This post was last updated on December 3rd, 2022 at 07:42 pm
Berkely power bait has a place in everyone’s tackle box. While I almost always concentrate on fly fishing on this website, I have decided to give the conventional fisherman a little tidbit here talking about various types of soft plastic scented lures by Berkely. A main benefit of using these soft plastic lures over live bait, is the fact that fish will almost never swallow these, but live bait they most certainly will swallow. Generally if a fish swallows a hook it will lead to their tragic death.
There are several styles and scents of these lures, some I have used and some not. But pretty much all powerbait I have used for trout has worked well. Lets get right into the types of powerbait for trout I have had experience with.
Powerbait Trout Worms
These worms come in a variety of colors from natural brown to bright pink (shown in this image). I have had great luck in the early spring using pinks and oranges while fishing in dirty water conditions, and also tremendous success using more natural colored worms in clear water.
Powerbait Eggs
These eggs are not only great for trout, but also effective for steelhead and salmon. They work well during the spring steelhead runs and amazing for all species of trout that are feeding on the eggs, usually just downstream of spawning salmon. These are also commonly used by fly fisherman as a cheap and easy way to avoid tying annoying egg patterns.
There are many other types of powerbaits available that will work for trout, they even offer a corn flavor! I cannot imagine that too many wily old trout are going to fall victim to a fake corn kernel, but you never know. I am certain they would work well for fishing in ponds for stocked trout. Lets move on the the best rigging methods for powerbait.
Rigging Power Bait to Catch Trout
I would recommend using a bobber or strike indicator above your choice of power bait about 3-4 feet. this will allow you to drift through holes and seams where trout are likely to be positioned. Using these baits you do not want to treat them like you are fishing with actual live bait (letting it sit on the bottom). You want to continuously run it through probable areas while watching close for a dip in your bobber.
The Terminal Tackle
Line
4-8 pound test is great for almost all trout fishing situations. The lighter line will allow your bait to sink faster and get into the strike zone much quicker than it would with heavy line creating a lot of resistance in the water.
Hooks
I would advise using a light wire hook and string it right through the worm so that the eye of the hook is at the head of the worm and the bend is coming out the middle. If you are using power bait egg clusters, a standard octopus style egg hook should do the trick. In reality it matters very little how you hook these, because they are small and the trout will end up hooked more often than not. Just be sure to not use too large of a hook.
Split Shot
One bb sized split shot is all that is needed to put this down into the trouts habitat. You should place it 6-8 inches above the worm and you should be good to go. In heavier water such as below dams and in early spring runoff you might need to use a little more weight to get down quickly. As long as you are casting far enough upstream of the fish, your bait should be down into position before it arrives into the trout’s strike zone.