Bait
Berkley PowerBait Trout Dough
Floating scented dough for stocked trout in lakes.
Check PriceSpecies / Rainbow Trout
Trout & Salmon
Rainbow Trout Fishing
The most widely stocked game fish in the country, found in cold rivers, tailwaters, and mountain lakes. Rainbows feed heavily on insects and eat dries, nymphs, and small lures.
Best Months: Mar to Jun, Sep to Nov
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Best Flies, Lures & Bait for Rainbow Trout
Month
12 picks for October.
Parachute Adams #12-20
FlyDry Fly
Shop This FlyBlue-Winged Olive #16-22
FlyDry Fly · Overcast days.
Shop This FlyPheasant Tail Nymph #14-20
FlyNymph
Shop This FlyHare's Ear Nymph #12-18
FlyNymph
Shop This FlyPat's Rubber Legs #4-10
FlyNymph
Shop This FlySan Juan Worm #10-14
FlyNymph · After rain.
Shop This FlyEgg Pattern #8-16
FlyNymph
Shop This FlyWoolly Bugger #2-10
FlyStreamer
Shop This FlyInline Spinner 1/16 to 1/4 oz
LureSpinner
Shop This LureCasting Spoon 1/4 to 1 oz
LureSpoon
Shop This LureNightcrawlers Whole or half
BaitLive Bait · Where bait is legal.
Trout Dough Bait Pea size
BaitPrepared Bait · Stocked lakes.
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Rod & Reel
Rainbow Trout Setup
Rainbow Trout
Fly 9 ft 5 wt rod, weight-forward floating line, 9 ft 4X to 5X leader. Add a sink-tip and 3X for streamers.
Spin / Cast 6 to 7 ft ultralight or light spinning rod, 1000 to 2500 reel, 4 to 6 lb mono or fluorocarbon.
The US
Where to Catch Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Alaska
Kenai River
A glacial river with late summer coho and rainbows that grow fat on salmon eggs. Historically famous for giant kings, but king fishing has been closed in recent years, so check ADF&G emergency orders.
Rainbow Trout · Coho Salmon
Rivers & Streams · Arkansas
Little Red River
The Greers Ferry tailwater at Heber Springs that once produced a world record brown trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Arkansas
Norfork River
A short, cold tailwater below Norfork Dam with wade-friendly shoals and big browns.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Arkansas
White River
Cold tailwater below Bull Shoals Dam holding trophy browns. Drift boats and jon boats both welcome.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Cutthroat Trout
Rivers & Streams · Arizona
Lees Ferry
The cold Colorado River tailwater below Glen Canyon Dam, a 15 mile trout fishery in the walls of Glen Canyon above Lees Ferry.
Rainbow Trout
Lakes & Reservoirs · California
Lake Tahoe
Alpine lake on the CA/NV line. Mackinaw and trout by boat, wading the shore in spring.
Lake Trout · Rainbow Trout · Kokanee Salmon
Rivers & Streams · California
Lower Owens River
An Eastern Sierra wild trout river below Pleasant Valley Dam, fishable year-round.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · California
Lower Sacramento River
A big tailwater below Keswick Dam at Redding with year-round drift boat fishing for wild rainbows.
Rainbow Trout · Chinook Salmon · Steelhead
Lakes & Reservoirs · California
Mammoth Lakes Basin
Crowley Lake and the Convict area hold big browns and rainbows in the Eastern Sierra.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Lahontan Cutthroat
Lakes & Reservoirs · California
Shasta Lake
California's largest reservoir with spotted bass in the arms and trout and kokanee in the deep, cool water.
Spotted Bass · Rainbow Trout · Kokanee Salmon
Rivers & Streams · California
Truckee River
Flows from Lake Tahoe through Reno. Wild trout in the upper canyon, hatchery rainbows below.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Lahontan Cutthroat
Rivers & Streams · Colorado
Arkansas River
Tailwater browns below Pueblo Reservoir and a long wild section through the Buena Vista valley.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Colorado
Blue River
Tailwater below Dillon Dam with big mysis-fed trout below the dam. One of the most technical waters in the state.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Lakes & Reservoirs · Colorado
Eleven Mile Reservoir
High plains reservoir at about 8,600 feet. Rainbow and brown trout from shore and boat, ice fishing in winter.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Colorado
Frying Pan River
A tailwater below Ruedi Reservoir known for big rainbows feeding on mysis shrimp.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Lakes & Reservoirs · Colorado
Grand Lake
Colorado's largest natural lake, on the west side of the Continental Divide.
Lake Trout · Rainbow Trout · Kokanee Salmon
Rivers & Streams · Colorado
Gunnison River
A Gold Medal river through the Black Canyon and Gunnison Gorge with a famous salmonfly hatch.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Colorado
Roaring Fork River
A freestone with Gold Medal water from Basalt to Glenwood Springs that fishes well from drift boats.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Colorado
South Platte River
Tailwater gold medal water at Deckers and Cheesman Canyon. Tiny flies, big trout.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Colorado
Yampa River
Runs through Steamboat Springs, with Colorado River cutthroat in the upper reaches.
