I started my angling career chasing stocked trout with chartreuse trout powerbait. And ever since, I have been obsessed with trying to pick the right color, scent, and glitter combinations to chase trout. And in the last couple of years, Berkley has released some new powerbait colors and scents (Fruity pack, Aniseed Collection, Triple Swirl), and I obsess trying to get my hands on every single jar to test them out and go trout fishing.And two of those colors I have been trying to get my hands on for awhile are Neon Blue and Black, Europe only colors of trout powerbait. And on a recent business trip to Amsterdam, I found each jar of trout powerbait at the Hangelsport Willem fishing store in Amsterdam. And no, I did not go to the red light district. My sole mission with my free time was finding these exclusive trout powerbait colors. Finally, I got my hands on two colors we can’t get in the United States.On a cloudy, rainy and windy spring day, I set out to chase some stocked trout with the Euro exclusive trout powerbait colors. Opening the jar, pulling the cover tab back, I take a big sniff. Oh, it smells like limits of trout!I scoop out some blue and black powerbait, forming a ball of bait on each hook. I make a cast with the blue and a cast with the black on my two rods (in Oregon you can buy a 2-rod endorsement and go trout fishing with two rods at a time). Now the wait happens.The overcast sky, rain, and wind has me believing the blue will get the first bite. The brightness of the bait will be seen easier by the trout. And sure enough after a few minutes, the blue bait gets the first bite. A nice 12-inch rainbow trout with the hook right in the corner. I release the fish un-harmed and put on some more blue powerbait. After a couple of minutes, another bite and takedown. This time a 13-inch rainbow with a bit more size.I make another cast with the blue powerbait, then make a cast with the black powerbait. Now the black color has silver specs, which makes it perfect with just a little light for the trout to find. And sure enough, the black color gets the next bite. A 14-inch long but skinny rainbow trout. Over the next hour, I got 8 more bites, landing 4 more trout on each color. Although the wind and rain continued to make the conditions miserable for me, the trout didn’t mind at all.One of the best parts of trout fishing is experimenting with new baits, and using both of these exclusive powerbaits gave me some good insights for how to fish each color. First the blue: it’s bright, it has glitter. Early mornings, overcast days, off-water conditions will favor the neon blue color way. Second the black: low and clear water conditions, super bright sunny days will make for fishing the black.As I reflect on the day of trout fishing with these two Euro exclusive colors, my mind wanders, thinking of where and when I can best use these powerbaits to catch trout. Always learning, always thinking of better ways to catch trout. As I journal my day of fishing, I think about the next exclusive colorways of trout powerbait I haven’t fished yet, and oh how I look forward to getting my hands on some new colors to chase more trout.
