Fishing with Nightcrawlers

• 1). Find a spot. Rivers are full of little holes where fast moving water encounters an obstacle (a rock) and flows out and around it. The water on the back side of the rock has no current, thus it would be considered a hole, and a prime place for trout to sit down, rest and possibly find a little something to eat.
  
  
• 2). Set up your rig. The best way to nightcrawler fish for trout is to keep it simple. Tie a hook to the end of your line. Place a sinker about 1 1/2 feet up from your hook. This will allow the nightcrawler to float up and away from the sinker. That's all there is to it. When you put your split shot sinkers on your line, don't squeeze them on too tightly. When you river fish with nightcrawlers, your sinker will get tangled up in the rocks. If you rig it so that the sinker easily breaks away from the line, you'll spend less time re-rigging.
  
  
• 3). Float your nightcrawler into the current. Depending on how close you are to the hole, this may not even require that you cast the line. Sometimes you can simply drop the nightcrawler into the water and the current will carry your bait into the hole. Once you're where you want to be, let it sit.
  
  
• 4). Watch your pole. Trout can nibble. So the lighter your pole, the easier it will be to see the trout when it's nibbling on your nightcrawler. If the tip of your pole bends and retracts quickly, that's a bite. Try to anticipate the next bite and give a quick jerk on the pole. Be careful not to jerk the pole too hard. Trout have soft mouths and it's easy to pull the bait right out of their mouth if you jerk too hard.