On his very first cast, Wade (our son) hooked a trout that jumped twice, made several line-peeling runs, and darted around the boat for more than a few minutes before tiring enough to submit to our waiting net. It was a thick-bodied fish of about 18 inches with a pink stripe down its side.

I’d missed the opening of trout season in Washington. Instead spending it chasing trout in California, and was eager to catch up on the trout action nearer home - with family and friends.

Although many believe there is nothing as good as the trout bite on opening day, I've found the action to be as good or better after the popular day has passed. After all, there are plenty of trout yet to be had – given that the majority of trout lakes are still swarming with recently-planted fish, which can range in size from 10 to 20 inches or more.

We decided to try our luck in the evening, when trout often go on a feeding frenzy just before dark. We’ve discovered, in fact, that many trout (and especially larger ones) come to the surface of the lake during the last few hours of light where they cruise in search of food.

What has become a favorite fishing method for us, and a highly productive one, are employing small critter looking, scent-filled plastic shapes like the three-inch PowerBait Trout Worm or Power Nymph.

Rigging is easy, just a size 6 or 8 single hook tied to the end of the line with a size 5 split shot crimped 20 inches away.

Although these plastic baits work when slowly trolled behind a boat, we've enjoyed even better success employing a method known as the crawl/retrieve technique. It's easy: cast out, allow your outfit to sink into the water column and begin a slow, twitch often retrieve.

The idea is to position your bait where the fish are cruising, which may be near the bottom during the middle of the day, and nearer the surface or shoreline in the early morning, evening, or on overcast days.

A variation of the above, which works especially well during low-light periods; is to cast out, reel up any slack line, let your outfit sink a few feet before lifting and lowering your rod tip, reel 10 feet, and lift and lower your rod again, etc. Fished this way, nearly all fish will take your scent-filled Trout Worm or Power Nymph while it's dropping, which may require you to give the trout time to swallow your offering before setting the hook.

And, although this method works from shore, we've found success doing if from a drifting boat too, which we also use to search out areas that might hold concentrations of hungry trout.

The crawl/retrieve method is one that can be enhanced by using light line. Spooling thin lines allows for longer casts and a more natural presentation. In fact, I know many anglers that will use nothing heavier than 4-pound and often employ 2-pound test. A great compromise, one that might help you land that the occasional monster trout, is spooling with 3-pound - available in Trilene XL.

Besides the use of light test line, what can enhance your casting ability is to employ a long rod. My favorite measures 7 and one half feet with an action rating of "light" (L) or "ultra light" (UL). These longer-than-normal rods provide casting leverage and better cushion the thrashing dished out by large trout.

A quality drag is important when employing the use of the thin-diameter lines, which greatly enhance your success with this fishing method. And, although I love the smoothness of a spinning reel engineered with a minimum of 5 bearings, what is crucial when fishing lighter-than-normal line is the quality of your drag.

I'll admit that I've had decent success with multiple disk drag consisting of metal and felt washers. Realize though that there are now first-class drag systems engineered with a combination of metal and carbon (graphite) washers. That is, a drag system where the washers are cut from sheet graphite.

The reels I use is the "Gold" version of the all-new Mitchell 300Ge/308Ge and Abu Cardinal 800 - worth it if you get highly involved in this and other fishing methods where your success depends on the use of light line.

Our evening fishing adventure (where Wade caught a fat trout on his very first cast) ended with limits and smiling faces for all. On the very next evening, we enjoyed an early trout dinner and more fishing fun by again employing the crawl/retrieve method.