Canada’s 11 all-time top lures for brookies, browns, cutthroats, lakers and rainbows

Canadian anglers have long had a love affair with trout, seduced by their sleek beauty and the clear, cold waters they call home. Despite their popularity, however, trout can be notoriously finicky.

So if you want to consistently catch them, it pays to go with the lures that have proven effective over time. Here are the top 11 trout lures you need to have in your tacklebox…

Mepps Aglia

More Mepps Aglia in-line spinners have been sold than any other single lure in Canada, and as we know, the consumer is always right. In this instance, they’re absolutely correct that the Aglia is dynamite on trout. The reliably rotating blade produces an alluring combination of vibration and flash, even at slow speeds, making it effective in stained or clear waters, under the cover of darkness or on the brightest days. And it’s compact and heavy enough to cast—ideal for shore-bound anglers—or troll. With six sizes, 32 blade colours and an optional dressing, the Aglia offers plenty of options. As a rule, stick to the undressed version for smaller stream trout, and dressed versions when large fish are on the menu.

Catch: Brook, brown, cutthroat and rainbow trout

Where: Streams and rivers; ponds and small lakes

When: All seasons under all conditions

How: In streams and rivers, cast across the current and retrieve slowly; in large rivers, it can be fished deep from a boat using a three-way swivel. It’s effective in lakes of all sizes when cast or trolled, with weight added as needed

Dardevle by Eppinger Huskie Devle

At 5½ inches long and weighing a hefty 3¼ ounces, the Huskie Devle is the full-meal deal, making it the go-to spoon at lake trout fishing lodges for decades. In fact, the long-standing debate at renowned Plummer’s Arctic Lodges has been whether it’s the number one all-time lure for trophy lakers. This broad spoon has a wide, thumping wobble when trolled or allowed to free-fall, tightening as you increase the trolling speed. It comes in myriad colours, but the classic red/white stripe remains the most popular. I landed my personal best laker on a pink model, and while the colour may have been different, the odds are your largest lake trout also fell for a Huskie Devle.

Catch: Lake trout

Where: Lakes with populations of large fish

When: Throughout the open-water season

How: Troll at slow to moderate speeds, occasionally allowing the spoon to free-fall on an open spool; also cast over shoals or along rocky shorelines

Yakima Bait Flatfish

The other contender as the best all-time trophy laker lure at Plummer’s is the T-60 Flatfish. At six inches in length, it’s the largest member of the Flatfish family. This versatile diving lure is designed to do the dirty work, veering wildly, banging off the bottom and generally wreaking irresistible havoc. Its unique shape has been widely copied but never equalled, a tribute to the T-60’s adaptability—it’s as at home on large rivers and small lakes as it is on Great Bear. A wide range of sizes and colours lets you mimic natural bait while attracting marauding trout with the lure’s vibration, flash and wobble.Catch: Brown, bull, lake and rainbow trout

Where: Large and small lakes; large rivers. Select a lure size that matches the target species and the water you’re fishing

When: Summer through to fall is best

How: Troll slowly in large lakes, adding weight or using lead-core line or a downrigger in deeper water. Cast and retrieve slowly in small lakes and ponds. In rivers, cast cross-current, allowing the lure to swing through the target water before slowly retrieving it

Lindy Fuzz-E-Grub

Everything about the Fuzz-E-Grub screams fish, from the soft-plastic body to the bulging eyes to the seductively waving marabou tail. With this bait, it’s all about subtlety—where other jigs rely more on antagonizing fish to bite, the Fuzz-E-Grub teases, and few trout can resist its charms. It’s often thought of more as a bass or walleye bait, but experienced trout anglers have long recognized its effectiveness on reluctant trout. While the jig is available in a wide range of colours, trout anglers lean toward the all-white, crawfish orange and black/chartreuse versions.

Catch: Brook, brown, bull and lake trout

When: Spring is best, but it produces all year

Where: Target structure and undercut banks on streams and rivers; shoreline cobble and rocky humps in lakes

How: Fish it vertically, or cast toward structure and slowly bump it back along bottom