As we roll into summer, it can be a little overwhelming managing the excitement of all the fisheries that are opening around us and becoming more accessible due to the passing of the winter doldrums. It’s a good problem to have! We are inundated with fishing opportunities. For me, it’s comforting knowing that I always have the simple staple of rainbow trout fishing. Its simplicity brings accessibility for our families and children. It means we can throw a couple of kayaks in the back of the truck, a cooler, some rods, and we can take the ones we love out to relish in the joys of fishing. Now, I enjoy my motorized boat as much as the next guy, but with small trout lakes being so abundant, there’s a good chance we can bring the kids out to a lake that offers the added comfort and safety of boat speed restrictions, or in some cases, motorized boat restrictions.
Rainbow trout are intensely prolific throughout the Pacific Northwest. Native rainbows can be found throughout the Columbia River and its tributaries, like the Yakima and the Snake, and they thrive in the reservoirs built amongst these waters. They also flourish in alpine lakes high in the Cascades and Olympic Mountains. Though they are native to many waters of the northwest, the native stock is, for the most part, highly regulated by the Department of Fish and Wildlife for conservation purposes. Aside from this, wild rainbow trout tend to be found in rivers and high lakes that are not as easily accessed by kayak, which is why I personally like to target the stocked rainbows, which, despite what you might here from a handful of naysayers, are actually quite good eating when thrown on the smoker or baked with butter and garlic and whatever other aromatics you might throw at it. If you’d like to target Columbia basin Redband rainbow trout (Wild trout) for catch and release, Lake Roosevelt in Ferry, Stevens, Lincoln, Okanogan, and Grant counties is an excellent place to get started.
Hundreds of thousands of catchable-sized rainbow trout are stocked in lakes throughout Washington each year. There are too many lakes to mention here; however, you can hop onto the WDFW website and navigate to “catchable trout plants,” and chances are you will find a lake within a short drive of wherever you are that has planted trout.
As an avid kayak angler, I’m not afraid to admit that some kayak fishing can be cumbersome, complicated, and often leaves me wondering why I’m not instead using a larger boat to catch my fish. Thankfully, rainbow trout fishing from a kayak does not bring up any of those thoughts or trepidations. It can be as easy as casting a lure out behind you, setting your pole in a rod holder, and enjoying a nice paddle until you hear your rod bouncing around and causing a ruckus behind you.
Just about any type of kayak will do for rainbow trout fishing. The one caveat being that if you’re trolling, you should have a rod holder. If your kayak does not come equipped with one, then you can find a mountable one at most outdoor sporting equipment stores that carry fishing gear.
Trolling is my favorite method as it allows me to cover a lot of ground, and if done during the morning or evening, it can result in a limit of trout within a short period of time.
Trout are predatory fish, and once stocked, trout become accustomed to the natural diet of the lake they are planted in. They tend to be aggressive towards moving targets during the warmer months.
Inline spinners like Panther Martin, Rooster tails, Mepps Aglia, and Blue Fox Vibrax are all classic lures that work by allowing a constant spinning motion of the small attached spoon while presenting a colorful tube-shaped body. These all come with a treble hook or single hook that typically has the choice of being dressed with or without hackle. Generally, larger lures will catch larger fish and vice versa. The dressed lures present themselves as larger due to their increased profile. Chartreuse, black, white, yellow, and rainbow trout colors are all very effective. I typically start with a rainbow trout colored lure and switch out once they stop biting at that. The Blue Fox Vibrax has the added benefit of emitting a sonic vibration that can agitate fish and produce a strike. These inline spinners can be cast or trolled and are often the only lure type I need to bring with me. Other options outside of spinners would be small spoons or mini tube jigs.
A rubber trout net is another essential tool to bring along on your kayak. The cheap poly nets are less preferred as they often get stuck under the fish’s gills and can result in a dead fish that you otherwise may have been throwing back.
Divers
Since we are talking about kayak fishing, and with kayak fishing, I like to keep things simple, I hesitate to add more complexity to our fishing setups. However, if the mid-day warming of the water is causing the fish to hold deeper below the surface than what your standard trolling setup can achieve, then it might be worth deploying a diver. Divers are planers generally made of plastic and use hydrodynamics to pull your gear deep into the water. Most divers have a tripping mechanism that releases and stops the diving motion once a fish strikes. This allows you to reel the fish in without fighting the diver’s natural tendency to go deeper into the water. Though they take away from some of the simplicity, they are a heck of a lot easier to deal with than a downrigger, and they can absolutely produce good results.
Summer is here, and the fish are biting! I hope this information helps you with your next kayak fishing adventure! Stay safe and tight lines!
