed" bait to have "drag" on it; casting to lairs near current but rarely in swift water where fish would have a difficult time holding; keeping a sensitive "touch" so as to feel a strike; setting hook gently but firmly so barb is embedded. Those are a few of the important factors. fac-tors. Of course, some fish concentrate on other baits. I remember one small stream where brook and cutthroats gorged on light, delicate fare like rock rollers andor fresh water shrimp on a size 10 or 12 hook. It took trout w hen they wouldn't bother with worms. I can think of other times w hen greyish worms worked dug from streamside. City-dwelling night crawlers wouldn't budge those fish. Later in the year grasshoppers will gladden the palate of most trout. After dining on a few, they will possibly focus on the one item, just as they do on certain insects. If that silhouette or shape does not present itself, they will conserve energy. Most trout take in more calories with less energy via such feeding strategy. That is the secret to producing an oversized fish! I have also found in the stomachs of oversized brown trout such things as frogs, mice, crayfish, and sucker or chub minnows. One nice brown I took earlier in June smashed a spinner-fly combination. Yet it looked like nothing natural I can think of. He probably stopped it out of curiosity. The nice thing with bait is that fish taste your offering, like it, and may hit again even if not hooked first time around. That rarely happens with lures or artificials. Highland trout love half a night crawler (I've found the lighter-hued, lighter-hued, or tail end works best) even though waters over 8,000 feet don't even grow such trout food. The fish think they see something they like, check it out and if the angler will let them have it before reeling in, often become inseparably connected all by themselves. It's perfect for young or beginning anglers. A technique which attracts them like a charm in lakes is to raise and lower your rod tip, reeling in the slack. It makes all appear as if being washed into shore. With bait, keep it all natural, and you will find fishier dividends. |