Trout Fishing Tackle - The Key To Success?

It seems to me that many anglers don't pay enough attention to their tackle when they go trout fishing. When I refer to the word 'tackle', for the purposes of this article, I'm referring specifically to the rod, reel, line, and bait/hook sizes that are used while trout fishing. All of this gear (tackle) is very important when fishing for trout. Probably to a much greater degree than you might have imagined.

You see, trout have very sensitive eyesight and sense of smell, plus they are normally found in very cold clear water which means that things such as the weight of your line will effect the number of bites that you receive. Your line is much more visible to trout in clear water, and therefore needs to be as thin as possible. I personally won't use line any heavier than four pound test to fish for trout in most situations. Before you begin thinking that four pound test is too light, consider this: I've fought and landed numerous trout in the five pound range, all while employing four pound test monofilament line.

Using light line forces you to become a better angler, which is one of the reasons that I enjoy trout fishing with light tackle. When using trout fishing tackle like I'm referring to, you must learn to play your catch, rather than simply winching your catch in. To me, this is what fishing with light tackle is all about. The sport of fishing, which means the challenge of having to actually 'fight' your catch. Using ultra light fishing tackle forces you to learn to enjoy fishing.

Using this kind of trout fishing tackle also requires you to use ultra light rods and reels as well. If you are in need of an ultra light rod or reel simply look for the letters 'ul' in the description of the product. Ultra light rods and reels are actually quite affordable, probably because they are smaller than 'normal' rods and reels. These types of rods and reels handle four pound test very nicely, and I'm sure that you won't be disappointed with the results.

As far as bait and hooks sizes are concerned, I'll bet you can guess what I'm going to say? That's right, the smaller the better. This can be difficult for bait fishing (especially in the case of live worms), because if a single small hook is employed then trout will steal your bait without being hooked. This is why employing a set of pre-tied gang hooks is so important. If you use gang hooks in the sizes of 8 or 10 then the hooks are barely visible to the trout. And when using live worms, rather than using the entire worm, simply pinch the worm in half before hooking it onto your gang hooks. This will provide you with a much more natural presentation, which trout prefer.

The bottom line is that trout fishing tackle is a very important key to success when trout fishing. Always pay attention to your gear and realize that your tackle has an effect. Not just an effect, but probably one of the biggest effects, on your trout fishing success or failure.