Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a commission for purchases through these links. Anglerresource.com is a participant of Amazon LLC associates program. Read our affiliate disclosure here.
Fishing stocked trout is an easy way to do something recreational. It takes far less effort, resources and time than a usual fishing tour to the nearest lake. Which is why every year more and more new people are taking part in it and having fun around. But the fact they are new to the activity, they know almost nothing when starting. More than everything using the best bait for stocked trout is crucial to catch fish.
While one may be expecting to catch fish using lures but the fact is that they are much more attracted towards baits than any type of lure. Which is why it becomes crucial to know what are the most successful stocked trout fishing baits.
Trout behave much more different towards lures in stocked waters than other spots. One of the reasons are the crowds throwing all types of lures to catch them. But they seem to be aware of the situation when there are many people fishing. Which result in trout avoiding the lures and biting more on a natural thing which they feel safer.
In this situation new anglers completely lose out when casting without the best bait for stocked trout. We have seen a lot of times that trout don’t even get close to artificial baits. Which is why we always recommend to go strait for natural stocked trout baits.
Berkley dough powerbait, corn and salmon eggs are your go to baits for stocked trout. But if you can’t find any of these or you run out of it you can also use homemade dough earthworms and shrimp. Crickets, Grasshoppers and mayflies are also good baits for trout.
In this article we will share what types of bait work the best for stocked trout fishing.
Best Bait for Stocked Trout
The nature of trout remain unchanged both in stocked water and normal spots. They bite more on natural baits than any lure you can find. However there are differences in baits, like there will be not as much success with live bait. Which is why power baits are also very productive options.
The usual baits will not be replaced, those will work fine too. Among the top baits some of the baits will work much more efficiently and bring more trout. While others would not be as much productive as they are in native water.
Here are the baits that do well for stocked trout.
- Corn Bait for Stocked Trout
- Berkley Powerbait
- Salmon Eggs
- Dough Stocked Trout Bait
- Earthworms
Usually you will get your desired results from these baits but other live baits will work just fine.
You might see different results depending on the time of the day, weather temperature etc. But sticking to these baits you will see the most success for trout in stocked spots.
Here are the details for each of these baits and how and when to use them each.
1. Corn Bait for Stocked Trout
As always corn remains among the top priority bait for trout. As you might know in our articles we recommend corn but we do not prefer it over the other baits in natural water trout. But in this situation we always recommend corn as one of the top priority trout fishing bait.
This perfect food remains the constant discussion topic among most anglers. It is the easiest to get, hook and cast and yet it works perfectly. Using this simple bait many anglers have caught a lot of fish using only corn bait.
If you are fishing in a river these are your go to baits.
As corn is a good source of energy for the fish, it will always get as many hits as it gets now. The only thing that may effect its productivity is weather or the time you throw it. If you throw it right after their feeding time, the number of hits will probably decline but it remain constantly among the top baits for stocked trout.
Anglers can use both canned corn or open fresh corn both will have good results.
2. Berkley Powerbait
The colored dough powerbaits by Berkley are also usually getting many hits in stocked waters. These dough baits remain sound and safe to use as always. They hit hard on the Berkley powerbaits on smaller hooks.
Here is what line you should use for stocked trout fishing.
Some anglers recommend to leave the hook exposed after hooking the power bait. While some recommend to use smaller hook and hide it as much as you can in the bait.
The best part is you can shape this bait as you want so using a smaller hook you can completely cover the hook in bait.
Pink is the preferred color for any dough powerbait. However it might be different for different seasons. Berkley powerbait is also one of the most liked baits for stocked trout.
3. Salmon Eggs
Trout in all situations love Berkley salmon eggs and so do stocked trout. They bite on it hard any time of the day whenever you throw it for them. Salmon eggs are reliable in any way. They are inexpensive to buy and easy to carry due to good packaging.
Use these rigs for your fishing trip.
They last long as a single pack of them will last you several fishing trips.
The smell of this power bait attracts trout towards it whenever the fish is near around. Also the shape and color play important role in attracting the fish. Once you have the salmon eggs with you, you will never return without catching decent fish.
You must give a try to salmon eggs to see how the top power baits perform. It is the example of perfect stocked trout bait which is the most reliable.
4. Dough Stocked Trout Bait
Its hard to believe that home made the most simple and easy bait is has such impressive results. In fact one may consider the best of all baits because its both the easiest and as powerful as other baits.
Here are the rigs for dough and powerbait.
After preparing it at home make small round shapes of it and cover it in a plastic or put it in a plastic bag. After storing it it will last several day even up to 2 weeks.
Just like Berkley doughs the homemade version is also very effective. The power of this bait is undeniable, even if an angler don’t use it regularly they can keep it for times when they run out of their usual bait.
Your list will not be complete if you don’t have this easy and best stocked trout fishing bait.
5. Earthworms
Worms insects and all types of flies are all considered to be great food for the fish. But worms are more natural and trout tend to focus more on worms. This include earth worms, nightcrawlers and all other types of worms. These are so effective that trout will bite easily.
Here are some great fishing spots for stocked trout.
If your fishing spot is not too crowded you can find some worms in your fishing spot as well. They will let you rely on them for at least a couple of fishing trips. As worms are good source of energy for the fish, stocked trout consider them as great bait.
These are also among the best stocked trout fishing bait and work great in most situations. The bite rate is significantly higher on all types of worms.
Final Thoughts about Stocked Trout Bait
You are free to use all types of trout bait but again the stocked trout prefer to bite on a little different thing so we provided all the great baits that stocked trout bite the best on. Try to avoid artificial lures as much as you can you will be successful with baits.