Fall Trout for the Table

"The trick is to cast flashy lures and keep them moving. You don't need to rip the lure through the water, you just need to keep it moving. You don't need to entice these fish to strike. They will take the lure if interested."

- Dana Benner

Trout fishing on some of the best bodies of water near where I live ends with the first ice, and there have been years when first ice formed in late October. I never know when it will happen, so I get out there as often as I can. I feed the family with what I catch, and late-season trout sees us through the winter. Fall trout fishing is different from spring and summer but more than doable if you know how to go about it.

The same brown, rainbow and brook trout that were elusive and holding deep during summer become more active as the water cools. They move up into the shallows to feed. They do not hold to one particular spot like they seem to do in the warmer months. Instead, they cruise from one spot to the next, instinctively feeding as much as possible before winter ice makes it harder.

If you want to catch these fish, you need to present the right offering in the right place. It is all about knowing the fish and being able to read the water.

I usually target shallower areas that didn't hold fish in summer, and I have found that the best way to get after aggressively feeding fall trout is to match their aggressiveness. This is not the time for finesse or working one hole from every angle. This is not the time to "match the hatch" as there may be no hatch to match.

I leave the fly rod at home and adopt the "run and gun" mentality of a bass pro trying to catch as many keepers as possible while he can.