TROUT LIES
Photo by Trevor Lanning
One of the enjoyable things about trout fishing is problem solving. Duping a wild trout into mistaking your feathered imposter for a living insect, before it knows you're there, is not for the casual angler.
Knowing where to look is essential.
Sheltering lies
Sheltering lies are where a trout goes to feel safe and secure. Sheltering lies are in water waist deep or deeper, and/or under something.
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Since most danger comes from above, the deeper the lie the more secure the trout feels.
Trout in sheltering lies are not feeding. It's best to leave them alone so as not to spook them or their finned associates. You want to know where sheltering lies are, because a hooked fish will usually head there.
Feeding Lies
Trout move from the safety of sheltering lies to feeding lies to eat. Feeding lies are in shallow slow water where it converges with the current. Trout can conserve energy in the slow water and intercept food as it drifts in the current.
Trout are often skittish in feeding lies because they are exposed to predators.
Photo by Mark Strohl
Feeding lies are often located near obstructions such as rocks.
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Fish the confluence of the slow and fast water. Look for bubbles! Bubbles indicate…
a concentration of food organisms flowing through a feeding lie.
The flags exhibited below show the diverse currents of the water column
The cushion is the slow water at the bottom of the water column. As shown below.
Wild trout seek refuge from the current in this cushion as they monitor the current above them for food.
Prime Lies
Prime lies provide a trout the benefits of a sheltering lie and a feeding lie without having to move.
The trout can feed while feeling safe and secure. The best fishing in the pool is in the prime lie. Prime lies should be the first-place you fish.
Like sheltering lies, prime lies are in water waist deep or deeper, and/or under something and like feeding lies are at the confluence of slow and fast water
Look for slow water adjacent to fast water under overhanging foliage, undercut banks or bridges. (Bridges often offer prime lies around the bridge piers and sheltering lies between the river bank and the bridge pier.)
Prime lies hold the best fish. The best trout in the pool is in the prime lie. There is definitely a pecking order!
When you approach the stream, take a moment to analyze it. Fish the prime lies first. Don't waste valuable fishing time in water that isn't productive.
Hydraulic Cushion
Hydraulic cushion is formed when the current encounters an obstruction. Hydraulic cushions can create feeding or prime lies.
If you were to shovel snow over a rock, a pile of snow would form in front of the rock and another behind it. Water does the same thing.
If you see a rock in the current, assume there is a trout in front of it and behind it.
Snell’s Circle
A knowledgeable angler understands the phenomenon called the trout’s window. Wikipedia describes… Snell's window…[as] a phenomenon by which an underwater viewer sees everything above the surface through a cone of light. This phenomenon is caused by refraction of light entering water and is governed by Snell's Law. The area outside Snell's window will either be completely dark or show a reflection of underwater objects…[glare]
Since the window is cone shaped, its diameter increases as the trout’s depth increases. For fishing purposes, the diameter of the window is double the fish’s depth. A fish two feet down has a four-foot window, one inch down produces a two-inch window. The higher the fish is in the water column the closer you can get, but the more accurate your cast must be.
The following clips from the Underwater World of Trout by Wendell “Ozzie” Ozefovich. (http://underwateroz.com/) illustrate the window.
Here is a trout and its window. A mirror like glare surrounds the window separated by an edge. This edge magnifies organisms as they enter the window.
Here is another shot of the trout with the window, edge and glare. Notice our trout can see the bottom by looking at its reflection off of the glare.
Here our trout is scrutinizing a food organism,
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As the food goes down its throat…
…an angler enters the window; our fish returns to its sheltering lie.
This angler has no understanding of the trout's window. If he did he would stay out of it and wear earth tones.
A trout’s primary protection is his vision. Anything appearing in his window that isn't normal will spook him.
Point to remember
When you approach the stream, take a moment to analyze it. Fish the prime lies first. Be aware of the window. Don't waste valuable fishing time in water that isn't productive while spooking fish.