Baits and lures for put and take

Which bait you choose is decided most by how you want to fish. If you are going to search the water actively a small spinner or a spoon is hard to beat, and if you are going to sit and wait the fish out floating PowerBait is the classic choice. With a handful of baits and the right feel for colour you cover most situations on a put-and-take lake.

The bait types you meet

When you fish actively this is what applies:

• Spinner in size 1–3 (about 3–10 grams) for hunting fish.
• Spinnerbait with blade and flash when the water is coloured.
• Spoon around 7–10 grams, such as Toby, with good casting distance and a rolling action.
• Jig and soft plastic fished slowly, good on passive fish.
• Jerkbait fished in jerks with pauses, when the fish follows but will not take.
• Tasmanian Devil and through-runner for holding a set depth.
• Pirk for vertical fishing when the fish stands deep, especially in winter.

If you want to bait-fish instead, PowerBait is the first choice. It floats, so it hangs a bit above the bottom just where the rainbow trout looks for food. Sweetcorn, worm and shrimp are also classic, cheap natural baits for bait fishing.

Two colour modes to keep an eye on

Colour and movement often mean more than the exact model. Think in two modes: natural in clear water on fish that have been in a long time (silver, copper, gold), and bright in coloured water or on freshly stocked fish (red, chartreuse, pink, glitter). Start neutral and step up to a signal colour if it is dead.

How you get the bait to take

Cast out, vary the retrieve and put in a reel-stop. Rainbow trout often follows the bait a bit and strikes when the tempo changes or when the bait sinks in a stop. Count the bait down to try different depths. A selection aimed at the species sits in best lures for rainbow trout, brown trout and Arctic char, and the whole method with casting and playing under spin fishing.