Brook trout techniques?

Spinning gear will be most advantageous in the early morning and late in the day, run them at different depths if you are in a boat and if you are on shore, keep them about 3-5 feet under the surface, medium retrieve and light line, I suggest no bigger than 6 lb test. The worm will work best right off the bottom when not using the spinning gear at the times I said above.

Your Split-shot worm rig should work fine. Make sure to bring some 6LB Fluorocarbon leader material- just in case the Trout are line shy.

In a lake situation you can also use a “Slip-Bobber” rig. In fact, in most cases, the SB rig can work better than a Split-shot rig because you can adjust the depth where you want to fish. Raising your bait a few feet off the bottom, (for suspended fish) can be the difference between “catching” and “fishing”.

Although Nightcrawlers CAN work in certain situations, smaller garden Earthworms and Wax Worms will probably be more productive. Small Crappie minnows can also be productive.

Other popular rigs?

Some of my BEST trout fishing has come around dusk using a simple Casting Bubble and Fly rig-

Casting Bubbles are a type of bobber that floats on its side, which you fill with water to add weight for casting distance. CB’s are designed to use with Spinning tackle to cast super-light Flys.

Use a 36-40″ leader and a sinking fly- my favorite is a black Woolly Bugger. This rig has been my Brook Trout “killer” when all other forms of Bait or Spinning techniques proved fruitless.

(Obviously, you can also just use a Fly outfit…)

Another popular lure to try is an Inline spinner. Here are a couple of my most productive for Trout-

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There is a resort I frequently fish near Barnum, MN called “Bent Trout Resort”. They have stocked Rainbows in their lake, (and ONLY Rainbows). Since fishing Bent Trout, I’ve learned a thing or 2 about “stocked trout”.

The owners feed the Trout a typical brown, ball-type fish food and the Trout will ONLY TAKE things that look like that feed.

The point?

If your fishing a stocked Trout lake and the owners use a feed, it comes in handy to have a Fly that imitates that feed color and shape…………

I also have some NICE , relatively untouched Brook Trout streams I fish out of in the Blackhoof area, MN.

These are all the techniques that work for me in my small part of the World……

Hope it helps ya? Good luck!