If you fish for trout and don't employ ultra light fishing gear and bait, you should. There's really no other way to put it. Employing ultra light gear involves a few things that I'll discuss in this article. The first and most important aspect, in my opinion, is the size of your fishing line. In my opinion, in order to truly be ultra light fishing for trout, four pound test needs to be used. In other words, an ultra light rod and reel, spooled with 4 pound test is absolutely perfect for trout fishing.
If you happen to be thinking that four pound test line is too light, keep in mind that I personally land trout over 20 inches and in the 3-5 pound class consistently all while using four pound test and ultralight gear. I'm of the opinion that 4 pound test and ultra light gear is a big part of the reason that I consistently catch trout in that size range. The ultra light gear coupled with the use of gang hooks.
When ultra light fishing for trout, I almost always use pre-tied gang hooks and live worms as bait as well. Sure, sometimes I'll throw a Rooster Tail or small spoon around, but most of the time I use gang hooks with live worms as bait. The combination of the two is so effective that it's almost the only technique that I use. You see, gang hooks allow live worms to be presented in a totally natural manner, which or course would be outstretched. So the combination of completely naturally appearing bait, coupled with light line is so difficult to beat that I rarely even bother trying.
The goal in the technique is to bounce my live worm off of the bottom, as it flows naturally downstream. The tackle needed for the technique couldn't be simpler. I simply take the end of my line and tie on a small barrel swivel (size 10 or 12), then on the other end of the barrel swivel I attach a pre-tied set of gang hooks. At this point a couple of split shot sinkers are added to the line above the barrel swivel. Now add a live worm (if they're really large, pinch them in ½) to the set of gang hooks, and you're ready to fish. Cast the offering out, and let it flow naturally with the current of the river or stream. Again, the goal is to have the offering bounce off of the bottom for the entire drift, so depending on current flow, split shot will have to be added or removed.
Whether you use the above technique or not, the bottom line is that ultralight gear and line should be employed when fishing for trout. Ultra light gear and linew doesn't only help with getting more bites, it also makes you a better angler because you learn how to "play" a fish. If you've never had the pleasure, hooking into a twenty plus inch trout on ultra light gear and line is as much fun as can be had while clothed! And the last thing you can do is "winch" a fish of that caliber in. Ultra light gear makes you "play" the fish, which makes the entire experience that much more fun.
So, if you're not already set up for it, spend the $50-$75 dollars and buy yourself an ultra light trout set-up. Spool that set-up with four pound test, get some gang hooks and live worms and go to town. There is no better way to fish for trout than by ultra light fishing for them, there's no question about that.