Underwater Pictures from Trout Streams, Page 2

Not a bad home if you're a brook trout.

Two young of the year brook trout hide in a little spring hole in a remote, crystal-clear small stream.

This is my favorite picture of this school of brookies. Notice there are a few other fish mixed in, minnow family mostly. Near the bottom right there's a really big brookie. These trout were densely schooled up near a major spring source during the dead of winter.

A Brachycentrus "Apple Caddis" pupa scoots around in the surface film. Apparently it had some difficulty emerging, so I was able to slip my camera underneath it and take a picture from below.

In this picture: Caddisfly Species Brachycentrus appalachia (Apple Caddis).

This simple rubber-legged foam beetle is one of my favorite flies for Arctic grayling. It's quick to tie so I don't mind losing one or two on snags. It's durable, so one fly can last a hundred fish or more. It never needs floatant to ride the surface well. Most importantly, it catches fish, although grayling often hit almost anything. The bold profile and attention-grabbing plop of the beetle, I think, draw fish from farther away than a more subtle fly might, and it often draws unusually savage strikes.

Hundreds of cased caddisfly larvae live on this log in a small brook trout stream.

In this picture: Insect Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies).

A crayfish chews on a Hexagenia limbata nymph shortly after a small Hex emergence. I didn't catch any fish, but playing around with my flashlight and camera in the rocks proved productive.

In this picture: Arthropod Order Decapoda (Crayfish) and Mayfly Species Hexagenia limbata (Hex).