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Red_green_hSeptember 7th, 2019, 2:49 pm
New Mexico

Posts: 90		I was fishing on this private pond that was made from a diversion of Beaver Creek by the southeast corner of the Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico. Previous trips I did very well with parachute adam's and royal wolff's. I wasn't getting any bites and then noticed all the water striders in the water. I had read that trout don't often go for striders (don't know if true or not). I have never seen a "strider" pattern in any terrestrial section of flies. I put a black foam beetle on and the first cast I caught a 14" inch brown. The very next cast I caught the biggest rainbow I've ever caught in this area. He fought me so hard it bent the hook on the fly. So it seems to me that trout go after striders and I say this because the foam beetle I used had four legs coming off of it and it somewhat looked like a strider. Why are there no strider patterns, or is there and I just haven't found it yet?
https://flic.kr/p/2hc648G]< />12676
Ryan Norris
"a day not catching anything is better than a day not fishing at all"
TaxonSeptember 7th, 2019, 4:26 pm
Site Editor
Royse City, TX

Posts: 1350		Hi Ryan-

I believe the reason you have never seen a water strider pattern is because: a) water striders are so adept at avoiding being taken by fish that the fish learn early on that chasing them is a waste of time, and b): because fly tiers don't waste their time tying flies that are not productive. It is also said that water striders have an extremely bitter taste, but I have never been tempted to verify that for myself. :-)
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
AdirmanSeptember 8th, 2019, 6:19 am
Monticello, NY

Posts: 505		Yeah I’ve seen a ton of them on the Neversink and never have I seen a trout go after one
MartinlfSeptember 9th, 2019, 12:07 pm
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3233		Yes, I think it's just a coincidence that there were water striders there and fish were taking a beetle. Trout love beetles, and seem to go for them everywhere. A lot of protein in a fat beetle, vs. a slim mayfly.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
WbranchSeptember 9th, 2019, 1:49 pm
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2733		No trout don't eat Sliders. People do though.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
SteamntroutApril 7th, 2021, 1:42 pm
Posts: 5Suggest readers use their favorite browser and do a search using "the effects of trout on water striders in streams & pools", I was surprised to find that an objective study was made on this topic.
AjpOctober 2nd, 2022, 4:57 am
Posts: 1Just got back from fishing E. Walker in Nevada. I always thought, or never seen, trout eat skeeters or striders, but I went to the water at night and shined my light along the edge of the river and in about 4 to 6 inches of water there was a single 12 inch trout in a feeding frenzy, similar to a shark hitting a bait ball, devouring the striders on the water surface. Never seen anything like it in fresh water.
TaxonOctober 3rd, 2022, 6:06 am
Site Editor
Royse City, TX

Posts: 1350
Just got back from fishing E. Walker in Nevada. I always thought, or never seen, trout eat skeeters or striders, but I went to the water at night and shined my light along the edge of the river and in about 4 to 6 inches of water there was a single 12 inch trout in a feeding frenzy, similar to a shark hitting a bait ball, devouring the striders on the water surface. Never seen anything like it in fresh water.


Absent video, it never happened. :-)
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com
Jmd123October 3rd, 2022, 8:50 am
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2611		The oddest thing I have ever seen trout eat is SNAILS. My favorite fall spot up north, Reid Lake, once threw me a 16" rainbow that had 30-40 snails in its stomach, along with a few bugs...put, grow & take stocker, so I ate it! When I cut open the belly it sounded like gravel hitting my deck...WTF? More than one species of snail too!

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

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