Where the Trout Are

Where the Trout Are

You’re fishing a dry fly on a smooth-flowing stream. You see the rise ring of a feeding trout and are ready to make your cast.

At this point, it’s vital to understand just where the fish really is and where you should place your fly. To make this judgment, you need to understand a trout’s economy of motion as it pertains to hydraulics.

Unless chasing a fast-moving meal, trout never hurry. In life’s game of calories gained versus energy expended, slow and steady is the rule.

The rhythm works something like this: When a trout sees an insect entering its window of vision, it tips its body upward, allowing the current to lift it to the surface and slightly backward, much like a kite in the wind. This means the point at which a trout meets the fly generally is slightly downstream from its original holding lie, distance depending upon speed of current. Following the take, the fish swims back to the comfort of its original watch point beneath the surface.

To place the fly properly, you’ll need to calculate this holding place, then cast just upstream from the window to achieve the same presentation as the naturals in the drift. Your fly must land a yard, perhaps more, upstream from where you saw the rise ring.

Once you learn the riddle of distance and rhythm, you’ll start catching more fish.