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A Green Drake |
Fish lead dual lives: They are predators and prey.
As predators, fish are opportunists. Whenever the opportunity arises, they will eat anything that appears to be edible, including other fish, insects, and even small birds and mammals that blunder into the water. Predatory fish are efficient: They attack when their prey appears to be fleeing, crippled, or so abundant that it will be easy to get without expending much energy.
From the time a fish is born, however, it is prey to other creatures, including larger fish, some aquatic insects, and fish-eating birds and mammals. A fish quickly learns to flee from anything that appears to be a threat.
To catch fish, you must determine what they are eating. Then you can simulate the natural prey with an artificial fly that appears to be real food and behaves as though it is alive.
Before you start fishing, watch the water as a predator. Be still and look for places where fish can get plenty of food to eat and oxygen to breathe with little effort. Watch the surface of the water for a disturbance such as a ring or a bulge that indicates a fish is feeding.
On the water's surface, look for living creatures that fish may eat. Through your polarized sunglasses, peer beneath the surface to see if any small fish are swimming there. Lift rocks off the bottom to see what kinds of prey live on the bottom.
Observe the size, shape, and color of the natural prey so you can see the artificial fly that matches what the fish are eating. Then watch how prey behaves so you can make your fly appear to be alive.
When you are fishing, the challenge is to select the fly that fish are most likely to take as real food.
The Insects Fish Eat
Freshwater fish eat aquatic insects, bugs born on the bottom of streams and ponds. Aquatic insects spend most of their lives beneath the surface of the water, a violent world where they are easy prey for fish.
Beneath the water, the bodies of aquatic insects change again and again as they grow to become adults; as they drift along with current or swim to find food, the immature insects are targets for attack.
Then they emerge from the water and shuck their skin to become airborne adults. Some insects struggle to shed their old bodies, and they hang in the top layer of water, the film, the "emergers" again an easy prey for fish.
Some insects float along as they dry their wings before flying away; fish wait just beneath the surface and snatch the adult insects from the film. Other insects pop to the surface and immediately fly away, and as they flee, fish leap out of the water to catch the bugs.
Scientists and anglers have written many books about the insects that freshwater fish eat. As a fly fisher, you can devote a lifetime by learning about these fascinating bugs, or you can simply simulate what you see in the water to catch fish. Here are some of the insects you will find and some ideas about how to make them look alive.
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