Trout fishing paved the way for Hawk

It’s really interesting when you start looking outside of the bass fishing world, not only do a lot of professional bass fishermen love to fish for other species, but there are some big similarities and we can all learn a thing or two.

For B.A.S.S Elite Pro Kevin Hawk, growing up on the west coast consisted of rainbow trout fishing and he eventually got more and more into bass and Hawk says there are a lot of similarities between the two species.

“The first similarity that is really obvious is the ultra line equipment we use for trout fishing,” says Hawk.  “As a bass guy, I love fighting them on light spinning gear, as do a lot of other anglers out there, so I’ll go out there with a 4’6” spinning rod with 2 – 4lb line and catch trout.  Fighting them on super light equipment is always a blast!”

Focusing heavily on river systems, Hawk explains how trout will set up very similar to bass throughout any given river.

“Rivers are definitely my favorite place to fish for trout,” says Hawk.  “Like river smallmouth bass, the trout will stack up in eddies and current breaks and pick off unsuspecting bait, just like a smallmouth would.”

Like bass, there are specific times of the year that trout fishermen in Southern California like to target rainbows, which ultimately leads to the best chances at a trophy fish.

“Where I grew up in Southern California, the best time to fish for rainbows was in the winter months,” says Hawk.  “November through January are the best months, but if you go up north and up into the mountains, you can follow the season and the cooler temperatures and catch trout right into the summer months.”

Now on the road and fishing against the top bass anglers in the world, Hawk doesn’t have much time for rainbow trout fishing, but recommends that anyone who has the opportunity to do so should.

“I would say a lot of what I know about bass fishing is because of trout fishing,” explains Hawk.  “Growing up my Dad took my brother and I trout fishing, but then eventually he took me bass fishing and once I went bass fishing that was it.  I never looked back.”

The other benefit to trout fishing is they are great to eat!  Being a health nut, Hawk enjoys nothing more than wrapping up a piece of trout on the BBQ with some peppers, species and big slab of butter.

Sometimes we can be very closed minded and not look at all the other opportunities we have around us.  Often times we speak of the “upper hand”, or “having the advantage”, but isn’t learning more about other species and applying what we’ve learned to bass fishing exactly that?  Next time you have the opportunity to fish for something other than bass, look at it as a learning experience, one that will help make you a better bass angler.