To find and catch river-dwelling fish, you need to think like one. Here’s how

FEATURES

With those needs in mind, you can find fishing spots by looking for some common features that offer rest, protection and food. The better these features fill those needs, the more likely they’ll hold a fish. Also, remember that friction with the river bottom slows water speed dramatically. That’s why river fish almost always hold deep, unless they’re aggressively feeding.

Eddies are areas of reduced current that form behind objects such as points, logs, bridge pilings and, of course, boulders. But as I observed that summer day, there’s also an eddy upstream of many objects, where a small pocket of slow water forms as the current splits. In front of the object, the fish has a clearer view of drifting food, making such spots as good, and sometimes better, than being tucked in behind.

Seams are visible boundaries where faster and slower water meet. These transition zones naturally concentrate drifting food. The fish holds in the slow water, and darts into the faster current, which acts like one of those conveyor belts in hip sushi restaurants. Seams are especially productive in runs and riffles (see “Riffle effect”).

With their fast, broken water, riffles are important feeding areas, but dangerous. In broad daylight, usually only small fish risk this shallow, tiring water. In low light or during big insect hatches, much larger fish will move into riffles. Because fish can be anywhere in the zone rather than holding in a specific spot, try covering the water methodically. Tight-line nymphing works well, though my go-to is dry flies, which can be great fun.

Finally, pocket water is an eddy within a riffle, such as the small calm patch around a boulder. These are highly productive spots, since they offer slower, slightly deeper water, plus the lively food stream of the surrounding riffle. Even better, many anglers (like I did for too many years) walk right past pocket water without recognizing it, so you might just have it all to yourself.