12 Best Live Bait Choices for Trout (Complete Guide)
12 Best Live Bait for Trout Fishing
These are the best live bait options for all species of trout and will help you catch more fish:
1. Minnows
Minnows are the best bait for trout in my opinion. Fathead minnows are easy to catch with a net or inside a bait trap, and they are readily available at most bait shops too. They are pretty hard so they can endure a few casts before slowing down and trout will devour them in creeks, rivers, or lakes.
You can also use minnows while ice fishing either on a tip-up or noodle jigging rod. They get my vote for the best trout live bait. Berkley Gulp! Minnows are a great replacement for live minnows. They will catch you a ton of trout.
Check out this link here to view my complete trout fishing gear recommendation list, including rods, reels, baits, gear, etc. I have field tested a lot of trout gear and these are my recommendations.
2. Worms & Nightcrawlers
Everyone’s favorite go-to fishing bait is the worm. You can buy a dozen redworms or nightcrawlers for a couple of bucks. These things work really well for trout, catfish, bullheads, panfish, and even walleye.
For big trout, I like to use a full redworm or half a nightcrawler on a size 2 baitholder hook. To learn how to rig a worm on a hook for trout, check out this very helpful article I wrote.
If you don’t have access to worms, you can also use a San Juan worm fly. This tiny red worm fly is great for trout and a mainstay for serious fly fishermen.
3. Shiners
Shiners are a great trout bait for ice fishing and soft-water fishing. You can buy a dozen shiners at bait shops for just a couple of dollars. Just makes sure they are legal to fish within your native waterways. Because shiners are so easy to acquire, I moved them higher up on my list.
Select shiners in the 2-4 inch range. You can catch trophy trout among other species like bass catfish, walleye, and pickerel on this size of shiner.
They are hardy baits that can remain alive for a long time with a size 2 hook through the lip. Fish these without a bobber but with a single split shot for weight.
4. Creek Chubs
Creek chubs don’t get a lot of love but they are readily abundant in most trout streams and do make up a portion of a big trout’s diet. These baitfish look a lot like a fathead minnow and are about the same size.
You can easily catch a ton of chubs by running a dip net through current, on hook and line with a tiny piece of worm, or in a minnow bait trap lined with bread.
I grew up catching chubs and brook trout and have grown to respect this diminutive fish. Trout do enjoy eating small chubs. Select a chub under 3 inches in length.
5. Waxworms
I love fishing with waxworms. I think waxworms make the best ice fishing bait for trout. I love tipping my jigheads with one or two waxworms, or ‘spikes’. They are soft and give trout a great texture to grab onto. But waxworms can make good summertime or stream bait as well for trout.
Use a single split and a size 6 baitholder hook. Cast this bait upstream and allow the current to slowly guide your bait to the fish waiting below.
You could also put a little action on your waxworm by jerking it softly. I catch a lot of rainbow and brook trout using this technique.
6. Sculpin
Sculpin are small rough-looking dark brown fish that inhabit the shallows of many rivers and streams nationwide. They look like a sucker you would buy for an aquarium but they are very good trout baits.
With a small net downstream, flip rocks over and corral any fish underneath into your net. Hook a sculpin through the lip for the best action.
I recommend using a small bobber to keep the sculpin from burrowing beneath a rock. You will want that sculpin free-swimming up higher in the water for trout to notice. Sculpin can be a good bass and striped bass bait too.
7. Grasshoppers & Crickets
What list of trout baits could be complete without grasshoppers and crickets. These hopping insects fall into the water all the time and end up becoming trout food.
Grasshoppers especially line the banks of many streams and ponds and fall into the water when a cow or person disturbs them.
I recommend using a size 4 hook with both of these insects. Don’t use a split shot as it is better if these baits float naturally. To learn more about fishing with crickets and with grasshoppers, check out these two articles I wrote. You could also use “hopper” flies if you are a fly fisherman.
8. Shrimp & Crayfish
In waterways where freshwater shrimp exist, trout will gorge on these things. I have fished streams with trophy-sized rainbow trout that grew big on a diet of freshwater shrimp. You can fish with shrimp or use something like a San Juan worm or similar shrimp-pattern.
For a complete guide to using freshwater shrimp as trout bait, check out this article I wrote. Small crayfish can also be a great trout bait, especially freshly molted crayfish with softer shells.
