Trout Fishing 101: Basic Hacks For Catching Southwestern Trout

Arizona Has Trout?

Trout Fishing 101; the Apache Trout

That’s a groovy question amigo! And we have the answers to that question in this Arizona Trout Fishing 101 Guide. Get your basic questions answered right here..

Arizona Trout Species

Here in the Great State of Arizona, we have 8 species of trout that you can fish for. These are the Apache Trout, Arctic Grayling, Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Gila Trout, Rainbow Trout and Tiger Trout. Both the Apache and Gila trouts are native to Arizona. As protected trout species, they can be fished, but are catch and release only. Be sure to check with the AZ Fishing Regulations as this may change.

Fall and winter is that time of the year here in Arizona when we southern Arizonans get crazy for trout fishing. Yes, sir trout season is soon upon us. If you are not familiar with trout fishing in Arizona, you will get the all the Trout Fishing information you need right here to start fishing for desert trout.

To be clear, there is no real trout season here. You can fish for trout year-round here in the state, but to do so, you’ll need to fish in northern Arizona. As you get north of Phoenix, you start to climb up into the Mogollon Rim plateau. With the higher elevation, the temperatures get much cooler than down in southern Arizona.

Since trout need cool waters to survive, there are plenty of ponds and lakes to fish up there year round that are cool enough for trout.

One place cool enough to fish year-round is my favorite trout hole here, is Seneca Lake. Seneca Lake is located just north of Globe about 5 miles from the Salt River Canyon. Down here in southern AZ, it is a different story. Starting in late March to April the temperature warms up and so does the water temperature. Before too long, unless the lake has some significant depth, the trout will die off.

Arizona Game and Fish Trout Stockings.

The good news for us trout anglers in southern and central Arizona, we still have small lakes up in the nearby mountains like Riggs Flatt and Rose Canyon where you can fish for trout during the summer months. However, for the lower-elevation lakes, we have to wait till winter when they start stocking trout. AZ Game and Fish usually starts stocking trout in October, and in November with the urban (community) lakes. Check out the stocking schedules at Arizona Fish Stocking Schedules – Statewide and Community

Arizona Game and Fish Departments Trout Challenge.

While you have trout on your brain, you can earn eternal glory by completing the Arizona Game and Fish Department Trout Challenge.

Earn Eternal Glory and to quote Game and Fish “Successful anglers will receive a certificate with color images of each of the species they caught and submitted for the Challenge. Anglers are eligible to receive both the Wild Trout Challenge Certificate and the Arizona Trout Certificate; however, all fish submitted for the second Challenge must be submitted from different waters in Arizona. In addition to the certificates, anglers will receive an Arizona Trout Challenge hoodie upon completing their first challenge, and an Arizona Trout Challenge collectible coin upon completing both challenges.”

That’s right boys and girls. Be a Trout Challenge WINNER!

Basic Trout Fishing 101 Gear.

When it comes to trout fishing, my absolute favorite gear to use is ultralight tackle. So if you’re new to fishing and worried about your gear being to light or small, Arizona’s waters are full of Bluegills, Black Crappie, White Crappie, and Tilapia too. These fish are perfect for ultralight and light gear fishing fun year-round.

Most of your stocked trout will be 10″-12″ inch average size. That size trout on ultralight gear will peg your fun meter into the red fun zone. Trust me! So everything we talk about from here on out will be pretty much for ultralight gear or Finesse Gear. But you’re not limited to just using ultralight. If you want or use heavier gear, GO FOR IT! Use what you have, stay in your budget, but above all, just have fun….

Trout Fishing 101 Rod and Reel Combos.

My favorite spinning rod & reel combos I enjoy using is the Quantum Q-Micro Series, the other a Mitchell Avocet II S2000R. I replaced the original short rods with 6’6″ rods. These reels are considered “vintage” today and were the “cheap” rigs back in the day when I bought them, but they are rock-solid fish-catching workhorses. I’ve fished with them for at least 12-15 years or so. They’re great reels for trout fishing but also work ell for crappie, tilapia, and assorted panfish.

Zebco Micro33 Ultralight Spincast Rod and Reel Combo

However, if you’re new to fishing and looking for an ultralight starter pole, I recommend the Zebco Microspins. They are available in two models. The Zebco Micro Spin Cast Reel and Rod Combo and the Zebco Micro Triggerspin Reel and Rod Combo.

The reels come pre-spooled with a 4-pound line which is plenty strong for trout, crappie, and panfish. Features of the reels are a dial-adjustable drag, and left-hand retrieve, with a 4.3:1 gear ratio. The spin cast comes with a 5-foot rod, the Triggerspin reel comes with a 5″5″ rod.

These are short rods and will work great for smaller waters, and streams, working your way into our smaller stream-fed canyons. You don’t need to be able to cast a country mile with these. Most of the trout I catch are within 30-40 feet of the bank.

Zebcos are AFFORDABLE, robust, and are a great beginner’s rod and reel combo for a person just starting, or for teaching kids or your co-worker how to fish. I bought both of my grand nephews the Zebco Micro Spin Cast Combo and they love ’em.

