A trout can trick you with his rise. My fishing partner, William Downey, was the finest partner one could have and a life-long friend. He grew up fishing for brook trout in the Blue Ridge and he used to say “If I can see a trout rise, I can catch him.” This was before we started fishing the Letort in Pennsylvania with Fox and Marinaro. There we found those wild browns had their own rules. Fortunately these fellows were real gentlemen and they helped us learn serious trout fishing.
First one needed to know the specific insects the trout are feeding upon. Then choose the correct artificial fly to match the hatch. By watching the trouts’ rise form, one needs to determine where to cast his fly.
Here is where Vince made some observations that many of us had missed. The delicate dimple rise form 30 feet upstream says, “here I am”. Cast your fly 2 feet above me as usual and you’ll catch me. However, this is the simple rise form and it does not work. Then you remember the compound rise from Vince told you about. This is where the trout drifts downstream several feet below where he first sees the fly before he rises to take it. This ploy does not work either. Finally you remember the complex rise form Vince told you about. In this one the trout drifts downstream 3 or 4 feet below the fly before he comes up to take it. Sure enough this trout is feeding in this way and he comes up and takes your fly solidly.
This ploy worked perfectly on Armstrong for me last year and enabled me to catch one of the largest wild browns I’ve ever caught in Montana.