TexasKayakFisherman.com est. 2000

[nolexus]

I live in harris county Tx. and have read that they have released 20,000 plus rainbow trout in the harris county and surrounding area ponds .
I have never caught one of these species and was wondering if there was a special lure (spinner) , jig with a colored BB etc. that anyone favors trying to catch a rainbow .
I do not have a fly rod & reel and no experience with one . I do have bait casters and spin casters .
Can anyone give me the heads up on this bucket list of mine.
thx. tight lines

[Kirk B.]

Fire tiger rooster tail.
Best to give the troots a day or 2 to acclimate before going out after them. They go thru a bit of culture shock when they are transported and transplanted.


Kirk B.

[imaoldmanyoungsalt]

Fire tiger rooster tail.
Best to give the troots a day or 2 to acclimate before going out after them. They go thru a bit of culture shock when they are transported and transplanted.


Kirk B.

I've had a different experience
I catch them every year in the DFW area. I use a Super Duper lure on the first day released (usually right after the truck pulls out) and I kill them. After the first day though they seem to get line/hook shy and I usually start using Gulp corn nuggets on 4lb test and size 8 or 10 short shank hook. Completely cover the hook with 2 or 3 nuggets under a weighted bobber with no weight on the line. If your fishing where there's a clean bottom you can fish on bottom with same line/hook and a small slip weight instead. Good luck! Let us know how you do!
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Berkley-Gulp ... gKR4_D_BwE

http://www.johnnyspond.com/luhr-jensen- ... lures.html

[Neumie]

1/8oz Roostertails (white and firetiger) are what I've caught them on. Super Dupers look like winners as well. I've also had success fishing the way imaoldmanyoungsalt mentioned too with the Gulp; both under a cork and on bottom when allowed. The only thing I do differently is after I put 2-3 pieces of the "corn" on I finish with half a pink trout worn (about an inch or so hooked wacky style on the hook. Just gives it a little action.

https://www.berkley-fishing.com/product ... 1109703819

[Crusader]

Can anyone give me the heads up on this bucket list of mine.

Here is the easiset way to catch your limit and give kids some fun:
- sliding sinker -> swivel -> 1-2' of 2lb leader (they have very good vision) -> tiny hook
- make a ball of brightly colored putty (they sell it in academy) with your hook inside
- (this putty floats up if hook is tiny enough -- your bait will be floating 1-2' above the bottom)
- cast out, tighten the line, stick rod into a rod holder and wait until tip starts moving -> set the hook, reel in the fish

sometimes they are out of your reach -- use water-filled sliding bobber. Fill it 50% with water and fire away, it'll give you huge range. Once you chunk it out -- it will be floating there, keep an eye on it -- if it starts making waves, it is time to set the hook.

Normally 95% of fish gets pulled out in first 2 days after release. I stopped going to these events long ago -- too many people and too many of them are dicks.

[Ron Mc]

when my girls were 5 years old, put them on rainbows at Blanco SP.
Chum corn out in front of you - we fished a fake corn kernel fly that they tied the night before in my lap, but you can fish corn.
With spinners and jigs, I would definitely fish UL, and fish the smallest lures you can find.

Here's my loaner box for spin-fishing friends on the Guadalupe, with my home-made single-hook spinners.
Back when my dad could don waders and join me in the river, he did very well on these at 3rd Xing.

[imaoldmanyoungsalt]

1/8oz Roostertails (white and firetiger) are what I've caught them on. Super Dupers look like winners as well. I've also had success fishing the way imaoldmanyoungsalt mentioned too with the Gulp; both under a cork and on bottom when allowed. The only thing I do differently is after I put 2-3 pieces of the "corn" on I finish with half a pink trout worn (about an inch or so hooked wacky style on the hook. Just gives it a little action.

https://www.berkley-fishing.com/product ... 1109703819

Thats funny because I use a piece of gulp worm on the end sometimes if the action gets slow. Good tip Josh.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[mwatson71]

I took my kids twice last year in Harris County. You have to be there the first day. There will be a bunch of people there trying to catch them, but I had an opposite experience of Crusader.

