Rainbow Trout

Range: native west of the Rockies, from northern Mexico to Alaska and across to northern Asia. Rainbows have been introduced into every U.S. state and around the world, including the Great Lakes region.

Habitat: cool to cold streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Rainbows do best where the water stays below about 70°F. They spawn over gravel riffles and feed on insects, crustaceans, snails and small fish. In warmer regions most can't reproduce or survive the summer, so fishing there depends on stocking; some southern states stock rainbows each winter in community lakes.

• Streams: prime feeding lies where the current carries food past.
• Lakes: near shore after ice-out and when wind pushes bait against a bank; deeper and offshore in summer heat.

Spinners and spoons

Inline spinners combine flash and vibration that draws trout in. In a stream, cast upstream and reel just fast enough to turn the blade as the current sweeps it back. Spoons can be cast, trolled or jigged; use thin, light spoons for shallow water and a slow flutter, and heavier ones to reach deeper fish.

Stickbaits and small crankbaits

Minnow-style stickbaits, 3 to 5 inches, work when trout cruise shallow shorelines, such as after ice-out or when an onshore wind stirs up feeding. Retrieve slowly with occasional twitches so the bait darts like an injured baitfish, and keep your casts in the zone where trout are feeding. Small crankbaits with a wide wobble catch stream trout on a steady, medium retrieve.

Dough bait

In lakes and ponds, still-fishing floating dough bait from shore is hard to beat. Use a sliding sinker, a swivel, a leader of 20 to 30 inches and a small treble hook, with enough dough to float the hook off the bottom. Leave the bail open and give each spot about five minutes before reeling in a few turns to a new spot.

Worms

In streams running high and off-color, bounce a worm on a split-shot rig along the bottom, using just enough weight to tumble with the current. In lakes, a floating plastic trout worm on light line, retrieved very slowly, catches cruising fish.

Jigs

A small leadhead with a slender soft plastic, hopped along the bottom and up a shoreline drop-off, catches trout that have moved just off the bank.

A light spinning outfit with 4- to 6-pound monofilament suits dough baits; go down to 2- to 4-pound line for small floating worms. For casting stickbaits, a 7-foot medium spinning rod with thin braid and a fluorocarbon leader is a good choice, especially in clear water. Fly rods also catch rainbows in streams and lakes. Trout rules vary from state to state and water to water, so check your state's regulations.