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By GEORGE SMITH
georges@leader.net
Sunday, March 09, 2003 Page: 7A
When the winter cold lingers on and ice still chokes the lakes and
streams, that’s the time to consider fishing for and catching trophy trout.
For the traveling angler, there’s no better start for such a consideration
than within the pages of “Big Trout,” a new book by Oregonian Bernie Taylor.
Published by The Lyons Press ($22.95), the book’s 272 pages are filled with
exactly the kind of information an angler needs to begin a pursuit of the
largest trout in North America.
Be forewarned. This is not a book for anglers searching for the waters that
hold Pennsylvania’s biggest trout, for the largest in this state do not meet
Taylor’s criteria.
When Taylor talks trout, he means really big trout, brown and rainbow trout
in excess of 8 pounds, cutthroats 5 pounds and heavier, and brookies exceeding
4 pounds.
The 85 stillwaters, tailwaters and migratory rivers referred to in the book
are special because Taylor believes anglers have a “good chance” of catching
what is a trophy by his standards during a two-day outing on the designated
water.
While Taylor’s favored waters are in those exotic locales serious trout
anglers dream about fishing at least once in their lives, there is more to
recommend this book than its listing of big trout hot spots.
Taylor has learned a few things about taking big trout through the years,
and he shares his information willingly. The techniques he suggests using to
target trophies on the South Platte will be just as effective on the Lehigh
River.
Of course, most of the waters to which Taylor refers are legendary. He
suggests the White River in Arkansas, the Frying Pan in Colorado, the Nipigon
in Ontario, among others. Not surprising, most he recommends are west of the
Mississippi, and no, our very own Delaware River is not among them (but the
Oswego River in New York is) because the Delaware’s trout simply do not meet
his standards.
For instance, are their 8-pound rainbows in the Del?
It would be a good bet.
Do anglers have a “good chance” of hooking into one during a two-day
outing?
Not likely.
There is an excellent chapter on getting into the body and mindset of trout
that thoroughly investigates how and why trout respond to prey at certain
times.
Another chapter considers the “trout’s rhythm,” that time when they are
most likely to be active and feeding.
Still another explains where big trout hold in the water column when they
are feeding and resting.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter in “Big Trout” deals with fishing
techniques and fly selection.
As might be expected, big trout anglers will forgo flies such as the dainty
No. 16 Pale Morning Dun. Instead, Taylor advises casting more substantial,
subsurface flies tied on hooks as large as 3/0 to predatory trout that would
probably be unwilling to expend the energy needed to take a tidbit tied on a
No. 16 hook.
The book concludes with a chapter on what it takes to catch trophy trout.
Yes, it takes sacrifice. It takes dedication and stamina. It takes time, money
and desire.
But most of all, it takes a resource such as “Big Trout” to help cast off
old and perhaps misconceived ideas and get the big trout fishing blood
flowing.
“Big Trout” is packed with solid information. It’s a book all trout anglers
serious about catching trophy-size fish will refer to again and again.
with photo of book cover
Bernie Taylor’s new book, `Big Trout,’ reveals where anglers can catch the
largest trout and explains when and how to do so.