Lessons Learned

If you have come under the impression that I am a trout expert, I apologize for misleading you. The name thecrustytrout came about because I have been lured by the mystique of trout since childhood, and am just now fulfilling my dream of angling for them. I just wrote a blog post about my first ever rainbow trout, and am so happy that it was a holdover of decent size. Indeed, the beauty inherent in that fish has only intensified my craving for the mysterious trout in all its forms. It is no surprise then that I attempted to recreate my success this week in another trip to Stanley Pond in Hiram Maine. This trip although relaxing and informative, did not lead to tight lines. It did however give me some more pieces to the puzzle that is trout angling, and the following are some lessons learned.
The conditions for this trip was cloudy and cool with a small breeze coming from the northeast. The excursion to Stanley was a little unplanned this time, and therefore it was mid afternoon instead of morning. My Garmin Portable fish finder told me that water temperature had fallen two degrees to 66 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the back drop for this failure.
I began the trip by putting around the shore opposite of the boat ramp on the smallest lobe. I hooked up on my first rainbow here in 20 feet of water so I knew there were fish in or around this area. The fish that I was marking this time were deeper however in 30 ft of water suspended between 20 to 25 ft. I cast an assortment of spinner baits, spoons, and jigs at them with only one nibble. I then decided to move on to the second lobe to try and mark fish there.
The second lobe was the same story, only it seemed like the fish I marked were congregated in deep pockets surrounded by shallower water, in the 15-foot range. There would be 15 ft of water all around then a sudden drop to 30 and that’s where I would see big marks suspended at the same depth as before. It was the same story as before as well when it came to fish activity, which would be very little. This whole process took several hours because I doggedly tried every technique I learned from YouTube and bass fishing in my attempt to hook up. So, what are the lessons?
The lessons I learned about trout behavior is as follows; lighting plays a bigger role to fish depth than water temp during early fall, and that rainbow trout in this pond love access to shallow water. I believe that the time of day I went fishing played a huge factor in why the fish were deeper than the first outing. Next time I am going to target trout I am going to ensure an early morning expedition. As to the trout liking access to shallow water, I can only assume that is the case because in both lobes, that is where I marked fish, in deeper pockets next to shallow water. Couple that with the knowledge of my early morning success in less than 30 ft of water and I can almost see a pattern. Target these rainbows early, in shallower water, next to deep pockets, in early fall for success. At least that’s my theory. What do you guys think?