Brown and cutthroat trout, where they are present, follow those rainbows into the shallows to pick off drifting eggs. When you're fishing lakes during the spring, wear polarized glasses and walk any high banks above the lake, searching for fish. Often, pods that may number a couple dozen fish can be found in this manner. Because rainbow and cutthroat trout are spring spawners, one of the most effective seasonal offerings is the single egg. Spinfishers imitate eggs with Corkies fished under a pencil-lead or split shot, or with natural salmon eggs fished on a single hook under split shot.
Eggs work well in both moving and still water.
On rivers and creeks, lead must be attached to the leader to get the offerings near the bottom. Shelves and drop-offs also hold fish. Small baitfish also join the feeding frenzy, a trait that large trout take note of. For that reason, leadhead jigs, plugs and streamer flies draw the attention of adult trout and often induce solid strikes. Baitfish imitations should be fished with an erratic motion to imitate actual fish darting in to steal eggs from spawning trout.