Trout Sense: A Fly Fisher's Guide to What Trout See, Hear, & Smell

This is a great book for fisherman who want to improve their game. Although it's about trout and somewhat aimed at flyfisherman,I believe there is much here that applies to any style of fisherman and any species. Most fishing books are cook books with simple "if this, do that" formats. In this book the author explains the physics of the underwater world and compares a trout's anatomy to us and other animals, providing information as to why trout do what they do. There is a lot here, delving in to special senses such as magnetism and chemoreception, too. This I believe is valuable info to those of us who enjoy making our own flies and lures. I would not be surprised if this book is used somewhere as a text in an ichthyology course. Yet the author's style is readable and enjoyable, sparing us from intimidating mathematical stuff. I think the information in this book provides a template that prepares a fisherman for most conceivable scenarios. I bet it would be fun to fish with Mr Randall and pick his brain on all this nuance and arcane knowledge!

This is a very helpful book for someone who wants to learn the intricacies of how trouts' senses help them cope with their environment and how those senses affect when and how they feed or flee. It's not a quick read, and there's a lot of fairly technical information that will not be of interest to the casual angler. Nevertheless, it brings together a lot of very useful information about all the senses of trout that should be considered in the angler's approach to trout fishing, either generally or in specific situations (e.g., choice of fly color in turbid vs. stained water). One thing I appreciate is that the author is candid about what is known and what is speculation about trout senses and behavior. His fishing advice is considered and usefully qualified, not filled with the false certainty found in so many other books on trout behavior. Trout Sense exceeded my expectations; it's a book that serious anglers should read.

A very well-written book which covers a lot of ground but provides excellent, lucid explanations of the science involved. The suggestions on converting the knowledge into practice on the stream are well thought-out. However, the section on ultraviolet light and trout vision did not cover the science adequately, resulting in the author's unfortunate, and erroneous, conclusion that ultraviolet vision is not a significant part of the trout's world. The author also neglected to examine UV at dusk, dawn, and night. These are significant periods during which large trout come out to feed. The rods of their retinas are particularly sensitive to the ultraviolet light that comprises a significant percentage of available light at those times.Overall, a very worthy book.

All Great

well written

Scholarly, well referenced and yet an easy read. Technical material presented with supporting illustrations.

Great book with great info

If you want to impress your fishing buddies with HUGE technical words this is the book you must have.Unfortunately you won't have those friends long, they will either vanish or die of boredom.Read some Dave Hughes, Art Flick, Vince Marinaro, Hatches II and go fishing.Leave the big scientific words at home PLEASE! Really.

I bought this book as a researcher in lateral line sensing and bio robotics, so the comments below on too much technical jargon didn't bother me at all. In fact, I regret not reading this book before spending money on the scientific books. The layout, laid-back writing style (his wife Jo has to help him out frequently with his various experiments) and excellent illustrations make this one of my favorite books to recommend for those in aquatic sciences.