Favorite trout and red lures

[yessnoo]

There seems to be a lot of different lures people like based on location. I am trying to redo my tackle bag and reduce size...I have too much junk in there I never use.

I like throwing spoons and soft plastics most of the time...but spoons don't seem to work for trout very much.

What are yall's favorite lures?

[mosquito13]

For trout I have started using a #3 circle hook and 5"jerk bait pierced thru lead a 1/2" back. Killer action and no gut hooking. The little ones still hit it but short of hook, with mainly hooking the 18"+ trout I like to target. Gold weedless Johnson spoon in 5/16 oz with two pieces of 4" red yarn tied to the hook, not to be beat for reds. fish it slow then slower. I have had them pick it up sitting on the bottom. awesome on oyster bars. Can throw it a country mile (I use a bait caster with these) . For both trout, reds, and snook a 4" zarra spook in mullet for the top water bite. I have been dead sticking a D.O.A Deadly Combo . Everything hits it. Because it is suspended the pinfish and catfish leave it alone.  

[Juan]

I've reduced the size of my inshore tackle bags from two huge bags down to a double sided Plano that's about 8" long and has 12 slots in it. I keep my jig heads in one slot and the other 11 slots are filled with various colors of Matrix Shad swimbaits and I could reduce that some too.. All I really need and use are 1/8 and 1/4 oz jig heads and the Ultra Violet color. It works great on trout, reds, the occasional flounder, lizard fish, lady fish, and even largemouth bass.

[985crabs]

Skeeter and Juan said a lot here. Skeeter, please post a photo of your trout rig.

No tackle box can be complete without the 3" purple sparkle beetle from H & H Lure company. Pair it with a round, white jig head with a gold hook of various weights. Usually 1/4 ounce, but 3/8 ounce in a strong current. Tightlining with a few twitches during a slow retrieve will produce many trout, reds and even bass.

[yessnoo]

good info guys I will hit up the store in the coming days and try to replenish my bag...my other issue was the bottom of my tackle bag got wet and the bottom plano bin filled with water... I didn't realize this and it was my terminal tackle bin so it all pretty much got rusted out before the next outing.

[mosquito13]

I Fish out of a quart zip lock 90% of the time. Figure out your confidence lures in top water, and soft plastic. If you know what species you are targeting you can really zero in .  I carry a top water, some flora carbon leader (usually 20lb), some 1/4 oz jig heads, some large gap worm hooks, and recently added #3 circle hooks, a bag of assorted colors of 3.5" paddle tails, a bag of assorted colors jerk baits in 3" and 5"(so I can get close to size of bait I see). This fits with a spare spool for my reel in a quart size zip lock. When I say assorted colors I mean a glow, red sparkle brown, and a red sparkle watermelon with chartreuse tail. Same for jerk baits.

[Juan]

Nov 26, 2019 16:15:18 GMT -6 mosquito13 said:

Gold weedless Johnson spoon in 5/16 oz with two pieces of 4" red yarn tied to the hook, not to be beat for reds.

I'm not a spoon fan but I like the yarn idea. I can see where the fish might think it's a blood trail. I'm gonna get some, soak it in fish attractant and tie it to a swimbait. Might actually work. emthup

[freezerfiller]

Gold spoons have been around for a loooong time. They work for reds.

[mosquito13]

Quick tip on the Johnson spoon . Take your plyers and at about 3/4 to the front of the spoon lift up the wire and  bend back the long 3/4s of the weedguard so it is just even with the hook. like a hockey stick sort of with the handle toward the hook. Much more weedless then having it straight as it comes .  Juan definently with the stink. I carry gulp spray with me on the boat. 

[Juan]

Dec 3, 2019 21:30:40 GMT -6 freezerfiller said:

Gold spoons have been around for a loooong time. They work for reds.

No argument there! They do and I have a bunch of em in the arsenal but we all have our favorite lures and I'll pick a paddle tail over a spoon or jerk bait every time.

[985crabs]

Thanks for posting that picture Skeeter. What do you use for weight on that rig? Not sure if I understand where to bend my weedless spoon thing to make it look like a hockey stick?

[tigerhead]

The one type of lure I would never do without is a soft plastic.  I use to fish with a really good guide years ago, and he told me all of the guides in his area had shared their data through the years and soft plastics produced more fish, more often than any other type of lure.  So I carry a color mix of soft plastics and a favorite topwater in case they just don't want the jig.

One comment on the red yarn and gold spoon.  I had a buddy that was the redfish catching king.  He strictly threw a gold spoon for reds.  Now I had always believed the spoon was designed to simulate a bait fish.  And I believe a silver spoon does just that.  But he asked me one day what I thought a gold spoon was supposed to simulate.  When I said a bait fish, he said, "Nope, a crab."  Now I knew that a crab was possibly a red's favorite food.  But it never dawned on me that a gold spoon looked like a crab.  He also used a red or orange teaser on the back of his spoon.  He told me to watch a small crab swim through the water.  They swim sideways with their lead claw fold across the front of their body and the other claw trailing behind them to be more streamline while swimming.  The females have orange tips on their claws.  So that was the reason for the orange teaser.  One day I was sitting on a pier and a small crab swam by about 6 inches under the water.  The sun shining on that crab made the shell look a golden color and the claws trailing behind looked like his teaser.  I was sold.  

[freezerfiller]

I caught some on a red/white spoon back in the 70's when they made those. I wonder if they would still work or if the fish are too busy looking at their cell phones to notice?

[985crabs]

Fascinating stuff Tiger.

I had a red/white spoon in the 70s too!