When is the Fry most available to trout?

August–November, typically All day. It picks up from about 8°C, peaks around 14°C and tails off by 20°C.

Baitfish · Fish

Fry / Baitfish

Q: What flies imitate the Fry?

Minkie, Cat's Whisker, Appetiser, Baby Doll, Floating Fry.

Emmelichthys nitidus

Size

80–150mm

Always there

No hatch and no season — this is in the water every month of the year, so it's always a fair bet when nothing is showing on top.

How fish feed on it

Once a trout is big enough to take fish, it stops being an insect-eater in the way it was and becomes something closer to an ambush predator. Fry and small fish get pinned against margins, weed beds and shelves, and the takes are hard and unmistakable. Autumn is the classic window, when this year's fry are shoaling and the biggest fish in the water finally show themselves.

Flies that imitate this

Minkie

Cat's Whisker

Appetiser

Baby Doll

Floating Fry

Ecology

Rivers & stillwaterTolerates poor water

Where you'll find this

British IslesPresent
IberiaPresent
The AlpsPresent
ScandinaviaPresent
Continental EuropePresent
Atlantic fringePresent
North America — WestPresent
North America — EastPresent
East AsiaPresent
New ZealandPresent
PatagoniaPresent

Present throughout

Identification

Emmelichthys nitidus is a species of rover native to the Indian and Pacific oceans at depths of between 86 to 500 metres (282 to 1,640 ft). There are currently two subspecies known: