Just to follow up - corn actually is illegal in Rhode Island where they stock trout. Carp fishermen aren't allowed to use corn in some rivers because they are the only state to think that corn will harm trout.
Corn or chum in trout waters in RI...which of course makes total sense because there are dead fish everywhere in Massachusetts from all of us carp anglers using corn...o wait..yeah...
but it is their rules and I'll follow em
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As far as which worms I prefer Night crawlers..if you want smaller pieces just break sections off and use em. The dillies are fine but tend to break easier and don't last as long on a hook verse the crawlers.
i used corn for trout growing up in michigan, though i haven't used it since. i have heard several debates around this topic. here is something i found online regarding some past research...
Commission fisheries biologist Tom Bender at Benner Spring Fish Research Station conducted a study in 1992 that examined the impact of corn on trout. For the study, two groups of hatchery rainbow trout were held in separate tanks and tested for 54 days. In one tank, 20 rainbow trout (average size 8.3 inches) were fed a diet of whole kernel corn. In the second tank, 20 rainbow trout of the same size were fed a standard trout pellet diet.
During the 54 day study period, no mortalities occurred from trout of either study group. However, study results did show that the trout fed with a corn diet did not digest the corn particularly well. The growth observed by the corn-fed trout during the study period was only about half of that observed from the trout that were fed the standard trout pellet diet.
The conclusion from this study was that there appears to be little reason for concern about the short term health hazards for rainbow trout when whole kernel corn is used for bait. Although there are better diets for trout than whole kernel corn, this study confirms that mortality does not occur when trout ingest whole kernel corn.
Commission fisheries biologist Tom Bender at Benner Spring Fish Research Station conducted a study in 1992 that examined the impact of corn on trout. For the study, two groups of hatchery rainbow trout were held in separate tanks and tested for 54 days. In one tank, 20 rainbow trout (average size 8.3 inches) were fed a diet of whole kernel corn. In the second tank, 20 rainbow trout of the same size were fed a standard trout pellet diet.
During the 54 day study period, no mortalities occurred from trout of either study group. However, study results did show that the trout fed with a corn diet did not digest the corn particularly well. The growth observed by the corn-fed trout during the study period was only about half of that observed from the trout that were fed the standard trout pellet diet.
The conclusion from this study was that there appears to be little reason for concern about the short term health hazards for rainbow trout when whole kernel corn is used for bait. Although there are better diets for trout than whole kernel corn, this study confirms that mortality does not occur when trout ingest whole kernel corn.
