Those who have read Modern Streamers for Trophy Trout (Countryman Press, 2004), or have attended one of my seminars, know that I believe trout don’t always strike flies because they are hungry. Large predatory fish--especially big browns--are programmed to eat early in the morning and late at night, when most of us are not fishing. The largest fish rest during the day--when we are fishing--so they should not be approached as if they are actively feeding.

Smaller fish (under 22 inches) that have not turned primarily to feeding on large food sources such as other fish, sometimes feed actively all day. But you need to approach the bigger fish differently.

Basing your fly designs solely on imitating trout food is a mistake. If you are not hungry, then a cheeseburger or a slice of pizza probably does not interest you. However, there are certain impulses that cannot be turned off, and that is what the trigger flies are all about.

Everything in the animal world works on the basic principle of survival--fight or flight. Understanding this is critical to how you approach fish. Big fish have little to fear in the water, so you can use this to your advantage when fishing to them. If a tree falls in the water, the fish will retreat. If something prey-size falls in the water, the disturbance simply alerts the fish to the opportunity, at which point the fish has three options: 1) Defend its territory and eat the fly; 2) Ignore the intruder (not what most predators do); or 3) Flee (again not what most predators do).

Territorial defense is critical to all predators, so it is far more likely that a fish will defend its piece of water than retreat. The larger a trout is, the more likely it is to attack intruders. Predators also enjoy the role of clean-up crew. They pick on weak or injured prey because they know they are less likely to escape or cause them injury. This type of predation allows them to expend less energy and get more food.

Understanding the basic predator/prey relationship is critical to understanding trigger flies. We need to build things into our flies that bring all a trout's predatory instincts into play. First, the fly has to be large enough to cause a large trout to defend itself, or at least to startle it.

I often use the analogy of a resting grizzly bear and a mouse. If a mouse runs up to a resting grizzly it may not get a response. But if you did the same thing, the outcome might be different: You are big enough to startle or aggravate the bear. Again, the bear has the same three options: 1) Make you pay for the intrusion, 2) Ignore you (not likely), or 3) Flee (also not likely).

I base most of my trigger fly design on the premise that trophy trout are most likely to attack a large fly. After I have the fly large enough, I build in some realism. This is secondary, but still critical. I want flies with lifelike characteristics--colors, shapes, and other attributes the trout have seen before--but I don't want them to be too specific. As general as possible, but with a hint of realism, is a good goal.

The only time I become more specific is when I know the fish are keyed in on a specific food source. For example, if you know your river is stocked with small rainbow trout, you should fish patterns that closely resemble those fish. If your river holds large numbers of molting crayfish, use imitations of them.

Trigger flies, however, work even when these prey species are not available. I often fish crayfish patterns in rivers with few or no crayfish evident, and the trout still grab these flies. Start with a fly big enough to create an aggressive response, and then build enough realism into it to like something the trout has eaten in the past.

The Flies
I like to build multiple images into the fly as often as possible: Is it a sculpin, a minnow, or a lamprey? Who knows? It may be all the above, but it looks like something alive. That may be the most important aspect of all fly design, but it is often the most overlooked.

In an attempt to make something look too exact, tiers often come up with something that looks unbelievably real at the vise but won't catch starving fish in a pond. The lack of movement is generally the problem with these ultra-realistic flies. If a streamer doesn't move, it won't catch fish! For that reason most of my flies incorporate materials that undulate as much as possible or are jointed so that the flies themselves undulate.

I also use as little weight as possible on my flies for the same reason. I want my flies to move in the water and look alive. When I am not actively moving the fly, I want the current to make it look as if it is injured. This relates to the last aspect of the predator/prey relationship: bullying the weak or injured.

---

Kelly Galloup is the former owner of the Troutsman fly shop in Traverse City, Michigan, and now owns and operates the Slide Inn on Montana's Madison River with his wife, Penny.

This article originally appeared in the May 2007 issue of Fly Fisherman. For more fly-tying how-to from Kelly Galloup, see "Spinner Cripples."

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next