# Favourite Trout Lures



## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

It's been a while between drinks, so I think I need a bit on an update on modern go-to trout lures for fishing fast moving rivers and streams (land based). You can throw in flies if you like, but I'm really after hard bodies and soft plastics. I'm particularly interested in SP's and I've never fished for trout with them. I'll throw in my top five lures in order of success.

(1) Rublex Celta - Accept no immitation. #3 my preference with #2 if the water gets very small and tight. Downstream through rapids mixed with short pools, or accross the top of races. Anything in red.

(2) Nilsmaster Invincible 5cm - The barra lure that baffles browns. Shallow flowing pools and sight fishing. There's something about that lazy action. Blue Tiger pattern (I told you it was a barra lure).

(3) Helin's Flatfish - For that big brown sitting in a deep little hole that won't budge for anything .... except a flatfish going nuts in front of it's nose. Starts working within the first 1/8 of a turn of the reel. Yellow, Pink or any ugly day-glo.

(4) Rapala CD3 - Deeper pools or when casting distance is important. Tight action and surprisingly snag proof. Fast water and rapids are no impedament. Brown or rainbow colours. I presume the F3 would also be good but never tried it.

(5) Tony Holan's Walure - One of the first small jointed lures. Wooden and I think hand made. Highly realistic swimming action good for small still pools or as a change-up when nothing else is working.

Over to you ....


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## southcoastmatty (Jan 21, 2009)

Hi Ado,

Fished the Murrumbidgee over xmas near yaouk and had most success with Berkley powerbait walleyes [the brown ones] rigged on something light enough to cast where you want them, then dropped into fast running water or near holes and hang on. Patience and repeat casts important and at most 1-2 missed strikes before they realise you just joshin. The squished barb made hookups difficult and landing technically troublesome but I felt much better not having to rip lips and tonsils out [aka treble trauma]. Trout seem overly ambitious when it comes to food time.

Have fun.

scm


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

1. Bluefox - Vibrax minnow spin (Bank)
Lost my fave Trout lure yesterday on the wrong side of the 'Digbee. Heavy enough to cast a mile yet quick to turn over and snag resitant on the bottom of pools ( thanks to the minnow body). Silver blue colouring, had it for a few years, outclassed the Celta's 20 - 1.

2. Predatek - Micro/min min (Kayak)
Perch pattern, size never mattered. Some of the most productive days on Jindabyne courtesy of these lures. Deep enough to run bankside and great action. Works well on cold and overcast mornings, funnily enough colourings didn't make much if a difference. Fruit salad in shallow bankside, perch diver searching deep. As reccomended by Red Phoenix.

3. Rapala J7 - Jointed (kayak)
First light after the depths of winter can't be beaten. Sometimes shunned but otherwise belted to bejesus. Silver creates a great slouette, bow pattern profitable but not in same league. Gold on super clear skies, darker on dreary. Smaller or larger sizes available, not reccomended due to bias.

4. Rebel crickhopper/crawdad - shallow (bank and kayak)
Great searching lure for streams or creeks, superior action compared to the knock offs. Take off front treble and split ring and crimp a split shot, small to suspend or larger to sink. Crawdad great cast and retrieve lure over yabby beds, hopper ideal for casting upstream and returning parralel to bank.

5. Celta - red or green (bank)
Size 1 or 2, enough said really as they are brilliant. Agreed with Ado, copies like Gillies and even Mapso or Gillies just don't cut it in results stakes. Red for depths of winter, red dawning spawn warning. Green for warmer months, resembling some sort of insect. Mixed results with pink (peach?) and really need to give the black a go. Got some from when I was a tacker, still catch fish and still get stuck in the carpet.

NB - please note I didn't include tassie devils or cobra styled lures as I'm only just becoming confident on colour selection. Selection based on what gets run first and when, single rod or not.


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## craig450 (May 11, 2007)

Rapala slashbait XR4's and 6's, in olive green.
Thats about the only trout lure i have that gets results most trips, never had much luck with trout on lures though, ive done ok trolling yellow wing tassies, but not cast and retreive


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## Junglefisher (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm having a lot of success with MX40s in gold.
Pretty much the only lure thats worked for me so far.
Yesterday I spent 8 hours on the George's river (only 4 hours fishing though).
Spent 3.5hours for no fish, tied on the gold MX40 and had two trout within 200m.


