Trout fishing – many expressions exist to describe its beauty, its art, and science. It is one of those outdoor activities that connects us to something primal. That is, man facing nature and hunting for food, one’s basic need. Although we don’t depend on our bounty for survival anymore, the instinct is still there.

For many of us, fishing is still driven by our survival instinct. No, I don’t mean that we have to fish to bring food on the dinner table. Having a teenager at home, that would be nearly impossible. I don’t think I have ever caught enough fish that would satisfy his appetite. Rather, the survival I am talking about is an escape from everyday stress and mundane life. And if I catch a fish, that’s just an added bonus.

There are many of us, weekend warriors, that hit the road to flee the hectic, congested city to recharge in the midst of open, tranquil haven. And the number of fishermen keeps growing. Sometime I feel trout hatcheries must have hard time to keep up with us to replenish what we “extracted” from the lakes and rivers. On the other hand, maybe that’s just my wishful thinking.

In any case, a lot of money is flowing into this hobby. I read somewhere that for every dollar we spend on a fishing license, we spend additional sixteen on fishing poles, lines, lures, clothing, and other stuff we think is “necessary” for fishing.

But again, what is so intriguing about fishing? Two words I believe describe this hobby best: relaxing and exciting. One may ask how I can put these two seemingly opposite words together. Let me explain.

Imagine yourself deep in mountains on a beautiful sunny day. You are alone, or just with few close friends, casting bait into a little pond on a rapid stream. The surrounding sounds you hear are running water, birds, and breeze in the trees. Relaxing, right? No honking, no sirens, no chopper sound above –none of the annoying sounds of the big city we’re so used to. Just quiet bubbling water, running over boulders spiced by flies and birds…

What about the excitement? If you ever caught a fish you know what I am talking about. And catching a trout is super-charged excitement. By size, trout doesn’t belong to the biggest fish out there, but by how it fights for its survival, it certainly belongs to the feistiest one. That assumes that you actually hook one. Trout is very smart and it doesn’t jump on just anything you throw into the water.

Trout is very aware of its environment. It feeds on familiar “objects”, be it a stone fly, caddis larva, scud, or whatever lives in its vicinity. Trout is very much in tune with its surroundings. Introduce something new, anything that doesn’t resemble the familiar and trout will pass. Which means you will end up empty-handed. However, if you use a fly or a lure that the trout recognizes, you will experience an excitement that only few other pursuits could match. (I could only think of two things and the other one is cool one billion dollars in my bank account).

If you are just starting out, do yourself a favor; get familiar with what you are fishing for. There are many different trout species living in different habitats, eating and behaving differently. Learning about them helps you to catch more of them. So, here is the rule number one in successful trout fishing: know your “enemy”, oops, I mean your opponent and prey.