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INTRODUCTION
Trout, which are pursued
by fly-fishers more than any other species, live in a variety of environments
such as deep cold lakes, gentle ponds, limestone-fed creeks, and fast
running
mountain streams. In these environments, trout are often regulated by
specific food sources which arrive and disappear on a fairly reliable
time schedule.
Trout are territorial: they don’t roam or migrate.
They usually live in a home pool and are forced to eat what lives with
them in the pool. Most of their food is in the form of aquatic insects
particularly mayflies, caddis and stoneflies. These flies live most
of their lives under water. Then, for a brief glorious moment, rise
to the surface and become airborne with the single purpose of propagating
the species. They mate, lay their eggs and then die.
Each species lives
the majority of it’s life under water in it’s own unique
style, swims to the surface in a special way and becomes airborne (this
is referred to as “the hatch”). These aquatic events requires
the successful fly-fisher to know something about these insects.
This, our initial attempt
at presenting what fish eat, will concentrate on the Western portion
of the Continental United States: The Rockies westward. The Eastern
portion will be included in our next revision of this section: ‘A
Close Look At A Fish”. We will now concern ourselves with the
habitat, developmental stages, environmental needs, reproductive behavior,
emergence and distribution, and popular imitation of the Mayfly,
Caddisfly,
Stonefly, Midges, and Terrestrials.
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