Best Bait for Rainbow Trout

Fishing for Rainbow Trout can be a very relaxing, and if you've hooked into a good day, a very rewarding pastime. Hooking into rainbow trout requires good bait. Although I can't agree on a single best bait for rainbow trout, there are definitely better baits than others. I'll take you through my tackle box and show you some of my favorite rainbow trout baits. Hopefully with my trout fishing tips you'll land the big one!

Natural live baits for rainbow trout can be very rewarding. Personally, I find that live bait gives an advantage in lakes that see a lot of fishermen daily. Trout will always go after live food before touching other non-living baits. Staples with me include minnows, worms and small crawfish. The great thing about using live baits is that they can either be caught in the wild or purchased at fishing bait shops. I definitely believe that live natural baits are some of the best baits for rainbow trout.

Salmon eggs always seem to be a tasty treat for hungry rainbow trout. I recommend that you find the most natural salmon eggs that you can. There are a lot of rainbow trout salmon egg baits that are not really salmon eggs at all. Sinking salmon eggs at the bottom of a lake and waiting works well for me. It’s best to have a couple of colors of salmon eggs so you can switch up to please the trout's daily tastes. The great thing about salmon eggs is that they can be purchased with an added garlic scent. Garlic helps trigger feeding behavior in trout, allowing better chances for you the fisher!

Many people will swear by Powerbait as the best bait for rainbow trout. I'll agree that it is good, but there are certain types of Powerbait that have advantages over other types. I think that the best type of Powerbait is the floating Power Eggs. I prefer this type of Powerbait over the soft moldable type because it is easily re-used and stays on your hook but better. The soft moldable type usually is more prone to falling off your hook making you use more and more.

To maximize your chances, try chartreuse, green, yellow, white or orange powerbaits.

Now that I have discussed the best rainbow trout baits, I'll take a look at a few that should be avoided. The first is marshmallow style baits. These are oftentimes very inexpensive an offer a wide variety of colors and scents, but their poor quality cannot be ignored. They are very prone to falling off your hook and loosing color quickly. Soft moldable Powerbait also doesn't make the cut into my tackle. It's more of a pet peeve seeing a bunch of this stuff mucking up the lakes and shores than it is a matter of effectiveness. The last of the baits that do not make the list are rubber insects and synthetic worms. I've tried my share of scented worms, but found the real deal is always better.

Don't get discouraged if you're not catching any trout on a certain bait. Just remember that there is not just one single best bait for rainbow trout. What works at one location might not work at the other. It’s up to you to try them all out until you find the rhythm.