Deadsticking for Trout

This past Tuesday I had the chance to get out on the water locally. I just went ten minutes away and spent four hours on Jacobson Park. After chatting with a few people I became aware that the lake had just been restocked with 4000 rainbow trout.

I didn't really have a whole lot with which to chase trout with me, a few old waxworms and a couple of popeye jigs was about it.

Suffice to say I skunked out again but the guy next to me, about 20 yards away, was hauling them in like they were going out of fashion. He was sitting with a woman, probably his wife, and had already pulled in five trout. I wandered over and asked what rig he was using. It was so simple it was almost unreal.

He was using the deadsticking method with a small bullet weight above a large piece of shot about 12-15" above the hook. The hook itself was an octopus circle #10 loaded with 2-3 pieces of corn and a piece of Powerbait trout nugget.

After chatting a little more and seeing his setup in action close up I figured I'd give it a try this weekend. I spent about $10 on tackle. If successful, I'll report back with how I found using the rig.

I was wondering what setups others use at this time of year and if anyone else has had success using the deadsticking method?

DAVE

Let me tell you what I use. It's like rigging a mini Carolina rig. Use a 1/4 ounce or smaller slip sinker like a barrel sinker as the weight size. I use a #10 owner MUTU light circle hook. Most people use a # 14, #16, #18 or so treble hook. The common bait to use with this rig is Power bait floating dough you can pick up at Walmart. Your leader should be 12 to 14 inches. I use a Carolina keeper from basspro shops instead of a swivel so I can adjust my leader to whatever I like. My favorite bait to use in this situation is Gulps floating salmon eggs. They are harder to get off the hooks so you don't get robbed as easy. Make the dough into a ball and form it around your hook. Test it in the water to make sure you have enough on the hook to float your hook and your leader above the bottom of the lake. Now you can set your rod in a rod holder or whatever and fish with a slightly tight line or a tight line to your sinker. Some times its a light bite and some times they just knock the slack in the line. Have fun.

I just moved here from wisconsin, versailles area. Love to trout fish. Looking for fishing spots for any species. Shore fishing info and locations. [QUOTE=ThreeLions;508779]This past Tuesday I had the chance to get out on the water locally. I just went ten minutes away and spent four hours on Jacobson Park. After chatting with a few people I became aware that the lake had just been restocked with 4000 rainbow trout.

I didn't really have a whole lot with which to chase trout with me, a few old waxworms and a couple of popeye jigs was about it.

Suffice to say I skunked out again but the guy next to me, about 20 yards away, was hauling them in like they were going out of fashion. He was sitting with a woman, probably his wife, and had already pulled in five trout. I wandered over and asked what rig he was using. It was so simple it was almost unreal.

He was using the deadsticking method with a small bullet weight above a large piece of shot about 12-15" above the hook. The hook itself was an octopus circle #10 loaded with 2-3 pieces of corn and a piece of Powerbait trout nugget.

After chatting a little more and seeing his setup in action close up I figured I'd give it a try this weekend. I spent about $10 on tackle. If successful, I'll report back with how I found using the rig.

I was wondering what setups others use at this time of year and if anyone else has had success using the deadsticking method?

DAVE[/QUOTE]

you might want to check out one of the dam areas if there is one close to where you live. This is a good time of the year to catch sauger from the shore. There are some articles on this site that will give you some more details on sauger fishing if you are not familiar with that type of fishing.

I would call my little experiment a success.

I caught my limit if five yesterday in four hours, not really knowing what was a bite and what wasn't at first. Once I got the hang of things I felt a lot more comfortable.

Went out again today with my daughter and we pulled in seven between us, again in four hours. Though warmer today it was much breezier with some pretty strong gusts.

Looking forward to getting better at this technique.

DAVE