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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 · Every session, before you rig up.

Reading water

Finding the 20 per cent of the river that holds 80 per cent of the fish, before you make a cast.

By The Fly Desk

What a fish is actually buying

A trout holding in a current is buying three things at once: food delivered at a rate worth the energy, oxygen, and cover from above. The best lies in any river satisfy all three within a square metre — that is why they are usually at the lip of a pool, behind a midstream boulder, or along a bank undercut by the current. Water that looks 'fishy' because it is deep and calm often fails the food test; water that looks fast and shallow often fails the cover test.

The seam is the thing

Where fast water meets slow water there is a seam: a line of slack, a conveyor of food with no cost to hold position. Learn to see seams as clearly as you see rocks and your catch rate roughly doubles. On a large river, binoculars used from a high bank will show you the seams you cannot see from the water's edge.

Walk it at low water

The single highest-value hour you can spend on a new river is walking its bank in low, clear conditions and photographing the bottom structure. A river you have seen empty is a river you can fish with confidence at normal height, because you know where the rocks, shelves and holes are even when the water hides them.

Rivers in the ledger where this applies