There’s more to fishing than catching fish. But that’s a hard thing to remember on the first day of trout season. You want to catch fish – and a lot of them.

It’s not always easy at the beginning of the year. Water temperatures are low and the fish aren’t as active as they’ll be later in May and June. You need a few tricks up your sleeve when fishing the lakes for rainbow trout. Here are seven secrets for filling your stringer on Opening Day.

1. Fish where the fish are. If you want the odds in your favor, then fish waters that have been stocked with trout in the last week or two. Check the Fishing Report in the Thursday issue of The Bulletin, or go online. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife lists its stocking schedule on its Web site (www.dfw. state.or.us).

Most lakes are seeded with eight- to 10-inch fish, but a few receive plants of big brood stock rainbow that might tip the scales at up to 10 pounds.

Some lakes are more suitable for young children. Among these are North and South Twin Lakes, Lava Lake, and Ochoco and Haystack Reservoirs. Fireman’s Pond in Redmond and Shevlin Pond, west of Bend, are close to home. For more information on specific waters, get a copy of Sun Publishing’s ”Fishing Central Oregon.”

2. Find the fish. Hatchery rainbow tend to move in large schools. You can find them by watching the water before you begin to fish. Look for rising rainbows to give away the best spot. On more intimate water, use polarized glasses and watch for moving shadows against the bottom.

If you can’t spot the fish, stay on the move until you locate them. When I’m fishing from the bank, I’ll start with a brown 1/6-ounce Rooster Tail spinner and cast and retrieve it. There are always one or two aggressive rainbows that will chase the lure. Once you’ve found them, switch to bait or flies to catch the rest of your limit.

3. Fish the shallows. Early in the year, the sunlight warms the shallows and sparks insect activity. Here’s where the trout go to feed. Target the transitions from shallow to deeper water to take more rainbows.

4. Go micro. When lower temperatures keep trout from being as active as you’d like, switch to tiny baits, jigs, grubs or flies. This is a good time to employ a meal worm or a single Pautzke’s salmon egg on a tiny hook. Use a small casting bubble or a bobber to keep track of the bait.

One of my go-to flies for hatchery trout early in the year is a red-tag Woolly Worm tied on a No. 10 hook. I’ll use it on a fly rod or rig it with a clear casting bubble on a spinning rod. In fact, if one fly is good, two are better. Cast it, let the flies sink, then begin a slow retrieve punctuated by long pauses.

5. Use a light leader. For opening day, four-pound test leader is just about right. Most snelled hooks that the tackle dealers will try to sell you are way too heavy for trout fishing. You may fool one or two, but you’ll hook and land a whole lot more if you go with light line.

6. Rig with a sliding sinker and a floating bait. The first time I saw a jar of Power Bait I wasn’t impressed. But it didn’t really matter what I thought about it. Fish like it. At least until they find the hook. With a sliding sinker, a trout doesn’t feel the resistance of the weight. The line slides right through it.

Run a sliding sinker above a swivel on your main line. Next, tie on a 30-inch leader and a No. 14 treble hook. Pinch a chunk of Berkley Power Bait around your hook.

An alternative is a marshmallow in front of a piece of nightcrawler. The buoyant bait will ride a bit above the bottom. Cruising fish will pick up the morsel and keep moving. When the line starts to move, set the hook.

7. Appeal to the predator. Trout, even hatchery trout, are predators. Give them a chance to pack on some protein and they’ll take it.

That’s why small Rapalas, Flatfish and tiny bass crankbaits can pay off on Opening Day and beyond.

Cast or troll a small two-inch plug. Sometimes five or six fish will follow at once. Twitch the lure and make it change direction to spark the strike from following fish.

If there’s anything better than a full stringer of rainbows on opening morning, it’s helping a kid catch his or her first trout. If you don’t have a child of your own, borrow one from somebody else. Because there’s more to fishing than catching fish.