Baits and lures for put and take

Which bait you pick is mostly about how you want to fish. If you want to search the water actively, a small spinner or spoon is hard to beat. If you want to sit and wait, floating powerbait is the classic choice. A handful of baits and a feel for colour cover most situations on a put-and-take lake.

The bait types you meet

When you fish actively:

• Spinners in size 1–3 (about 3–10 g) for hunting fish.
• Spoons around 7–10 g, like a Toby, with good casting distance and a rolling action.
• Jigs and softbaits fished slowly, good on passive fish.
• Tasmanian Devil and through-runners to hold a set depth.

If you bait-fish instead, powerbait is first choice. It floats, so it hangs a bit above the bottom where rainbow trout look for food.

Two colour modes

Colour and movement often mean more than the exact model. Natural in clear water on fish that have been in a while (silver, copper, gold). Bright in coloured water or on freshly stocked fish (red, chartreuse, pink, flash). Start neutral and step up to a signal colour if nothing happens.

How you make the bait take

Cast, vary the retrieve and put in a pause. Rainbow often follows a bit and hits when the pace changes or the bait sinks in a stop. Count the bait down to try different depths. A selection aimed at the species: best lures for rainbow trout. The whole method under spin fishing.