Home Forums Fishing Freshwater trout fisning lures?

Ingwe says he uses Panther Martin lures for creek fishing for trout.

What else do y'all recommend?

I picked up a couple small Panther Martins to try out.

Also; do y'all bend in the barbs for easier hook removal, for releasing fish?

Thanks!

Virgil B.

I order the single hook Panther Martins.

And I catch almost as many trout on the Luhr-Jensen Super Duper.

I carry a fair assortment of stuff with me but these are my go-to choices...

And yeah...
I pinch the barbs down

I've got to where I use single hook Panther Martin most of the time. Single hooks are usually a lot easier/faster to get out. If I'm not keeping any I mash the barb down, even easier to release them that way. There's plenty of other lures that work; Rooster Tail, Mepps, small Rapala, etc. I've had good luck with the Panther Martins so that's what I usually use. They get down to the fish pretty quick.

Listen to Ingwe he knows of what he speaks.
Funny, I have drug different Super Dupers for miles across the water and have yet to have a hit on one. I see others catch fish with them but I don't.

I like the Panther Martins because they have an easy " starting speed" because we fish by throwing them upstream, and retrieving them. Rooster Tails and Mepps( both good lures but...) often won't start spinning when you are retrieving them with the current at their backs....

Pinching the barbs down would often make life easier for you and the fish.

Also look at small Thomas Cyclone spoons if you can get them outside Montana....

One of my favorite lures for rivers and streams are small lead head maribou jigs. Bounce them along the bottom, cast so they are carried into undercut banks and jig them. I've even floated them along below a bobber. They are deadly in sizes 1/32 to 1/8 ounce, depending on the flow.
Black, white, brown, and olive have worked best for me.
Best part is they are cheap, so when you lose one it doesn't hurt. You're not fishing them right if you're not losing some.

Good point! they work here as well, particularly in black and brown...

I have had my best luck with Mepps, followed by Blue Fox, followed by Panther Martin. I don’t like Rooster Tails at all and can’t seem to catch anything on a super duper. A Kastmaster sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.

I have spent countless hours (years/decades) trout fishing streams.
Small Panther Martins.
Yellow body with red spots and a silver blade on sunny days
Black body, yellow spots and gold blade when shady or overcast

Joe's Flies spinners work well for trout and pan fish.

Thanks for the tips!

Gotta get out and "wet a line" soon!

Virgil B.

I keep a small selection of Panther Martin, Mepp's, and Joe's Flies - usually one or the other will work.

Small Phoebe.
Silver or gold.

Wooly Booger.

Mepps, Blue Fox, rooster tails and other decent quality spinners all work well, but I like Panther Martins because they have a heavy metal blade that "feels" solid with good action when retrieving it.

Spoons work well but even with a swivel, I get twisted line really badly. Jigs and other lures work well too in certain situations but for an idiot like me who can only figure out how to cast and retrieve, Panther Martins reign supreme.

I like a 1/64 ounce Trout Magnet jig head with Nikko Stonefly nymphs under a clear casting bobber when the water is shallow, under 24", with the jig/nymph set to drift about 8" above the stream bed. Berkley used to make a 7' light or ultra-light action spinning rod in their "trout dough" series that worked well for this.

I caught my biggest stream trout with a black marabou jig by casting into the water coming over the Bath, NH, dam on the Ammonoosuc River. I put it back so that others might have the opportunity to catch it.

for spinners I like Mepps I usually use a #2 size.. Small to medium spoons work well like a Krocodile. Light Marabou jigs work well in neutral colors. Lot of people use the trout magnet jig system . I like to fish a 5" Gold or Rainbow trout colored floating minnow with a bass rod for bigger trout. They'll bite small crankbaits like you would bass fish with too. I fish in tail race rivers.

I use Daiwa Silver Creek Spinners, change the hook to a single with a barb. They have a swivel and folded clevis that minimizes line twist.

In the fall, I use Daiwa Silver Creek Minnows with the front treble removed and the rear replaced with a single hook. The hook rides up so I seldom get snagged.

