Trout Wars: Spin Casting Tips That Work for Trout

By Jim "The Jayhawker" Merriott

Trout Wars is devoted to trout fishermen of all types, be they novice through purest.
The techniques used in this book have been tested and proven to turn failure into success. Through years of experimenting with one of the finest trout fisherman in Colorado, Merton Leeper, I can humbly say that not only have we improved our fishing, but discovered new methods, rediscovered lost methods, and improved tried and true methods by experimenting with different presentations. This book is dedicated to all trout fishermen willing to pay their dues on the waters, be it hot or cold, during all four seasons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Oct 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781489705211

Jim "The Jayhawker" Merriott

Jim Merriott was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up on and around the Missouri River. As a boy, he learned to hunt and fish with his father, James Sr., in the Ozark Mountains. There he learned to fish for both cold-water and warm-water fish. Along the Warsaw River, Jim read many adventure books written by Mark Twain, Jack London, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway. He is a graduate of Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, and worked on his master’s degree at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg. He began his career as a teacher and coach and was host to a weekly outdoor talk show in Denver. He has been master of ceremonies for the Colorado RV, Sports, Boat, and Travel Show and has written a weekly outdoor column since 1989 in numerous newspapers. He has won several newspaper awards from the Kansas Press Association and the Panhandle Press Association. He is a member of several outdoor writers’ organizations and writers’ associations. He lives in Greeley, Colorado, where he earned an American history degree and worked on a history master’s. He is a certified baseball historian.

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Copyright © 2015 Jim The Jayhawker Merriott.

Cover design by: Jim Merriott

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-0522-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-0521-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015914385

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 3/30/2016

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Basic fundamentals of trout fishing

Chapter 1   Trout Identification

Chapter 2   Equipment

Chapter 3   Understanding Lakes and Reservoir Water

Chapter 4   Bait fishing for Trout

Chapter 5   Using flys with a spin cast reel

Chapter 6   Log record book

Chapter 7   Hardware trolling

Chapter 8   Ice fishing

Chapter 9   Ice fishing equipment

Chapter 10   Solunar Theory

Chapter 11   Fishing Etiquette

Bibliography

I dedicate this book to the late Merton D. Leeper, an old fishing buddy/author who after many years of fishing research found the key to successful trout fishing here in Colorado. I also wish to thank my family and friends from the past and present that helped mold my outdoor life. From the age of nine, when I witnessed my cousin Carol catch the first 20-inch Rainbow Trout that I had ever seen, I became hooked. I also want to thank everyone who took the time to buy and read this book. I also want to dedicated this book to Dale Owens, a fine fisherman who drown in Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison County in 2014, a member of the Loveland Fishing Club.

INTRODUCTION

Old fishermen never die, they just smell that way, Bruce Cameron

What I have found out during my lifespan is that my favorite memories are the ones when I was out-of-doors. Mostly, when I was either fishing or hunting. Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, once a week, I would rush to the television after supper and watch my favorite outdoor show, The Sportsmen’s Friend, featuring Harold Ensley. Ensley, was a professional sportsman who knew my Dad. I am not sure if Dad grew up with Harold, but they knew each other well enough to meet and eat lunch together once a week. At the time, my Dad worked as a service manager for a car dealer down the street from KCMO-TV station. Dad would always come home with a story about Harold and his fishing and hunting experiences. About the time I was eight or nine, I contracted a lung infection from the industrial pollution from down in the lower bottoms where we lived by the Missouri River. There trains and industries polluted the air around our tenament. After several doctors opinions, it was decided by my parents to rent a cabin in the Lake of the Ozarks on the weekends. So every Friday night after my parents got off work, we packed up and headed to Warsaw, Missouri. There I could breathe the fresh air and with the help of my parents and friends, I learned to fish and later hunt. Fishing was much different in the Midwest than in the Rocky Mountains. Learning to fish for warm-water Panfish, Largemouth Bass, Walleye and Crappie became a weekly event. And each Monday night, I would rush back to the television to see what Mr. Ensley had done and see if we had out fished him. I didn’t get to meet Mr. Ensley until I was in my early 20’s, but felt I knew him just like everybody else that watched his show. Little did I know, that his inspiration would someday find its way into my life as a professional outdoorsman.

For the past 50 years, I have tried to outwit many species of