FISHING; YOU CAN WIN THE BOUT WITH TROUT COOL DAYS BRING FISH TO SURFACE AND ARE PERFECT FOR TROLLING.

Byline: Ray Rychnovsky Special to the Daily News

As lakes cool in the fall and winter, trout come to the surface. Power Bait or night crawlers fished from shore or from an anchored boat catch fish fine, but some prefer trolling for trout. And when trout are shallow, it is easy to get a lure or bait down to the right depth.

In addition to being an effective fishing method, trolling keeps you moving and seeing constantly changing vistas. Boats appear as ghostly figures, then disappear as they go in and out of fog. You might see a deer coming to the water to get a drink or hear a turkey gobble in the distance or see it roost on a favorite rock by the water as you travel slowly around a lake.

But the goal is to catch fish and you need to know a few basics to be successful.

PLANTED TROUT MAKE UP CATCH

On nice weekends, anglers in boats can nearly cover the most popular lakes. Anglers can also make good catches of trout from shore.

How can so many anglers catch so many fish? The answer is excellent stocking programs. Truckloads of trout are delivered to several lakes, keeping the fish count high. Most loads of planted trout include a few very large fish so anglers always have a chance at a trophy. These are not wild fish; the big fish you catch probably came from the fish delivery truck a few days earlier, but it is big, healthy and powerful.

I'd like to say they are easy to catch, and many days they are, but sometimes they aren't on the bite and nothing seems to attract them. Time your fishing trip soon after the fish have been delivered and you will probably do well. After a weekend of fishing, the catch may be sparse.

FAVORITE LURES

My favorite lures are small Needlefish, Triple Teazers, Dick Nites or similar patterns trolled with a sinker or behind lead-core line. I also may use heavier lures like Kastmasters or Crippelures, employing the weight of the lure to get to optimum depth. Or I'll use diving baitfish imitations like Rapalas Rat-L-Traps or Castaic Minnows. Good color combinations for metal lures include red and white and silver and gold. For baitfish imitations, match the bait or use bright colors such as orange "fire tiger" or clown colors.

Another strategy is to use gaudy attractors (flashers) trolled just under the surface to get trout to come up. A leader behind the flasher with a lure or a bait such as a night crawler draws strikes. But I don't like flashers because they put a force on the line when fighting a fish; you feel like you're fighting the flasher, not the fish, and I seem to lose more fish. Besides, when a friend fishes with a simple lure and I use flashers, he seems to always catch more fish.

GET TO TROUT'S DEPTH

The most basic principle of trolling is to get your lure or bait to the fish's depth. You can do everything else right, but you won't catch fish if you don't get your lure to the correct depth.

How do you know the fish's depth? You know fish are shallow when the water is cool, but, to be sure, ask at the lake's bait shop. Inquire about what lures to use, where to fish and how deep to troll. But temper their answer with what you already know. Develop your own set of lures that usually catch fish and rely on them. Listen to advice and file it away in the back of your mind to try when your lures or fishing methods don't seem to be catching fish.

In most cool lakes you see trout feeding at the surface, but they are really holding at five- to 15-feet deep and you catch them by getting your lure to their depth. Trolling with monofilament line and a weight or lead-core line is the way to catch trout when they are shallow in the lake. Downriggers accurately get your lure to the best depth and are valuable when fish are deeper; downriggers are best used in warmer months when trout are finning deeper to stay cooler, but aren't needed now.

SETUP

A 1/4-ounce weight followed by a light lure, such as a Needlefish, trolled at the end of 100 feet of 4-pound test monofilament line is a good starting rig. This will troll the lure about 10 feet deep when motoring at 2 mph.

Here's the way to set up this basic trolling rig: Slip a sinking-egg sinker onto your line and tie a swivel to the end of the line. Then connect a 5-foot leader to the swivel and tie on your lure.

Another good rig is created with lead-core line and must be fished from a revolving-spool (conventional or baitcaster) reel, not a spinning outfit. Tie 30 feet or 4- or 6-pound leader to the end of the lead-core line. Use a nail knot or any smooth knot that will slip through the eyes on your rod. Lead-core changes colors every 30 feet, so let out 1 1/2 to three colors (45 to 90 feet) to get about 10- to 15-feet deep. Then pin on a light lure such as a Needlefish or Triple Teazer.

TROLL CLOSE TO SHORE

Trout are scattered throughout the lake and might be caught anywhere, but they spend a lot of time in shallow water looking for food. I catch most of my trout trolling near the shoreline, being careful to give any shore anglers a wide berth and avoid any real shallow spots that will hang up the lure.

Now is the best time to catch trout in lakes at low elevations. Apply these trolling techniques and you should catch fish.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Peter Leibold holds up a trout he caught trolling a small Rapala lure.

Ray Rychnovsky/Special to the Daily News

(2) Cathy Lambert caught this trout trolling a small Dick Nite lure.

Ray Rychnovsky/Special to the Daily News