Flip over a rock in any stream and you’ll find some crayfish crawling about. Hook these through the tail section with a size 2 baitholder hook.
9. Hellgrammites
These guys can be nasty to handle if you aren’t careful. You will find these insects under rocks or logs in swift-moving streams. They are actually the larva of the dobsonfly which is a really gnarly creature in its own right.
A hellgrammite looks a lot to me like a really thick centipede and it can pack quite a pinch with its mouthparts if you aren’t careful. But trout love them and they are easy to find.
If you run out of a bait along the stream, flip over some rocks and you’ll have a great time catching more trout. Hook these behind the head with a size 4 baitholder hook and let the current move your bait downstream.
10. Smelt & Shad
For all you boat anglers, these will be one of the best baits for bigger water trout. Whether you are fishing a lake, reservoir, or big river, smelt and shad will be awesome. Smelt are pretty hardy fish so they should survive capture but shad are likely to die during or shortly after capture.
You could fish with live smelt but you’ll likely be fishing with a dead shad. Cut shad in half and attach the piece to the hook of a marabou jig or spoon. You could also fish with an in-tact dead shad for big trout as well.
11. Grubs
Grubs can be a really good trout bait. Large grubs are great for big trout but also for catfish and bullheads. To catch grubs, rip open some rotting logs or flip over some large stones. They are fat and juicy.
I recommend using a size 4 baitholder hook for small grubs and a size 2 baitholder hook with a big grub. Don’t fish grubs under a bobber or strike indicator. Instead, a single split shot will be enough to keep the grub deep as the current carries the bait to the waiting trout downstream.
Cast upstream of the desired fishing hole. For more information about fishing upstream vs. downstream for trout, check out this article I wrote.
12. Mealworms
Mealworms are good trout baits, especially when ice fishing. I love ice fishing and one of my go-to baits when jigging are mealworms. They are hardy but look great when dangled beneath a noodle rod.
For a complete guide to noodle rods and how to ice fish with them, check out this article I wrote on the topic. Top your small jighead with one or two mealworms.
This bait works well for summertime trout but really shines through the ice. I like other softer baits more for warmer water fishing because they will provide more action and release more scent into the water than mealworms.
Non-Living Baits that Catch Trout
Cheese
Cheese is a great trout bait as long as you can keep it rigged on the hook. I remember my biggest issue with cheese was the hook cutting through it once the cheese got wet. I would watch my cheese drifting away from my hook only to see a trout devour it.
I really like using cheap American cheese because the white color really stands out for trout. With cheese, I really like using a slightly bigger hook and going with a size 2 baitholder hook.
Bread
Bread is another really good trout bait, especially for streams and rivers. Bread is easy to attach to a hook and is very easy to find in stores. It is also inexpensive. The problem with bread is the same as the problem with cheese.
Bread can be tough to keep on a hook once it gets wet. If you can keep it on the hook, you will catch trout. I like using white bread or hotdog bun sections and a size 4 baitholder hook.
Corn
Corn is one of my favorite all-around fishing baits because it is hassle-free, is very cheap to buy, will last a long time, and it catches fish. Furthermore, corn will stay on a hook. I recommend using sweet corn kernels for creek trout and larger feed corn kernels for river and lake trout.
You will need to soak and boil the feed corn to make it soft, but the larger kernel will catch you more trout in larger bodies of water. With corn, I like using a size 4 baitholder hook.
Live Bait vs. Artificial Lures
Generally speaking, live or more natural baits will catch you more trout than artificial baits. Trout respond really well to natural baits like worms, insects, and fish. It looks and tastes natural because it is. Under most circumstances, live bait will outfish lures.
Lures really shine in trolling or jigging situations though. The thing with live bait you need to be concerned with is that trout swallow live bait but they bite lures.
If you have any intention of releasing the trout you catch, be really careful fishing with live bait. You will gut or throat hook a lot of trout with live bait. Lures are much more likely to be lip-hooked on a fish and make for safer release.
Fly fishing is the one artificial bait that will outperform live bait. Trout are natural insect eaters and in many waterways, trout won’t even look at worms or live bait but will devour artificial flies.
To specifically target rainbow trout, you should read this article I wrote about the best live and artificial baits for rainbow trout. To learn how to catch trout using spinning gear, check out this article.
