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[MoCarp]

Record Brown Trout & The Dead Bait Connection

Ask most anglers and they'll admit that typically live bait produces better fishing results than artificial lures. It's a foregone conclusion among anglers who target both popular and aggressive species that live bait is the Holy Grail of fishing more days than not.

So if live bait is that good, is there a time and place when dead bait rules? Surprisingly, the answer is a resounding yes. Dead bait works so well and the best artificial lures can't compete. Sound too good to be true? Read on.

German Brown Trout are a popular species that have earned a reputation for being elusive. Browns are also a species of fish that literally chase down lures or live baits and attack them like a wolf on the prowl. To say that browns can be high energy predators is an understatement, but this species also scavenges food more often than you might realize. The nature of big browns during most periods of the year suggests that these fish are predators first and foremost. That's true to a degree, but there are times when dead bait will produce more strikes from Trout than artificial lures or even a bucket full of frisky live minnows.

WHY WOULD AN AGGRESSIVE PREDATOR SCAVENGE?

The first question to consider is why would a fish that obviously has superior hunting skills scavenge dead fish off the bottom? The answer is as simple as the fact that all predators hunt for food, but they are also opportunistic. Infact at times hundreds of pounds of shad as well as other fish are served up by Table Rocks Turbines, even the head and guts of eater rainbows are chunked into Taneycomo

Browns are frequently described as the "canibles" sp? because of their voracious feeding habits on other trout.

Lions, are the ultimate land predators, but these animals never hesitate to take advantage of an easy meal. Lions and other top predators scavenge frequently, even going so far as to bury extra food that they intend to seek out and eat at a later date. Trout don't bury meals for a snack down the road, but they do take advantage of a high protein meal when the opportunity presents itself.

A scavenged meal represents protein that can be enjoyed without burning many calories to achieve the food value. In the record trouts world, an easy meal of dead fish can and often does spell out the way to grow far beyond normal size

WHEN DOES DEAD BAIT WORK BEST?

Dead baits can be used to catch huge trout at any time of year, but the lure of an easy meal is especially attractive any time numbers of dead fish become available, winter at Taney when food is at a generally at premium. Food is harder to come by in late winter because a full year of predation, disease and other natural forms of attrition has taken it's toll on numbers. As a result, huge trout are forced to hunt harder for every meal in late winter.

WHAT DEAD BAITS ARE BEST

Any type of large baitfish can serve as dead bait, but some bait types are better than others. Soft rayed fish that have lots of natural oil in the skin and flesh make the best dead baits for pike fishing. These natural oils leech into the water and help to attract trout that may be cruising in the area. Some of the best dead baits are shad. The easiest dead baits to find are large shad.

Shad in the six to 12 inch range are ideal for dead bait fishing. Smaller fish will only tempt bites from smaller trout.

More later on tackle and rigs

[Phil Lilley]

There's quite a bit I could add to this for catching browns on dead bait but I won't. Here's why.

I used to use dead bait to catch browns and was quite successful at catching . . . and killing a lot of browns.

When fishing dead bait, you fish it dead in the water and let the fish take the bait. You have to use pretty big hooks when using dead bait and almost every time, the fish takes it deep. I found the mortality rate to be very high regardless how careful I was handling the fish, even leaving the hook in the fish. So I stopped fishing this way years ago and have not promoted it since.

I'm not condemning this article or anyone who fish's dead bait, please don't get me wrong. I'm sure there are ways to fish dead bait without killing as many fish although the mortality rate is about 20% under the best conditions using bait and I do use bait for rainbows when I'm guiding occasionally. I'm just sharing my experience.

Nice to see you back, MOCarp! It's been along time - missed you carp reports! How was sucker grabbing for you this season?

[Phil Lilley]

Will add . . . big browns eat a lot of rainbows. Mostly dead or dying ones caught and released by fisherman. They also visit fish cleaning areas at night.

The article is right on.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

Technique is key here... if you want to know both sides of artificial and bait / check out the book Ozark Trout Tales.

Steve Wright compilied a ton of info here - more than a ton - of useful information on both subjects.

Just an idea for you to check out.

I sure wish I still had my signed copy of the book. I lent it out to a buddy and never got it back.

Still-a great read and a fantastic resource for these Ozarks waters.

Brian

[MoCarp]

My hopes is to one day catch a huge brown I saw once on taney,if I told you how big you would say was lieing, I have caught MANY big fish of many species and it is my belief that fish would FAR pass the current world record by a wide margin...

dead baiting can be done and I will say if done right the fish are NOT gut hooked, I will share some rigs at a later date but the teaser I posted should hint that not all dead bait should just sit on bottom ; ) if you cast a dead bait and fished it as it was a plug you can EFFECTIVELY catch monster browns and release them! needless to say night time at boat ramps and known cleaning stations would and should be on your stops!

you can break the back bone of a 10 inch gizzard shad in 2 places that gives it a remarkable action and I find if you give your shad a dip in a 5 gallon bucket with diluted blue food color it looks much like a stocker bow, you can add a spot or two on your prepped baits with a nail and some undiluted food color " less is more here guys" as a note save your trout guts and parts and soak your shad in them overnight on ice the vac seal each bait individually and freeze them

[Indiana Trout]

Not to add gas to the fire, but what about circle hooks? Would those work better and cut back on mortality?

[Zack Hoyt]

Sounds very similiar tot he UK style of bait fishing. Fairly advanced setups(compared ot a worm and a hook), but very deadly. Makes our baitfishing over here look archaic.

[Phil Lilley]

I like catching big fish just as much as the next fellow but stopped using sculpins because I killed too many fish. Anything that would help mortality would be great!

[Seth]

Not to add gas to the fire, but what about circle hooks? Would those work better and cut back on mortality?

I was just about to mention this also. When we catfish with cut bait for blue cats on the river, you rarely ever have a fish not hooked in the side of the mouth with a circle hook. You need a good rod holder though so that when the fish hits and turns the rod loads up and effectively hooks the fish. If you try to set the hook with a circle hook, you usually miss the fish.

This has my curiosity going crazy. I might have to bring a few of my smaller circle hooks and give this a try when I come down the following weekend after this one.

I've always heard stories of big browns being caught on chicken livers on Taneycomo. I guess they would enjoy them just as much as a dead shad also.

[Greg]

Good article and I enjoyed reading it. But I do agree with most of what Phil Lilly posted too. I don't condemn those that use bait. But personally I just couldn't bring myself to fish that way. Back when I fished at Taney with bait I know for a fact the fish I tried to release mostly died. They were just hooked too deep. Fishing with flies I'm pretty confident most of my released fish survive.

Greg