The various fresh water trout species belong to the salmon family called Salmonidae.
Popular sport fishing varieties include the rainbow trout, the cutthroat trout, the brown trout and the golden trout.
Others like the bull trout, the Dolly Varden trout and the brook trout are actually members of the sub-family Salvelinus,also known as char.
Trout, a coldwater fish, can be found in moving water (rivers and creeks) and in still water (lakes, reservoirs and ponds) where coldwater is available year-round.
Generally, in these locations, trout feed on both aquatic and terrestrial insects.
Trout will also feed on other aquatic life such as small fish, but insects are the mainstay of their diet.
Aquatic insects - those born in the water - include mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies.
Terrestrial insects - those born on land - include grasshoppers, crickets and ants.
These land-born bugs fall into the water and are trapped in the surface film.
In moving water, trout are either feeding, resting or hiding from predators.
When trout are feeding in moving water, they can be found positioned facing upstream with the water flowing into their face.
This positioning allows drifting food to be brought downstream in the current to the waiting trout.
These selected positions, sometimes called "feeding stations", include behind rocks, at the tail of a pool or the end of a riffle, at the edge ofeddies, where there is fast moving water just next to slow moving water and along beds of weeds.
Using their tail structure and fins, trout have the ability to "hold" in fast-moving water when a plentiful food source is available.
Trout can also be found feeding in the shallows of moving water in the early morning or late evening hours.
Trout feed on mature insects at the streams surface.
This can be witnessed by the visible "dimple" on the surface as the trout takes the insect.
Immature aquatic insects, called nymphs, are fed on below the waters surface.
Wearing polarized sun glasses, you can observe this action by seeing the flashing side of the fish as they take the nymph.
When resting or hiding, stream trout can be located near the bottom of deep holes, beneath or next to structure such as brushy or undercut banks, logs and boulders or in weedbeds.
Trout in still water behave differently.
Without the moving water as a food delivery system, the trout must cruise in search of food.
In ponds and lakes, nymph-stage insect life is abundant in weedbeds and other bottom structures, so trout tend to spend a great deal of feeding time cruising or holding close to these areas.
When these insects hatch, the mature adults come to the surface, and the telltale dimpling effect is visible.
The fly fisherman uses clever copies of aquatic and terrestrial insects.
These imitations are typically feathers and fur affixed to a hook.
Generally, these artificial insects are a close representation of the natural insect's color, size and shape.
Some of these counterfeits characterize the aquatic nymphs and adults and others are terrestrial look-alikes.
Prepared carefully, these artificial trout flies can fool the most cautious trout.
Sometimes, you can easily see what insect the trout are feeding on.
At other times, you may have to capture a sample using a small, aquarium net.
Identification of the insect will help but, if you are not certain, using an attractor pattern such as the Adams, Royal Coachman,or the Royal Wulff can sometimes be substituted with success.
Attractors like these can also be used when no hatch or feeding activity is apparent.
Fly casting takes practice.
The fly fisherman must refine his casting skills until he has the ability to cast necessary distances and place the fly in the perfect location.
This precise presentation of the imitation to the feeding trout is critical.
The fly fisherman must always remember how the trout is holding in moving water, head upstream, waiting for the insect to come to him.
The fly must be cast to a point well above the feeding fish so it travels in the current to the waiting feeder.
The veteran fisherman knows that this presentation must be delicate, so as not to spook the waiting fish from his feeding station.
Understanding how trout feed, what they are feeding on, and how best to get the artificial representation to the feeding trout are all parts of fly fishing enjoyment.
Popular sport fishing varieties include the rainbow trout, the cutthroat trout, the brown trout and the golden trout.
Others like the bull trout, the Dolly Varden trout and the brook trout are actually members of the sub-family Salvelinus,also known as char.
Trout, a coldwater fish, can be found in moving water (rivers and creeks) and in still water (lakes, reservoirs and ponds) where coldwater is available year-round.
Generally, in these locations, trout feed on both aquatic and terrestrial insects.
Trout will also feed on other aquatic life such as small fish, but insects are the mainstay of their diet.
Aquatic insects - those born in the water - include mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies.
Terrestrial insects - those born on land - include grasshoppers, crickets and ants.
These land-born bugs fall into the water and are trapped in the surface film.
In moving water, trout are either feeding, resting or hiding from predators.
When trout are feeding in moving water, they can be found positioned facing upstream with the water flowing into their face.
This positioning allows drifting food to be brought downstream in the current to the waiting trout.
These selected positions, sometimes called "feeding stations", include behind rocks, at the tail of a pool or the end of a riffle, at the edge ofeddies, where there is fast moving water just next to slow moving water and along beds of weeds.
Using their tail structure and fins, trout have the ability to "hold" in fast-moving water when a plentiful food source is available.
Trout can also be found feeding in the shallows of moving water in the early morning or late evening hours.
Trout feed on mature insects at the streams surface.
This can be witnessed by the visible "dimple" on the surface as the trout takes the insect.
Immature aquatic insects, called nymphs, are fed on below the waters surface.
Wearing polarized sun glasses, you can observe this action by seeing the flashing side of the fish as they take the nymph.
When resting or hiding, stream trout can be located near the bottom of deep holes, beneath or next to structure such as brushy or undercut banks, logs and boulders or in weedbeds.
Trout in still water behave differently.
Without the moving water as a food delivery system, the trout must cruise in search of food.
In ponds and lakes, nymph-stage insect life is abundant in weedbeds and other bottom structures, so trout tend to spend a great deal of feeding time cruising or holding close to these areas.
When these insects hatch, the mature adults come to the surface, and the telltale dimpling effect is visible.
The fly fisherman uses clever copies of aquatic and terrestrial insects.
These imitations are typically feathers and fur affixed to a hook.
Generally, these artificial insects are a close representation of the natural insect's color, size and shape.
Some of these counterfeits characterize the aquatic nymphs and adults and others are terrestrial look-alikes.
Prepared carefully, these artificial trout flies can fool the most cautious trout.
Sometimes, you can easily see what insect the trout are feeding on.
At other times, you may have to capture a sample using a small, aquarium net.
Identification of the insect will help but, if you are not certain, using an attractor pattern such as the Adams, Royal Coachman,or the Royal Wulff can sometimes be substituted with success.
Attractors like these can also be used when no hatch or feeding activity is apparent.
Fly casting takes practice.
The fly fisherman must refine his casting skills until he has the ability to cast necessary distances and place the fly in the perfect location.
This precise presentation of the imitation to the feeding trout is critical.
The fly fisherman must always remember how the trout is holding in moving water, head upstream, waiting for the insect to come to him.
The fly must be cast to a point well above the feeding fish so it travels in the current to the waiting feeder.
The veteran fisherman knows that this presentation must be delicate, so as not to spook the waiting fish from his feeding station.
Understanding how trout feed, what they are feeding on, and how best to get the artificial representation to the feeding trout are all parts of fly fishing enjoyment.