I wake up, stretching my arms and legs, looking at the clock. It’s 5am in the morning. Daylight savings time has happened. I take the dogs out for the morning bathroom run, a cold mist in the air and crunchy leaves under my feet. The crisp air has gotten much colder in the past week, and fall has started to transition into winter. But fall isn’t over just yet.Late fall trout fishing can be rewarding and humbling all at the same time. Some days can be lights out, while other days fishing can leave you scratching your head and re-analyzing everything. Before you head out to chase some trout in the late fall, utilize these tips to help you go from a head scratching day, to the best fishing day of the year.Lower Expectations. The transition from fall to winter can be tough trout fishing. The ever-changing water conditions put the trout on different feeding patterns, and the bite starts to slow down. The temperature of the water drop significantly, and the trout feed less, eat less. Changing conditions can make fishing tough. Thus, lower your expectations, but keep grinding and you will be rewarded.Down-Size Baits. Cooler water temperatures will put the trout into a slower feeding mentality. To counter the change to trout feeding patterns, start to downsize your bait sizes and going smaller and smaller. I love using very small eggs and spinners as my go-to baits. Once you find the right size, rinse and repeat.Cover Water, Then More Water. The best thing I have found on slower late fall days is cover more water. Continue to fish hole to hole. Troll and cover as much ground as possible. Move around until you find fish, find the water that will hold fish. You might find a day where you get no bites, but grinding and covering water will pay off. I have had many days fishing where the bite happens later in the afternoon, but only after I kept fishing more, and more water. Be persistent, cover water, fail fast and you will find trout.Mix Up Scents. When it comes to summer fishing, scents like anise, crawdad, garlic, and shrimp do very well as the trout look to bulk up for the winter. But as the water cools down, start to mix up and switch scents to more trout / salmon egg, anise, nightcrawler. Never be afraid to change up scents because you might stumble upon the one scent the trout won’t be able to resist!Find the Right Water. Late fall fishing means colder weather, but also more leaves and debris in the water, run off and off-colored water, and water rising and falling more frequently. Trout will continue to hold up in softer water, but the conditions of the water start to change drastically. My mission when I head out is to find the right water, maybe a little off color, but looking for the best water. If the water looks like chocolate milk, you should move in search of cleaner water. If the water is dropping or rising fast, you will have to make quick decisions to find the best water. Keep looking and fishing that right kind of water with the right conditions, and the trout will be there. But fishing the wrong water will leave you scratching your head as to why you didn’t catch anything.
