6 Most Effective Trout Fishing Rigs That Top Guides Use

You need the best trout fishing rigs to hook and land giant trout like this trophy brown trout. — The author’s clients with a nice big brown trout caught on a proven and effective trout fishing rig. Catching larger wiser trout requires the best rigs and the best presentation.

I’m going to share six of the most effective trout fishing rigs that top trout guides and I use to ensure our clients catch the most trout possible when fishing with bait.

I’ve included my most effective rigs for trout fishing in still-water lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, my best trout rigs for rivers.

As an experienced guide of over 20 years, I’ve had ample opportunities to use and test out many different rigs for trout fishing that I’ve learned from fellow guides and experienced trout anglers. The rigs here are the best of the best.

I’ll also shed light on common trout fishing rig mistakes that prevent anglers from catching trout, which are mistakes they don’t even realize they are making. If you’re making these same easy-to-fix mistakes, then the chances are, you’re missing out on catching trout.

Table Of Contents hide

1 The Trout Fishing Rig

2 The Best Right Hook and Right Size For A Trout Fishing Rig

3 The Right Size Hook

4 Proper Bait Placement On The Hook

5 Choosing the Appropriate Leader Size

6 A Brief Overview of My Trout Rigs

7 Float Fishing Trout Rig

8 Drift Fishing Rigs

9 Bottom Bouncing Trout Fishing Rig

10 Still-Water Trout Fishing Rig: Plunking For Trout

11 Bobber Doggin Trout Fishing Rig

12 Chuck N Duck Fly Fishing Rig

The Trout Fishing Rig

good trout fishing rigs will help you consistently catch big brown trout like this. — I’ve guided thousands of anglers, so I know to consistently catch big fish like this brown trout the setup, rig, and presentation need to be perfect.

There are two vital components in trout fishing setups: the hook and the leader. These elements are essential because they are what the trout sees when it approaches a bait. If you have these two things wrong in your set-up, you will struggle to catch fish.

But don’t worry, I’m going the tell you exactly what I use for a hook and for a leader, as well as show you my entire trout fishing rig.

The Best Right Hook and Right Size For A Trout Fishing Rig

Top guide like Alex from Fire Plug Charters know the value of using the best trout fishing rigs. — Top guides like Alex from Fire Plug Charters know the value of using the best trout fishing rigs.

A quality hook should easily pierce the fish’s mouth on the hookset and it needs to stay secure during the fight. Unfortunately, not all hooks do this well.

In fact, some hooks that are really popular with new anglers are actually really bad and are preventing them from catching trout.

Unfortunately, anglers can’t be faulted for using bad hooks since many misleading articles written by ill-informed authors keep advocating for bait-holder hooks. These hooks are also sold by store staff at some of the large big box stores, and they are recommended by other anglers who just don’t know any better.

Good fishing guides and good anglers never use bait-holder hooks because they’re crap!

Fishing guides are particularly selective about the hooks they use. In order for them to give their clients the best chance of hooking and landing the most trout possible, they must use hooks that can effectively penetrate the fish’s mouth on the hookset and keep the fish securely hooked during the battle. They also must use hooks that aren’t excessively large or small.

If bait holder hooks were truly the best for bait, all guides and seasoned anglers would use them, but they don’t!

The Right Size Hook

Bait and hook size — This bait is way too small for this hook which could result in the fish seeing the hook and refusing to eat the bait. Match the hook to the size of the bait.

Trout have an excellent vision, and if they can see the hook or leader, especially in slow current or still water where they have plenty of time to inspect the bait.

Good anglers and guides use reliable short-shank wide gap hooks like the Raven Specimen or a Gamaktsu Octopus hook.

If they see the hook, they might decide not to bite. This is more so with wild trout and larger wiser trout.

Good Hook Size For this bait — This bait is a good size for this hook and the hook gap is wide enough to hook a fish.

The size of the hook should be in line with the bait size.

An overly large hook is easy to spot, while a small hook may escape the trout’s vision but it won’t penetrate and hold onto the fish adequately.

Proper Bait Placement On The Hook

How to put a bait on a hook — This is an example of where to put the bait on a hook to be sure most of the hook is covered, but also to be sure the hook gap is wide enough that the hook point is not covered.

Having the right hook is essential, but if it’s rigged incorrectly it won’t be as effective.

Regrettably, many trout fishing setups promoted online are rigged incorrectly, which reduces the chances of catching fish.

From years of experience and plenty of trial and error, I can tell you this: never cover the hook point or fill the hook gap. If I keep the hook gap open and the hook point exposed, the fish can often hook themselves, especially in currents.

Choosing the Appropriate Leader Size

Top guides like John from Get Bent Guide Service only use the best trout fishing rigs. — Top guides like John from Get Bent Guide Service only use the best trout rigs.

The leader’s pound test is what I’m referring to, not the length. Basic lengths for each setup can be seen in the diagrams below. I use different leaders for various sizes of trout and river conditions.

I’ve tested line diameter many times under various conditions and it really does make a difference. My general rule is to use a leader line so thin that the trout won’t detect it, yet only strong enough that the trout won’t keep breaking off.

Unfortunately, not all brands accurately rate their leaders, which can impede fishing success. One brand’s 6-pound leader can be as thick as a 12-pound test (this is a fact), which is not good for trout fishing since they will see this.

For this reason, I always purchase my leader line based on the line diameter provided on the box, not the pound test rating the company advertises.

Here are some basic guidelines for leader sizing. You can use these for the trout fishing rig setups outlined below.

Trout Leader: 2 to 6 pounds: 0.004 inches to 0.007-inch diameter
Steelhead and Bass or large trout: 8 to 12 pounds, the ideal is 8 pounds: 0.008 in diameter

A Brief Overview of My Trout Rigs

Team photographer Matthew with a massive lake run brown trout. With trout this big you must have good trout fishing rigs. — Team photographer Matthew with a massive lake run brown trout. With trout this big it’s imperative to have a good trout rig. See more from Matthew on Instagram.

Let me clarify, I and other top anglers use these setups for any bait because the bait is often irrelevant.

Therefore, they can be used with spawn bags, worms, minnows, leeches, beads, flies, or any other bait.

These setups are proven effective and are regularly used by myself, other guides, and countless veteran anglers.

Feel free to modify these rigs to suit your needs and the fishing conditions you encounter. This is how I rig them when I’m guiding clients or fishing for leisure.

Float Fishing Trout Rig

This is a medium Depth Float fishing Leader For Trout — This is the medium-depth float fishing leader for trout that I use. Add whatever bait you want to the bottom.

This bulk shot leader setup is good for fast water — Bulk shot puts all the weights down low on the leader to get the fly or bait down in faster water.

Regardless of whether I’m fishing in lakes or rivers, I use the same setup. The only difference is that in a lake, I use a slip float if the depth exceeds the length of my rod, so anything over 7 feet.

Shallow water float fishing leader — This is a shallow water float fishing leader that I would use in water less than 24 inches deep. The optional split shot may not be needed since the water is so shallow.

For rivers, I prefer longer rods of 10 to 12 feet, so I will use a fixed float in any water under 12 feet deep.