Colorado River Cutthroat · Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Connecticut
Farmington River
A cold tailwater with a catch-and-release trout management area and wild brown trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Georgia
Chattahoochee River
A cold tailwater below Buford Dam that holds trout through metro Atlanta.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Georgia
Toccoa River
A tailwater below Blue Ridge Dam with drift boat trout fishing in the North Georgia mountains.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Idaho
Big Wood River
Runs through Ketchum and Hailey, with wild rainbows and browns.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Idaho
Boise River
A tailwater that runs right through the city of Boise, with year-round trout fishing.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Idaho
Clearwater River
Home to the B-run, among the largest steelhead in the Columbia Basin, from fall through spring.
Steelhead · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Idaho
Henry's Fork of the Snake
Technical spring-fed water at Railroad Ranch. Selective rainbows and some of the best hatches in the West.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Lakes & Reservoirs · Idaho
Lake Coeur d'Alene
Deep Panhandle lake with smallmouth, bass, and cutthroat.
Smallmouth Bass · Largemouth Bass · Rainbow Trout
Lakes & Reservoirs · Idaho
Lake Pend Oreille
A deep glacial lake famous for Gerrard rainbow trout and lake trout.
Rainbow Trout · Lake Trout · Kokanee Salmon
Rivers & Streams · Idaho
Main Salmon River
Wild and Scenic river through the Frank Church wilderness. Fall steelhead and Chinook.
Steelhead · Chinook Salmon · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Idaho
Silver Creek
Spring creek near Picabo. Slow, picky rainbows on tiny dry flies.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Idaho
South Fork of the Snake River
Tailwater flowing about 64 miles out of Palisades Dam on the Idaho-Wyoming border to its junction with the Henry Fork. Trout densities often run 4,000 to 6,000 per mile, and native Yellowstone and Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat remain a major part of the fishery.
Cutthroat Trout · Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Kentucky
Cumberland River Tailwater
A big tailwater below Wolf Creek Dam with trophy brown trout.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Massachusetts
Deerfield River
A Berkshire tailwater with catch-and-release trout water and wild browns.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Massachusetts
Swift River
A small, cold tailwater below Quabbin Reservoir with selective trout and year-round fishing.
Rainbow Trout · Brook Trout
Rivers & Streams · Maine
Kennebec River
Trout water below the dams upstream and a striped bass run in the tidal lower river.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Striped Bass
Rivers & Streams · Missouri
Current River
A spring-fed Ozark National Scenic River with trout in the upper river and smallmouth below.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Smallmouth Bass
Rivers & Streams · Missouri
Lake Taneycomo
A cold tailwater lake below Table Rock Dam near Branson with heavy trout numbers.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Beaverhead River
A narrow, brushy tailwater below Clark Canyon Dam known for large trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Big Hole River
A freestone river in southwest Montana with a famous salmonfly hatch and native Arctic grayling.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Bighorn River
A tailwater below Yellowtail Dam at Fort Smith with some of the highest trout densities in the West.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Bitterroot River
Wide, wadeable valley river south of Missoula with heavy caddis and stonefly hatches.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Bull Trout
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Blackfoot River
The river of A River Runs Through It, with native westslope cutthroat.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Clark Fork River
A big western Montana river through Missoula with strong dry fly fishing.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Gallatin River
A fast, scenic freestone through Gallatin Canyon near Bozeman and Big Sky.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Madison River
Fifty-mile riffle famous for salmonfly hatches and wild browns and rainbows below Hebgen and Quake Lakes.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Mountain Whitefish
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Missouri River
Tailwater below Holter Dam from Wolf Creek to Cascade, plus the big trout of the Hauser to Holter reach.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Walleye
Rivers & Streams · Montana
Yellowstone River
Longest free-flowing river in the lower 48. Paradise Valley floats, big dries, and native cutthroat upstream.
Yellowstone Cutthroat · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · North Carolina
Davidson River
A clear Pisgah Forest stream with selective, hard-fished trout.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · North Carolina
Nantahala River
A cold tailwater with delayed-harvest trout water above the Nantahala Gorge.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · New Hampshire
Androscoggin River
A big river below Errol Dam in the North Country with landlocked salmon and trout.
Rainbow Trout · Brook Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · New Jersey
South Branch Raritan River
Ken Lockwood Gorge, a scenic catch-and-release trout stretch an hour from New York City.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · New Mexico
Pecos River
A mountain trout stream flowing out of the Pecos Wilderness near Santa Fe.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · New Mexico
San Juan River
The Quality Waters below Navajo Dam, a tailwater with huge numbers of large trout feeding on midges.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Lakes & Reservoirs · Nevada
Lake Mohave
A long, narrow reservoir below Hoover Dam with trophy stripers and smallmouth.
