# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Fishing >  trout fishing.

## Ryleyboy

Is it true that rainbow trout actually love marshmellows. well could i use these as bait . becasue there is a torut pond up at my lake and your allowed to fish in it .. yet everytime i try i get one every two hours when there is over a thousand fish in this pond . i need some tips.

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## canid

i don't know about actual marshmallows but there are scores of scented and flavored baits called marshamllow baits, due to the identical shape and texture. they are usually brightly colored [as a further attractant] and come in small glass jars. most bait shops and sporting goods stores i've seen carry them.

some fish, young [inexperienced] trout included will often bite at just about anything small you put into the water. if nobody gives you any better advice, [and if it's legal to do so where you are] you might aswell try it.

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## Ole WV Coot

Cheese always seems to work, rather it has for me just don't carry it in your pocket, gets kinda messy.

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## Sarge47

Wet & dry flies seem to work really well, don't know about marshmellows; do you toast them 1st? :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Ameriborn

I've tried them before without much success. In a reservoir stocked with them I caught 2 in 8 hours. Good thing I wasn't there for the trout. Caught a rather oddly shaped Catfish on it once as well. It looked like it was gutted and sewn shut it was so flat.

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## chiggersngrits

i use mostly rooster tails and small spoons. you can also try kernels of corn, worms or crickets. like canid said check to see if these baits are legal in your area. the trout in my area, north alabama southern tennesee are hatchery raised and stocked in dam tailwaters.never tried marshmallows. good luck.

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## Ole WV Coot

I forgot the corn. Rooster tails the little black ones work best for me.

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## chiggersngrits

same here coot. 1/8 oz. black seem to be the best round here.

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## catfish10101

My uncle (RIP) fished for salmon and trout in creeks where he could see the fish stacked up for miles. The best thing he found for them was something called a "sockeye fly" (someone from Alaska may know what it is) LOL. It is the single reason that the game wardens would run up to anyone they saw pulling in a fish and if it wasn't hooked in the mouth, it had to go back in the water. It was a treble hook with a lead weight built into the center designed for snagging fish. NOT LEGAL IN SOME PLACES!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHECK YOUR LAWS!!!!!!!!! But for survival purposes, WRITE ME A TICKKET!!!!!!! I'm alive to sign it. Should be part of every survival kit!!!!!!

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## Ryleyboy

thanks everyone.... im gonna have to expirement a few different baits and see which one works

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## smokelessfire

i was fishing at a trophy trout lake up here, and the guy next to me said u don't need to waste good money on those fancy colored/scented marhmallows, that regular marshmallows work great. get the mini ones, or just break off small enough pieces. corn is a no-no, cuz it doesn't digest in their systems, and they die. so if the corn comes off the hook, dead fish for nothing. i heartily agree on black rooster tails, they are the best. at dawn and dusk, black is the best color for any lure. the fish see it better, cuz they are looking up towards the lighter sky, and black makes a better outline.

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## Riverrat

Ryleyboy, is there any fishing supply stores in the area? Ask them what works in your local fishing holes, they will be able to tell you what is good in your area. Not all flies or bait work in all areas. For me here in NB on the Miramichi, it is a fly called the Green machine, or another one called a butterfly, but they may not work out where you are.

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## Ole WV Coot

> i was fishing at a trophy trout lake up here, and the guy next to me said u don't need to waste good money on those fancy colored/scented marhmallows, that regular marshmallows work great. get the mini ones, or just break off small enough pieces. corn is a no-no, cuz it doesn't digest in their systems, and they die. so if the corn comes off the hook, dead fish for nothing. i heartily agree on black rooster tails, they are the best. at dawn and dusk, black is the best color for any lure. the fish see it better, cuz they are looking up towards the lighter sky, and black makes a better outline.


I never knew that about corn. We're talking about canned corn not hard. Make any difference, or just any kind of corn? :Confused:

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## Rick

Well, I didn't know either but, apparently, it's false: 

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/p.../corn_chum.htm

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## Ryleyboy

Well im gona have to purchase some rooster tails.

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## nell67

The only thing around here that bites on corn (canned) is grass carp.

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## skunkkiller

nightcrawlers on hook with no wait sinks slow they hit almost every time.

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## sobeit

> The only thing around here that bites on corn (canned) is grass carp.


When I was younger we used corn for bluegills and brim.

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## nell67

> When I was younger we used corn for bluegills and brim.


 Never could get them to bite on corn,just the carp would.

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## smokelessfire

thanx for that link rick. i was told that corn kills trout, and that it is illegal to use here in ct for that reason. i will call the DEP(dept. of enviro protection) and find out. i would love to use corn again, i always had fantastic luck with it. oh, and coot is right, cheese is great! i use velveeta, as it stays on the hook a little better, and comes in that nice little foil pouch, staying fresh longer.

