11-21-2008, 01:05 PM
When you think about it, Dryrod, why should a wild trout hit on a dry, nympth or streamer?
I'm not being facitious.
Back when Selective Trout was first published, Friend Wife, who didn't fish at the time, was looking at the cover. She looked at the picture of a live mayfly. And at the picture of a traditional dry fly. She said (pointing at the natural) that's what trout eat? I said yes. And she said, pointing at the dry, and that's what you use to catch them on? Again, I ansered in the affirmative.
"Boy," she exclaimed. "Trout are stupid!"
That could be taken as the short answer. But, of course, there's more to it. Basically, trout are primitive creatures with a genetic imperative (i.e., instinct) to examine anything that might be food.
Ever watch the raceways in a hatchery? The fish there bite on little twigs, and bits of flotsom in the water, just as their wild cousins do in a stream.
If something isn't good to eat, they spit it out. If it is good, they eat it. And get imprinted with the idea that that sort of thing is food.
This happens incredibly quickly, too. Watch the so-called fishermen who follow the hatchery trucks. The fish haven't even learned, yet, that there is more water than they're used to. But those guys are hauling them out on worms, and corn, and doughballs, and even wet flies. Nothing that resembles pellets at all.
Why? Because the instinct to explore for food is strong, even in multi-generational hatchery fish.
Which is why, too, even wild fish will hit a pellet fly.
Whew! Been a long time since I delivered a lecture. Hope you weren't bored.
Brook
http://www.the-outdoor-press-advisor.com
[signature]
I'm not being facitious.
Back when Selective Trout was first published, Friend Wife, who didn't fish at the time, was looking at the cover. She looked at the picture of a live mayfly. And at the picture of a traditional dry fly. She said (pointing at the natural) that's what trout eat? I said yes. And she said, pointing at the dry, and that's what you use to catch them on? Again, I ansered in the affirmative.
"Boy," she exclaimed. "Trout are stupid!"
That could be taken as the short answer. But, of course, there's more to it. Basically, trout are primitive creatures with a genetic imperative (i.e., instinct) to examine anything that might be food.
Ever watch the raceways in a hatchery? The fish there bite on little twigs, and bits of flotsom in the water, just as their wild cousins do in a stream.
If something isn't good to eat, they spit it out. If it is good, they eat it. And get imprinted with the idea that that sort of thing is food.
This happens incredibly quickly, too. Watch the so-called fishermen who follow the hatchery trucks. The fish haven't even learned, yet, that there is more water than they're used to. But those guys are hauling them out on worms, and corn, and doughballs, and even wet flies. Nothing that resembles pellets at all.
Why? Because the instinct to explore for food is strong, even in multi-generational hatchery fish.
Which is why, too, even wild fish will hit a pellet fly.
Whew! Been a long time since I delivered a lecture. Hope you weren't bored.
Brook
http://www.the-outdoor-press-advisor.com
[signature]