Cannibal Trout:: Tying & Fishing Flesh, Fry, and Egg Flies

by Andrew Williams

The great rainforests of the Pacific Northwest depend on the return of salmon. Every creature living there, from the tree tops to the river bottoms, requires the nutrients deposited each year by decaying salmon. Over tens of thousands of years, the salmon's life-cycle has become the foundation of the North Pacific ecosystem, as the nutrients from salmon carcasses have enriched what would otherwise be a mineral-poor, unproductive environment. It's no secret that the Northwest's freshwater fish, including cutthroat and rainbow trout, Dolly Varden, bull trout, and whitefish, all rely on the stages of the salmon's life cycle for much of their diet. In summer and fall they wait behind spawning salmon and gorge on the eggs. After spawning salmon have died, trout and char feed on the rotting salmon flesh. In spring, as the newly hatched alevin emerge and become fry, trout and other resident fish go on a feeding frenzy. Even the smolts making their way to the sea must run a gauntlet of hungry trout. To be successful, the Northwest trout angler must know when these events occur, how to "match the hatch" imitating the eggs, fry, and flesh of the salmon, and how to present these flies where, when and how the trout expect to see them. Andrew Williams helps make these tasks much easier. In Cannibal Trout he provides in-depth information, including individual fly photographs and recipes, on everything you need to know to successfully fish and tie egg, fry, and flesh flies.

80 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

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