Salmon Eggs and Small Trout

[AJFishdude]

Hey everyone, today I was out lake fishing for Cutthroat, and the only thing that was working was using salmon eggs floated under a bobber. The problem was that the little fish would consistently come up and nail the eggs right away (I'm talking 6" or so), and once I reeled them in I technically had to count them in my total for the day, even though I let them go, because they were caught in a lake using bait.

So the question is, when fishing with salmon eggs for trout, does anyone have tips for keeping the small trout away so the bigger trout have a chance to get at them?

[kingroobes]

Tie up some spawn sacks. Put 4-8 single eggs per sack, depending on the size of the eggs. You might have to experiment on the size of the sack, but about the size of a dime is what I use most of the time. Usually the little guys won't bite, but if they do, the sack will prevent them from pecking it apart. The big boys will take the whole thing. There's also a little less chance of gut hooking them with sacks if you want to release them.

[skagit510]

thank you for counting your released fish. most bait anglers I've witnessed are far too selfish for such conduct. good on you.

[AJFishdude]

Thanks for the advice kingroobes, I figured something like that might work. As for counting fish caught on bait, those are the rules, so we should follow them. I typically like throwing gear a lot more than bait anyway. I find it much more interesting, and I know that fish tend to take bait deeper, which can be a lot more damaging to the fish. An important consideration if you plan on just doing catch and release.