Trout are very picky feeders.  Often times they will key in on just one food item and ignore everything that you could possible toss at them.  Most experienced anglers know that about 90% of a trouts diet comes from below the surface of the water.  When there is a steady hatch of mayflies or caddis, they will shift their eating routine to eat these bugs while the hatch is on, but they’ll quickly switch back to feeding on nymphs after the hatch.

Fly anglers are well adapted to presenting imitations of proper nymphs and dry flies based on the season, time of day, and what is currently active in the water.  Bait anglers can learn from this and take some of this knowledge to be used in their methods of trout fishing.

When you first get to a stream, take a few moments to overturn some rocks that are underwater.  Pick the rocks up and have a look to see what is crawling around on the bottom of them.  Often you will find a plethora of insects in their nymphal stage crawling around.  These could be stoneflies, caddis flies, mayflies, salmon flies and many others.  Capture a few of the larger specimens and put them in a film canister or some other little container that you have.

Another method of capturing these nymphs that will really tell you what is active in the water requires a fine mesh trout net.  To use this method, walk out into the middle of the stream with the trout net.  Dip it into the water and hold it in the current for a minute or longer.  Take the net out and have a look at what you’ve caught!

These morsels are a completely natural bait, and they are definitely the food that fish are waiting for while they sit in the current picking off food items that tumble downstream with the current.

Here are a few photos of trout bait nymphs to help you identify some of the nymphs you may encounter.

Caddis Larvae

Mayfly Nymph

Stonefly Nymph