Learning How to Fish for Trout

 Oddly enough, I was way more proficient at catching Atlantic salmon than I was at catching trout. I was spoiled by the Atlantic salmon -- the little trout that inhabited the local streams seemed like a pretty lame target species. What really got me interested in trout fishing was the West Branch of the Penobscot. The landlocked salmon fishing was great and occasionally you could catch a really nice brookie. I never caught a really big brook trout on the West Branch but other guys did -- a good trout back then ran 4 to 5 lbs. That'll get your attention! And some of the land locks taken were bigger. Steve's father caught a 7 lb salmon -- the biggest that we knew of.

Steve and his father and some other guys had been fishing the west branch for year, going back to when there were log drives on the river. I, on the other hand, spent my fishing time chasing Atlantic salmon, so in 1978 when we made the Orvis graphite rods I had virtually zero experience fishing for trout. Matching the hatch was an entirely new concept. Reading as well as watching provided the information I needed but it took some time. Native brookies are pretty agressive and take just about any fly presented in a reasonably realistic manner. Rainbows were next easiest, and browns the hardest to catch. Even after fishing for trout all these year I still don't consider myself a good trout fisherman. 

I still prefer to use a short and light fly rod despite the fact that the current trend is for 10' Euro-nymphing rods. I guess I was permanently influenced by Lee Wulff. 

More about Wulff's influence next ...