What types of bait are good for catching trout in freshwater?

The kind of trout I want to catch is rainbow trout just in case this affects the type of bait I should use.
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6 comments a "What types of bait are good for catching trout in freshwater?"

I have caught dozens of trout on corn! In fact, on the Chattahoochee River in GA, we tried everything on those little buggers, but once we tried corn, we never went back to anything else! Corn is great -it’s cheap, easy, and natural -no rubber in the water!

Just put a couple of very small split-shot, total 1/8 ounce, (~3 grams) ~1 ft (33mm) above the hook. A long-shanked #10-12 hook works well, and thread a few kernels onto the hook. Toss the rig upstream and let it ride the current down, but be prepared for “soft” strikes. Then reel ‘em in!

If the split-shot keeps catching the rocks use smaller shot, or -and this is secret- get some hollow solder, and thread that on before tying the hook! That solder is slim enough to ride right over rocks!

Other rigs that work well are the old stand-by “in line spinners” like Mepp’s Rooster Tails. Use small spinners (1/16 – 1/6 oz) in a variety of colors. Sometimes they ignore red speckled, but strike the black or chartruese with vigor.

Another rig is the famous “Texas” rig, adapted for trout. Use a small (2 inch [50mm]) rubber worm with a 1/16 oz “worm weight” aka bullet weight. Slide the weight on before tying on that #10 long shank hook, and then slip the worm onto the point, driving the point down the body of the worm. The point pokes out mid-worm, and you can even turn the worm to make it wedless. Just put “texas rig” into the Search box at the top of this page for more details.

As always, good luck!

Salmon eggs, individually wrapped in the fluoresent netting. I usually fish in a river that connects the great lakes, it is a strong moving current so I use a 3 ounce weight, with a 3 foot leader line coming off it with the eggs and styrophom in the little nets. you have probably seen them in the store in a glass jar. They float just a 3 feet up above the weight and I usually can catch quite a bit of rainbow. But usually only in spring and fall. Where are you fishing?

Yes, corn does work. It’s a favorite bait for stocked fish. Sometimes cheese balls work well, too.

Crickets are a good bait at any time, but are especially effective in relatively infertile streams.

Day in and day out, there’s nothing like a worm presented in a natural manner. Best bet, in moving water, is an upstream presentation, using a minimum about of weight so that the worm floats back downstream in a natural way.

You can find details about upstream worming at

corn will catch more trout than you can carry home.worms are good too,as are nightcrawlers,crickets,mealworms,small shiners,hellgrammites,dillies and marshmallows,cheezewhiz,powerbait,gulp,nitrobait and so on.

you need a fly pole, use flies

power bait is good but i like to use cooking marshmallows. you need to check with your state fishing proclamation on the use of corn because in some states using corn is illegal

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