In pursuit of little bugs – and the trout that eat them

Fly fishers are a curious lot: They'll leave home and drive halfway across the state or into another, burning up two tanks of gas at today's prices to haul hundreds if not thousands of dollars' worth of gear with them to use for a few hours when they arrive. They do this because they heard rumors of a flurry of harmless bugs flying over the water somewhere else.

Here in Montana that's considered normal behavior.

This time of year we see lots of little bugs, some medium-sized ones, and a few big ones on the water.

One of my favorites is the so-called trico spinner, which in no way resembles a t...