i've taken trout on trout looking/color lures before. my best one is the brook trout looking lure. with the rainbow pattern i catch more pike and bass than trout. but i have taken a few trout off that pattern. but all of those were taken in michigan and most of them were browns

I would say yes They are cannibalistic. I think most fish that eat other fish will be indiscriminent about what fish they eat. Trout don't guard a nest and give no parental care and would have no problem slurping up a trout fry even if it is their own species. That said I have had less luck catching rainbowns on a rainbow pattern than If I was fishing for browns or even brookies. this could be that Browns more consistently eat other fish than bow's do. I could very well be wrong in my opinion but I have caught plenty of bow's on floating rapalas in a rainbow trout pattern. However I have also experienced the opposite on some local small streams and caught brown's on small rainbow rapalas or rainbow pattern roostertail spinners and not caught rainbown when I know they are there. Could be that the bows were planters and the browns were wild though. Boottom line you don't need to give up on rainbow trout patterns where you are fishing but something else or a different presentaion might work better.

Brian

Kastmaster: trout patterns are my first picks, second is plain silver or gold.

Hi Skewl. Let us know what part of the country you are fishing and what type of waters? slipperybob mentioned castmaster's. This is a good ole standard in my tackle box also except I prefer the plain silver. If the law allows in your area you can add something tasty to your trailing hook. Try a piece of gulp worm or a real one.

Brian

I'm fishing a little pond in eastern MA, and there is a little stream that I fish a bit that goes from that pond to a larger lake that I am convinced holds trout. I'm going there tomorrow and I'll report back on what worked. Thanks for all the feedback, btw

I've had success with these cranks:

Diawa SC Shiner in baby rainbow trout pattern: 


Yozuri Snap Shad in rainbow trout pattern:

Wow, the trout around here are tough customers, I guess. I tried darn near everything today while out on the water. I used a 3/8 brown hair jig for a bit, then switched to a rainbow trout colored rooster tail with a powerbait egg on the hook, and that yielded some perch, but no trout. Then I tried a Kastmaster (silver and blue, to be exact, didn't have any in a trout pattern) with and without a powerbait egg on the back. I also tried a Storm minnow in rainbow trout color, which also came up with a goose egg. Next thing I tried was a Blue Fox Vibrax Minnow Spin in rainbow trout color, with and without some powerbait, and still nothing. I'll have to get something in the brook trout pattern next, and I'll see if I can find those crankbaits you showed us, Bob.

I have caught both rainbow and brown trout on both rainbow and brown trout patterned lures such as rapalas, spinners and spoons. I know that brown trout, especially the bigger fish, are very territorial and don't want a smaller fish in their space. I have actually seen brown trout fighting with planted rainbows of the same size because the browns don't seem to like the rainbows in their space. One of my favorite lures for rainbows is a rainbow pattern dressed Panther Martin spinner and I do well catching browns on a brown trout pattern Vibric Rooster Tail spinner.
On the rivers I fish here that have both planted and wild rainbows and wild browns I have noticed that the lure bite tends to shut down around eleven or twelve noon and won't pick up until late afternoon. I fished last Saturday with spinners and other hardware for a while and did good, but the bite shut down as usual about noon. I didn't have any flies with me so I switched to a 4 inch natural color Creme trout worm. I cast it into the head of a pool and drift it. I caught and released a few more with the worm before I called it a day.
                                                  

OK skewl. Lets get ya some of those trout. Here is one of my fallback lures. www.curlyslures.com  These were field tested by the NAFC a number of years ago. I find that I always do go with them if fished correctly for the situation. Unfortunatly they do not make the originals only an updated version. Curly used to sell these at the swap meet plus I had a buddy who fished with him who indtoduced me to him and the lure. The old ones were just brass or nichel but the new ones have all the fancy colors. I do not think they work as well this way and usually strip off the color tape and buff till they shine. Send me a PM with your mailing address and I will send you one to try out. These may or may not work in your area but it is worth a try.

Brian

Posted By skewl on 02 Sep 2010 08:40 PM
I'm fishing a little pond in eastern MA, and there is a little stream that I fish a bit that goes from that pond to a larger lake that I am convinced holds trout. I'm going there tomorrow and I'll report back on what worked. Thanks for all the feedback, btw

couple of ?'s

what makes you think that this stream does hold trout?
does one or both of these lakes have trout?
could this stream be a seasonal stream for trout? such as early spring and fall.