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## Beo

Fishing for catfish here we use cinnamon and wheaties, put the wheaties in a mixing bowl and pour cinnamon (a bunch) on top and mix with water mixing by hand like your neading dough, it gets real gooy and then we put it in a ziplock lock bag, at the fish'n hole or river we form a wad around a trebble hook and cast it on deadline (no sinker needed from the weight) and the catfish love it. Have caught some monster carp with it too.

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## Ole WV Coot

We call our homemade mixtures, and everybody has their own. We call them doughballs down this way. Some men swear by anise flavor, some just swear.

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## Ryleyboy

i also heard that a very small len thompson works really good to,.

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## trax

smokeless? velveeta isn't cheese. I know they call it cheese and I know it looks kinda like cheese and I can't say what it is exactly but come on man, that ain't cheese  :Big Grin:

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## Beo

I eats me some gubbermint wic cheese  :Big Grin:  
In the United States the term has been used, sometimes derisively, to describe monetary government assistance given to those who are in need of financial help; for example, a person receiving such aid could be said to "live on Government Cheese."

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## Rick

Hey, I've tasted that stuff and it's pretty darn good.

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## Beo

Awwww Rick that crap is nasty.

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## Rick

Well, what can I say? To each his own.

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## Dennis K.

Depends on your trout.  
Stocked rainbow trout will often bite on salmon eggs, the artificial marshmellow things mentioned above, hot dog pieces - the are not picky.
Native fish are a little more finicky.  Try worms dug from the side of the creek/pond/reservoir.  Also, Natives are much more attuned to things like a shadow falling across the water, and movement on the shoreline.  If they see you, they'll usually run for cover, or just sit there where you can see them and not bite.

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## Ryleyboy

salmon eggs?. never heard of using that,, were can you purchase those?

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## fitfisherman

> salmon eggs?. never heard of using that,, were can you purchase those?


That is more of a spring time bait.  You can buy them at a bait store or catch a female steelhead or salmon and take the eggs.  

This time of year I would be trapping the sculpins and other minnows that inhabit your local waters and use those.  The sculpins are deadly on stream trout.

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## jrock24

Don't use marshmellos, look up "trout magnets". You can order them online or get them at walmart. They work really well and are all you need. I even have a couple in my rambo 2000 super slayer knife.

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## Rick

Trout magnets are really cute. I have some on my fridge. 

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## Beo

Nice of you to size those with a penny for us Rick, I almost had them confused for real ones  :Big Grin:

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## RobertRogers

Someone should try creamed corn.

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## Rick

How do you get the cream to stay on the hook?

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## jrock24

the cream can stick to the magnets.

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## sh4d0wm4573ri7

We used to tear up rainbows and brown trout on Grindstone Lake in Pine county MN using pink marshmellows and nightcrawlers the marshmellows outfished plain crawlers 3-1 so yes they can work

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## laughing beetle

That's it... I gotta get some marshmallows and hit the trout streams :Big Grin:  All this fish talk is making me hungry! :Smile:

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## jrock24

At this time of the year- good luck!

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## coldkill13

Hey yall. Just got back from a trip to S. Dakota at 1:30 this mornin. I did quite a bit of trout fishin there with great success. I found this little old lure in the bottom of my tackle box that looks like something homemade but it worked excellent. Its labeled '000 Reflecto' and I havent been able to find them on the market but boy I sure cleaned up on the rainbows with it. I overcasted and landed the thing high up in a pine tree and was heartbroken till I finally made it up the tree and recovered it. That or a little mepp's with a piece of crawdad tail or worm on it for scent is what I found to work best on rainbows in lakes or ponds. For browns and my personal favorite, brook trout, you need to sneak up on em from upstream and let a worm drift down on a tiny little hook. Never got into fly fishing so I cant help out there, sorry.
You can see something similar on this link, only mines been outfitted with some feathers and red thread:http://www.striper.net/tackle_lures_...cto-spoons.htm

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## Barefoot

marshmallows definitely work on the lakes here in eastern ky for trout. the small ones come in bags of mixed colors. sometimes pink seems to work better and sometimes other colors are the ticket  :Wink: 

the trick is to not use a cork and weight it just enough to make it sink really slow. with lake trout, you have to figure out what depth they are hanging out at and where on the lake. they generally find a comfortable place/temp in the water column and hang there rising occasionally to edibles seen above then returning back to said level. try to find a place in the lake where there is an inlet or outlet of water. a feeder creek will provide a higher oxygen content in that area and an outlet (like a spillway) will cause current....both of which trout like. i don't know what is going on in your lake but there are certain places in most every lake where trout will concentrate for one reason or another.

if you see trout rising on top of the water a lot you might as well give up bait fishing as they are feeding on some kind of aquatic hatch (midges etc). generally speaking, trout are keyed in when this is happening and will be hard to tempt with anything else. however, if you are a fly fisherman...its game on  :Wink: 

the best way to learn how to catch trout or any fish is to spend a crap load of time on your water.

