Capt. Charlie Thomason firmly states that 90 percent of fishing during the trout transition is on the move, either with a trolling motor or drifting with a drift sock.
“To have a productive day, you have to cover a lot of ground,” he says succinctly. “But don’t spend all your time running from spot to spot. During transition, you should tend to pick apart a spot by using your trolling motor. And the five-cast rule does not come into play.”
The five-cast rule means simply that you never stay in any one spot more than five casts. During non-transition times, Thomason “moves a ton,” to use his own words.
“I’m not going to hang out in a spot and wait for the fish to turn up,” he said.
The rule applies for what he calls regular trout. For trophy trout fishing, he still moves a lot — at least by most other people’s standards. For trophy trout, he uses a 10-cast rule.
“If you haven’t caught a sizable fish by then in a prime location, move to the next spot, maybe not far — but move.”
Still, Thomason never sits on a spot too long and the anchor never leaves its rack all day.
“Keep moving and keep fishing to end up with a good catch at the end of the day,” he counsels. “Trout aren’t stacked up in a small area this time of year.”
