Stink bugs have become increasingly common in recent years, prompting many anglers to wonder about their role in a trout’s diet. These insects are certainly noticeable, but do they end up as a meal for trout in streams and rivers? Intrigued by this question, I decided to conduct a little experiment on one of my go-to fishing spots to see if trout there would be interested in these readily available bugs.
Collecting the stink bugs for my test was surprisingly easy. At my workplace, we use large air handlers with box filters that get replaced regularly. These discarded filters often contain insects, and one particular filter was absolutely teeming with stink bugs. It took no time at all to gather a jar full of them, providing me with ample “bait” for my stream experiment.
I chose a stream I know well, one where natural insect hatches can be sparse, but the trout are usually opportunistic feeders, readily taking crowe beetles and other terrestrial insects. It seemed like the ideal location to test my stink bug theory. I selected two promising runs known to hold fish and positioned a friend downstream to observe closely.
My approach was simple: create a chum line of stink bugs, slowly introducing them into the current to give the trout ample opportunity to spot them. We watched intently, but to our surprise, not a single fish rose to take a stink bug. Despite the steady stream of these insects drifting by, the trout showed absolutely no interest.
After the stink bug experiment concluded, I switched to fishing with my reliable crowe beetle patterns. Casting into the very same runs where we had just offered stink bugs, I immediately started catching fish. This stark contrast suggested that, at least in this stream, the trout simply weren’t recognizing or willing to eat stink bugs.
This result was somewhat unexpected. The stream is home to both brook and brown trout, some of a decent size, and I generally expect them to be less picky eaters. It seems they are either unfamiliar with stink bugs as a food source in this environment or simply find them unappetizing.
My next step will be to repeat this experiment on a different stream in another area. Perhaps trout in other locations, with different food availability or environmental factors, might react differently to stink bugs. It remains an open question whether stink bugs will ever become a significant part of a trout’s diet, but this initial experiment provided some intriguing, if inconclusive, results.
