Spin Fishing for Trout – 3 Fly Fishing Tips for Spin Fishermen
If you spend any time at all spin fishing for trout there is little doubt that you are aware of the fact that trout feed on insects, but what you may not be aware of is the fact that you can effectively use artificial flies as bait while spin fishing? As we all know, artificial flies are the best way to mimic live insects, and most anglers think that to effectively fish for trout with an artificial fly you have to be a “fly fisherman”. The truth is that this isn’t the case. Artificial flies can be utilized as bait when spin fishing for trout with traditional spin fishing gear, it’s just that some specialized techniques need to be employed. Below I will outline three fly fishing tips for spin fishing, so that as a traditional spin fisherman you can begin to use the highly effective trout bait known as the artificial fly. I can tell you from experience, once you add artificial flies to your fishing arsenal when spin fishing for trout your catch rates will begin to increase almost immediately.
You can drift fish with streamers. Streamers are artificial flies that are made to mimic bait fish and other underwater prey that trout love to eat. Muddler minnows and Wooly buggers are two popular streamer patterns that are effective for trout. In order to drift fish with a streamer a bullet sinker is slipped onto your line followed by a barrel swivel. A twelve to twenty four inch leader is then tied to the opposite end of the barrel swivel and your streamer is tied to the end of the leader. The weight of the bullet sinker will vary depending on current flow and/or the depth of the water that you are fishing.
The second fly fishing tip for spin fisherman is to begin using a piece of terminal tackle that is referred to as a fly fishing bubble. A fly fishing bubble (sometimes called a casting bubble) is simply a small plastic bubble with an adjustable stopper running through the middle of it. When the bubble is submerged beneath the water and the stopper is depressed, water enters the bubble, when the stopper is pushed in the opposite direction no more water can enter or escape. This adds weight to the bubble so that lightweight artificial flies can be cast and fished effectively. To fish with a “dry fly” the bubble is partially filled with water so that it still floats on top of the water. The point is that with the help of a fly fishing bubble both wet and dry flies can be used when spin fishing for trout in both lake and river fishing scenarios.
The third tip is to use micro jigs. These teeny, tiny marabou jigs are often hand tied just like an artificial fly and are an extremely effective bait to use when spin fishing for trout. The obvious key to micro jigs is the fact that they are very small, sometimes as small as 1/100 of an ounce! This means that they are difficult to cast without the help of a long fishing rod and very light fishing line. I personally like to use small float in the form of a slip bobber to fish micro jigs effectively. This way the depth at which the jig is “fished” can be adjusted easily by simply adjusting the bobber stop.
The bottom line is that when spin fishing for trout artificial flies can be used as bait by spin fishermen and should be added to your trout fishing repertoire sooner rather than later.