One hundred degrees in the middle of May… are you kidding me? I certainly hope this weather isn’t a sneak peak into what we’ve got in store this summer — if so, the mercury may hit 180 by August!

Okay, enough whining. The upside to all this heat is it’s going to kickstart some good high-country trout fishing. Snowmelt washes tons of good feed and nutrients into our high elevation lakes. While the bite will probably be a little off for the next week or so — until the flows start to recede and lake levels stabilize — there’s some hot action coming in the not-so-distant future.

As water temps start to warm up a bit in the late spring, trout start getting extremely active and it’s one of my favorite times to get out on the water in the Sierras — places like Stampede Reservoir, Donner Lake, Lake Tahoe, Union Valley Reservoir, Buck’s Lake, Butte Valley Reservoir and Lake Almanor, to name a few.

While trolling those lakes, you can expect to see quality rainbows, browns and macks (depending on which lake you visit) and trolling is the number one way to get a bend in your rod. All the usual fare — Needlefish, Rapalas, grubs, nightcrawlers, Trophy Sticks, etc. will certainly get bit, but my all-time favorite way to catch big trout this time of year is to troll with live minnows.

Rigging Up

Now, before we get too far along here, be sure to check the regulations governing the lake you plan to fish as some have specific rules about the use of live minnows (at places like Tahoe and Donner, for example, you have to use minnows indigenous to the lake).

For this article’s sake, let’s assume it’s legal to fish with the standard variety of minnow you can get at most bait shops around the area.

For a full day of fishing for two people, I’d get a couple dozen baits at least. Where rainbows are the main species, I’d go with small or medium minnows. If you’re chasing landlocked king salmon, browns or macks, mediums or larges are the way to go. Where legal (and available), threadfin shad also work well.

Anyway, this rig requires a large sewing needle (approximately three inches), a treble hook, a snap swivel, some 8- to 10-pound fluorocarbon leader material...and of course, a minnow. Before you fish, tie up some 9-inch leaders as well as some 15 inchers. Depending on the size of your bait, you’ll need treble hooks (Gamakatsu has some very nice thin wire models) in sizes 4-8.

Tie the hook to one end of the leader and then tie a loop knot in the other end. Next, take a minnow and insert the point of the needle into its side, right along the lateral line and just aft of the dorsal fin. Push the point right along the minnow’s backbone until it just starts to come out the fish’s mouth.

At this point, run the loop in the leader through the eye of the needle. Now, continue running the needle (and the line) through the fish so it completely passes out through its mouth. Next, slide the bait down the leader until it rests against the treble hook and you’re in business. Tie a snap swivel to the end of your main line and attach the leader’s loop to it.

Before dropping your bait back behind the boat, hold it in the water a few feet from your rod tip and get up to trolling speed (typically 1 to 2 mph).

Watch how the bait moves — you want a nice, slow roll with an occasional jerk to one side or the other. If the minnow has a quick, tight rolling action, reel back in and adjust the hook position. Often, you just need to slide the eye of the treble a little into the needle hole in the minnow’s side to get the right action.

Now, drop it back 100 to 200 feet behind you if you’re toplining or set it 15 to 20 feet behind a release clip if you’re fishing with downriggers. The scent of the bait, along with its hypnotic roll are often too much to resist!

A little extra flash

In the spring, the water can be a bit off-colored and that’s when I like to go with a more tricked out version of the minnow rig.

Thread your minnow onto one of the shorter, 9-inch leaders and then slide 3-5 small plastic beads and a plastic quick-change clevis down the leader. Attach a silver or copper No. 2 spinner blade to the clevis and now you’ve got a “spinnerbait” that can be almost criminally good at times. To make it even flashier, run a Sep’s 4/0 dodger ahead of it.

The dodger not only provides flash and vibration, but its side-to-side rolling action will give your bait some added “life.” If you find the fish need the added attraction of blades but don’t seem to like the herky-jerky action that a dodger gives the bait, run your minnow behind a set of small flashers instead.

Now, there’s no such thing as a magic bait that catches fish in all conditions, but I’m sure you’ll see your trout and landlocked king salmon catches go up this spring if you drag some live bait around in your favorite trout lake!

J.D. Richey is a 1986 Placer High graduate, and his outdoors pieces have been published nationally. He can be found on the Web at www.fishwithjd.com.