SO HOW MANY TROUT WERE THERE?

There have been a few pleas for at least a hint on how many trout there are in the image I posted on March 3. So here’s the scoop. If you look at the zoomed-in inset (reproduced above) there are at least two trout and probably a third trout. Things are never for sure when you’re spotting trout.

The trick is to look for parts of the trout that stand out such as pectoral fins, pelvic fins and the straight vertical line of the tail. You might also spot a shadow on the stream bed that looks out of place or the momentarily open white mouth of a trout that’s feeding.

Once you spot one trout carefully study the feeding lane upstream and downstream from where you spotted the trout. If it’s a good feeding position for one trout you’ll often see other trout upstream or downstream of it in the same feeding lane.

Sometimes you’ll just have to go on a hunch. It may or may not be a trout, but if it doesn’t move at all after you’ve made a five or six good presentations it probably isn’t a trout. Don’t be discouraged! You don’t even want to know how many rocks I've cast to thinking they were trout.

Once you've spotted the trout in the zoomed-in inset try to see the same trout in the original image (reproduced below).