Reading Water

Many factors go in to reading.

Time of year.
Water temperature
the sun’s position
the lay of the water below and above the structure.

Look at this photo and lets hear your “Where is elmo”
Give reasons from photo.

If it were me, I would cast a bead head toward the far bank, bottom right corner of photo and slowly take her across the riffle trying to get it close to the structure (wood) on the way in. Then do it again. And again.

I’d look for a seam between the 2nd the 3rd pieces of wood and float a Pheasant Tail nymph through there. Depending on the sun, I’d also keep well back from the bank and try to keep any shadows off the water. If the current wasn’t to braided I might try getting up stream and just feed line down to the fish.

In real life, I’d probably snag up on the first drift an spook everything for 50 yards

Rootski

I always look at the stream just above where I want to fish.
I look at the turns and bends. The bends above are a dead give away
of where the undercuts and step drops will be. The spring floods carve
these streams out about the same way each spring.

The slants of the banks are good indicators on where the depth will be.
The structure just a bonus and also fine tunes the approach.

I’d look to the left side start low and work up with a pink squirrel if in the morning on way back down stream i’d cast cone headed wooly bugger. if in afternoon they might be up farther in the seam and on outside edge i’d go to a emerger or a dry to match hatch. not a fan of timber but its worth the rewards some days.