Finally got a chance to go up and experiment a bit more with swimbaits for trout. Back in February we tried trolling trap-rigged 3 inch Big Hammers and ended up having great success. When the day was over the 2 swimbaits we had been trolling out-fished the 4 Rapalas we had out with them.

This time it was all swimbaits. We experimented with many different colors and trap rigging techniques. Tried using a needle to thread the line through the bait instead of just letting it hang. At the end we even tried using line up to 15 lb. test and the baits still swam fine but I didn't get a chance to test it against a fish.

We trolled the area around the West side of the island from about 8:00 am to noon. In those four hours we had over 40 hook-ups including one fish that would've easily went over 4 lbs (jumped and broke the leader). We were having problems keeping the fish on which always seems to be a problem trolling for trout but it was worse than normal. One problem is the 4 lb. test we were using for the leader from the main hook to the trap kept breaking - especially when the fish would jump (how the 4+ pounder was lost). A few more trips and some more experimenting and I'm sure we'll have this technique pinned down. Finding the perfect trap hook (we are using a size 6 octopus hook), using heavier line (or maybe heavy flourocarbon) for rigging the trap, etc.

We did however prove to ourselves that the first trip was not a fluke. The trout really seem to like the 3 inch Big Hammers. Pepper Trout and Dorado were the hot colors yesterday with Silver Sardine a close second. Last time Mackerel and Sea Wolf were the hot colors.

We were using 1/4 oz. heads on 4 & 6 lb. main trolling line. With all the hookups we had it was obvious that they were getting down deep enough. Larry's boat is also not the best boat for trolling for trout since it is too fast (even dragging a couple of buckets) - also another reason we may loose more fish than we should. We were using both Super Shad and Darter Heads. Only one fish so far (both trips) has been hooked on the front hook - all others have been on the trap.

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Pierce's First Rainbow Trout

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Trap Rigged 3 inch Big Hammers