Swivel size for trout?

C
collegekidusa
Member
I just started doing some trout fishing and am wondering what a good set up is? what weight of test for main line and leader? size of swivel? size of hook and single double or treble? How much weight and where to put it? And if using a bobber how far up do I put it?

Thanks for the responses,

collegekidusa
 
When choosing a swivel size for trout fishing, it's important to select one that is small enough not to spook the fish but strong enough to handle the fight. Here's a general guide:

  • Size 12 to 14: These are the most commonly used sizes for trout fishing. They are small and light, reducing visibility in clear water while still being strong enough for the average trout.
  • Size 10: Slightly larger, can be used if you're targeting larger trout or if the water is murkier, where visibility isn't as much of a concern.
  • Size 16: Extra small, ideal for ultra-light setups or very clear water where trout are highly cautious.
Always match the swivel size to your line and the size of the lures or baits you're using.

Swivel size for trout
 
Probably 6# mainline is good, 8# max... Very small swivels as with light line you are going to break the line far sooner than pull the swivel apart. The actual bait setup depends on where you are fishing.. Lake/Stream; fast/slow water etc.
 
Probably a lot of pond fishing.
 
Try bait, spinners, and spoons.
 
make sure your leaders are not too short. the best thing to start out with is cut a leader as long as your arm and adjust it from there. and what shane said, bait (worm and pautzkies combo on a gold treble kills em!) and spoons like little cleos and kastmasters. or spinners , like rooster tails,blue fox, mepps. experiment and test different stuff out and in different conditions and find what works good for the certain pond ,lake or river good luck,
 
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on my trout rod i have it loaded with 4lb maxima ultragreen. so i use no leader. If your using powerbait i recommend using little treble hooks.
 
Dont forget about the 2 rod license! if u have it i can fish 2 poles at the same time, put some bait on the bottom and cast a lure at the sametime. but there is a certain distance u can only go away from ur other pole. or u could try both bait on the bottom with different bait on each pole. 6 pound test is perfect along with 4 pound test. none higher than 8. on cold days fish lures as slow as possible the the most amounnt of action u can get while reelling in slow.
 
two rod license is only for lakes and ponds right? just want to make sure so he doesn't get in trouble using it for river fishing and as for cold water. dragging a worm on the bottom or just worm on the bottom works well when the fish are sluggish
 
yeah only for lakes and ponds! (still water) sorry i didn't mention that.
 
Trout dude is not to far from your area. PM him and see if he will help ya out too. He has great advise. Plus he might meet up with ya if you ask. Nicely of course :)

My personal setup is 6 pound main line with 6 pound florocarbon leader. I start at 24-36 inches of leader and use a small split shot on the leader for bait if I need to make the bait float at different depths.
 
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I prefer to go light when trout fishing - I normally fish 7 or 7'6" ultra light rods and 4lb test Trilene. I almost never bait fish for trout anymore - but when I do it's good ol' garden hackle (night crawlers) pinched off or, if they're small, fished whole hooked once, on a light wire #12 or 10 dry fly hook (not an actual fly, but the hook it's tied on) with just enough weight to cast it out.

Normally I'm fishing lures or flies for trout. For lures - my #1 go to is the inline spinner - more often than not a Rooster Tail, though I have more and more been using Panther Martin spinners with great success. I fish the smallest spinners I can find - generally the 1/32 to 1/8 oz size, 1/24 and 1/16th oz being the most common that I throw. Favorite colors are hot pink w/ silver blade, black body/gold blade, rainbow trout pattern/gold blade, brown trout/gold blade, and all black.

If not chucking spinners, small flat fish and small floater-diver rapala minnows work excellent - I stick with natural finishes usually - silver/black combos or all silver. Smallest sizes you can find.

Also, the Trout Magnet jigs in 1/64th size, I fish a tandem jig setup most often, though occasionally I'll fish a single jig beneath a small float. Normally when fishing these jigs, I fish them just with the tandem rig, no extra weight or float. Cast out, let slowly sink, and twitch it back every so often. In moving water I drift & twitch the jigs. These are killer lures for just about anything that swims around here - have caught trout, multiple species of panfish, along with both small & largemouth bass on these. Go to color is white, with brown being #2.

To expand a bit on the rods/reels I like - I'm a HUGE Okuma and Shimano fan. Right now, I've got 6 Okuma Celilo rods for everything from ultra light trout/panfish rods, to a heavy salmon/sturgeon setup. All but one of those rods is wearing a Shimano reel - my steelhead drifter is wearing an Abu Garcia Revo SL. ALL of my spinning rods that I use anymore are wearing the Shimano Sienna reels, I've got them in 1000, 2500, and 4000 sizes. Very nice, well built reel for $30. For 99% of my trout, bass, and panfishing, I'm using either my 7' UL Celilo with the 1000FD Sienna, or my 7'6" UL Celilo with a 2500HD Sienna. The 7' rod is currently strung with 4lb line, the 7'6" I spooled up with 6lb line, as it's seen more and more finesse bassin' duty this past year. Either one of these rods will cast those little 1/64th Trout Magnets a country mile - which is really nice. The Sienna reels have a solid anti-reverse mechanism which I love for both jig and spinner fishing, and the drags are very smooth. The Celilo rods have come down in price a lot since I bought my first one about 8 years ago. You can get them at Bi-Mart, Dicks, Fisherman's, or Wholesale Sports for about $20-50 depending on length/action and if they're on sale or not. They come in lengths from 5' to 9'6".