I also keep a couple of the Zebco 404 size combos to loan out when someone goes fishing with me. Spincast reels don’t require a lot of skill to learn, which are perfect for teaching a person how to cast. Plus they are low maintenance and will reel in catfish, trout, bass, crappie, carp, and panfish you hook. Lastly, they’re relatively cheap and easy to replace in case it gets broken.

If there is one thing I can’t stress enough, YOU DON’T NEED EXPENSIVE TACKLE TO CATCH FISH!

Fishing Line For Trout.

So now that the basic trout fishing rods and reel needs are behind us, let’s talk about how to catch trout. Trout fishing is a season for me. Like any season change, you have to get ready for it. Presuming you already have fishing rods and reels. My first step in fishing preparation is changing the line on my reels. I change out my line every 6 months on all of my reels.

A lot of guys like to keep their gear in the trunk of the car or the garage year-round. As you know, in the summer and especially here in the southwest, the interior and trunk of your car will get super-heated. Even your garage can get really hot. That heat and direct sunlight can affect your line by weakening it, making it brittle and prone to breaking and snapping under strain.

Nobody wants to lose a fish or your favorite “lucky” lure because your line snapped unexpectedly.

Be sure to put on some fresh line to minimize losing a fish and prevent turning your fun trip into a frustrating one. I am a big fan of Spider Wire and ALL my reels are loaded up with Spider Wire line. I love Spider Wire as it is a thinner line which allows more line on your reel. Think of it as getting 10 lb strength line in a 6 lb diameter.

For trout, my go-to line sizes are the 4lb Fluorocarbon Spider Wire Line or the 6lb Fluorocarbon Spider Wire Line. I use fluorocarbon because it sinks and has some stretch to it. It works great with power bait, spinners, spoons, and jigs. If you prefer surface action with flies or poppers, then use a monofilament line. It floats and has a lot of stretch.

Arizona Trout Fishing 101 Guide On How To Catch Trout.

The Carolina Rig.

The easiest rig to catch trout on is a Carolina Rig. Looks familiar huh? Yea, buddy! Bass fishermen love this rig using artificial worms to catch bass and people who catfish love this rig too. For trout, we just scale down the weight, hook, and line sizes. It doesn’t get any easier than this.

We’re talking about a sinker and a hook with dough bait on the hook. Beads and bobbers are optional my friends. Let it sink to the bottom and at some point a trout swims by and eats the bait. You set the hook and BAM! A couple of minutes later it’s trout dinner in a skillet, right?

How To Make a Carolina Rig.

Basic Powerbait Trout Rig

To make this, you can use 3.5g Bullet weights or 5g Bullet weights, and for hooks, I roll with either an Eagle Claw 038A-12 Classic Hook or the Eagle Claw 376A-12 Classic Treble hooks. These are available in a small box of individual hooks or a pack of 10 snelled hooks. Snelled hooks are easier to use when it’s chilly out and tying knots is difficult with cold fingers, or when you forget your flipping reading glasses at home and can’t thread the line through the hook eye. (thank God for snelled hooks and snap swivels right?) Once you set up your line. The next thing is to add a ball of bait around your hook.

Berkley Powerbait.

For trout fishing, I swear by Berkley PowerBaits. This stuff is super groovy and catches trout. I usually start to stock up on my PowerBait colors in late summer – early fall. Here in the Tucson area, its often hard to find the popular colors once they start to stock trout in the local urban waters. My color preferences are the White, Corn Yellow, and Yellow. I believe these colors are what the trout are fed at the hatcheries. Pink and chartreuse also work great too.

Berkley has several PowerBait colors to choose from. You can pick from solids to color mixes and glitters. It’s good to have a varied collection of assorted PowerBaits on hand. Cast it out and let it sit. PowerBait will pretty much stay on the hook until it’s removed.

If you run into a Powerbait shortage, there is one trick you can use. Go to WalMart and buy yourself a bag of the small pastel-colored marshmallows. The bag will have white, yellow, pink, and green marshmallows in pastel colors. Trout gobble these up too.

Plus you can snack on them if you get the munchies. The marshmallows however seem to last about 10 minutes once they get wet and will dissolve rather quickly. So be sure to check your bait frequently when using marshmallows.

The Drop Shot Rig.

Using drop shot rigs when trout fishing is another great tool in your inventory. This setup requires more action on your part. Once you cast it out, you start working on your retrieve method. The idea is to drag a suspended worm a few inches off the bottom using a slow retrieve with frequent pauses and of course, wiggling and twitching your rod.

Drag, stop, twitch, and drag – stop, twitch, and drag…. It’s a simple rinse, wash, and repeat drill.

My preference is to use #4 or #5 size hooks and you’ll want to make sure the hook points up like it does in the image to your left. For weight add a small 1/8 oz Lead Drop Shot Weight. You can bait your drop shot rig with a Berkley PowerBait Power 3″ Floating Trout Worm. Red wiggler worms work too If you like live baits. For you composters, you should have lots of nice little red wigglers handy.

Trout Fishing 101 Artificial Lures.

