Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3902 Jan 3-17 | Page 8

6 HOW TO... Jan 3-17, 2020 VOL.39 • ISS. 2 Fall Trout Pointers… > When the water is murky, the best strategy for hooking trout is often presenting your bait or jig in the top 10 feet of water column where the least stained water is found. Slip bobbers are great for this work, since they allow you to suspend a bait at the depth of your choice. presents < Bank Fishing For Trout: How To Hook Up When The Water Turns Murky Or Cold! In waters where live minnow are off limits, minnow imitating jigs are a great option. Traditional marabou jigs and tube jigs work very well as do small jig heads tipped with Gulp! Minnows like these. > Live I n terms of rain and snow the 2019/20 started slow, but things have caught up and wet stuff is falling from the sky as I hammer out this article. If things keep going the way they have been trouters and other anglers should be enjoying full reservoirs and briskly flowing streams come spring. But alas everything comes with a tradeoff. These days heavy rain and the resulting runoff has made the water in many reser- voirs murky. While water temperatures still remain in the 50’s at many foothill destinations, perfect for trout, the downward trend has started and before long water temperatures will get downright chilly. Murky and/or cold water are the two biggest challenges wintertime trout anglers face here in central and northern California. Either of these factors can make catching trout a challenge. Combine murky water with a water temperature below 50 degrees and tempting strikes tends to get downright difficult for many anglers. Luckily there are some tips and tricks that can help you put trout on the stringer when the going gets tough, so don’t put new batteries in the TV remote and sink into the couch to wait for the arrival of spring just yet! There are two types of murky water. Water that has recently become murky and water that has been colored for a while. The toughest nut to crack in terms of hooking trout is working a lake that had been clear, but suddenly turns murky. This situation is going to put the trout in a funk for a few days and hooking up is going to be exceedingly tough in most cases. Fishing is easier in a reservoir that has been murky for a period of days or weeks simply because the trout have gotten accustomed to the conditions. They may not like murky water, but regardless they still have to feed. When bank fishing floating various baits off the bottom using a sliding sinker rig is our homerun swing. It works because much of the time trout prefer to hang out along the bottom. Two exceptions to this rule are when the water is murky or exceedingly cold. When a lake gets muddy, the muddiest water will always be found near the bottom and the clearest water will be near the surface. This make’s sense when you think about the particulate matter that is making the water murky gradually settling toward the bottom. This is why I typically try to work the top 10 feet of the water column when targeting murky water trout. The trout will be drawn to the cleanest water and that’s where I want my bait. Cold-water trout also tend to suspend and cruise near the surface, while murky water trout may be found out in open water, cold-water trout tend to hold fairly close to the bank. I’ll talk more about where you’ll likely located trout in a bit. A sliding sinker rig is the wrong tool to employ in this situation. Instead you’ll want to make use of a slip bobber rig for fishing baits and small jigs. If you’ve never set up a slip bobber rig before they look sort of complicated, but they really aren’t. To rig up start with a light spinning rod spooled with 6 or FISH SNIFFER HOW – TO minnows are fantastic baits for winter trout fishing, but you’ve got to be certain that live minnows are legal in any given water before you begin fishing. by Cal Kellogg < Pro-Cure is critical to trout fishing success when the water is cold and stained. It not only helps the fish home in on your bait, but it is infused with powerful amino acids that can prompt inactive fish into striking. CONTINUED ON PG 7