Best Bait?

By Mark Larkin
Arizona

One of the great pleasures of keiryu style fishing (at least for me) is raising or catching the bait. Last summer I was fishing a small (less than .5cfs) remote stream in far northern Arizona for the wild trout hunkered under the rocks and the overhanging growth. I had caught a number of grasshoppers and the trout were feasting.

Unfortunately for me, the hoppers, though small, were so big that the fish would bite chunks off them and I often couldn't get good hook-set. I rummaged about under some rocks in the stream and came up with a few caddis larvae. They were too small to thread on to a #14 hook so I just hooked them through the head.

The trout hit them hard and I got good hook-set pretty much every time. I would be very happy to hear from others if they have a favorite bait (or baits) and for what species. My go-to for trout is still a red wiggler but I am enjoying the experimentation.

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