1-2 Punch for Trout

Jim Bedford does most of his trout fishing with two types of lures - and he always keeps both handy. The first is a simple in-line spinner; the second a minnow-style plug. A long-time outdoor writer who spends dozens of days annually knee deep in Michigan streams, Bedford uses a clip to facilitate quick changes, and continually goes back and forth between the two offerings. He'll commonly work a run thoroughly with a minnow bait and then probe the exact same waters with his spinner.

The plugs yield a little bigger class of fish on average, but the spinners produce more than their share of heavyweight trout, and they show him whether any fish are willing to cooperate. No matter what's on the end of his line, Bedford nitpicks the waters around him, making precise pitches into very tight spots and often pulling out a trout. He'll try a cast anywhere he thinks a trout might be lurking, and he loses surprisingly few lures. Although the nature of his lures and the cover he casts to cause a fair number of snags time has taught Bedford patience and tricks for getting those baits free.

Bedford enjoys the streams themselves and he likes to win the battle with any trout that bites. However, his prizes are the big orange-bellied brown trout that lurk in many of his favorite Michigan streams. That is until the fall - when the steelhead begin their runs!