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WORM FISHING FOR TROUT

Worm fishing for trout is more than a matter of baiting up  and casting. It also involves some degree of skill. This comes with practice. For example, you will need to read your rod and line  for those gentle tell tale signs of a trout in order to judge the best time to strike your rod in a quick steady movement to hook the fish. When i refer to worm fishing i include other kinds of bait such as maggots and fake plastic worms (although personally i believe real worms far are better ) and all other baits that can be employed here under the heading of worm fishing for trout.

Always study the water for fish movement. Consider what weight you need to anchor your bait. The lighter the weight you can use to achieve this the better as you should are always be aiming at creating the highest sensitivity possible to detect that fish bite.Always place your bb weights far enough from the hook and worm to allow the worm to have a more natural looking movement. I normally set the weights at just under the rod length and adjust according to the river conditions. Set weights closer to the hook in swift conditions. A  general- purpose rod of around 6 ft to 7 ft for small to medium rivers or 8 ft for lakes and larger rivers with a fixed spool reel and 4 lb to 6 lb test line will usually suffice.

Weightless worm fishing is a excellent trout fishing method. l recommend a light line of no more than 11lb break strain and no less than 6 lb. Personally i tend to use 7 lb as i find this ample for 99% of the wild brown trout i fish. I recommend a light  6 ft or 7 ft rod. A ordinary spinning rod is perfect for most rivers when using this method. I prefer to use a single worm of around 3 to four inches on a size 14 or 16 hook depending on the worm i want to use which is based on the size of the trout available. I prefer earth worms with saddles as these are the most common worms in the parts of Wales where i fish. I hook the worm through the edge of the saddle and  let the point of the hook just show through the skin on the other edge of the saddle. One way of using this method is to cast your worm onto a feature in the water such as a rock or vegetation that is near over hanging trees and let the worm drop into the water just outside the vegetation line. This will look very natural to a trout just as if the worm has fallen in off the surrounding vegetation. As the worm drops under the water watch your line for any twitches or a sudden change of direction. Allow the worm to settle and do not retrieve your line. After 10 minutes or so give the worm a gentle twitch as this looks as if the worm is trying to escape repeat this around every two minutes or so. I find that  weightless worm fishing for trout is particularly useful method especially when the trout are finicky due perhaps to over fishing or a drop in water temperature following bad weather. Remember that if you can present a worm in a way that the trout have never seen before this must improve your chances of catching more fish.

For example, my local lake in Wales Llwyn On allows worming for trout. Most of the anglers visiting the lake from across the UK use a standard legering  set up. However, those in the know thread a few little polystyrene balls through the hook to just above the eye of the hook and weight the line about four to six feet above the bait. This has the effect of holding the worm up above the weeds and snags of the lake bed and presents a highly visual offering to the rainbow and brown trout with much better results as the trout do not see this as often as the normal set up often tangled in the weeds. It is always best to try fishing at several depths on lakes until you get a bite.Maggots are also a good bait after being kept for a few day maggots turn to the chrysalis stage these are called casters by anglers. Trout will often ignore other bait when casters are presented to them. Many waters especially reservoirs do not permit the use of maggots as bait so check with the venue before you go trout fishing. You can use lo worms dug from your garden or red worms off a compost heap. Alternatively you can buy worms, maggots ,casters  power bait and other trout baits from your local fishing equipment store or alternatively have them delivered to your door from an online store.

Worm fishing for trout is something the whole family can enjoy ( providing at least one member of the family is not squeamish about baiting the hooks).Worming for trout can be very sporting  using the light gear described above. Trout are sensitive to vibrations so stalk them quietly upstream casting ahead of them not to frighten the fish and to reach your prey at the correct depth especially if you can see them.

Another worm fishing method is called trotting whereby the worm is cast upstream into the water and allowed to trot along the bottom of the river bed carried by the flow where there are gentler eddies or the force of the flow is broken by some obstacle in the water. This is a good trout fishing method to use in early spring or fall when the rivers are discolored and raising following heavy rain. At times like this trout will often gorge themselves on the windfall of animal life carried by the current and hopefully your trotting worm too. I have personally had a lot of success with this worm fishing method using just one bb  to sink the worm. If you hook a minnow while worm fishing i suggest you leave it on the hook. The biggest wild brown trout i have caught river fishing was 6 and a half pounds. I caught it in similar conditions to those described above, while i was winding in what turned out to be a minnow that was itself taken by the trout near the river bank. Remember that a complete novice will sometimes catch a bigger trout on their first day worm fishing for trout than many of us who have spent a lifetime in pursuit of our sport fly fishing. When a worm looks broken or dead it should always be replaced. Some anglers prefer to use a two hook system one above the other to present the worm more naturalistically with the head and tail hanging free so that the worm is forced to take up a more natural position.

Always use the hand that is not holding the rod to feel the line for snags on the river bed or for that elusive trout. The worm is a natural bait that does not require an immediate strike of the rod when a trout takes the bait ,however i always strike when a get a strong tug on the rod to make sure the trout is hooked properly. When legering for trout make sure that the heaviest split shot is l away from the worm and a light split shot is no more than  10 cm from the worm to hold it down. In other words taper you weights so that the presentation is as natural as possible. I hope this guide to worm fishing for trout has been helpful if you have any questions or comments please go to the trout fishing blog link at the top of this page and leave your message tagged to any article. Tight Lines!.