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Posted: 3/19/2017 10:03:40 PM EDT
...by accident though.

I was fishing a small lake for bass and none were biting. I tried a few different lures with no luck and finally switched to a minnow jig with a soft swim bait in a natural color. It will almost always catch a few for me when they're e not biting anything else.

On my very first cast with it, I had got a bite hut to my surprise it was not a bass but a trout.

I thought "what the heck, might as well try to catch a few more." I dug out some lures that I thought would be good for trout. I tried some small orange and chartreuse hair jigs, brightly colored 1/8 oz rooster tails and some tiny pink grubs on 1/16 oz jigs with no luck.

I switched back to the minnow jig and caught a limit of 5 in about 15 minutes.

Attachment Attached File



Are trout cannibalistic like bass?  I noticed the similar coloring of the lure and the fish I was catching.

Attachment Attached File
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 10:55:50 PM EDT
[#1]
Nice!
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 10:56:17 PM EDT
[#2]
That Rainbow is a hatchery fish so the short answer to your question is they are generally not cannibalistic.  With that said, once they've been in the wild for months, and in the absence of other recognizable food, they'll eat anything and the bigger ones are more likely to target the smaller ones when food gets tight.  They generally aren't predatory on their own species (like bass), but once they figure out that there's no more Purina Trout Chow coming, they'll eat anything.  I am surprised they didn't strike on your other jigs.  

I used to work at a fish hatchery, rainbows were easy, kind of like the cattle of fish husbandry.  We also raised cutthroats, steelhead (ocean going Rainbows), and Silver salmon.  They would eat any of their siblings if they were smaller or were facing them.  Lots of times I'd see a fish swimming around with another fish hanging out his face because it was too big to choke down.  Didn't prevent them from trying though.
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 11:02:49 PM EDT
[#3]
I almost exclusively use live minnows for trout.

Line through body with a double hook. Swivel about 16 inches from hook.
Link Posted: 3/19/2017 11:03:37 PM EDT
[#4]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
That Rainbow is a hatchery fish so the short answer to your question is they are generally not cannibalistic.  With that said, once they've been in the wild for months, and in the absence of other recognizable food, they'll eat anything and the bigger ones are more likely to target the smaller ones when food gets tight.  They generally aren't predatory on their own species (like bass), but once they figure out that there's no more Purina Trout Chow coming, they'll eat anything.  I am surprised they didn't strike on your other jigs.  

I used to work at a fish hatchery, rainbows were easy, kind of like the cattle of fish husbandry.  We also raised cutthroats, steelhead (ocean going Rainbows), and Silver salmon.  They would eat any of their siblings if they were smaller or were facing them.  Lots of times I'd see a fish swimming around with another fish hanging out his face because it was too big to choke down.  Didn't prevent them from trying though.
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Thanks for the info. I know nothing about trout but I was surprised they only seemed interested in the minnow jigs. I've got a small jar of power bait honey worms at home I'll try next time I go to that lake.
Link Posted: 3/21/2017 6:56:55 AM EDT
[#5]
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