Fishing for brown trout in winter can be challenging due to water temperature, slower metabolisms, and harsh conditions for anglers. Game fish across the country become less active and less likely to feed. However, a brave few will manage the frigid weather to get a chance at larger fish during these icy times. Winter can play a crucial role in landing trophy fish. The season provides a quiet environment due to the lack of anglers and tourists, giving big brown trout time to acclimate to an open environment. This is the time of year I focus heavily on suspending jerkbaits. Â While most anglers turn to fly fishing or drifting a trout magnet, twitching a jerk bait minnow can entice hungry trout into biting.
Many anglers associate jerk bait fishing with largemouth bass and walleye. But jerk bait is just as effective when targeting fish in late fall and winter due to their natural aggression and need to feed despite their slowing metabolisms.
How To Fish A Jerkbait: Find Current
Rivers are great places to locate trout in cold weather. Find bluff walls and big boulders with moderately fast currents. This is where you can get aggressive with a jerk bait. Regardless of temperature, trout still need to eat, and currents like the tail out of a river. I like casting into the seems of moving water and ripping the lure 4-5 times with a twitch-twitch- pause cadence down stream and letting the current carry it on the pause. This method forces the trout to make a quick decision and it’s typically when I receive the best reaction bites. This method is effective when fishing for rainbow trout, too. If you don’t have moving water, locate main lake structure like points with the wind sweeping around them. Identify the direction of the current, cast upwind, and retrieve your lure. The same cold water technique applies – twitch, pause, and let current carry the bait. The less action the better.
Jerkbait Selection
Winter trout fishing allows anglers to up-size their hard baits So don’t hesitate to throw larger jerkbaits this time of year. My lineup always begins with Rapala floating Lures 2 ¾” and moves to 5″ as a maximum size. This way I can cover the top portion of the water column. I use the Rapala Elite Countdown when I want to fish deeper. Other suspending jerkbaits like the Megabass X70 have a unique side-to-side twitch action with a dive capacity of two feet and it slow sinks. It’s a great lure for fall and winter when big trout rise to feed. When targeting active fish, I’ll switch to the Rapala X-Rap for fast aggressive slashing action. Select colors that match the hatch obviously like rainbow trout and brown patterns. But white is a drastically underused color, not many anglers think about. White pops out more in darker conditions such as dawn and dusk.
Jerk Baits (Retail Links)
- Megabass X70 finnesse jerkbait – Buy From FishUSAÂ
- Megabass Great Hunting 95 Jerkbait – Buy From Fish USA
- Rapala Original Floating Minnow – Buy From FishUSAÂ
- Rapala X-Rap Jerkbait – Buy From FishUSAÂ
Up-Sized Jerkbaits (Retail Links)
- Rapala Husky Jerk (Gold Color) – Buy From FishUSAÂ
- Rapala Shadow Rap Shad Jerkbait – Buy From FishUSA
How To Fish A Jerkbait: Slow Roll And Twitch
Another cold water technique is slow rolling the reel and twitching the bait followed by a pause. This technique works as a middle action between dead stopping and ripping it fast and works best in still water. Big browns will follow a suspending jerkbait as you retrieve it slowly enough for them to grab. Twitch it once quickly and pause for as long as you can. This is similar to winter bass fishing but with extra movement. The longer the pause, the better your chances of getting bit. I watched a big winter trout follow a rapala countdown for several yards. On the twitch, he slowly opened his mouth, sucked it in, and turned away, and the fight was on soft.
Fish The Feeding Hour
Find those cozy hours when trout feed. For me, this is right at dusk as light begins pulling back. This could also mean fishing before sunlight. Look for tail-outs that provide current and calm enough for stream trout to hunt comfortably. As light pulls off the water, search the surface for rising fish. If not consider the fact they’re bottom-feeding. This is where jerkbait fishing shines – when trout lack visibility and rely on other senses. I like to rip a suspending jerkbait around and make noise to nearby fish even though they can’t quite see it. The same rules apply, find those areas where food is being stirred and you’ll find giants willing to chase smaller fish. Â But there’s something magical when the light fades. Trout become more aggressive. Light breaks up and objects become silhouetted, which makes it easy to trick a big fish into biting.
Use Shallow Jerkbait Lures
Winter is a good time to target the middle and lower water column for hungry fish. But shallow running jerkbaits can also be effective this time of year. A minnow bait like the Megabass X70 dives 2-4 feet on a light line and has a solid side-to-side action. It also slow-falls, which helps keep the lure in the strike zone longer. You can also hold a deeper diving lure higher in the water column by keeping your rod tip up. In clear water, fish will rise to investigate a twitching bait fish near the surface. For this reason, I like to fish in slow currents or perfectly still water near a river system. A slow sinking lure will twitch and fall giving the fish time to make their way toward it.
How To Fish A Jerkbait: Final Thoughts
Jerkbaits are a deadly lure for trout year-round but play a special part in winter fishing for me. They tend catch bigger fish, especially if you can time it right when brown trout are feeding. This window of time may only last a short 10-20 min for some as fish don’t require as many calories in winter due to slowing metabolisms. But when the bite turns on, they’ll hammer a minnow lure.
