Fly Fishing Tips – How to Catch Rainbow Trout

Fly fishers, both men and women spend a great deal of their time hunting trout, and particularly rainbow trout. The beautiful rainbow band that runs along the the sides of a rainbow trout (from their head to their tail) is how one can identify a rainbow trout. As rainbow trout is a delicious fish to eat, and as they also provide excellent sport because of their fighting abilities, rainbow trout fishing has become very popular. Unlike other trout species, rainbow trout can also be tempted to take properly presented flies as well as streamers and nymphs, and are therefore the ideal fish for fly fishing.

Today, rainbow trout can be found in many regions in the United States, but the rainbow trout species originated west of the Rockies. Rainbow trout prefer cool streams, rivers and lakes, and are found in the northern parts of the US where the water temperature falls between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The main diet of rainbow trout includes plankton, immature and adult insects, worms, crustaceans. They sometimes even feed on small fish. Rainbow trout will remain in streams until they reach 6 to 9 inches in length, and then migrate to lakes or oceans where they spend years bulking up before returning to streams and rivers to spawn. Rainbow trout that have adapted to the saltwater environment are known as steelhead trout.

Rainbow Trout Fly Fishing Equipment

The fly rod used to catch rainbow trout varies depending on the size of trout you want to catch and the body of water you are fishing on. When fishing for medium to large rainbow trout in lakes and large rivers, use a 4 weight through to a 8 weight fly rod. When fishing for small to medium size rainbow trout in small streams and rivers, use a 1 weight through to a 4 weight fly rod. A recommended rainbow trout fly fishing rod for small streams is the extremely light Sage TXL fly rod.

The fly line used for rainbow trout fly fishing is typically a floating line if dry fly fishing on the water’s surface. When fishing below the water’s surface using a nymph or streamer, a sinking tip fly line is used. A fly fishing reel is not essential for rainbow trout fly fishing, and some anglers prefer hand stripping the line to using a fly reel. A fly reel is often just used to recover and store fly line and backing not in immediate use. For more information on fly reels, take a look at the following fly reel introduction.

Rainbow Trout Fly Fishing Flies

Two basic types of flies are used for rainbow trout fly fishing, wet flies and dry flies. Dry flies masquerade insects are used with a floating fly line which floats on top of the water. A wet fly can imitate a bug, a worm, a minnow, small fish or any other water creature that lives under the water surface. A wet fly is different from a dry fly in that it sinks under the water’s surface. Nymphs and streamers are classified as wet flies and are used normally with sinking tip fly fishing lines.

For rainbow trout fly fishing, different types of flies are used in different regional areas. It is a good idea to find out what flies, nymphs and streamers work best from local fly shops or local anglers for that particular region. A good technique when fishing for rainbow trout is to start out with dry flies on the water’s surface, which causes less water disturbance. If you have no success with dry fly fishing, then start using wet flies below the water’s surface.

For more information about saltwater fly fishing gear, take a look at the news feed for Fly Fishing Elite (Feedraider.com).

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