Originally Posted by
Byron haugh
Steven,
There are MANY books written about the trout's ability to survive. This fish with a brain the size of a pea knows how to survive. He knows how and where to reproduce each year. He knows how to feed himself. He generally knows how to avoid the circling birds of prey; etc., etc.
Evolution and nature provide wildlife with instincts and the ability survive. These inherited instincts allow the trout to adjust to conditions and to discern between likely food and not-so-likely food. This is evidenced particularly well during a heavy insect hatch. The trout key on a particular insect, and stage of that insect, and will not usually feed on any other insect which happens to float by... I know some folks throw out the very unusual situations like a trout eating a cigarette butt, etc. However these are very much the exception.
I might suggest the book "Selective Trout" by Carl Richards and Doug Swisher.
That "pea sized brain" doesn't do anything but keep that fish alive and reproducing. That is all it is used for.