By Ronnie Parris
Hey folks, I hope you are doing well. I’m sure loving these warm days, and the fish are too. With the water heating up, the forage fish are really getting their feed on, working the surface, eating zooplankton. And in turn, we’re starting to see some good top water and shallow water feeding going on. I love just working feeding fish and catching whatever is biting best at the time, but lately we have been seeing some really big brown trout coming out of Fontana.
These giants are feeding primarily on threadfin and blueback herring but seem to be eating lots of crayfish and small bluegill fry too. If you’re looking for a line stretching, these brown trout will definitely fit the bill. I’m always amazed at how a trout this size will be just dog fighting at 30 ft. and come up like a smallmouth and jump. Better have your leaders changed and your drags set.
Now there have always been a few brown that spawn in the river and run up some of the freshwater streams, but I’m pretty sure some if not most of these fish are being pushed from the Tuckaseegee delayed harvest areas. These fish are getting all the shad they can eat, so they are really healthy and are a blast, especially on light tackle. I’ve caught several running my trolling setup, some coming from 30 to 40 ft depth, but the majority have come on surface lures trolling at 5 to 10 ft deep.
Coloration is a little different from the browns caught back in the park streams. These browns have more of a silver sheen instead of the gold you see on the ones caught in creeks like Hazel Creek. As far as baits, they can be taken with a large variety. Minnows, worms and crayfish are all good choices as far as live baits, but I usually troll spoons and small plugs, such as Rapalas flicker shads, as well as spinner rigs. I think the lure is not as important as getting it in front of their face when they are in a feeding mood. I got on a 30 minute frenzy the other day and had fish on almost constantly. Then there was a slight weather change and they just shut down.
If you’re looking for an exciting fight, these big browns are gonna fit the bill, so get out there and get hooked up on one of these monsters. And as always take a kid fishing.