Ten great trout baits

Although some anglers scorn the use of bait as being somehow less challenging than catching a trout on an artificial, such snobs often pay for such foolishness with empty creels after fishless days. Versatile anglers take lessons from the fish themselves. Trout harbour no such prejudices and switch from one bait to another, based on the parade of protein presented to them as the seasons pass - a drifting worm following a warm spring rain or a grasshopper on a hot summer afternoon, food is food. Here are nature's 10 best.

1. Worms
Okay, no secret here. Worms catch trout, but go beyond simply purchasing dew worms at a bait shop and throwing them into a hot vehicle. Keep them in a cooler with ice. Boat anglers can tote it aboard. Stream anglers can use a small belt container or soft-sided cooler.

Big dew worms are the standard because of the convenience of buying them, but worm size can make a difference to trout. For stream brookies and browns in clear water, dig a supply of mid-sized garden or manure worms or use only a part of a dew worm. Fish them naturally off light lines and small hooks, with minimal weights.

For steelhead, worms are especially effective for spring drop-backs. In clear water, a small worm or half a dew worm drifted under a float often works better than a big "snake." A reminder. Keep our waterways clean. Don't litter them with foam worm containers. Dispose of them properly. - John Kerr

2. Minnows
Minnows are seldom used for trout fishing in streams, but the larger the trout, the more likely it is to eat a minnow. A lightweight silver jig tipped with a 2-inch(5-cm)shiner is a killer spring bait for bows, browns, brookies, and lakers. Fish the combination with a gentle swimming action.

A live fathead or dace under a slip-float will catch all types of trout at rivermouths and offshore in lakes. Three- to four-inch(7.6 to 10-cm)chubs are great brown trout baits in rivers. To keep the bait lively, hook it lightly through the nose with a No. 4 or 6 bait-holder and drift it with as little weight as possible.

A big minnow on a gang-troll spinner has put many lake trout and splake into the ice box. For lakers, other anglers add a minnow to the hook on a trolling spoon.

Minnows can be bought, but residents of Ontario can also capture their own baitfish by using a trap, dip-, or seine net, subject to restrictions. Use pieces of bread as bait in a trap. Check the regs for details, and keep in mind there's a 120-baitfish limit and you need an angler's licence to catch them. Also check the regs for waters in which the use or possession of live fish for bait is not allowed and for the definition of what fish can be used for bait. - Gord Ellis

3. Nymphs
For many trout, aquatic insects are the main diet. Fly fishers use an arsenal of artificials, from nymphs to winged adults. The real deal is even better, but seldom used, mainly because you have to gather your own. Buying worms, minnows, or other live bait is easier.

Many aquatic insects are too small to impale on a hook, but the nymphal stage of larger mayflies, stoneflies, and the dobson fly(hellgrammites)can be deadly when used with small hooks and light line under a float or off a light bottom rig.

For steelhead, giant burrowing mayfly(Hexagenia limbata)nymphs, which can reach 1.4 inches(3.5 cm)in length, are deadly baits in Michigan, where they're sold in stores as "wigglers." In Ontario, no such luck. Several times, however, after returning from fishing in Michigan, John Kerr has brought back a supply. They worked equally well here on steelhead that spurned standard baits. Burrowing mayflies are seined with small insect nets from the silt in lakes and river backwaters. We're not sure if Ontario species will be the same as those in Michigan, but doubt trout will care.

A variety of stonefly and caddis nymphs can be collected from streams you fish by holding a fine-meshed net downstream, while you turn over stones above it. And while you're turning over stones, you might find hellgrammites, the largest of the nymphs. They spend three years feeding on aquatic insects, baby fish, and other prey, and grow to about 3 inches(8 cm). With powerful pincers on their heads and sharp hooks on their tails, they look like trouble, but don't usually bite. Big trout, however, love to put the chomp on them. - John Kerr and Gord Ellis

4. Leeches
Brook, brown, and rainbow trout feed on ribbon leeches. In lakes, a leech is best presented under a light balsa slip-float. Hook the leech through its sucker end with the lightest unpainted jig head you can get away with. In current, you can use a float rig or bottom drift a leech from a dropper rig, a foot-long leader, and a small hook.

Leeches can be collected for personal use in Ontario in a trap not exceeding 17.7 inches(45 cm)in any dimension and marked clearly with the licensed angler's name. You can make a leech trap by flattening a coffee can(with both ends cut out)and wedging or wiring a fish skeleton or piece of meat into the middle of the can. Place it in shallow water overnight in a pond or swamp that has no gamefish. If leeches are present, you should be able to pick them off the bait the next morning. Ribbon leeches feel firm to the touch, while bloodsuckers are soft and make poor fish bait. If you catch your own bait, a 120-leech possession limit applies. - Gord Ellis

5. Crayfish
Two-inch or smaller crayfish, preferably in the soft-shell phase, are the best choice for most trout. Put small split shot a foot or so up from a thin-wire No. 6 short-shank hook through a crayfish's tail. Since crayfish scuttle along bottom, let the current roll the bait over and behind rocks. In lakes, cast crayfish(with no weight)to dropoffs and watch your line for pickups as the bait sinks. Removing the pincers from crayfish keeps them from grabbing bottom and seems to increase their trout appeal. The tail "flipper" section of a crayfish can also be an effective bait for steelhead in late spring.

Quick and tricky, crayfish are a challenge to catch. Minnow traps work, especially if a small piece of fish or entrails is used as bait. Catching them by hand is more challenging. Flip over near-shore rocks or logs and if a crayfish appears, place a small net behind it and then spook it into the mesh. If you're fast, you can try grabbing them by hand. Watch the pinchers. - Gord Ellis

6. Crickets and Hoppers
When summer comes to trout streamss, grasshoppers and crickets are tough to beat as live bait. No lure or fly made imparts the kind of frantic, erratic action that one of these floating terrestrial insects kicking for its life does. You can often get stream trout chewing by throwing live hoppers into the water. Once a trout has grabbed a hopper or two from the surface, sneak a light hook through the collar of another live one and float it to the fish. Even the wiliest browns and brookies will fall for this trick. If casting weight is a problem, add a small float about two feet up the line from the hopper.

Catch grasshoppers by using a small butterfly net and scooping them as they fly away. On cool, wet summer mornings, grasshoppers have more difficulty hopping and you can often pick them by hand. Capturing a cricket by hand is a test of hand-eye co-ordination that's best left for kids. Thankfully, pet stores often sell crickets as reptile food. - Gord Ellis

7. Frogs
Rainbows, brookies, and especially browns will eat a frog. In lakes and beaver-dam ponds, frogs work best when fished naturally with a No. 5 bait- holder hook and no weight. Gently cast the frog out and let it work its natural magic on the surface. Big stream browns often prefer a fat frog drifted in front of their noses via a couple of split shot about 18 inches up from the hook.

Anglers can use a long-handled net to capture frogs. Look for them along the water's edge or in duckweed near shore. Hunting frogs at night with a headlamp can also be effective. They're dazzled by light. Several rules govern the capture and use of amphibians as bait in Ontario. You're allowed no more than 12 northern leopard frogs or one of any other species that's not protected. Blanchard's cricket frog, Fowlers toad, and the grey treefrog are protected in Ontario. Salamanders are also off limits as bait. - Gord Ellis