I like and fish the Panther Martin in either black with yellow spots or yellow with red spots.
They’ll work on pretty much any species if sized right.
On the Owyhee River this year I threw them for smallies and ended up catching more channel cats on them than anything else!

If your getting line twist from a spoon, then your fishing it too fast.
They’re designed to “wobble” back and forth - not turn over like a spinner blade.
Cast across and slightly down stream, let it sink deep and then just tighten up and let it wobble across to your side of the river......

Panther Martin with yellow body and red dots and orange blade has produced the most consistently for me.

That's my go to on sunny days, darker on overcast.

The OP mentions creek fishing, so I through my vote for Panther Martins.

The truth of all fishing is that the “best” artificial lure changes, all the time.
Size, color, speed and depth will change depending on local conditions at the time.
These factors can change several times a day.

I troll high mountain lakes a lot, and I am constantly changing lures.

I will usually run two rods, with a good reliable lure on one rod, and another choice based on amount of daylight and time of year.

This also affects both the depth of water I fish and depth of lure.

A few things I consider consistent.
In low light conditions like between the crack of dawn until sunlight on the water and very overcast days, I run shallow, very reflective metallic lures.
In bright sunlight and very clear water, I run lures with natural prey paintjobs.
In the early spring to early summer, I troll close to shoreline and shallow water.
I late summer and fall you will see me 50 to 150 feet away from the shoreline.

Good tips, Anaconda!

Thanks!

Virgil B.

if you can find them abu droppin spinner works fantastic.

^^^Yup, old reliable...also black body, red dots, nickel or bronze blade. And it ain't just me, these are the empty or near empty display racks at local sporting goods stores. Kokanee and trout.

More good tips!

Thanks again!

Virgil B.

I fish highcountry lakes on my backpacking trips. All I've ever used are no.2 Panther Martin's or 1/8oz Rooster Tails. Generally the Rooster Tail is my favorite.

Here's one from this summer:

B--really nice fish.

Small streams: Mepps #0 silver, 1/24 oz or 1/16 oz Roostertail (black/silver or white/silver), 1/64 trout magnet (brown, green, orange, pink) under a tiny float.

Medium streams: Mepps #1 silver, 1/16 oz Roostertail (black/silver, white/silver), 1/16 oz woollybugger jig under a float

Larger streams: Mepps #1 or #2 silver, 1/8 oz Roostertail (black/silver, white/silver), Rapala #7 black/silver, 1/16 jig w/Berkley Gulp! Minnow 1 1/2 to 2 inch under a float or casted as is.

Small and medium Lakes with depths no more than 40 feet: Same as streams depending on what’s in the lake. Bigger the fish, bigger the lure.

Large/deep lakes: Same as large streams, but also do a lot of trolling with flashers/dodgers and wedding rings and hoochies.

1/100 oz white or peach thread jig under and indicator. In the small streams around Missouri a light weight white rooster tail with a light piece of split shot about 12-16" up the line works well also. If you get some decent water I have also caught them on a rebel crawdad or a floating Rapala.

High Lakes this and a 1/8 oz Mepps with a green body is all you need to know..
Been known to pitch a 2" Rapala for big Cutts on UL spinning rod a time or two

I've used small Rooster Trails and Panther Martins with some success but silver blade #0 and #1 Mepps are the bomb in NC trout waters. Cast upstream and haul directly downstream. Start them fast and once you feel the blade spinning, slow them down a bit. You will lose a ton of them to snags but will also catch a lot of fish. Mostly stockers but the occasional native in the right streams. Since most are put and take I don't crimp the barbs but do buy single hook varieties when I find them. Used to stock up on these spinners at Walmart's around the State about this time of year on clearance. I wouldn't go into one of those stores on a dare these days. Good luck.

Much prefer to tie and drift, and/or throw jigs mostly 1/32 & 1/16oz. Will paddle troll & throw some jerkbaits on occasion too.

Use flies here, but I pinch down barbs to make it easier to release fishermen. Never done streamside surgery on my body, but I have cut or pushed hooks though or cut them off from 4 anglers over my career.