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## pescado (May 17, 2007)

Ado - for stream fishing with plastics you definitely have to try a 3 inch berkley powerbait minnow (in gambusia style colours) rigged on a 1/32 - 1/12oz jighead. All you have to do is flick it up to the head of the pool, and maintain contact with the lure as it drifts back to you in the current, you dont have to twitch the lure at all - just keep that slight bow in your line by winding slowing and keeping the rod tip up. If you are getting snagged too much lighten the jig weight. The plastic has to be rigged perfectly straight on the jighead for this to work.

Now - get out there and write us a tale


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

There are a few recommendations for the Powerbait Minnow. Interestingly I think I have some and they would be the only freshwater plastics that I ever bought, about 4 years ago.

I'm enjoying the researching. Please continue all.


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## southcoastmatty (Jan 21, 2009)

Did a quick check of the freshwater sp kit and came up with this:

Preface : I only trout fish at the in laws place for 5-10 days a year usually xmas or Easter and am no expert but have stopped using hbs + stopped pretending I can fly fish all together in the last two years. Their section of river is shallow, rocky and usually fast running with the occasional hole [platypi country]. All bank based or wading.

Powerbait walleye 2 inch power grub in pumpkinseed out fished everything this year 3 to 1.
Squidgy critter in wasabi [trimmed the long tentacles] was a highly commended second [looks like a grasshopper I presume]
Powerbait 2inch minnow in chrt/slvr/flk/scale and Squidgy bug in yellow have worked previously but got plenty of hits for zero landed. The bug in particular has some wt and really good tail action and may be good when the tadpoles are out.
Have also had success with Squidgy wrigglers 80mm in bloodworm and the 1inch gulp alive cricket [in the glass jar] caught me a Macquarie perch but lacked weight

The first 2 swam really well in fast moving water [river was high this year] but if you had a mix of these in your kit and "matched the hatch" you should have a ball. Pescado was on the money re lure technique.

Where are u going?

scm


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

southcoastmatty said:


> Where are u going?


Tassie - Huon River and environs. All new to me. My trout fishing has previously been confined to the Blueys and a small amount in the Snowies. Thanks for the tips Matt. More plastic to shop for. All good!

Hopefully, thanks to master Patwah, I will not be in need of any of this and will make a killing with things called Woolly Buggers and Matukas.

In reality, I'll probably have the greatest success on Celatas again.


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## johnny (Aug 12, 2007)

bennet mc grath...yellow,black stripes..lub it

n cast a celta at any rise..red/gold....

n those pegron style spoons in black n gold


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## bombora (Mar 8, 2006)

Haven't trout fished since an ANSA comp at Burrinjuck in the early 80s but have an itch I wanna scratch. They may be ferals but they are pretty ferals. Met a top fella with a property in central Western NSW with a stream running through it and scored an invite and planning a mid Autumn trip. It's interesting that very very few OZ trout spinners seem to use hair/feather jigs (or they don;t say anything abut it), yet they are gun lures for US trout, steelhead and salmon fishing in streams and rivers. I've been tying some tiny jigs using farmed Arctic Fox and marabou and can't wait to try em. Lots of yanks say you can;t go past a tiny Wolly bugger jigs in black, brown and olive green. It's fun making "buggy'' or insect like little jigs. From reading on Google they are fished same as a plastic: cast upstream and let em bounce/drift back to you. Keen to find some really tiny spoons too.


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

Hi mate, my go to fast water small stream lure is actually a small American spoon that has been made for over 50 years. My trout fishing guru got me on to them and believe me when i say i tried everything against it but everything came up short. They are made by Acme and called a Phoebe. I use the 1/12oz size and i prefer plain gold but my mentor would use any colour he could get his hands on.










They are not available in Australia, i order mine from here http://www.troutlet.com/Acme-Phoebe-Spoons-P442.aspx. I rig mine differently from how they arrive, with a double split ring and a single Decoy troutin' single in either size 6 or 8. I use a number 8 in really small streams where the fish are smaller as the larger hook increases the chance of a trout loosing an eye. These lures outfish quality blade spinners like vibrax, bluefix or celtas by at least two to one when i am fishing with another fisho using blade spinners.

Rigged this way they are amazingly snag resistant, i get them out of trees with a flick of the wrist and as they ride hook point up i can work them through water so shallow they scrape along the rocks. They are tiny being only 30mm long but i took 2 rainbows over 10 pounds on them last year so they tempt big fish. I rig them with a small egg snap to give them a non rigid tow point. On days when the fish are short striking i will use a 2" grub as a trailer on the single hook. You can rip these lures in really fast when working them down a fast moving rapid or fish them slowly through shallow pools. I also like suspending shallow running minnows through deeper pools around the 70mm mark in natural colours.

A victim of the Phoebe


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