I'm seriously considering stepping up to the Okuma SST rods for future purchases though - the SST's are also coming down in price. They used to hover around a hundred bucks - but I've seen select models as low as $30 now - which is really nice. I just haven't found a rod on the market in that same price range which is as light, sensitive, or versatile as the Okuma rods. Okuma also makes a GREAT inexpensive fly reel with their Sierra series. Nice real disc drag, silent retrieve, well built reel, for $30. I've got one on my 5wt - it replaced my long loved Medalist reels. My 10wt wears an Okuma Helios reel also.

I've been a die hard Shimano fan since I was a kid - my first spinning setup my dad gave me had a Shimano reel on it, and that reel is still going after 20 years. My heavy salmon/sturg rod wears a Corvallus (not sure why they spelled it with the U instead of an I, but ohwell) baitcaster. I've never had a Shimano reel break on me - even after a lot of hard use (like carp fishing with my ultra lights).

If I was going to deviate from the Okuma rod fetish I've got going on - my pick for trout fishing would honestly be the nifty yellow whippy Eagle Claw fiberglass rods. There's something about a fiberglass rod that just makes me giddy - the sloooooow action is really great for fishing light lines and baits, and it really does kind of give you that cane pole feeling - it's like being a kid again all over. I've got an Eagle Claw "Packit" rod that I fish every so often that is just sweet. One of these days I'm going to have it rewrapped with better guides and have the foam grip replaced with cork - but for now it works like a charm as it is. Bi Mart always has the Eagle Claw glass rods in stock, usually they come in a combo with a decent enough little spinning reel with them. I think they sell for $25 or $30 for the combo.

There's a fellow in iFish that uses these rods with baitcaster reels and fishes for kokes with them, and he's in love with these little rods.

Fishing is an addiction...
 
One more question? What size of hooks should I use? I will use single and treble hooks, just not sure what size.
 
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Unless you're planning on keeping the fish - I'd stay away from trebles. Trebles tend to pin the fish's mouth shut - they'll typically get more than one of the barbs in there, and that just makes unhooking way more complicated and take longer than it should.

Single hooks are the only way I fish - I cut 2 barbs off of every lure with trebles, or replace them with single hooks.

And hook size depends on what you're doing. For bait fishing with night crawlers - size 6 down to size 10 work well. For smaller worms - sizes 8 to 12. If fishing power bait - single size 8 hooks are what I'd use (I don't fish power bait anymore though, but I used size 8 singles when I did). For fishing single salmon eggs like pautzkes, I like either an octopus hook or drop shot hook, size 8 or 10.

If you're fishing flies - well, that depends on the type of fly. When I fish dry flies, I normally start off with size 12, and go up or down from there depending on what the fish want. I usually start with size 10 or 12 wet flies & nymphs, and size 8 streamers - also adjusting up or down in size/pattern depending on what the fish want.

If you're replacing treble hooks on lures with single siwash hooks, I tend to stick to the same size, or one-size larger than the trebles - trying to keep the lure weight the same or very close to it.
 
if you are pond fishign and keeping up use size 14-16 trebles. if c&r is your rpefrence stay away from trebles
 
i like using 4# or 6# line and then most of the time i use a bottom set up of a snap swivel at the end of my main line, then about 2ft or so of line with a 1/4 or an 1/8 barel weight then another snap swivel and then about 2 ft of leader with a small single hook and powerbait. this way it gets you line out there when you throw it then sinks to the bottom and with the barle weight it slides so then the powerbait floats up. the size of the line used for the weight can veriy so then you can reach where wthe fish are dipebding on the botom.
 
njbinkers - I'm curious as to the use of the twin snap swivels - do you tie up pre-rigged sliding weights with dual loops for quick weight changes? I've never seen anyone using, or heard of anyone else using such a setup. What is the advantage over the basic barrel swivel beneath a barrel weight?
 
ok maybe it didn't come out right, but this is the only way i know of cuz i got it from a friend. it is basically for easy changes so then i can go from a bottom ste up to a bobber or spinner set up fast with one pole.
i have a snap swivil at the end of my main line. then a pre- riged 2ft line with a loop on one end and and barrle weight and then a snap swivil at the end and then my leader line and hook.
hope that makes sense
 
That's what I figured the reason was - quick changes. Do you tie up different 2' sections with different weights, or do you always use the same weight?
 
When Im jiggin for trout I use my jigs anywhere from 18-22 inches below my bobber and tip usually with a meal worm, or wax worm...My line is 4# on a medium 7ft spinning rod...My fishing rod is berkley, reel is a pfluger president and I use trilene line...Here in WV a 4lber is a monster rainbow. Ive caught many in the 1-3lb range on this... many
 
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