Thinking Like a Trout

Last week I introduced the importance of having the right flies in your fly box, and understanding aquatic insect life cycles and how trout relate to and capitalize on them. The other part of the equation is how trout make the “decision” to eat your fly or not. The successful fly angler will have a good understanding of these three concepts and how they all mesh together.

These are all topics that I am passionate about, and topics that influence my approach to fly design and on-the-water fly selection. I am looking forward to sharing details about these three topics in future posts.

Next week I will introduce the basics of trout decision making and how a search image influences trout feeding behavior (this will be a more lengthy posts). The concept of a search image explains a lot when it comes to why a fly will work well one day but not the next, and why while several fish may not hesitate to take your fly, others simply ignore the same offering.

Here is a short video that shows cutthroat trout feeding behavior from an underwater perspective. Most of the fish are feeding on drifting nymphs or adult bugs on the surface. What I find interesting is how the trout can spot tiny bugs in the drift far better than us, often from several feet away.