Let’s talk about 4 kinds of lures here. Jigs, spinners, spoons and jerk baits.

Trout Jigs.

Jigs are easy to use. You drop them into the water straight down and then twitch your rod tip up and down, then do a slow retrieve, jigging all the way up. Pretty easy huh? You can also cast and retrieve them too. I like to use the Crappie Magnet Fin Spin Kit. or Leland’s Lures Trout Magnet Ultimate Bundle. These for example have spinners added to the lure to give them some flash and sparkle in the water. For trout fshing, I prefer to use the smaller 1/8 and 1/16 oz sized jig.

Add a small artificial tube or grub and let the magic happen. There are many more jigs available to you. These come unpainted (plain), or painted in a variety of solid colors and solid colors with eyes. When you buy your jigs, make sure you get yourself a mix of soft baits to use with your jigs. These can be grubs, tubes, grubs with split tails (like squids), worms, minnows… and more.

Whichever you choose, but sure to get a mixed pack of colors to go with your jigs.

Rooster Tail and Blue Fox Classic Vibrax Spinner Lures

For you action-oriented guys who can’t stand to fish being still. Spinner baits are AWESOME for trout. Leading the pack is the much-vaunted Wordens Original Rooster Tail. Made by Yakima Baits, you can get Rooster tails in several sizes and colors. My favorite are the 7/64 size rooster tails and I start with my rainbow trout pattern and move onto white or chartreuse.

Having one or two of these in your tackle box is not enough. I have a collection like I had a collection of Matchbox cars as a kid! Rooster Tails are trout fishing royalty! Bro…., your rooster tails should have their own Plano container apart from the other trout tackle rabble and riff-raff. Love them and treat them with respect!

Trout Rooster Tails and Blue Fox Spinners

Next up we have the Blue Fox Classic Vibrax’s. Mine or a “0” size or 7/64. My most successful trout fishing colors are the Silver, Chartreuse, and Fluorescent Orange spinners. It’s good to have a varied assortment of these too. These are my top two favorite spinners lures that I use. I’d also like to add that you can’t go wrong with Panther Martin and Mepps spinners either. As you have time to invest and grow your tackle. You’ll see that all of these will produce fish for you.

Z-Ray Spoons

If you want to talk about favorite trout fishing spoons, I can’t speak highly enough about Z-Rays lures. Every tackle box should have an assortment of Z-Rays. As a kid in the 70’s, every store you went into had bunches of Z-Rays in the fishing isles. You had lots of color and size choices to pick from. Unfortunately, they went out of business and I’m happy to say, have been recently resurrected.

Currently, the Z-Rays are available in 8 different colors & 5 different sizes. I like the 1/8 oz (1.75″ length) and 1/4 oz (2″ length) sizes.

These can be ordered from Bass Pro Shops, but if you want more or the original color/pattern choices, you’re going to have to hunt down some vintage Z-Rays on E-Bay my friends. Z-Rays are a cast and retrieve lure. Adjust your retrieve speed from slow to fast depending on fishing conditions. These are made in Chandler AZ by the way.

DarDevle Spoons

Another GREAT lure every trout fisherman should not be without, is the DarDevle spoon. This is another iconic trout fishing lure that has stood the test of time. All you need to know is, it CATCHES trout! I have the 1/4 oz and 1/16 oz red and white DarDevel in my tacklebox. They come in 10 different sizes and a multitude of colors and patterns. Also available are their US military novelty spoons.

DarDevles are another great classic asset to have in your tackle inventory. Just like your AMEX card…, “don’t leave town without it.”

Jerk Baits.

Little White Rapala Lure

One more AWESOME tool in my fishing inventory is this guy to the left. It’s the Rapala Husky Jerk 06 (HJ06) Glass Minnow jerk bait. Mine measures 2″ 1/2 inches long and weighs in at a petite 1/8 oz. This jerk bait was given to me by a fishing buddy and it’s a favorite of mine to fish during trout season. If you see one, be sure to pick up an extra one or two.

Watch the top water and when you see the trout hitting bugs on the water, pitch this lure out where the fish slap the water getting at the bugs. A slow to medium retrieve will trigger aggressive trout into hammering it. Other jerk baits that work well trout fishing are the white, silver, or trout patterns.

If you want to learn more about jerk baits, read my article on Mastering the Jerkbait: 7 Free Tips For Fishing A Jerkbait

Wrapping Up The Arizona Trout Fishing 101 Guide.

There are many more lure choices out here for you to pick from. Strike King makes the awesome Bitsy Minnow Baits, but I could go on and on here. Picking out your lure colors, stick with your natural fish colors and patterns, like rainbow and brook trout. Always have silver, white, chartreuse, and pretty much any fluorescent yellow, green, or pink colored lures in your tackle box. Trout like flashy things… And Good Luck catching Arizona trout!

Trout Fishing 101 Shopping Cart

Get what your basic trout fishing gear here!
** Note! I am an affiliate marketer. If you have any questions, please visit my Affiliate Disclosure page.

Trout Fishing 101: Basic Hacks For Catching Southwestern Trout