Predator and Prey

The angler who understands the feeding behavior of the trout will watch more fish. Food is the trout's Achilles' heel. Once you have identified what it eats, how it senses the food, and how it identifies it, you need only imitate or simulate its prey, present it in a lifelike manner, and the fish is yours. Or is it?

Scientific analysis of the eating habits of trout indicates that they take 90 percent of their food from beneath the surface. Although 34 percent of the food is terrestrial or land-based, this too is taken largely as drowned insects.

The brook trout is oriented towards aquatic insects and minnows, having a decided leaning toward caddis flies and winged insects. They hit their bait from a holding position, usually in the protection of some structure. A trout will choose a feeding lane which allows it to hold in the current or to the side of the current while waiting for the flow to bring it its food.

During a heavy hatch, when thousands of insects are on the water, the brook trout may only rise when the currents move in a manner to buoy it to the level of the food. The fish may ignore a food item which drifts by when the current is not right.

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