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## rwc1969

They work here in MI too. Both on natives and the mushy, pale fleshed hatchery/ farm released/ planted trout. The little colored ones in pink and yellow work best for me. Corn works great too. Especially Del Monte, yes there is a difference and the trout seem to know it.

I now only do this in one creek where the trout are destined for death from warm water or low oxygen??. They rarely live thru the summer and get planted each year. It was a couple old timers that turned me onto this. I don't really like the idea of using corn or mallows for trout, but it works extremely well.

I usually use artificials, aka. hardware, or leaf worms bouncing the bottom. Twister tails and in line spinners work good. We get rainbows and browns in the local streams. They get a lot of brookies in the UP and of course we have the steelies, browns and salmon that run from the Great Lakes, pinks, coho and chinook. A couple local inland lakes have plants of Splake and lakers, but I've never caught one. I've never caught a pink, lake trout, brookie or splake. I've never done good in lakes either, but we have a few good inland trout lakes.

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## canid

had to do it, just razzing you:

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## Rick

If you capture a spider that large, it's probably best not to hold it to your neck like that.

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## hunter63

My lower field has about 800 ft of frontage on the Kickapoo River.

Nice curve at east end of property, bunch of snags along bank.
Favorite method, flip rocks over at fire pit, pick up worms and night crawlers.
Take tractor with brush hog, down to river, mow a couple of spots in the tall stuff along the banks.
Seems as I'm backing mower up to the edge, tends to throw "stuff" into the river.
Fish seem to like this.

Then set up lawn chair, bait up "river rig". 
Big sinker on bottom, 'bout 18" line, to treble swivel, then about another 18 to 24" line to hook w/ night crawler or worm.
Top of swivel to pole.  l--- Looks kinda like this.

Toss out at base of snag or edge of shade.
Sit down, kick off shoes, pop a brewski, eat the marshmellows, and snoose, at least till you get a bite.
Biggest brown was little over 18", lots of smaller ones, but usally just keep 14" or bigger.
Lot of red horse and suckers though, but something to do.

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## Mertell

Hunter63:

" pop a brewski"  

Is this a new survival skill with which I am yet to become familiar?

Oh, please share!

-Mert    (Doug)

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## canid

don't worry; we always share the brews around this camp-fire.

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## Rick

My Polish is a little rusty but I seem to remember that "brewski" means "Nectar of gods". Don't quote me on that, though.

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## hunter63

> Hunter63:
> 
> " pop a brewski"  
> 
> Is this a new survival skill with which I am yet to become familiar?
> 
> Oh, please share!
> 
> -Mert    (Doug)


LOL, well look at it this way, if your sitting in the sun, on the river bank, in a lawn chair, and all your doing is popping brewskis (nectar of the gods, beer), snoozing on and off, most people would say; "lookie there, shouldn't that guy have a job, must be an alcoholic!" 

Now do the same thing with a fish pole, and they say; "wow, that guy must really be a good fisherman, hes been there every day this week.

Presentation, presentation, presentation 

Now, some day when y'all are older, I 'splain spark-plug fishin'

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## rwc1969

After walking, casting and wading up and down the Maumee river last year to no avail we decided to try that method hunter63. Whadaya know. It works! Caught 5 or so different species of fish and ended up with a stringer of cats, walleye and white bass. All we had to do is sit there and watch the chinese people pluck maple seeds from the trees. Much easier on the back too.

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## Barefoot

spark plug fishing....do tell!

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## hunter63

> spark plug fishing....do tell!


O.K. y'all want to hear about "Spark plug fishing".

This is the ultimate, extreme, fishing (or getting away from DW)
Bring a buddy and a 30 Pack of brewskis, get in the boat ( no motor, 'course you don't have to go far anyway).... head out.

Now if your catching too many, (or not), just tie a spark plug on your lines, and cast out.
Start popping brewskies.

One of 2 things are gonna happen, you're either gonna start catching some thing on them spark plugs.........or run out of brewskies.
In either case it's time to go home.

Giving credit:

This method was related to be by a fellow motel guest, while sitting around the pool watching the kids swim, in Kentucky, when I discovered it was a dry country (or parish?).

I was grousing about the lack of "amenities", namely a beer cave in every gas station, convent store, super market, I mean, in Wisconsin every store sells beer, even have drive thru's.
What the heck kind of foreign country is this anyway?

Well, long story short, seems he had a supply of brewskies that was in danger of going bad, so I had to help him out.

So, to this nameless guy, who I'll never see again, (especially if he keeps drinking like that)
Heres to you, and thanks for "mentoring me as a young man".

That's my story, as best I can recall, as alcohol was involved.....And I'm sticking to it.

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## crashdive123

Oh man.  I was expecting something with electricity and floating fish.

Nice story though.

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## hunter63

> Oh man.  I was expecting something with electricity and floating fish.
> 
> Nice story though.


Well, that would be what the stun grenade is for..........

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