With wild trout’s brilliant colors and beautiful habitats, it’s no wonder they are some of the most sought after fish by anglers all over the world. With browns, rainbows, cutthroats, brooks, bulls and several other subspecies, there is a wealth of opportunities to chase trout across the world. Most cold creeks and rivers have plenty of hungry trout that are more than willing to take your fly, lure, or bait. While trout are not the hardest species to land with rod and reel, catching a big trout can be a challenge.
Like any fishing endeavor, large fish don’t grow large by being witless. In some ways, catching a trophy trout is a lot like big game hunting. Success in either arena requires patience, intimate knowledge of your quarry, an understanding of how your target uses their habitat and knowing that a mature animal is unlike the rest of the species. Luckily, FishAngler has all the tools necessary to refine your skills, discover ideal habitat and find the perfect baits and lures to land that trout of a lifetime.
Timing is Key
Like we said before, big trout don’t grow big by being easy to catch. You will not find an apex trout out in the open water at high noon when the sun is directly above. Apex trout hunt and feed when light is low, and there is little danger from out-of-water predators. Both dawn and dusk twilight times will be your go to for targeting that elusive brown or rainbow trout as the fish will feel much safer coming out of the overhanging banks or root balls to feed.
To achieve this, pay close attention to FishAngler’s Forecast charts. FishAngler provides exact times for sunrise and sunset, along with a full solar forecast, which gives you other important times like:
- Dawn astronomical twilight,
- Dawn nautical twilight,
- Sunrise,
- High noon,
- Sunset,
- Dusk astronomical twilight, and
- Nautical twilight.
To access your Forecast menu, simply tap on the Forecast icon at the bottom of your screen, then select Sun Forecast. To get the most accurate results make sure your phone’s location services are turned on, or manually select your location at the top of the Forecast page.
Shoot for After a Storm
Storms offer some of the same effects as low light conditions during the day. If you’re out fishing midday and a storm begins rolling in, resist the temptation to run for shelter. The oncoming clouds will provide escape from direct sun and the falling rain will disrupt the surface water, and not let osprey, eagles, or other predators see into the water as well. Just after a hard rain can also be prime time as sediment runs into the river, making the water slightly cloudier in color. Insect hatches will also coincide with the end of a rain, which can then attract smaller fish that your large trout will prey on.
Again, this is where your forecast comes into play. Your weather forecast provides you a seven-day, hourly prediction of your weather. Tapping any particular day will show you temperature fluctuations, precipitation percentages and pressure patterns. This will help you time those storm fronts perfectly.
Map the Unmapped
A big trout, like a mature deer or elk, often needs to be looked for where nobody else thinks of looking. While it’s true that big rivers and lakes breed big fish, skinny creeks and streams cannot be overlooked. Deep pools, over-cut banks and submerged trees, or root balls, make for excellent big trout habitat. Most skinny creeks contain these features, they just need to be discovered through exploration.
FishAngler Maps provide satellite imagery detailed enough to show and label small creeks and drainages, and also clearly display major trails. As you look for holes that could hold trophy trout, be sure and look for areas where the trail is farthest from your creek. Even the busiest creek systems will often leave overlooked pockets of prime water waiting for those who are willing to go off the beaten path.
For added clarity, try zooming in on your map and swiping with two fingers to create a more ground level view of your area.
Check Catches for Insights
Big trout often require big bait. No surprise there! But to coax a bite from a wise fish who has seen and turned its nose up at every lure imaginable, may require studying.
Local posts from other anglers can give plenty of insight on what tactics and lures are working on big trout in your area. To gain the most information, make sure to follow anglers within 100 miles of your fishing spots. The amalgam of different baits, lures and flies, along with the different sizes of fish should give you the local insight needed to know what large trout are attacking and when.
To follow local anglers, simply tap the feed icon in your lower left then the “local” tab at the top. You can set the distance of your feed radius by tapping the change icon in the top right. From there, you can select how far away you want to see posts considered local.
Pick the Right Time of Year
We love summer fishing, but you may have a hard time landing that trophy during the dog days. Your best time of year may be spring or fall. In both seasons, fish are extremely hungry as they are either feeding to recover from, or prepare for, winter. Their voracious appetites will lead them to attack baits more willingly than in the summer when temperatures are warm and food is plentiful.
To help you refine the types and dates of catches you see, FishAngler allows you to filter all catch posts. This way you can search for catches made in specifically in the spring or fall. To filter all fishing posts into a particular season, simply tap your Map icon at the bottom of your app screen, then tap the filter icon in the top right. From there, toggle to Filter at the top of the screen, then select the date ranges you are interested in. For example, you can select September 20, 2018 as your start date, and November 20, 2018, as your end date to get a snapshot of the fall season. Your map will now only populate with waypoint markers from catches from between those two dates.
We want to see your trophy trout on the FishAngler feed. Don’t forget to add what helped you land one of the most beautiful freshwater fish species in the world.
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