SMALL streams are emerging as one of the best prospects for a catch when trout season opens on September 6.

Anglers can fish for Mr Speckles in streams and rivers across Victoria, but the outlook for small stream trout prospecting is especially positive.

Victoria has experienced a solid snow pack, and rainfall in many mountain areas has at least kept pace with what many would regard as being near the norm.

The rewards of small stream trout fishing are rarely huge.

Most trout will average about a man's handspan in length, but the size of the fish belies the hunt and fight. Make no mistake: these trout are exciting to catch on the simplest of equipment.

Tackle requirements are modest. If you want to work lures or bait, then a short, light rod capable of casting from one to two ounces, balanced with a size 1000 or 2000 threadline reel spooled with line of about 2kg breaking strain. Braid is best, but you will need a 2kg breaking strain fluorocarbon leader for best results. The same outfit will suit bait fishing.

For lure choice, old-fashioned bladed lures such as the Celtas are hard to beat. Age has not blunted their productivity.

In small streams, bladed lures produce trout as well, if not better, than bibbed minnows or soft plastic lures.

Bladed lures offer a casting advantage in that they cast like bullets, which can be handy on overgrown waterways or when distance is desirable.

Thumbnail-size minnow lures work well but you can afford to lose more bladed lures than minnows.

I'm not convinced as much about colour for floating minnows, as any fish looking upwards will see a dark silhouette regardless of lure colour.

Another option that has come into its own are small, curl tail or worm soft plastic lures.

If you intend going soft plastic, consider resin heads, which have slower sink rates than the traditional leads.

If you aren't into spinning then, alternatively, the same outfit with a No. 8 hook, a small piece of shot on the leader and worm or grub for bait can work wonders.

Even putting a small, wet fly on the end of your line and running a couple of split shot about 50cm up the line is effective.

Bait anglers often do much better than fly or lure anglers when the water is soiled.

Bait choice can be as simple as a bunch of worms. Many bait fishers achieve success using the long-trotting method. The rig is a running sinker, with a small 00-size sinker allowed to run down the line to the hook.

The bait is presented by casting upstream and allowed to bounce along the bottom as it comes back to you in the current.

At all times, maintain a tight line to your bait.

The best results come by keeping the bait off the bottom by feel and lifting the rod tip occasionally. Start retrieving line as rig comes to the end of its downstream journey.

Before you begin walking the stream, give some thought to the end of the day and the walk back to your vehicle. In this regard, it makes sense to park your car, walk downstream and then work your way back up.

Lure anglers will find success comes through knowledge and stealth.

The angler has to understand what constitutes a likely lay, the sort of food trout will seek, and how best to present lure or bait.

Most of the time the water worked is shallow: anywhere from knee to thigh deep. These streams often braid into narrow runnels. Every puddle, from the start of a riffle to a plunge pool below a waterfall, is worth prospecting.

The water needs to be worked systematically, but don't overdo it.

A small pool might be explored with half a dozen strategic casts; larger pools with more likely-looking trout haunts will probably need more.

Always work to avoid spooking fish. Use natural cover to disguise your approach wherever possible. When this isn't possible, stand back and test your arm by making longer casts.

When you make the cast, flip the bail arm over and wind the lure as soon as it hits the water, to avoid snagging.

Always remember to look up before you cast, as many more lures are snagged in tree branches than in the water.

As a matter of good conservation, flatten the barbs on your hooks so that the trout can be released unharmed.

Some anglers, concerned over the welfare of the fish they catch and prefer to release, no longer use treble hooks.

Instead, the trebles are replaced with single hooks with the barbs flattened so that fish can be released in good health.

Steve Cooper can be heard on the Casting Off program on Radio Sport927 between 4.30am and 6.30am on Saturdays.