Do trout get spooked?

[alex_noel]

Was down at a local river last week. Caught a nice trout within seconds of hitting the water with my spinner, but didn't catch any more after that, and was at that same spot for about 45 minutes. Perhaps that was the only one there and should have moved along the river a bit

 

[John Keane]

Was down at a local river last week. Caught a nice trout within seconds of hitting the water with my spinner, but didn't catch any more after that, and was at that same spot for about 45 minutes. Perhaps that was the only one there and should have moved along the river a bit

In normal flows of water trout have “lies”, places they have chosen to keep station in the flow and wait for the current to bring them food. The bigger trout get the better lies, like in front of a large rock or boulder where they can ride the buffer of the current for less expenditure of energy. Spinners are splashy and flashy and may spook fish, as may hooking one that skitters all over the current. In fly fishing it’s customary to keep on the move, up or down stream to cover the lies and a stationary approach on a river rarely works.

 

[Molehill]

Yes, you need to keep moving on a river for trout. Once you have had the fish out of that spot there may not be another, or if there is it will be much smaller or almost certainly spooked and hiding from the disturbance.
This is presuming you are fishing a river with wild trout and not on a stretch of with stocked trout, they can be a bit dull initially!