FISHING

resemblance to steelhead.

Trout fishing at Collins typically kicks off around the end of October, when the surface temperature dips into the middle 60s and trout planting begins. Great action generally extends into late May, when surface temperatures climb into the 70s.

Let’s look at how anglers go about hooking up with Collins Lake’s big, bad trout.

Trolling

Trolling is a solid option during the fall and spring and can be good all winter long, as long as big storms don’t muddy the water. Collins Lake can fill up very quickly, but when it does the water can become stained and stay that way for a sustained period of time.

For example, we got a big three-day storm the last week of October 2021 and the lake came up 30 feet and the water remained stained for several weeks. Before it had a chance to clear we had another big storm around Christmas and trolling was a no go until near the end of February 2022.

Threadfin shad represent the lake’s primary forage, so lures that imitate shad are a no-brainer. In the fall the shad tend to be fairly large and measure up to 3 inches long. In the spring, there will still be some large shad in the mix, but there will also be big numbers of small shad in the 1- to 1.5-inch range.

Over the years, my No. 1 offering for trophy-caliber trout – say, fish beyond 5 pounds – has been trolling flies. Pink/white, blue/white and all-orange offerings have been particularly effective. Last season several trout beyond the 8-pound mark came aboard my boat, including a 13-pounder, and many of those fish grabbed trolling flies. Conventional wisdom dictates pulling trolling flies in the 1- to 1.5-mph range, but I’ve done well trolling them all the way up to 3 mph.

My second most effective combo is either a Turbo Flasher or a small dodger teamed with either a threaded worm or a 3-inch grub. I run both the grubs and worms on Slow Deathstyle walleye hooks, so they rotate through the water. Trout really love that rolling action.

Don’t crowd the blade or the flasher with the worm or grub. Instead, put the bait anywhere from 24 to 40 inches behind the attractor. The blade or the flasher brings the fish in range and when they spot that rolling bait, it’s fish on!

At a lot of lakes where shad dominate the food chain, spoons or minnow plugs are my first choice when it comes to trolling and they absolutely have their place at Collins. The favorite of the locals is a ¼-ounce chrome and blue Kastmaster trolled naked – without dodgers or flashers.

I’ve caught my share of trout at Collins on Kastmasters, but I’ve scored well on Trigger Spoons, Cripplures and Needlefish too. Again, baitfish colors are winners, but the bright stuff also works.

More important than running any one brand of spoon is matching your spoon in terms of speed to the temperament of the fish. If the fish are feeling their oats and willing to chase, put on a Speedy Shiner or similar spoon and pound them at around 3 mph.

If the trout are acting shy or lethargic, run something you can pull in the 1.8- to 2.2-mph range.

Rapalas and other minnow plugs have a well-deserved reputation for producing big Collins Lake rainbows, but be advised that these baits work best when trolled above 2.5 mph at times when the trout are aggressive.

Bank Fishing

Shore anglers probably catch as many trout at Collins as boaters. Some folks score while hiking and fan-casting their lures, but the hands-down best offering for bank anglers is PowerBait. Truth be told, if the water is cold or off color and trolling isn’t working, boaters can score very well soaking dough baits too.

The favorite approach is to employ a light spinning rod spooled with 8-pound mono or light braid rigged as follows: Pass your main line through a ¼-ounce bullet weight and then thread on a bead. Add on a snap swivel; to that swivel attach a 20-inch 6- to 8-pound-test fluorocarbon leader tipped with a No. 8 octopus hook. A lot of anglers prefer a treble, but I’ve never found trebles necessary.

To bait up, dig some dough bait out of the jar, form a ball about a ¼ inch around and place it on the hook. Cast the baited rig out, put the rod in a holder and wait. You’ll want to fish the bait on a semi-slack line so the trout can take the floating bait without feeling any resistance.

One mistake I see a lot of anglers making is casting their bait too far off shore. Last year when the water got too muddy for trolling, I spent a lot of time fishing dough bait and caught some handsome rainbows up to about 11 pounds. That 11-pounder was within a yard of the bank when it hit, and we caught several other big fish in close proximity to shore while double anchored and bait fishing from my pontoon boat.

For a long time, I assumed rainbows steadily cruised the shoreline during the winter, but the time I spent bait fishing last winter taught me that at times the trout will hold in a fairly small location.

I’d pull into an area off a point, cast out baits, hook a couple fish and the action would die. I’d wait 45 minutes or so and make a 50- to 100-yard move and get more bites. That’s when I realized the fish were spending more time holding than cruising.

Areas for bait anglers to explore include points, the backs of coves and any feature that can concentrate fish. I did well last season fishing inside the mouth of the narrows, which act as a natural bottleneck for concentrating fish.

Generally, I give a spot about 45 minutes to produce when bait fishing. If I don’t see any signs of life in that time span, I’ll pick up and make a short move. I might try three or four spots before I get into the fish.

Final Collins Thoughts

If you haven’t given Collins Lake a try, put it on your to-do list this winter or spring, and if you are a camper grab a site and settle in for a couple days or more.

Collins is a mellow place during the trout season. Rains turn the hills green and you’re apt to see a lot of wildlife ranging from deer to bald eagles. Last year I saw a full menu of birds, including a pair of golden eagles, and one morning I watched a bobcat try to sneak up on a group of geese. He never had a chance!

If you visit, be sure to drop into the store. The girls are friendly, the coffee is great and the ice cream is even better! CS