Tag Archives: 2011reports

Fishing the Shoreline for Rainbows and Brown Trout

If you are looking to do some shoreline trout fishing at Round Valley from now till the ice moves in, you cannot beat the following technique. Now this may not be the most exciting or glamorous method of trout fishing, but it does catch Rainbows and Brown Trout.

marshmallows, mealworms and live shiners

marshmallows, mealworms and live shiners (in the bucket)

Tackle:
Use the tried and true All Purpose Round Valley Fishing Rig.

Bait:
Live Shiner, Powerbait, Mealworms, Garden Worms, and Mini Marshmallows.

Method 1:
Fish any combination of baits above (except the shiners) on the bottom. Cast out, set your pole down and wait. Do not reel your line in just for the heck of it, chances are you’ll get snagged on something. leave it out there for a good 20-30minutes before reeling in and checking your bait. Some people like to use a strike indicator like a bell during the day or little glowstick at night. I hope you brought a chair and thermos of soup.

Rod resting in holder

Rod resting in holder, awaiting some action.

Method 2:
The trout are cruising the shallows looking for a river to spawn so they tend to be in very shallow water. I like to fish a live shiner hooked through the dorsal fin under a bobber. It does not have to be a slip bobber for this time of year because the fish are shallow. I set my hook about 3 feet below the bobber and cast out so i’m in 10 to 15 feet of water and that’s just fine. Wait for the bobber to go completely under, reel in your slack line and while counting 3 or 5 seconds. Is the bobber still under? If yes, set the hook. If it came up, just wait.It’s not uncommon for the trout to come back around and take it again.

That’s it. Have fun out there. Stay warm!

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October 22 Fishing Report

Chris, Bill and I got a super late start and wound up at the dock at 3:30am. Air temperature was 38 degrees and water temp was 63 degrees. We double anchored in 35, 45 and 55 feet of water. Our greatest success came at 35 feet where we caught Rockbass after Rockbass. At one point we were joking it was the same fish, but who knows.

rockbass

We toughed it out till daybreak and it got down to 31 degrees at one point, brrrrr! Night fishing is DONE, we were the only boat out there.

Sun Up - Time get coffee

Sun Up - Time get coffee

After the sun came up we tried jigging for lakers, but the wind was so strong we couldn’t keep our lines vertical enough to contact the bottom. We were using a Krokodile, Hopkins, white bucktail, Kastmaster and Binsky. After a couple hours of fighting the wind we called it a night/day.

Leaves are changing color -  Fall is here.

Back at shore, there were a decent number of anglers in the cove between the two boat launches. Almost all of them were fishing the bottom for Rainbows using a variety of baits, shiners, worms, powerbait. I know of one fella that caught a 16inch rainbow using powerbait.

Photos courtesy of WoodallPhotography. Stay warm out there!

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March 12, 2011 Fishing Report – Cold Water Jigging

Fished Round Valley Reservoir 7am to 2pm with our April Lure of the Month sponsor Fish Sense Lures‘ owner Stephen Carey. We had never met before in person, let alone fished together but Stephen wanted to show me first hand how to fish The Binsky (something he graciously offers many of his customers) and how to target Lake Trout in Round Valley jigging The Binsky. By the time we got his Ranger bass boat into the water, it was obvious to me that he was knowledgeable, passionate, very easy to get along with and that we were going to have a great trip.

The Binsky

Time: 7am to 2pm
Weather: 58 degrees, winds WSW 5-10mph with gusts double that
Water Temp: 37.7 to 38.0 …cold
Target Species: Lake Trout
Bait: The Binsky blade bait in gold color
Method: locating schools of Lake Trout and Jigging through them
Catch & Release: 5 Lakers and 1 Rainbow

It was pretty windy, typical for an early spring on Round Valley after a storm. We navigated to some known waypoints at dropoffs and lumps and looked for schools of Lakers on the sonar. Once we located the fish it was difficult to stay on them because the winds. At one point the warning beacons came on and we headed in but about halfway there they went off again so we continued fishing.

Despite all our wind issues, we managed 5 Lakers and 1 Rainbow, all caught jigging The Binsky in 60 to 70 feet of water except for one Laker caught in 28 feet of water near the north cove.

Stay tuned for a full write up on Fish Sense Lures and The Binsky coming in April when we’ll be giving away 4 of these lures to 4 lucky Round Valley Fishing readers.

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