Beside the spinners like Melos, rooster tails, panther martins and phoebes, we had good luck with 1/16 oz. maribou crappie jigs.

I got smoked by a guy casting a Rapala. Took it in the back. Also took a 1/2 oz jig to the forehead. The Rapala had barbs and way more hooks. Sucked bad.

I'm constantly amazed at the number of different kinds of fish I've brought to hand on a properly fished jig.
That reel... the Shimano CI4+ is the shizz! I have two 2500's and two FK 2500's that I use for just about everything smaller than a chinook. They're spendy, but smooth as silk, light weight and have great drags.

I ran across a new (to me) knot the other day for slicing braid to a mono bumper or leader.
It's called the John Collins knot and is super easy to tie. Uses less material and the knots are very tiny.
Google it and check out a video, if interested.....

I have drug several different lures (some with GREAT success) through miles of trout waters.

Never once have I thought of using a jig.
May be one chance I will be in trout water next year and that is likely it for this go around on the planet!

Used to kill Browns and Rainbows with Panther Martins and Z-Rays. Man, it's been a long time since I've done that. This thread reminded me that it's time to change that.

Question for you guys runnin jigs for trout, you guys run em under a bobber/float or twitch em on the bottom?

Still water, if it's a rocky bottom I like to simply jig them slowly.
If it's weedy, I'll use a float to keep it above them.

Drift boat on the river, I like cast and twitch them as we drift along.
Can do the same thing from the bank or run a sliding float to make quick depth adjustments...

I caught some pretty nice browns on an eastern Oregon stream while jigging for small mouth bass.
I was quite surprised at the first one to hit!

I use 3/8 and 1/2 oz jigs to twitch for coho salmon...they hate them!

Copy the coho twitchin. Done well on steelhead with jigs under a bobber too. Have to get some small jigs for trout

Judman,
I’m always surprised when it happens, but I’ve caught several steelhead while twitching for coho salmon.
The steelies really try to kill it and I’ve wondered if they take it for a crayfish....

Both methods work depending on the conditions. You can pretty much use the same jig tactics used for steelhead for trout, just downsize your gear and tackle some.

I tight line alot but some situations call for a float. Have separate reel/rod combos for both.

In most waters crayfish, sculpins and bait/baby fish make up the bulk menu for big trout but not always. That's the nice thing about custom jigs, you can play with different combos just like the fly fisher folks do.

Cool thanks guys. Any favorite colors/patterns? Pics are always handy

Judman,

As for favorite jig color/patterns it really depends on the time of year, water conditions and a bunch of other variables. What works in one area may not work as well in others.

For rainbows in my area orange/browns usually work well. Some days olive/tans or olive/browns work well. Cutts seem to favor white or green/white ime. Browns seem to like anything natural that is not too flashy or disco - black, browns, purple, olives, white even yellows. We have a few runs of steelhead here though I've never targeted them (small window in different sections), they say cerise/white works well.











Talked a fly fishing buddy into trying jigs and whatta ya know?



Hint, always pay attention to those folks and what they're using.

JohnW
What size and color Super Dupers?
Lakes or rivers
How do you "fish" them?

This tread is humbling. I grew up with a fishing pole in my hand. The Roaring Fork river literally ran though our front yard. I caught my share of trout with 3 lures. A Mepps, Panther Martin, and an occasional red and white Daredevle spoon. I didnt know that trout would bite anything else. 67 years old and am still learning.

Thanks mtnhnr. I’ll give em a whirl this spring. 👍

Good how to video on that knot. I might have missed something but it looks exactly like the "Crazy Alberto Knot" that I've been using. IRegardless of the name it's a good small leader to braid knot.

The flashy jigs are exactly what I use for coho. Sized 3/8 or 1/2oz, depending on depth and current. The second pic is FULL of trout killers! I need to start tying my own....

Looks like those would be great on our Great Lakes Steelhead! Gonna have to try and tie a few up and give em a try!!! Thanks for the great pics!