On our first attempt the other more experienced people were showing us what to do and even gave my kids some of their bait. They were in a little jar, yellow BB looking with an orange worm-like body. They told my kids where to throw the bait (tiny hook, small split shot about 18" above the hook, no bobber) and within two minutes they would catch a little trout. And I do mean little. Every fish was in the 8-12" range. Within 30 minutes they had their limits of 5 each.

Our second time, we didn't do as well because we were late getting there. I think they caught 6-7 total. Same bait, same set up. There were a couple of other kids fishing as well and they told us they thought most of the fish had been caught earlier as well.

[Neumie]

Every fish was in the 8-12" range.

That's all you're going to catch with the TPWD stocker trout; 8"-10". Some spots in Texas they stock larger trout; the Guadalupe River below Canyon Lake and the Elm Fork Trinity River below Lake Lewisville.

The only place in Texas to catch larger trout is the Guad because they live year round. Of course that also comes with its own set of rules and restriction areas.

[Ron Mc]

they get this big on the Guadalupe.



The state, btw, throws in a few 15-16" trout at just about every spot.

[JW FunGuy]

Most all of the larger trout in the Guad are stocked by the Guadalupe chapter of Trout Unlimited. There are different regulations for minimum/maximum size and bag limits for different parts of the river as well as method (bait/artificial) for different species. Most of the Guad is artificial only for trout. So be cognizant of the regulations if you fish for trout there. I have heard that TPWD is going to star cracking down on offenders.

[Ron Mc]

Jerry, even in the 90s, 10-lb trout were caught. Scott Graham wasn't the type to submit a record, but when he had a guide website (before he moved to NC), he had photos of several over 10 lbs. My first seriously big trout, 25", was April 2001 - before the flood - took a caddis dry at the bend at Devil's Playground.

[timbo]

I can't speak for the in Texas, in SE Tennessee 12-14 in trout is a decent sized trout. We use mostly fly rods with size 16 to 19 flies. The rod/reel guys will use mostly corn or an in line spinner of some type. I fished the Guad earlier this year and we were catching anything from 16 to 24 'bows. I even had a palomino (yellow) trout on but he broke off at the net

[Ron Mc]

...in SE Tennessee ...

Been awhile, but I spent a month on a project in Kingsport. I stayed right on the S. Holston, but spent my weekends on Beaverdam Creek (I have a tailwater here).

[Pontoonmann]

Excellent info by the posters above. Stocking Info gets out and it will be elbow-to- elbow at the best access points shortly after a stocking, with lines sometimes tangling, so it takes a bit of patience. If you will be keeping the fish to eat, using a lure or above baits with a tiny treble hook, means fewer fish that will get off. Retractors will help remove swallowed trebles.

[timbo]

...in SE Tennessee ...

Been awhile, but I spent a month on a project in Kingsport. I stayed right on the S. Holston, but spent my weekends on Beaverdam Creek (I have a tailwater here).

A good friend I went to school with in Pasadena has a shop with an apartment on the Watauga in Elizabethton. The boat ramp is right next door.

[nolexus]

Thanks for all the responses . This is the site for any fishing or kayaking question that needs responses from real people .
Looks like I def need to downsize . The fire tiger rooster tail and corn seem like my best bet .
85 % of my fishing is in the salt so the lightest line I have is 12 lb. mono . lol
I will be scoping out the fishing isles again . Yes . thanks for the heads up .

now if it would only warm up a little bit . tight lines

[Ron Mc]

One reason you might want to double up on a nice UL is fishing winter glass minnows in the salt with 1/16-oz lures.
Dobyns Sierra Ultra Finesse rods are sold out everywhere except ebay.

Different rod, 8' NS Black Hole UL rockfish (Korean rod also from ebay) fishing 6-lb braid.
Gets my strongest recommendation for fun UL also useful inshore, and can fish 10+lb braid.
I've caught keeper spec doubles on tandem rigs with this, and on a similar rod, red + ladyfish double.

[mwatson71]

On our first attempt the other more experienced people were showing us what to do and even gave my kids some of their bait. They were in a little jar, yellow BB looking with an orange worm-like body.

https://www.google.com/shopping/product ... QQkjAICCgD