What's more fun than catching a trophy fish? Not much, then you add the fact that trophy trout can be caught in rivers that no one would expect them to come out of, and catching them becomes that much more exciting. My mentor taught me some of his techniques more than 15 years ago, and they work great for catching trophy trout. This man (my mentor) had more trophy trout mounted than any human being that I've ever seen. And almost all of his trophies (over 22 inches) were caught in rivers that no one could believe fish that size came out of. These were rivers that got a lot of fishing pressure and trout fourteen inches and under were considered "normal". But my mentor caught trophy trout out of these rivers and did so consistently.



He always used small gear to catch these trophy trout. Ultra light rods and reels spooled with 4 lb. test monofilament line. If you've never used ultra light gear, you'd be amazed at the size of fish that can be caught using this type of gear. My mentor got me hooked on ultra light gear, and it's all I use for catching trout and trophy trout. Using this lighter gear makes you a better angler, because you learn things such as playing your catch. I've noticed that many Bass anglers don't follow this line of logic and enjoy 'winching' their catch in with heavy gear. The point is that my mentor used nothing but ultra light gear to catch all of his trophy trout.

Another thing he taught me about trophy trout is that they insist on live bait looking "natural". For example a worm should look like a worm. If you throw a worm into the water, what does it look like? That's what it should look like when you're using it to catch a fish then, he would say. So he came up with gang hooks. Gang hooks are simply two small hooks tied in tandem, and present a worm in a completely natural manner. So he taught me how to tie and use gang hooks, which I do to this day. Start using gang hooks and you will start catching more trout, trophy and otherwise it's as simple as that.

My mentor would also say that trophy trout didn't move much, once they found a good place in the river to feed. He explained that trophy trout were very intelligent. In order to become trophies, they had been alive for quite a while and had more than likely been caught many times before. He said that they became "smarter" by being caught and released, which I tend to agree is true. This is one of the reasons gang hooks are so important. So he would tell me that once they found a suitable feeding area, they would stick around it. So if you find a good area, don't be afraid to fish it consistently and hard. Trophies aren't easily fooled; you have to work at it, he would say. And that's just what he did. Once he located a good area, he would fish it until he caught a nice trout.

My mentor also placed a lot of importance on checking your knots and line consistently. You see, you never know when a trophy trout's going to strike, and you always need to be ready. Trophy trout put a lot of pressure on ultalight line and gear, and frays and miss-tied knots can easily lead to lost hook ups and lost fish. So pay attention to the condition of your line and knots, you'll be glad you did.

Begin following the tips and advice in this article and you'll be well on your way to catching trophy trout. Catching trophy trout is rivers where people don't expect then is a ton of fun. The bottom line is to keep after it and gain experience on every fishing trip. Practice is the key to catching trophy trout. The more time that you spend standing in the water fishing, the more you'll learn and the better angler you will become.