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Catch More Fish
Written By: Chris Wilkes - The Highland Hiker | Issue: 2019/11 - November
There are plenty of reasons to fly fish.
Quiet time outdoors in really pretty spots? Yup.
A chance to use the new equipment you just bought? Sure.
A great way to spend time with friends and family? Of course.
But no matter the reason you are on the water, there is one universal constant that will improve the day for any angler no matter the reason they are standing in a stream:
Catching. More. Fish.
One of the ways to do this is to understand how trout behave and feed in a river. People tend to think that trout behave like most other fish they’ve gone after. But trout are very particular. For example, bass can pretty much live in boiling water and will still feed in such conditions. But once the water warms up around a trout, they keep their activity to a minimum. Warm water has less oxygen than cold water. So when it warms up, the trout move less. Catching trout in warm water is a tall order. The less they move, the less they feed. Trout like their water to be cold. When it is, they move around much more and because of expending so much energy, they feed more. This is why it’s important to know the temperature of the water you’ve decided to fish in. If it’s warm, find some different water.
Trout try to find places in rivers that will act as a conveyor belt to bring them food. They tend to be in places that they don’t have to spend a lot of energy swimming in. Deep pools right off of a current are great places for trout to wait on the river to bring them all types of nutrients.
It is also important to be aware of how much fishing activity or “pressure” has been on an area full of fish. You may see lots of fish in a section of a river. But if two anglers were already there a couple hours before catching and releasing trout, it’s going to be difficult to repeat that in such short time. If you see lots of fish and are getting no strikes, try wading upstream to an area that’s harder to get to and is less likely to have already been fished that day.
