Jerk Rogues for Trophy Trout

Targeting trophy trout in the western U.S. has been a passion of mine for years. Fishing tailwater sections of famous rivers for trophy browns, rainbows and cutthroats will test your skills and hardiness, and your ability to think outside of the box.

For me, that means thinking outside fly boxes. I'm a bass fisherman who happens to live in Colorado, and when my bass season gets cut short, I turn to trophy trout.

Years ago, my uncle invited me to fish the Dream Stream section of the South Platte River. Upon arrival, he took one look in my box and laughed. "Those are way to big. Don't you have anything smaller?"

Of course, I didn't, so I took a long stare into a box filled with crankbaits, jig-and-pig combos, spinnerbaits, plastic worms, and a few beaten up Smithwick Rattlin' Rogues.

I'd caught just about everything that swims while fishing with Rogues.  Most had been chewed up by toothy northerns over the years, but I had caught largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleyes, hybrid stripers and even an overzealous bluegill fishing with them. If all these gamefish had fallen for the alluring wobble of the Rogue.  why wouldn't trout?

To make a long story short, that first trip to the dream stream was unreal. I caught fish after fish until my uncle finally broke down and borrowed a rod and reel from me, and, more importantly, a gold Rogue. We were both amazed with the result, and since that day a Smithwick Rogue has been my go-to trout lure.

One of the best ways to get a big trout to attack a Rogue is to draw a territorial strike from a big fish protecting its feeding lane. If you spot a fish gorging itself on insects being washed down by the current, that fish is your target. Cast your Rogue a few feet downstream of the feeding fish and reel until you're a foot upstream of the fish. Now let the current give your Rogue its action, but every 30 seconds, make a small twitch. A big trout, being very territorial, will move up and strike your Rogue after a few twitches to protect its prime feeding lane. The fish that can be spotted feeding are usually in relatively shallow water, so a 3 1/2-inch Rattlin' Rogue is perfect. My most productive colors have been gold Rogue and chrome with a black back.

Another great situation for fishing a Rogue is in the deep water immediately below a dam, using a Suspending Rattlin' Rogue. My favorite technique in this setting is to make long casts across the river and then work the bait with a simple "jerk, jerk, pause" retrieve. The internal rattle rings out like a dinner bell to hungry trophy trout, and the Rouge just suspends in the strike zone, triggering some incredibly savage strikes.

Over the years I've caught a number of trophy browns and rainbows in rivers dominated by fly fisherman. The main ingredient for my success has always been a Smithwick Rogue.  Fly fisherman talk about matching the hatch. Tie on a rouge while fishing trophy trout water and "Crash The Hatch" for the trout of a lifetime!

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