The best trout bait?
What is the best trout bait? There are so many possibilities that it is difficult to pinpoint one as the best. There’s corn, cheese, and marshmallows, but they seem weird to me. To me, they just don’t seem like something that fish, especially the trout that I love so much, should eat. Actually they don’t, stored trout do. To me, stocked trout are like those goldfish at the pet store. I just don’t like the fact that stocked trout are raised in an aquarium and then released so we can “catch” them. But I guess the point is that they eat those 3 baits. The other point is that no matter what you think about stocked trout, when the rivers are too high to fish, I go to my local lake and catch them. So I guess when it comes to assorted trout, I’m a bit of a hypocrite.
After these three baits, we have the synthetic baits. These are trout baits that come in jars. Are you sure you know what I mean? The most popular type is probably the Berkley Powerbait. For these stocked trout I was railing against, these baits work great! Powerbait, still fished on a set of hooks, is a deadly combination for fishing for trout in a lake that has been stocked. For stocked trout, which is the majority of trout in lakes, synthetic trout baits are hard to beat. My friends and I have joked that they should feed this to trout at hatcheries because they love it!
There are also live baits. Trout baits like mealworms, worms, crickets, grasshoppers and of course the granddaddy of them all, the worm. A live worm is probably the best trout bait God has ever created. I have personally caught more trout with a live worm mounted on a set of hooks than I care to remember. The combination is truly deadly. Especially when carried away by the current of a flowing river. In my opinion, a live worm mounted on a set of pre-tied hooks and then bounced off the bottom of a flowing river or stream is hands down the best trout bait.
All trout baits mentioned in this article are effective. They all have their time and place, but if you were to put a gun to my head and make me choose just one trout bait, it would be the good old American worm!