Northwest Fishing Reports

Can anyone tell me how to rig a wedding ring for lake trout ? do you tie the leader to a swivel ? add a weight ? bait ? Thanks

It doesn't hurt to use a swivel. The leaders on wedding rings are pretty long so I'd put some weight right above the swivel so it can't slide down the line in case it gets loose. Weight is going to depend on how slow/fast you are trolling and how deep the fish are. Just experiment. Worms work pretty good or maybe salmon eggs. Make sure you are trolling fast enough so that the blade spins. Generally in the evening, the trout are on the surface so no weight + a worm might do the trick. Hope this helps

Hi, well you have picked one of my favorit riggs to fish with.
My favorit settup is a snap swivel 12" of 8lb line then a 4/0 dodger the leader length can be any where from 12" to 3" wedding ring at the end. Tip the hook with a single piece of corn or a short piece of worm. I highly recommend the double wammy (two hooks). Weight can be anything from 3oz bannana to a small bite weight.
This settup has worked for me on everylake I have fished just takes a little experienting. Works on kokanee and all kinds of trout. p.s. The larger fish tend to hit this setup so be ready. little fish too
Good luck and it works I swear.
needabiggerboat,

Hi, well you have picked one of my favorit riggs to fish with.
My favorit settup is a snap swivel 12" of 8lb line then a 4/0 dodger the leader length can be any where from 12" to 3" wedding ring at the end. Tip the hook with a single piece of corn or a short piece of worm. I highly recommend the double wammy (two hooks). Weight can be anything from 3oz bannana to a small bite weight.
This settup has worked for me on everylake I have fished just takes a little experienting. Works on kokanee and all kinds of trout. p.s. The larger fish tend to hit this setup so be ready. little fish too
Good luck and it works I swear.
needabiggerboat,

I prefer to replace the leader and hook with quality stock then make the leader about 18" and troll behind a small dodger or pop gear. tipped with the bait of your choice, worm, Pb. Troll it way back with weight or downrigger.

I've started using Hotshots and Flatfish for trout and have never gone back to any spinner or spoon....

Did a test this weekend since I knew we were gonna catch a mess of trout cause it was opening day...
I went out with two buddies. Set my poal up with a red flatfish, one of theirs with a vibrax Blue Fox spinner, and a green wedding ring. Same weigh. About a 1/3 oz. Same leader length...Trolled all at same depth. Same line on each rod. Everything was the same. All trolled off the same boat.

27 fish total:
F4 Flatfish in Flourescent red: 14
Blue Fox Vibrax spinner: 6
Wedding Ring: 7

No joke.

Sure, you can say it was one test, but I've started fishing flatfish/hotshots 2 years ago and always outfished anyone using spinners/spoons when I've had a flatfish/hotshot on....

Please give me the scoop on the flat fish setup you are using for trout. Do you fish with a small flasher or dodger. Any info to get me started. I'd like to give it a try
needabiggerboat,

Yup, Flatfish is the only way to go for big trout.

needabiggerboat:
I'm heading to bed now, but tomorrow I'll give a really detailed report with pictures of the setup and the different colors and sizes and all that. I'm not in the mood to tie up a bunch of setups and take pictures and upload them now.
But FishSlayer is right: Big trout on them

This isn't to say that I don't EVER use spinners/spoons anymore, when I use a spinner a Wedding Ring is my #1 spinner though...

Wedding rings are the best. I use a swivel with about 1 to 2 1/2 feet of leader. I will sometimes put a 1/16 weight on but barely often. I have had the best luck on this using all colers. Me and my buddy have tryed flat fish but haveint had any luck. I dont belive in them. Take the bottem bead off and put just a normal round bead on. Me and my buddy limit out with nothing under 2 poundes.

Sorry guys I left my tackle box in my buddies car today...
I won't be able to get it tonight, but I'll pick it up tomorrow morning and then I'll post a picture of all my flatfish/hotshots and some pictures of all the setups and stuff for you all...

Sam Kafelafish wrote:Sorry guys I left my tackle box in my buddies car today...
I won't be able to get it tonight, but I'll pick it up tomorrow morning and then I'll post a picture of all my flatfish/hotshots and some pictures of all the setups and stuff for you all...

Let us know Sam! I'm very interested in what you use (well, not just you, everyone)=p~

Sam Kafelafish wrote:needabiggerboat:
I'm heading to bed now, but tomorrow I'll give a really detailed report with pictures of the setup and the different colors and sizes and all that. I'm not in the mood to tie up a bunch of setups and take pictures and upload them now.
But FishSlayer is right: Big trout on them

This isn't to say that I don't EVER use spinners/spoons anymore, when I use a spinner a Wedding Ring is my #1 spinner though...

