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Rivers

All riversHatch chartWhite River, ArkansasDavidson RiverPenns CreekLetort Spring RunFarmington RiverPere Marquette RiverNorth Umpqua RiverDeschutes RiverSan Juan RiverFryingpan RiverYellowstone RiverBighorn RiverTraun RiverBeaverkill RiverRío GrandeGreen River below Flaming GorgeRiver WharfeHenry's Fork of the SnakeSoča RiverAu Sable RiverTongariro RiverSouth Platte — Deckers and CheesmanRiver TestMadison River

Insects

Brown troutRainbow troutMountain whitefishBrook troutCutthroat troutSteelheadEuropean graylingMarble troutSea-run brown troutResident brown trout

Techniques

Reading waterMatching a hatchNymphingDry-fly presentationStreamer fishingSwinging a flyCatch and release, done properlyTying flies you will actually fish

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Techniques
White River, ArkansasDavidson RiverPenns CreekLetort Spring RunFarmington RiverPere Marquette RiverNorth Umpqua RiverDeschutes RiverSan Juan RiverFryingpan RiverYellowstone RiverBighorn RiverTraun RiverBeaverkill RiverRío GrandeGreen River below Flaming GorgeRiver WharfeHenry's Fork of the SnakeSoča RiverAu Sable RiverTongariro RiverSouth Platte — Deckers and CheesmanRiver TestMadison River
Brown troutRainbow troutMountain whitefishBrook troutCutthroat troutSteelheadEuropean graylingMarble troutSea-run brown troutResident brown trout
Reading waterMatching a hatchNymphingDry-fly presentationStreamer fishingSwinging a flyCatch and release, done properlyTying flies you will actually fish

Technique · Whenever fish are looking up and the water is clear.

Dry-fly presentation

Making a fly float over a fish without the fish ever seeing the leader.

By The Fly Desk

Position beats casting

On flat water, where you stand decides whether the fish sees the leader. Get below and to the side of a rising fish, cast up and across, and let the fly land a metre above the fish's window with a slack line so it arrives before the tippet does. A mediocre cast from the right position beats a beautiful cast from the wrong one.

The window is the target

A trout looking up sees a cone roughly 60 degrees wide; inside it, the surface is compressed and everything is visible. Aim to put the fly inside that cone, not on the fish's nose. On a clear chalk stream you can usually see the fish's head move as it tracks the fly, and that tracking movement is your cue to be ready rather than to strike.

Drag is the whole game

On moving water, the fly starts dragging the moment the current catches the line between rod and fly. Mending upstream, casting a curve, or simply using a longer, thinner tippet all buy you another half metre of drag-free float. On still water, drag is not a problem — on a river it is the problem.

Rivers in the ledger where this applies