Fishing with powerbait is an easy and effective way to catch trout. With the right technique, you can land fish on nearly every cast. In this blog post, I’ll teach you how to use PowerBait for trout the right way.
Fishing is a relaxing activity that many people enjoy to pass the time, depending on your location, fishing can be an inexpensive or expensive hobby, but it has always been one of the best pastimes for friends and family alike.
This website is reader supported. Any purchases you make through links on this site earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
What is Powerbait?
PowerBait is a soft dough-like material that resembles Play-Doh. It’s made from oil-based resin and PVC. PowerBait comes in a variety of colors and scents. Many of the scents used in powerbait are similar to that of hatchery food. This is done by companies like Berkley by design to entice trout to bite. This may explain why PowerBait works so well for fishing stocked trout.
Equipment Needed to Fish Powerbait for Trout
As with most forms of fishing, you’ll need a rod and reel, line, hook, and weights. Of course, you’ll need to select the right powerbait as well. While fishing PowerBait for trout a medium-light fishing rod is recommended.
My favorite fishing rod for soaking PowerBait is the Ugly Stik Elite medium-action fishing pole. This rod’s tip is soft enough to allow the fish to eat the powerbait, but strong enough to set the hook efficiently.
I like to pair this fishing rod with Lew’s American Hero 300 fishing reel. Lews is a new company emerging on the market that is extremely affordable. Starting at under $30 these reels are hard to beat.
When spooling your trout fishing reel, I prefer a monofilament fishing line. Don’t get crazy here with your fishing line. Simple Berkley Trilene will work just fine. You will need to decide what fishing line to use for trout as there are three main types of line.
I like to rig my power bait with a sliding sinker, a swivel, and a hook. Typically a 1/8-ounce to 1/2-ounce sliding egg weight will still be sufficient. Below the egg weight, I attach my swivel. From there you’ll need to add a leader, approximately two feet to the end of the swivel. Attach a treble hook to the far end of your leader and you’re ready to start fishing powerbait.
Personally, I’ve never understood when people use worm hooks for powerbait. Unless you’re practicing catch and release treble hooks are the only hook you should be using.
Treble hooks allow the power bait to be secured to the hook firmly keeping it in a place through cast after cast. Many brands even make treble hooks specifically designed for dough-baits. These hooks have a wire spiral up the shaft of the hook. This allows the dough bait to securely grasp the shank of the hook.
Best Places to Fish Powerbait for Trout
There are three main areas I try to focus on when fishing for trout.
- Dams
- Main Lake Points
- Boat Ramps
In my experience, these areas provide the best results when fishing PowerBait for trout.
Dams provide deep cold water and can often be a productive place to catch trout during the hot summer months. This is also the area that large trout like to hang out.
Long main Lake points are always a favorite of mine when fishing for trout. These areas provide a great opportunity to find fish moving up the feed. Points typically have deep water around them with ample structure for fish to find safety and ambush prey.
Boat ramps are possibly my favorite place to fish PowerBait for trout. The reason is pretty simple. This is where they stock trout in lakes. PowerBait is a bait used to catch stocked trout, so why not fish where the lake was planted? These areas generally have the highest population of stocked trout for some time after a plant.
How to Fish Powerbait for Trout
After gathering all the necessary equipment and finding an appropriate location, it’s time to make that cast and catch some trout. The key to fishing powerbait is depth. Trout do not move from deep to shallow water all day long to feed. Instead, they may move up to shallow water 2-3 times in a single day to feed before returning to deeper cooler water.
In the winter months, trout may only feed one time per day. Trout fishing in winter can oftentimes prove difficult when trying to decide on a location to fish. When fishing powerbait in winter, vary the location and depth of your trout dough bait until you find the magic depth. Pay attention to where you think your line was when a bite accrued.
You may be surprised to know that most trout caught on powerbait, come from shallow water. So many times I see trout fishermen making the fatal mistake of thinking they have to cast further to catch trout. Typically, long casts mean deeper water. I have caught more trout in 10-25 feet of water than at any other depth. One way to find the depth of the trout is to slowly retrieve your powerbait. This is something I recommend no matter what bait you are using.
To do this, make a cast to deeper water. Let your bait get to the bottom and sit for about 5 minutes. Slowly bring your dough bait back to shore stopping every 15 feet or so and letting it sit another 5 minutes. Pair this with my trout fishing tips below, and there’s no way you don’t hook up with more trout.
What Color Powerbait Works Best?
For me, chartreuse, orange, and rainbow are the best colors to use when fishing power bait for trout. Other people will probably have differing opinions on this and that’s okay. The reality is some powerbait colors will perform better on certain days than others. On a bluebird sky day, I like to use natural colors like dark green and brown. When fishing power bait on a cloudy overcast day I like to use bright fluorescent colors with lots of glitters.
6 Powerbait Fishing Tips
Powerbait Floats
PowerBait floats because it’s less dense than water. Remember it’s made with PVC. This is why you must use weight when fishing power bait. It is important to get your powerbait below the surface of the water toward the bottom of the lake or pond.
Color is Key
Have multiple colors of PowerBait on hand. I have often found that having multiple colors of power bait on hand allows me to change colors relatively easily to find which one is working the best for trout that day.
Leader Length
Changing your leader length could be the ticket to catching fish or not sometimes. Trout sometimes like their meal closer to the bottom, for example, a 1-foot leader. Sometimes they like it a little further off the bottom, for example, a 3-foot leader. Typically I find two feet do the trick most of the time.
Use Dip Scent
I dip my dough-bait in Berkeley PowerBait Trout Dip Attractant. This adds an even greater stimulating scent to your bait. The first time I saw the attractant was when an older gentleman next to me limited out before I caught a single fish. On his way back to his car he handed me a bottle of this stuff and boy did it work!
Use the Right Amount of Powerbait
Use just enough powerbait to cover your treble hook. Using just enough PowerBait to cover your treble hook will maximize your hookups. When a fish bites, we don’t want them chewing through layers of PowerBait to get to the barbs of your hook. Barely covering the barbs of your hook. This will allow them to quickly become trapped on your line.
Mold Your Dough-Bait
After putting your gob of powerbait onto your treble hook, dip it in the water to get it wet. This makes the bait stickier and more malleable. I will once again squeeze the bait together with my fingers and thumb to make sure it’s secure on the hook. Once done correctly, your powerbait shouldn’t come off until you remove it.
Final Powerbait Thoughts
Fishing powerbait for trout is a great way to catch plated trout. Remember to fish the areas with a high probability of holding fish. Utilizing the 6 tips to catch trout that we talked about above, you should have no problem catching fish next time you hit the lake.
Do you have any tips that you would like to share regarding catching trout with powerbait?
Please leave a comment below and share it with the community.
As always, thanks for reading until the end. If you enjoyed this article feel free to share it with a friend using the social icons on this page.
