Looking for advice on Brown Trout lures

[Dad with Twin boys]

Stinger t dub has been my best spoon recently


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Thanks for the pictures, is that stick bait a Smithwick?


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[Chowdaire]

Thanks for the pictures, is that stick bait a Smithwick?


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Yes. Floating rogue



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[Dad with Twin boys]

Thank you Chowdaire.

[SharkHunter]

Absolutely, start with ur closest port then as u gain confidence, branch out an enjoy other places.

My two little ones started with brown trout fishing on the big lake too, good times n lots of fun for the kids.

Shark Hunter, is Mexico point a good place to start?


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[Dad with Twin boys]

Great picture! If you think of anything that I should do to prepare let me know. I want to be safe and get the boys some fish.

[SharkHunter]

I sent u a pm bud.

Great picture! If you think of anything that I should do to prepare let me know. I want to be safe and get the boys some fish.

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[fishdawg]

All great tips so far
Another great bait is the various Smelt profiles from Live Target, especially the jointed ones, check em out here: https://livetargetlures.com/products/rainbow-smelt-jointed-bait

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[jimski2]

Fishing  shallow near shore water in the spring as that is where your warmer water temperature indicates. Snags partricularly  when stopping or turning and the inside of the turn lines slow down cause more snags. That is why floating stick baits or plugs work better. Use side planers mainly since your boat  travelling by spooks the fish away and they will concentrate them in the track of your side planers. Your down riggers make good rod holders then and also early in the season when the walleye are suspended near the warmer surface water.

Edited March 20, 2020 by jimski2

[HB2]

Agreed about sticks over spoons in shallow water as they sink on turns and if the board stalls . 

 

if you are in water 12 ft or less , often times the best depth , you have to know the dive rate of the sticks you are running 

 

I like 3 1/2" or 4 1/2" jointed rebels , my favorites  in shallow water . Tuned to run shallow . 

 

 F 9 and F 11 Rapalas 

 

J 9 and J 11 rapala in water deeper than 10 ft as they dice deeper 

 

I like Smithwicks also .  Also Long A bombers . 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2020 by HB2

[Dad with Twin boys]

Thanks guys for the information, if I were to run spoons I should run them behind the boat and keep the sticks on the planer boards to prevent snags if I understand that correctly 

[HB2]

Just run sticks at first . 

 

My setup for less than 12 ft are sticks off boards at first 

 

Then add to it 

 

K.I.S.S. 

[Dad with Twin boys]

Thank you

[wallychaser]

These were our best producers Monday

[Dad with Twin boys]

Thanks, is that stickbait a Smithwick? Who makes the spoons?

[Total Chaos]

I went out with my driftboat this past Monday. I didn’t have any riggers and I. Caught 6 nice browns and lost another. I ran 2 leadcore a of the the back corners. I ran 2 offshore mini planets on the sides and a flatline down the chute. I had evil eye spoons on the leadcores back one color. The chute rod was back 130 ft and the planet rods were back 60 ft and then let out to the side. Simple stuff. Find the green water and you’ll catch fish. If it’s clear it will be tougher.


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[Dad with Twin boys]

Great picture, you and your family caught some nice fish

[wallychaser]

Yes a Smithwick rouge floater. The spoons are Michigan Stingers. And the last one is a flatfish/kwikfish. Good luck.

[Dad with Twin boys]

Thank you

[Crayfish]

My son and I brought our boat over from Vermont last spring for the first time.  We launched at Mexico Point and did well when the weather was cooperative (wind blowing warm water in to shore, but not TOO windy!).  We caught most of our fish on Bay Rats off the boards and Stingers on 1-2 colors of leadcore off each side of the boat.  Most of our fish were caught on green, but some natural colors worked as well.  I think our hottest lure was a Short Shallow Bay Rat in "Can't afford it".  There was also a Stinger that I picked up that was a very similar color pattern to the "Can't afford it" stick that did well.

 

Since you have Otter boats, you can easily run 3 lines off each side and not worry about the riggers yet.  Later in the season, if you are fishing more than 20' of water or so, the riggers will come in handy for getting closer to bottom.  Right now, as others have said, you're going to be fishing right up on shore in 10-15' of water or so.  The riggers will only cause you grief.

 

Good luck, be safe and HAVE FUN!

[Crayfish]

Oh, also, we like to run a split shot 5-6' ahead of the lures.  This helps the small floaters get a little deeper and helps keep grass, etc from fouling the lure.

[Dad with Twin boys]

Thanks for the information and I will be trying my best. Hopefully the weather is good on April 4th

[hookedupf7]

My favorite 2 sticks are goby bayrat, and smithwicks fire tiger so far . 

[Dad with Twin boys]

Thank you for the help

[Tominatorny]

I almost never run without a Firetiger pattern in my spread

[Dad with Twin boys]

Is this the one you are referring to?