Progress.

I swear, when I finally get those trout out of the water it's gonna be a veritable trout apocalypse.

Back from my trip out of state and fullswing into the new year, I decided to try some new baits and rigs out on the trout of my local suburban pond.  It went about the same way it always does - a cooler full of melting ice and no fish.  Those buggers are REALLY driving me crazy.

The good news?  I DID get a bite, a good one, and almost had it out of the water, too.  I guess I didn't set the new tiny hook right, though, because he swam toward me, darted under the pier, and decided he'd had enough and just let go.  SO CLOSE.  That was the only nibble all morning that I could be sure wasn't a turtle.  What was it on, you ask?  Sparkly crappie nibbles.

Baits I've tried on trout and failed to actually put anything in my cooler (at this point I'm pretty sure it's me, not the bait):
-Chartreuse crappie nibbles
-Glitter chartreuse crappie nibbles
-Fake earthworms
-Real Corn
-Fake Corn
-Salmon eggs
-Hatchery bait
-Stale marshmallows
-Flies/spinners (I'm sorry, I don't know crap about these, so I can't be more specific)

The only thing I haven't tried yet that I can think of is the colorful trout dough I forgot to load into my tacklebox.  I'm not entirely positive what the difference between it and crappie nibbles is, though.

My new rigs involved two separate lines - one with a sinker, and one with the bait entirely covering a teeny tiny hook.  Theoretically the bait floats.  Salmon eggs, it turns out, do not float, and I don't think the nibbles did either.  Ah well, at least I finally got a bite.  :(

I'm going to keep trying every morning that I can between now and the end of January.  My fiance is out of state and I can't think of any better way to get out of the house and stop moping around about it.  I might even get the chance to try out my new catfishing rod if some friends of mine take the boat out in the near future.

In the meantime...I'll try my hardest not to jump in the pond and start catching them by mouth.

-CC