Dave Strom is irritable yet focused. He’s dialed in, yet always ready to experiment. He’s been fishing the small rivers of Iowa’s Driftless Region his entire life, and to have a successful trout run by his standards, he needs to catch a brown fish measuring 24 inches or better. Storm44, has done this several times — her personal best measurement was 30 inches and weight 14 pounds. I had the chance to fish with Strom last spring, and his aggressive tactics for trout fishing in small water were unlike anything I had experienced. He is a master at maximizing trophy opportunities, even when he has little time to fish. No matter where you pursue trout, adopting a few of his plays can help you reach a level of fish you didn’t even know existed in your home waters.
get low
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Trophy-trout victory starts with focusing on where trophy trout thrive. Strom has discovered that this most often occurs in the lower third of any stream. “It’s not the pristine trout stream experience,” Strom says. “The rivers I fish usually have silt at the bottom. The bottom is muddy. The current is slow moving, and there are a lot of trees in the water.” Many anglers ignore these lower reaches, assuming they hold fewer trout. They’re right, but Strome isn’t looking for numbers. He knows that a hole in weak flow, often with stained water and abundant cover, is more likely to hold a giant or two than the most beautiful clean pool miles upstream. Fishing low gives Strom the opportunity to practically have miles of water to himself.
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Strom calls himself a run-and-gun trout fisherman. He is tall and lanky, and grew up in the jungle, which means he can jump through mud banks and bushes as if his feet were never touching the ground. Their goal is to capture the maximum number of possible trophy spots in a single tour, which may take only a few hours after work. Whenever possible, Strom keeps his distance and “airmails” his lures to reach the sweet spot at any angle. In a hole with depth and good cover, he can putt four times; Lightly in the hole or in a coverless pocket, he is only casting once or twice. He knows that if a large trout is home and interested, he will respond very quickly, so there is no reason to stay in one place for long. If he turns or misses a trout, he moves on immediately, allowing at least 20 minutes of rest before hitting the hole again.
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get attractive
During my visit, Strom baited everything from 6-inch soft-plastic swimbaits to paddle-tail shads with a big Colorado blade on the nose. He’s always looking for the next big-brown bait, but his most consistent producer is a 5 ½-inch No. 14 Rapala Husky Jerk. Always operating down-current, when Strom returns he is decidedly violent, spinning at warp speed and snapping his stick hard. In his experience, the flash of a jerkbait worked this way triggers most largest fish – even ones that have just eaten. It’s not about getting the fish to feed, but about playing with its natural predatory instincts, which Strom knows can’t be done so easily with small lures and flies. “When people see me on these little rivers with a big husky jerk tied on, they laugh,” Strom says. “I just think, OK, enjoy catching your little 10-inchers.”
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