Fussy/lazy trout

I have this irrigation intake/pond on my new farm and it's full of trout, nice 2-4lb fish and there's plenty in there, can see the buggers crusing the edges and drop offs, beautiful clear water, obviously I haven't added enough cow shit and nitrogen to it.
Had a go at the trout a few evenings now and managed to land one the other night, just been using 70mm body Rapalas in various colours from rainbow smelt, to bright pink, to more natural brown and greens.
I have had a strike on each of the lures but the fish aren't really commiting and the strikes feel more like "curiosity" rather than a full on "im gonna eat this thing"
Apart from the one I landed I have failed to set a hook on anything else.
The pond has a bit of current around the edges and drops away reasonably deep especially along one side, it is also not a uniform depth so has a few other drop offs out in the middle.
Would I be better trying to drift a soft bait along the drop offs and through the current along the side of the pond?
Any other suggestions? Im not a fresh water fisherman by any means so need all the help I can get!

Copper and Lead spinner;)

Where is the new place?

piece of piss matey....terrafirma terrors..will send PM on best way to deploy them.

:ka boom:

DOUBLE CHECK SEASON........ please

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hayden C

Copper and Lead spinner;)

Where is the new place?

---

Down the end of Steeles Road on the right, backs onto the Rakaia and we have the cpw canal running through the middle of my farm also, if you look on Google earth you could probably find my pond

Attachment 89319

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

DOUBLE CHECK SEASON........ please

---

All year

wetsuit and spear gun ????

Ginger Micks, Gold and Silver bodied flies, on a bubble if you haven't got a flyrod, worms or magots , Paua spinner or the old Toby

Fish are possibly too interested in breeding to take a lure.

Hi Ryan try using a 10gm lure toby or a heavier Rapala otherwise give a heavy soft bait ago. The heavy lure will get down deeper where the drop offs are.

Dont farmers use Jelly anymore?

Sent from my SM-G390Y using Tapatalk

If its a pond isolated from another waterway then most of the above will be rather poor performers. They will occasionally take but more out of instinct than anything else.
Match the hatch is a pretty old saying but still very relevant. Why use a small fish or smelt immitation where there are no small fish or smelt? Its like trying for fish n chips at McDs.
These fish will be eating what is alive and abundant in their habitat.
Look a bit harder and find out what the next step down the food chain is.
My bet will be midge, water boatman, snails, damsel and dragonflies (might be a bit late in the season for these though) and maybe the odd koura. I would expect they will taste like shit too if this is what they're eating.

Tuna bomb?

Bonito

part of fish...so not bonito.

powergel the only lure you need in the fishing box

Got a box of flies lying in the shed unused in10+yrs if you want to give them a try? Flick me a pm if interested, might be in your neck of the woods tomorroe

Tickle the buggers Ryan.

Flounder net?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Flounder net?

---

That'd work nicely.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rushy

Tickle the buggers Ryan.

---

I'll have to dig out my Crumpy books and brush up on how it's done

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

I'll have to dig out my Crumpy books and brush up on how it's done

---

The first bit is you gently stroke the belly slowly but surely moving closer toward the gills. The second bit is as the trout is getting all relaxed you whack your thumb and fore finger, middle finger into each side of the gills and game on.

Dear I say it, a 270 might do it......

Maybe ask @rickychen he might have some abbos and bamboo that might help ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rushy

The first bit is you gently stroke the belly slowly but surely moving closer toward the gills. The second bit is as the trout is getting all relaxed you whack your thumb and fore finger, middle finger into each side of the gills and game on.

---

typed a rather long reply to that but clicked the cancel button.

Ministry of works spinner

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kiwijames

If its a pond isolated from another waterway then most of the above will be rather poor performers. They will occasionally take but more out of instinct than anything else.
Match the hatch is a pretty old saying but still very relevant. Why use a small fish or smelt immitation where there are no small fish or smelt? Its like trying for fish n chips at McDs.
These fish will be eating what is alive and abundant in their habitat.
Look a bit harder and find out what the next step down the food chain is.
My bet will be midge, water boatman, snails, damsel and dragonflies (might be a bit late in the season for these though) and maybe the odd koura. I would expect they will taste like shit too if this is what they're eating.

---

Read the above - best advice so far! Also, try not to let them see you - lower your profile.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dannyb

Maybe ask @rickychen he might have some abbos and bamboo that might help ?

---

Good point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

typed a rather long reply to that but clicked the cancel button.

---

Ha ha ha ha I can only imagine you were going to tell me I couLdnt lay down and reach in a river under the side of a bank because my girth is wider than my arms are long.

did my PM re how to deploy terrafirma terrors make sense???
the beauty of using a running rig is trout can take bait and start to move off before feeling line tension and if they manage to break line they ARENT attached to the sinker.

Cocabullies, use them like you would with a kahawai live bait.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mathias

Cocabullies, use them like you would with a kahawai live bait.

---

How do you catch them @Mathias? I've thought they would make great lives for salmon.

whitebait net.....or kids scoop net x2 and come at them from both directions at once. piece of cake to put WB net across small stream/creek and beat a few down into it....make good job of sorting wee fellas to weed out trout n salmon.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shearer

How do you catch them @Mathias? I've thought they would make great lives for salmon.

---

As mentioned, whitebait net or butterfly net. In actual fact bullies are getting harder to find now. Once they populated the stock water races and the likes, but they have suffered badly by water quality in this region.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mathias

As mentioned, whitebait net or butterfly net. In actual fact bullies are getting harder to find now. Once they populated the stock water races and the likes, but they have suffered badly by water quality in this region.

---

We used to live bait for sea run fish at the Selwyn river. You need to give the fish a long time from the take to setting the hook. We had a lot of drops before we figured that out. We also caught bullies in pastoral drains. Was a few years ago now though.

Any luck yet @Ryan_Songhurst ?

Tokoroa chicken will work