New Insect Website Has Fly Fishermen Abuzz

Internet blogs and message boards are abuzz this week with talk of flies —
fishing flies, and the insects they imitate. A new illustrated encyclopedia of
mayflies and their aquatic kin is drawing crowds to www.troutnut.com, which site
developer Jason Neuswanger re-launched in late August. Thousands of colorful
close-up photographs of trout stream insects are stirring excitement both within
and outside the fly fishing community.

Books have covered the site’s
subject before, but Neuswanger says Troutnut.com is different. “The best books
were written before I was born,” notes the recent Cornell graduate, “and since
that time technology has lifted some big limitations.” Several parts of the site
use his new methods to make scientific concepts easier to understand. He
describes one, “Maybe there’s some bug body part you don’t know — like
trochanter — and you just click the word to see it highlighted in a
photo.”

The insects’ behavior varies as much as their appearance,
Neuswanger says. “Most kinds of insect can pop out of the river in three or four
ways, and each one demands a different fishing technique. A little knowledge
about each species goes a long way.” His site provides that knowledge, and its
users seem pleased with the level of detail. “The fly fishing community needed a
bug resource site like Troutnut.com badly,” wrote one New Mexico
angler.

Eric Peper, author of “Fly Fishing the Beaverkill,” wrote that
Neuswanger’s pictures comprise “a magnificent and valuable portfolio.” Fly
tiers, the craftsmen who create fishing flies, use the photos as models to
design better imitations. One Catskill tier on a popular message board described
Troutnut.com as “an unparalleled and spectacular site.”

Troutnut.com
features landscape and underwater photography from trout streams, too.
Neuswanger says this reflects a broader goal. “We overlook so much when we drive
by these rivers or even stand in them. I want people to look more closely, to
appreciate the drama.”

His message resonates with many who don’t fly
fish. On the popular science blog Pharyngula, University of Minnesota, Morris
biology professor P.Z. Myers highlighted Troutnut.com as “an excellent example
of how outdoor sportsmen can put together scientifically interesting
information,” and wrote that it’s “full of photographs of the different
organisms that might flit out of your nearby stream and park on your screen
doors to weird you out.”

The featured insects — mayflies, caddisflies,
and stoneflies — live most of their lives underwater, and then emerge in a
synchronized event fly fishers call a “hatch.” Trout feed heavily during
hatches, which make the insects more vulnerable, but there’s a catch: they only
want the kind of insect that’s hatching. Anglers who “match the hatch” by
imitating the insect du jour are more likely to succeed. Troutnut.com helps with
that task.

Most of Troutnut.com concerns mayflies, which have been
cultural symbols of fragility since the time of the ancient Greeks. Many live
for just one day as adults. Neuswanger’s mayfly page reflects on their fate,
“The mayfly’s poignant drama attracts poets and fishermen alike, but fishermen
make the most of it.”

Troutnut.com is one of the
Internet’s largest and most popular trout fishing websites. Its central feature
is an encyclopedic reference to aquatic insects, tailored for fly fishers who
imitate them to catch trout. It also includes landscape photography, underwater
photography, video clips, and a discussion board. A gift shop based on
Troutnut.com is located at www.cafepress.com/troutnut. Developer Jason Neuswanger
launched the site August 2006, replacing an older version he created in
2004.