Reading Water

Scenario:

First time on this waterway.

Tell me where the prime lays are?

Map the bottom for me and tell me why you think it lays like that.

You say you can’t see the bottom so you don’t know?

There are ways of getting around that.

Len I will take a stab at this. for the learning experience. I have very little river trout knowledge. But for me the undercut bank on the lower left or the eddie to the right of it would be first choice. I hope you will post your’s

Spring floods tell me where the good lays are. The curves of the bank tell loads. The ripples are also telling. There is an obstruction here that also helps make this bottom.

That under cut bank below the rapids on the left looks juicy

I’ll also take the indentation in front of the rapids and the corner by the tree for $250 Len

That whole seam both sides looks fishy! Especially lower left where the seam cuts the bank and there is a stump underwater accross the seam from the bank for the bruiser for 500 len. I would start lower than what picture shows and slowly creep up eventually working the entire area-edges of the fastwater. Looks awesome!!!

From the lower left below the ripples and to the middle of the stream. The ones laying in the middle sight feed on the shallower right side. The ones laying just below the ripples feed on whats coming down the ripples and also to the right. I doubt there’s much just above the ripples. Id say almost all the fish lay from just below the ripples on the left to the middle that’s still fairly deep. Maybe one or two on the left bank just above the ripples and not in that little cove, in an undercut.

Id start fishing the right side throwing up into the ripples and pulling back on the right side working the shallower water first. Then Id throw just above the ripples into that little cove and pull back through the center. If any fish are hooked here it may not spook the bigger fish much that lay in the deeper left side of the stream. Then Id work the left side. What would you do Len or have done before?

X marks the spot. I tend to get away from the crowds, which I’m sure you are use to dealing with judging by your pics

I like the proximity of the tree, and the high bank on that little bend possibly exposing some of the root system of the tree as well as maybe being the first bend in this little series. No trout experience here just throwing a dart.

The spring floods have carved the banks to show you where the holes are.

Visualize water blasting downstream and how it works to cut and roll up rocks.

Notice the obstruction and and think how fast moving water over it deposits debris and cuts swaths.

Also keep in mind trout are bashful about sunlight

the current digs it out the corner with the tree and tree roots make good cover.

The water bounces to the other side cuts the next S on the other side. The curvature on the bank tells you that.

The little island along the fast…when water is really up high the water blows over top of it. and deposits silt and rock just on the other side….

that fast water is obviously shallow because if it was deep there would be no broken fast water.

Any lips on this waterway have great potential because of no cover. The trout need cover. Even a double in depth of the main channel is a hiding place. Those worn corner say that there is plenty of water to cut good hiding places on edge with even minimal weeds on edge.

Trout hang on the edges of broken water to be hidden and be right near the food.

I would be starting by standing out of the picture on the left side and working the undercut bank on the left. Several casts along that side would be thrown, starting by running my spinner higher in the water column to lower toward the bottom.

Then I would slowly work up along the left bank and begin to position myslef so that I could start to cast upstream to the narrows shooting the water into the lowest pool. I would work along each sides edge again in varying degrees of higher in the water column to lower. The reason that I work higher to lower is so that I can pick off any aggressive fish before working lower and risking the potential to snag the bottom. If I felt I still needed to work the bottom before I moved up a couple more steps and became snagged, I would cut off my line at my rod tip and retie and continue to fish up until I could retrieve the lure and all line from the area. I always carry an extra reel and line with me…

The slack water on both side might get a cast or two, but there is really little potential in either of those areas unless there is a great deal of runoff and that doesn’t look like the case in this picture.

I would finish by up casting to both sides and the middle of the cut that bring the stream down to the pool…

Then I would work into position to sneak casts around the corner and moving upstream past the beginning of the head of the riffle. As I round that corner, I would work the right side first as it allows for the easiest first casts, then to the left side… Both sides of this area could be slightly undercut… To continue to move upstream would require the ability to see what the water is presenting. There probably is pretty good water sitting above as well as the stream is fairly narrow. To and up past the tree are pretty good looking, but I would reserve judgement until I was in the water and fishing past the next wide spot and around the corner by the tree. It would seem that the right side would be more key, but with curvy nature of this area, I would be casting to most of it going through it the first time… It looks very inviting!!!

Mark