How Do You Catch Bigger Rainbows

[Blazerman]

In about 6 weeks I will be heading down to the White again for trout fishing. We have been doing this for a while now and have no problem catching them. Like a lot of people we can usually catch stocker rainbows all day long. And if they are running water we are pretty good at catching big browns as well. But one thing I have noticed is as a group we don’t catch many bigger rainbows. By bigger I am talking about 2lbs and over. So I am posted here looking for help.

I know there are a lot of really good trout fisherman that post on here so I am wanting to know what you would do to target bigger rainbows. I guess specifically, bigger rainbow below Bull Shoals dam.

I normally fish spinning gear but I have done some fly fishing and if it would help me catch bigger bows, I would do it again. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[fishinwrench]

I'm not a White river regular but about the only way I know to target bigger rainbows is to sight fish to the big bows that have chosen a place to sit tight for a bit.

After doing this (successfully) for awhile you'll learn the kind/type of areas that bigger fish like, and that will bump the odds slightly in your favor during times when the water is too deep, or too off colored to spot them.

A fly like the Y2K is an excellent sight fishing fly. Just keep it up in the water column just enough so that you can barely keep an eye on it....when it disappears set the hook.

[Blazerman]

Thanks Wrench,

For the record we don't keep the bigger fish we catch. We have a little tournament with about 18-20 guys that each put in $10 bucks and we pay out for biggest Brown and biggest Rainbow. Once the fish are weighed in the boat, we take a picture of them and let them go.

The biggest brown always seems to be luck of the draw. Since we all know how to catch them, it is just a matter of who can get there bait in front of the biggest one. But with the rainbows, no one in our group has one bait or technique that consistently catches the bigger fish.

So if someone has one that targets bigger fish, I would love to hear about it.

[cnr]

I'm a big advocate of fishing bigger baits. If you want to catch big trout on the white I would use large articulated streamers if you are fly fishing or go to jerkbaits if you're spin fishing. If you can float the river when they are generating you will have a good chance of putting a big fish in the net.

[fishinwrench]

If you were to rip a jerkbait all day you'd have a fair chance at catching an oversized bow (and probably the days biggest brown).

But if you really want to lock down that Big Bow prize I think your odds are better trying to sight fish to one.

[Blazerman]

We are very good at ripping jerkbaits and catching big Browns. And we have caught many Rainbows doing it. But I know we have seldom caught a Rainbow over 2lbs doing it.

But I have also seen guys that had stringers filled with 2-3lb Rainbows and they were targeting bows. Not jerkbait fishing. When I asked the one guy how he caught all those big fish, he just smiled.

So I was thinking someone here might know a way to target big Rainbows.

This pic was taken before they raised the length limits on Browns and back then we would keep our biggest Browns in the live well and then bring them back to Gastons for the weigh in. These were all caught the same day and as you might of guess, they were running plenty of water and we caught the shad kill just right that year. The largest was over 13lbs and another was over 10. All were let go after the pic was taken.

[Mitch f]

IMO Bigger fish are usually taken by a slightly slower presentation. I know there are exceptions, but ripping a jerkbait will get you a bunch in the 16-20" size. But if you really want a monster, slow it down... and even a slow steady reeling in of a Rapala countdown has been a great method over the years, especially at night, which may or may not be in the plan for you. Also clear water is never good for a bigger fish!

[BFTMASTER]

Fish near the cleaning tables. We always see and catch really nice rainbows near the cleaning tables. Slow bounce a white jig around cleaning time. Sounds unsportsman as can be, but we always release our nicer fish anyhow. Jigs tend to catch me nicer raindows than most other methods. Seems my big stick baits get slammed from tiny fish just as much as nicer fish.

[Phil Lilley]

Fish near the cleaning tables. We always see and catch really nice rainbows near the cleaning tables. Slow bounce a white jig around cleaning time. Sounds unsportsman as can be, but we always release our nicer fish anyhow. Jigs tend to catch me nicer raindows than most other methods. Seems my big stick baits get slammed from tiny fish just as much as nicer fish.

That's why we don't let ppl fish behind our dock below the cleaning sinks... too many aren't released. They're fun to watch for everyone.

Jigs, jigs, jigs... I'm a huge believer jigs catch bigger trout. Find the right color and be there when the bigger ones are biting. Sometimes it's just the little ones active.

[Greasy B]

I think the reason youre not catching bigger rainbows is the same reason me and most other folks arent catching bigger rainbows, because arent any, well very few anyway. Sure you can catch the occasional nice fish when you weed through 50 or 60 stubby fin dinks but sadly those prized fish between 16-20 inches are a small minority and hard to come by. The two things I do are covering a lot of water, never casting or drifting the same water twice until I find nicer fish. And like Wrench said sight fish with a yarn bug or miracle fly. When the fish are on and the lighting is right you can pull your fly from a smaller fishes mouth and feed it to a bigger fish.