Striped Bass · Smallmouth Bass · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · New York
Beaverkill River
A birthplace of American fly fishing in the Catskills, with historic pools and hatches.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · New York
Delaware River (Upper)
Wild rainbows on the East and West Branches; demanding dry fly fishing on the Catskills border.
Wild Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Shad
Rivers & Streams · Oklahoma
Lower Mountain Fork River
A year-round trout tailwater below Broken Bow Dam in the Ouachita foothills.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Oregon
Crooked River
A tailwater below Bowman Dam near Prineville with dense redband trout.
Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Oregon
Deschutes River
Desert canyon river known for redsides and a summer steelhead run.
Redband Trout · Steelhead
Rivers & Streams · Oregon
McKenzie River
The home of the McKenzie drift boat, with redside rainbows and clear Cascade water.
Rainbow Trout · Cutthroat Trout
Rivers & Streams · Pennsylvania
Yellow Breeches Creek
A limestone creek at Allenberry with a famous catch-and-release stretch and white fly hatch.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Rhode Island
Wood River
One of Rhode Island's top trout streams, with wild brookies and stocked trout.
Brook Trout · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · South Carolina
Chattooga River
A Wild and Scenic River on the Georgia line with delayed-harvest trout water.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · South Dakota
Rapid Creek
A Black Hills trout stream that runs through Rapid City below Pactola Reservoir.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Tennessee
Clinch River
A tailwater below Norris Dam known for big trout and midge fishing.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Tennessee
South Holston River
A tailwater below South Holston Dam with very high numbers of wild brown trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Tennessee
Watauga River
A tailwater below Wilbur Dam near Elizabethton with good caddis hatches.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Texas
Guadalupe River
Spring-fed Hill Country river with rainbows in the winter tailwater below Canyon Lake and bass in the upper river.
Rainbow Trout · Largemouth Bass
Rivers & Streams · Utah
Green River
The Flaming Gorge tailwater, with clear water and thousands of trout per mile.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout
Rivers & Streams · Utah
Provo River
A Blue Ribbon river near Park City and Provo with wild brown trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Lakes & Reservoirs · Utah
Strawberry Reservoir
Utah's most popular trout fishery, known for big Bear Lake cutthroat.
Cutthroat Trout · Rainbow Trout · Kokanee Salmon
Rivers & Streams · Vermont
White River
The longest free-flowing river in Vermont with wild rainbows and browns.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Washington
Rocky Ford Creek
A spring creek in the desert with large, selective rainbows fished from the bank.
Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Washington
Yakima River
Washington's only Blue Ribbon trout river, with year-round fishing in the canyon.
Rainbow Trout · Cutthroat Trout
Rivers & Streams · West Virginia
Elk River
A trout river with catch-and-release water near Webster Springs.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Lakes & Reservoirs · Wyoming
Boysen Reservoir
A central Wyoming reservoir with walleye and trout above the Wind River Canyon.
Walleye · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · Wyoming
North Platte River
Grey Reef and the Miracle Mile near Casper, with large trout and year-round floats.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Recommended
Gear for Rainbow Trout
Fly Rods
Redington Classic Trout Fly Rod
A smooth, moderate-action rod that is forgiving for new casters and protects light tippet.
Check PriceFly Rods
Orvis Clearwater Fly Rod Outfit
A complete rod, reel, and line outfit that covers most trout water and small-stream bass.
Check PriceFly Reels
Redington Behemoth Fly Reel
A strong, sealed drag at a modest price, made in sizes from trout to saltwater.
Check PriceFly Lines
RIO Gold Fly Line
A trout line that casts dries delicately and turns over nymph rigs.
Check PriceFly Lines
Scientific Anglers Mastery Infinity Fly Line
A smooth-shooting, all-around freshwater line.
Check PriceLeaders & Tippet
RIO Fluorocarbon Tippet
Low-visibility tippet for nymphs and wary fish in clear water.
Check PriceLeaders & Tippet
RIO Tapered Trout Leaders
Nine foot tapered leaders in 3X to 6X for dries and nymphs.
Check PriceWaders & Boots
Simms Freestone Stockingfoot Waders
Durable, breathable waders that hold up to seasons of wading.
Check PriceWaders & Boots
Simms Freestone Wading Boots
Supportive boots with good grip on slick rock.
Check PriceNets & Tools
Frabill Rubber Mesh Landing Net
A fish-friendly rubber net that does not tangle hooks.
Check PriceSunglasses
Costa Polarized Fishing Sunglasses
Polarized lenses cut glare so you can see fish, structure, and flats.
Check PriceRainbow Trout Fishing by State
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