What kind of swivle do you use when you fishing with flatfish to prevent line twists

Sorry guys I got everything setup and got the setups tied and was ready to do my full post, but I realized my camera was in my dads car. I usually just use a standard barrel swivel. Here's a brief overview of what I use:
about a 1/4 oz egg weight, small plastic bead to keep the knot from banging between the swivel and egg weight, and then a swivel, tied to about 3 or 4 feet of leader (6lb maxima) and then tied directly onto the flatfish...

I'll post that full report tomorrow when I can get the camera back...

Sorry guys I should have had this done for you guys a long time ago...
Anyways, here is my collection of Flatfish and Hotshots. All are producers really. Sizes for Flatfish are all F4's and the Hotshots are 70's. Included in the picture below is my preferred leader, 6lb test Maxima UG. I like the 6lb test, it's durable enough to handle big fish but light and limp enough to not inhibit the unique swimming motion of those lures. I also like swap out those treble hooks for size 8 Gamakatsu siwash hooks. You can see it on the red flatfish. I think the siwash hook sits back a little more and hooks up better in the trout's mouth, and I think they don't spit the hook as much as those trebles, and since using them, I've noticed that more fish stick when they first hit and less spit the hook. I also like to use a variety of different sized egg weights with a little red bead inbetween the swivel and the weight. The nice thing with the egg weights, is that if the fish are deeper or shallower and you need more or less weight, it's as simple as one snip of the line, add on another weight or remove one, and then retie. I don't like fixed weights like banana weights, usually they are too heavy and you have to make 2 cuts and make two more knots to change weight. The bead keeps your knot from banging and getting weakened by the weight.

Here are my 3 favorite colors: Red with black spots flatfish (F4), which is my favorite overall, and then followed by the Rainbow trout size 70 hotshot and then a Coachdog Flatfish F4.

This picture is blurry, but this is the basic idea for the rigging. I don't like to use any flashers or dodgers with these lures. I tied the leader short just so it could fit in the pic, but I stay with a 3.5 to 4 foot leader usually.

This isn't necessarily to bash on the Wedding Ring, I love them too. If I use a spinner, it's my #1 choice

But, as you can see, I have probably 60 different lures for trout. Here's a look at the tacklebox. All my dodgers and flashers are in a box down in the bottom of the tacklebox to the left of the powerbait.


All I can say is, Flatfish and Hotshots have become my favorite lure to tie on. I'm confident with them, and that's why I think I also do really well with them. Tips for you guys: Experiment around with them. Try all sorts of different colors. Some colors don't work at one lake, but will be the best at another lake nearby. And if possible, tip these guys with a half inch or so of a nightcrawler. It really does help.
Good luck to all, and again, sorry for the delay of this post which I promised earlier...

I really like how you have your tackle box set up. I think I might get that same box and set mine up very similar to yours. Everything you need is right at your finger tips

Yea it's just a plano 3 tray model. Fits everything but doesn't take up a bunch of boat space...

Oh and I like red egg hooks as a replacement for the trebles too. I think it goes in with the "bleeding hooks" trend that is starting to catch on...

And I know guys who use plain baitholder hooks for them too..They like the black color and think that they don't stand out as much as a silver Siwash would to a fish....

Sam Kafelafish wrote:I've started using Hotshots and Flatfish for trout and have never gone back to any spinner or spoon....

Did a test this weekend since I knew we were gonna catch a mess of trout cause it was opening day...
I went out with two buddies. Set my poal up with a red flatfish, one of theirs with a vibrax Blue Fox spinner, and a green wedding ring. Same weigh. About a 1/3 oz. Same leader length...Trolled all at same depth. Same line on each rod. Everything was the same. All trolled off the same boat.

27 fish total:
F4 Flatfish in Flourescent red: 14
Blue Fox Vibrax spinner: 6
Wedding Ring: 7

No joke.

Sure, you can say it was one test, but I've started fishing flatfish/hotshots 2 years ago and always outfished anyone using spinners/spoons when I've had a flatfish/hotshot on....

I forgot to tell you guys this but I tested this theory over the weekend at Mineral Lake and it is right on the money. Im not sure if the ratio was exact but it was close to sam's. However I did switch back to the wedding ring though for one reason, Mineral has a lot of stumps in it and Id rather loose a $0 .25 wedding ring that I tied myself that an overpriced $6.00 flatfish I bought from the Mineral Market. So the flatfish will fish another day. And I still had problems with line twists is it because I am using 4 lb test line or shoul I get the more expensive Berkly barrel swivle