Spinning Rig for Small Stream Trout?

[Hondo64d]

So, I’m seeing a lot of fairly long rods being recommended for small streams. Does this work ok when there’s a lot of side and overhead vegetation?

John

 

[fishdart]

So, I’m seeing a lot of fairly long rods being recommended for small streams. Does this work ok when there’s a lot of side and overhead vegetation?

John

Personally, I use 5'6" or 6' UL rods for that reason - a TFO and a St Croix are my go-to rods and a Diawa Presso 5'6" pack rod for those times when I can't decide whether I'm going to spin or fly fish and am hiking in a ways.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Anybody have good luck with Trout Magnets? I've caught a million panfish on them and would think they'd work based on the name.. I've never even made a cast in trout waters, but am going to give it a go next week on my scouting trip.

Also how are you guys cooking them on an ultralight backpacking stove? Thinking about picking up a little titanium frying pan and a heat diffuser but wondering what others do

Trout magnets work great when the water is gin clear and low...I have to hike thru a lot of brush where I fish...Ugly stick UL elite, shimano sahara 1000, 2lb test.

Just wrap them in foil with butter and seasoning and cook in the camp fire.

 

[TaperPin]

Great advice throughout the responses. Notice a 5’ to 6’ fast action ultra light rod and 4lb line gets mentioned again and again. That’s my go to.

I grew up with open face spinning reels and it just seems normal, but it can be a chore to use them with anything other than mono.

A braided line can change your basic understanding of fishing. I fished from Alaska to Wyoming from the time I could walk with mono and thought I knew fishing holes well, then I tried a braid and could feel so many missed strikes I thought the lure was dragging on the rocks. I had no idea so many fish strike lures before one is hooked. It fundamentally changed my understanding of the importance of speed and jerk when reeling in normal western trout waters.

Feeling 10x the number of strikes quickly makes braided lines worth the hassle of getting them to function in open or closed face spinning reels.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

Also how are you guys cooking them on an ultralight backpacking stove? Thinking about picking up a little titanium frying pan and a heat diffuser but wondering what others do

Gutted, threaded on a stick, and propped by a fire. I hate trying to clean grease in the backcountry, and it always feels like a bear magnet.

 

[TaperPin]

After saying all that I have to admit to no longer using braided line, spinners or spoons, but my spinning rod has 4lb mono and a small casting bubble for use with flies. It simply catches more fish. A wooly bugger seems to be permanently attached, but may have a smaller dropper fly for more hesitant trout. Half the time they seem to take the big fly and half the smaller.

For streams, flies snag less often. For small lakes, they just catch more fish. Fishing a dry fly also let’s you see the fish take it on the surface, but a wet fly is what most normally keep on such a setup.



Rivers a little too deep to wade across rarely get much pressure on the opposite shore - some great memories chucking casting bubbles and big black leaches around big rocks with the same set up.