Can trout on a stream actually see me standing on the bank?

Yes — better than almost any fish you chase. Light bends at the surface, so a trout looks up through a circular "window" and can see objects above the bank line, especially tall, moving, sky-lined ones; the shallower the fish, the smaller its window, but a bank angler standing upright at 5 m (16 ft) is usually inside it. Stream trout also face upstream, so approaching from downstream keeps you in their blind zone. Stay low, move slow, keep trees or bank behind you instead of open sky, and remember the fish you spooked warns the pool: a bolting trout puts every fish near it on alert.

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