You’ve probably heard me mention the best all purpose round valley fishing rig a few times already. Here are some pics and detailed information to give you a better understanding of the fishing rig I use trolling, anchored or drifting on Round Valley Reservoir to target rainbow trout, lake trout and smallmouth bass.

Start with the following tackle:

You can use circle hooks or regular hooks, whatever you desire.  Although not pictured above, I try and use the Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hooks to lessen the chance of gut hooking a fish.  I like these particular hooks because they are light-weight or thin compared to other hooks I’ve seen.  This allows my bait to be presented more naturally. Use a size 6 or 8 hook when targeting trout. A 4 or 6 when targeting Bass.

The barrel swivel serves as a connection for my main line to my fluorocarbon leader AND as a stop for my barrel or egg sinker (pictured below).

I use about 3 feet of 6lb test fluorocarbon leader which is attached to my hook. Fluorocarbon is much less visible than mono-filament and it does not stretch like mono.

Here is how the sinker / barrel swivel setup looks:

I use an improved clinch knot for all connections. I have used this fishing rig to drift the bottom for Lake Trout, troll for Rainbow Trout, drift for Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, fish anchored for Rainbows and fish from the sandy shores for Spring stocked trout. On the hook you can use live Herring or Shiners hooked under the chin and out a nostril OR night crawlers OR mealworms with small marshmallows.

If you want to live-line a herring or shiner, simply remove the barrel sinker and barrel swivel and tie the leader right to your main line using a Seaguar knot or Double Uni-Knot.