The Orvis Guide to Finding Trout

Price: $34.95 - $26.60
(as of Feb 07, 2024 22:20:31 UTC – Details)
From the Publisher

Part 1: A Trout’s World

Chapter 1: How Trout Feed

One of the most inane platitudes ever uttered by outdoor writers is the expression “Think like a fish.” Trout aren’t very smart. Otherwise they wouldn’t eat flies that only look remotely like insects and minnows, with a hook sticking out of one end and a piece of string on the other. They also eat bits of stone and sticks that they mistake for food. Think like a human.

Chapter 2: Currents

Finding those 2-foot-per-second pockets that trout prefer will help you narrow down locations in a river. We want to know what the current is doing right now, and how it affects a trout’s position. We’ll go into specific types of trout holding water later—first we’ll look at the dynamics of current so it will be easier to discuss specific trout locations later.

Chapter 3: Temperature, Water Chemistry, and Growth

Surprisingly, the productivity of a running water ecosystem can also help you predict where to find trout. How fast a trout grows in any given stream may not tell you where to find them, but it does tell you if there is a potential in a river for finding very large trout—and they do have places they like more than others. Plus, it’s just interesting, geeky stuff about these fish that fascinates us.

Chapter 4: Landscape, Cover, and Water Levels

Decisions you make on where to find trout should be made from a distance first. Look at the entire watershed, then zero in on specific places in the location you pick. An internet satellite view, combined with a topographic overlay, is best for pre-planning. Then, once you get to the river, try to find a high vantage point where you can examine the river at its current water flow, because you never know the conditions at which a satellite view was taken. Get the best view you can.

Part 2: Reading the Water

Chapter 5: Riffles

Riffles are a standard component of most trout streams, and hydrologists and biologists like to talk about the pool-riffle ratio in a stream, but to them riffles are a broad group that might include what as anglers we call pocket water or runs. They consider any faster-moving water a riffle, but we’ll get more granular in our categorization because where you may find trout is different in what we might call a riffle versus similar types of faster current like pocket water or runs.

Chapter 6: Runs

The way I look at trout streams, a run is not quite a pool but is typically narrower and deeper than a riffle. It’s a place where a river is deeper, but without the dramatic decrease in streambed slope and accompanying deep, slow water that would make the river a full-blown pool. Runs have heads where they are faster and tails where they flatten out before moving on to the next water type, but these are often shorter in length and don’t have a slower middle section like you would find in a true pool.

Chapter 7: Pools and Flat Water

I’m going to make the distinction between a pool and a run because I think treating them separately helps us predict where trout feed. Whether you agree with my definition or not doesn’t matter. Just in case, make sure you read the chapters on both pools and runs. Then no matter what type of water you encounter, you’ll be able to predict where trout feed.

Chapter 8: Pocket Water

Many small mountain streams, unless they have areas of sudden steep changes in slope that cause plunge pools, are mostly pocket water. Regardless, you’ll know it when you see it. There will be some rocks that rise above the water, some partially submerged, and others will be totally submerged but will show themselves by telltale turbulence of the surface.

Chapter 9: Big Rivers and Tiny Streams

I find the mystery of large rivers compelling because they hold so much potential. You just know that somewhere in that immense mass of water swims a trout bigger than anything you’ve ever caught, and often big rivers have multiple species to delight and surprise you. By small streams I mean flowing waters less than a two-lane Highway wide, all the way down to ones you can jump across without a running start. Tiny streams and brooks aren’t daunting; on the contrary, they’re intimate.

Chapter 10: Parting Thoughts

I ’d be remiss in attempting to give you ways to find more trout if I didn’t also suggest some ways of caring for this precious resource. Much of this may be well known by the experienced anglers who read this book, but in case you’re new to the sport and haven’t been fully immersed in its mores, here are some ways you can make the experience better for other anglers.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lyons Press (June 1, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1493061011
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1493061013
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.83 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.53 x 0.53 x 10.73 inches