Growing up around a bunch of trout anglers, I was always surprised at what a narrow range of lures they would use. Basically, if it wasn't shiny metal you wouldn't find it on the end of a casting rod. Trollers had only a slightly wider variety. Because of this I grew up with an idea of what "trout lures" were and what "bass lures" were. Boy have the last couple of years proved me wrong.

A couple years ago I was fishing the Arrow Lakes in southeastern British Columbia. This is where I cut my teeth trolling for trout and where lures like the Apex, Lyman Plug, and Bucktail reign supreme. We were having a brutal day fishing in the middle of summer when I decided to put on a 3/4 oz. Bomber Fat-Free Shad and troll it around. Sure enough, it picked up the only bite of the day. A 5 pound kokanee which stands as one of the biggest kokanee I've ever heard of on the lake, and was about 4 pounds bigger than my second biggest at the time. Most people troll for kokanee with small lures, but man did that one bite change my perception.

Two weekends ago my perception of "bass lures" and "trout lures" got flipped upside-down again during a derby once again on the Arrow Lakes. Fishing in my dad's new Thunderjet aluminum with him and his buddy Kevin, we didn't pick up a single bite on the first day. Deciding to try something new, I pulled out a Spro BBZ-1 Rainbow Trout-coloured swimbait to try trolling around on the second day. Since the one I bought was a floater, I had to add weight to get it down in the water, but after checking out the movement I figured this California bass killer might just have a chance of fooling a big ol' trout.

Less than an hour later it hit me. The biggest fish I have ever pulled out of my home lake and the $1000 derby winner. An 18 pound bull trout smashed the BBZ-1 and made a believer out of me, my dad and Kevin, and the select few I shared the knowledge of my new "secret lure" with. I was sold and am now hold it to be a firm truth that there is no such thing as a "trout lure" or "bass lure" anymore. Although... I haven't tried out the Alabama Rig yet...

Thanks for reading!