Early on, as far as trout fishing in Australia, the main method was fly fishing and spinner bait fishing. That's not so true anymore because in recent years Australian anglers have developed a love for trolling for trout. A part of the reason for that is the expanded use of small boats in lakes and such. With a few minor modifications a good estuary boat can be turned into a great trout boat. That makes trolling for trout a very appealing proposition and affords fishermen the opportunity to fish places they would have a hard time reaching from a bank.
Yes, we've all seen the TV fishing shows where it seems that they simply drop a fishing line in the water a go on the merry way dragging the bait behind the boat, but trolling for trout requires a bit more skill than that. Each trolling lure you use will require you to incorporate a bit of a different strategy.
Minnow trolling is a good example of that. It's best to attach the artificial minnow to a light rod and reel with a swivel. This helps to give the bait a more life-like action and keep the line from twisting. You can experiment with different boat speeds, but you will likely find that two knots works best with the bait out about 35 meters.
Not used as frequently as they once were, the banana shaped lures Flatfish and Kwikfish are still productive and should be used when trolling for trout. Fishermen stopped using them so much probably because they lacked the patience to required to troll them so slowly. It's kind of hard to blame them when you're out for a lot of fun action, but they do catch fish and can be deadly when the bite is on. If you want to give these bad boy baits a try, go for them in sizes F7 and X4 for Flatfish and K7 and K8 for Kwikfish. Then, hang on to your rod.
Other great baits for trolling for trout would include Tassie Devils and Cobras. These are colored tubes with fins on them and what makes them so effective is that they have a very erratic action in the water which drives the trout crazy. It's important that the boat is moving at the right speed to get the most out of this action; about 2 knots.
If you want to increase the chance of getting more bites, you should try attractors in front of the lures. They're just like any other fishing tackle, some days they will really help and other days they seem to have no influence or even prevent the bite. They usually consist of a chain of spinning blades or a flashing bent piece of sheet metal. The chain of spinning blades usually have up to four blades that spin as they are trolled, with the lure lagging 50 centimetres behind them. They create a lot of drag so use heavier tackle.
The flashing bent piece of sheet metal, called Dodgers, doesn't have as much drag, but they do dart and weave around making whatever is trolled behind it more life-like. Most any lure can be placed behind an attractor, but small spoons and large flies seem to get the vote most often, but when trolling for trout you could also use worms or mudeyes on hooks.
