Angling for Trout: Jig it Fast or Crawl it Slow? What Works for You?

[iggybabble]

I've fished a little of both, and for that matter we may not all agree on what constitutes fast vs slow when retrieving a lure. It also depends on whether or not your fishing still water, or moving water. In a stream or river, are you casting upstream, cross current or down stream? Finally what kind of lure? I love fishing big flatfish in streams when the rainbows are getting ready to spawn and have gotten aggressive territorially, I toss them cross current or even straight downstream and retrieve them real slow. Slow retrieve with a spinner IMO simply means at the slowest speed that the spinners blade requires to actually spin, which is different up current verses retrieving it with the current flow. Because of it's weight and streamlined, narrow profile, a Kastmaster needs a little faster retrieve to swim effectively compared to say, A wider, thinner, flatter spoon like a Thomas Bouyant. Sometimes a change in retrieve speed, even a pause gets a strike.......the only thing I've heard that always works is dynamite, but it brings up legal issues with our buddies in the Fish and Game dept's......

[Jfitalia]

In streams I just use a 1/32oz for big water and a 1/64 or 1/80oz for skinny water or spooky fish. I agree with CC that in the stream you just let the current do the work.

In lakes i let the fish decide on my speed. If the fish are active then I work the jig quickly otherwise I work it very slow.

I personally hate atomic tubes because how fat they are. I prefer slender tubes like the ones made by trout traps

[Captain Compassion]

RideNfish +2. Sloooooow. In streams let the current do most of the work. In lakes below a bobber or cast to crusing fish.

CC

[Marv]

RideNfish +1 Hey TG I know your fishing streams back there, tie on a 1 1/2" tube jig with a 1/32 jig head pinch on a small splitshot and drift that tube like an egg. It will get hit and sometimes violently. Atomic power tubes from Berkley also Trout traps are great tubes.

[RideNfish]

Cool question.
I mostly fish streams with jigs and woolies and get hit on the drift many times. But also get hit on the swing or at the end of the swing and I will jig the wooly/jig. I never have tried a fast retrieve like across the current.

On lakes I cast far out with a water bobber and creep it back in very slowly.

I need to experiment more.

Cheers

[TroutGhost]

As far as I can recall, aside from slider rigging an artificial worm and medium speed reeling back a live worm or an inline spinner, I've never caught a trout jigging an artificial worm or tube jig or anything else for that matter except on a fast retrieve. The fast retrieve has worked pretty well for me. Even catching trout with a live worm or inline spinner were on the faster side of a medium retrieve.

The only fish I've ever caught on a slow crawl retrieve were catfish, perch, carp, LMBs and SMBs. Never trout.

I'm not saying that trout can't be caught with a slow retrieve. Maybe I'm not doing it right. But I just have never caught a trout with a slow retrieve. Am I missing something? What's your experience?