When stalking native trout, the size of the fish is generally not the main criterion for choosing which species or location to fish. In fact, size is often low on the list. What are some of the reasons for fishing for natives? Here’s my (partial) list, in no particular order:

1. Adventure – Finding which waters hold which fish, how to get to that water and where the fish are within that water all lend an air of adventure, which I imagine is much of the draw of things like geocaching.
2. Habitat – native species are often found in some amazing micro-habitat tucked away in a larger habitat. This is like finding the inner beauty in something: lush wefts of green woven through the warp of bald buttes, lava flows, sagebrush and cactus.
3. Fish Aesthetics – Nothing can quite compare to the bronzes, silvers and yellows intermingled with blues and greens slashed with a dizzying hue of reds and oranges, than those found on native fish. Watching water glisten off the flank of a desert cutthroat is priceless.
4. Wildness – To know you are attached to something wild, something that has existed for millennia in the very spot you are fishing, with no human interference, can leave you… (Although it is hard to find many places where humans have not interfered with fish ecology is hard, when you do, wow!)
5. Solitude – If you like solitude while fishing, fishing for natives puts you where other anglers rarely tread. With the “super-size this” world, many anglers are only hunting for the trophy of “big,” leaving little to no pressure on the smaller waters of the natives.
6. Surface Action – Many native fish are more attuned to the surface and will readily take the dry fly. It’s very likely that any given native has never seen an artificial fly or lure. Fishing with large attractor patterns is a standard method with natives.
7. Gear – There is the definite possibility that the water you will fish can be leapt across or is no deeper than your knees, so bank wading or wet wading is possible. Losing fries is less frequent in desert fishing where fewer trees are enclosing the creek and the bushes you do get caught in are easily reached. These factors reduce the gear needed to fish for natives, which can often be carried in one fly box.
8. Quantity – What is lacking in size is often made up for in quantity: it is not uncommon to catch dozens of fish in a few hours.
9. Technical – Having said all of the above, one may think that there is nothing to it when fishing for natives: just walk up to the water and flick out any old fly. However, native fishing can be every bit as technical as fishing for other species: from fly selection to line management and from casting finesse to stalking techniques, native fishing has it all.
10. Conservation – As you become more addicted to fishing for natives in their native places, you’ll feel the pull to get involved somehow in protecting the species and their habitats. And that is a good thing.

What are your reasons?

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