1. They fight hard, especially on light gear. Think 2-3 wt fly rods, and ultralight spinning rods for the non-fly fishing inclined.
2. They are wild, and more often than not they are native fish to the area that truly display the pure natural fight and beauty of the area like only they can. In this day and age, we don’t always have the opportunity to fish for and catch truly native fish.
3. They are super aggressive and take dry flies with reckless abandon. Get it in the ballpark, and often times they’ll eat. Bushy terrestrials and attractor patterns are the name of the game.
4. They live in awesome areas. There’s not much better than wet wading small streams in the summer.
5. Fishing for them is simple. It doesn’t require complex rigging, fancy flies, extensive amounts of gear or anything. We love fishing for steelhead, the thrill of that big pull, but sometimes catching a sh*t ton of small stream trout can easily satisfy the cravings for fish catching that we all get from time-to-time.

Another reason that didn’t quite make the list is that if you’re fishing alpine streams, you might get the chance to see wildlife that’s a lot different that what we’re used to down in the valley’s and lowlands. Take the furry bag of fly tying materials pictured here. Look like a good polar bear substitute to anyone else?

Why do you like small stream trout?  Leave a comment and let us know.