What Do Trout Eat? A Comprehensive Study Of Their Feeding Preferences

Trout are among the most sought-after game fish in North America. Common species include German Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brooke Trout, and Cutthroat. They can be found in almost every freshwater habitat and grow to enormous sizes, making them prized trophy fish for anglers. However, they can be difficult to catch if you don’t understand their diet. Trout can be particular about what they eat despite having a wide diet. Especially when feeding on insects. Anglers could spend hours on the bank frustrated, casting fly after fly, changing the color, the size, and the technique.

Meanwhile, trout will rise and snatch insects from the surface. Anglers should know a trout’s food sources and their seasonal diets. This may vary depending on the state and region where the angler lives. But general rules apply.

1.) Insects & Other Invertebrates

Trout commonly feed on insects and other invertebrates like crayfish. Insects make up the majority of a trout’s diet, especially when they are young. Many of these insects are aquatic, meaning they spend their lives on river beds where trout can pick them off. This allows trout to remain in deeper water where it’s safer, especially in their early years of development. As a result, fly fishing can be one of the most effective methods of catching trout in cold, moving water. But other  Some of the aquatic insects include:

• Stoneflies: Stonefly nymphs, which inhabit the rocky bottom of streams, are a favorite food for trout, particularly in colder waters where they thrive.
• Mayflies are another key component of trout diets, especially during their aquatic nymph stage. Mayflies hatch in large numbers, and their delicate bodies make them easy targets for trout.
• Crayfish: These crustaceans inhabit most creeks, lakes, and river systems, and provide larger trout with high calories and fat.
• Caddisflies: Caddisflie larvae are an important food source for trout. They live on riverbeds and are often found in a fabricated shell made from debris. Adult caddisflies are also prey for trout as they fly close to the surface, making them easy to catch.
• Hellgrammites: These are the larva of dobsonflies. They live on riverbeds, are fiercely predacious, and provide larger trout with a calorie-rich food source.

How To Catch Trout With Insect Presentation

Some prey items go through metamorphosis, but others ( like crayfish) are on the menu year-round. You can use a bobber setup with split shot weights to simulate a fly drifting downstream. Additionally, you can use Hellgrammite soft plastics on a ned rig hook, cast upstream into moving water, and let it bounce along the bottom. The Rebels Teeny Wee Craw is good for creeks where trout may feed on crayfish.

2.) What Do Trout Eat: Smaller Fish

Trout prey on other fish as they begin maturing. Smaller fish provide a protein boost for trout on top of their main insect diet. Some of the fish species trout will prey on include;

• Smaller Trout: As trout spawn and produce offspring, larger trout prey on them. It’s not uncommon for smaller trout to chase a spinner or Rapala Floating Minnow. This is why simulating a fleeing minnow can produce fish of all sizes.
• Forage Fish: Other species trout consume include sculpin, shad, and even young salmon.

3.) Leeches

Leeches are common in protected waterways such as small ponds and backbays. They also live where water is disturbed like around swimming holes and docks. Trout and other freshwater game fish will feed on leaches as they are easy prey packed with more calories.  Anglers will commonly use flies to simulate a black leach in moving water. But if you’re not into fly fishing,  soft plastic lures can be rigged like a Texas rig when fishing for bass.

These can be fished on a bobber setup. Leave enough leader length for it to bounce off the bottom to simulate a real-looking creature being swept downstream. Fish will have a harder time detecting your line if you use a lighter monofilament. 4-10 lb should be your range depending on the time of day and water clarity.

What Do Trout Eat In Winter?

Water temperature has a huge impact on a trout’s feeding habits. As winter approaches and temperatures cool, a trout’s metabolism slows. In response, they won’t eat as much. But they still need to eat to survive. Anglers will use flies, salmon eggs, and night crawlers during this time of year. You can use a small chunk of night crawler on a bobber set-up and fish slow-moving water. Trout will use currents to bring food to them rather than change prey down. Alternatively, trout will also eat small fish, but not as often. Jerkbaits should be fished slowly on a straight retrieve or twitched once and paused for 10 – 15 seconds, allowing the fish time to rise and hit it. Other prey items include:

• Midges: Midges thrive in colder water and provide food for trout in the winter. They make for easy prey for trout as they hatch in large numbers and drift downstream.
• Hellgrammites: A hellgrammite lure can be used with a small ned rig hook in moving water and bounced off small rocks and boulders. This simulates a hellgrammite being washed away and serves as easy food for big fish.

What Do Trout Eat In Summer?

Trout rely on a wider abundance of food in the summer. Land and air-based insects like:

• Grasshoppers
• Beetles
• Ladybugs
• Bees

These prey items often fall out of trees and into the water. Trout also have more energy during the summer – their metabolisms are higher causing them to seek food more often. This is a great time of year to get out before the first light and use small jerkbaits like the Megabass X70. You can twitch it and pause it fast over grass flats and around fallen trees and logs. The erratic movement of a distressed baitfish is irresistible to large trout and most predatory fish.  Jerkbaits and small crankbaits imitate fleeing bait fish and trigger trout to chase. However, as the temperatures rise, trout will seek cooler, more oxygenated water.

Use a chunk of night crawler with split shot weights and cast upstream into moving water and let it flow downstream and watch your line for fast jumps. Target boulders cast to the side and let the bait flow around and to the back. These are areas where trout like to hide.

Kastmasters, Rooster Tails, and Panther Martins are all effective around active trout in summer. When large trout have gone deeper in mid-day, A 1/2 oz Kastmaster will stay in the strike zone longer. You can also vertically jig a kastmaster or any spoon.

YUM Hellgrammite Soft Plastics:  Buy From FishUSA

Megabass X70 Jerkbait:  Buy From FishUSA

Rapala Original Floating Minnow:  Buy From FishUSA 

Worden’s Rooster Tail:  Buy From FishUSA 

Teeny Wee Craw:  Buy From FishUSA