In order to be successful at catching trout, you need to
understand how to find the fish once you arrive at the water. This is
actually fairly simple, but it takes a little practice to get the hang of
"reading" the water properly. You need to be able to identify basic
stream anatomy and also structure that attracts trout. A river is very
predictable in that it changes between three different basic types of waters
in pretty much the same pattern, over and over. That pattern is: riffles,
pool, run, riffles, pool, run, etc. Trout move into these different types of
water for different reasons.
Riffles are
often referred to as "rapids" or "ripples". Riffles are
simply a portion of the river where the incline is a bit steeper, the
width of the river is a bit narrower, and the bottom of the river is a bit
rockier. This produces a quicker flow with a choppy surface. Riffles should be
important to you for a few different reasons. The broken surface of riffles
makes it difficult to see the fish, so the fish feel safe from predators. Also, as
the trout begin actively feeding and become more competitive with each other,
they often begin working upstream into faster water. And while the fish may
have to expend more energy to hold in faster water, the current in riffles
means there are more bits of food flowing downstream. This also benefits the
fisherman, because your bait or fly is moving past the fish faster, and the
choppy water makes it more difficult for the fish to clearly see the potential
food. So, the fish is in a feeding lane, it's actively feeding, and it has to
make a quick decision without getting a great look at what its about to eat.
Lastly, riffles have higher oxygen content, meaning the fish feel more
energetic and aggressive. These things all translate into good success for
the fisherman. Fly fishermen will have good luck drifting small nymphs under a strike indicator, and bait fishermen will do well to
drift salmon eggs or small worms under a little bobber. Lure fishermen can
perhaps catch a few by casting across and downstream from the top of the
riffles, working the lure back and forth in the current while slowly reeling
upstream. Click here for an image of riffles.
Riffles eventually settle down and usually dump into a Pool, which many fishermen refer to as "holes".
The water at the point where riffles become a pool can be enormously
productive for fly and bait fishermen drifting their hook under a strike
indicator. The pool can provide some good results on a dry fly, as the insects often spend their aquatic lives in the rocks
under riffles. As they hatch, they often settle onto the surface of pools.
Sit-and-wait bait fishermen generally prefer pools as well. Lastly, a pool is
a good place to use lures that represent swimming minnows -- i.e. Rooster
Tails. And fly fishermen can have excellent outcomes fishing streamers from upstream of the pool. Pools can come in many shapes and
sizes. The current can be slow or quick. The water depth can vary from only 2
feet to 15 feet or more. The pool may be round in shape, or it may continue
downstream for some time, with deeper water along the side of the stream with
the steeper bank. Click here for an image of a typical pool. When you look at that picture, you may notice an empty pop
bottle left on the bank in the foreground. Please be sure to remove your own
litter, and please go the extra mile by picking up after the stupid slobs
that do things like this.
Pools may empty directly into another set of riffles on larger
rivers and streams with a stronger flow. Most often, however, pools
transition into a Run, which is generally more shallow, wide
and placid. Runs do not often hold feeding trout. This is due to a number of
reasons. The most obvious reason is that the fish feels less secure in
shallow placid water. Instincts tell him that a big bird or a bear can see
him easily and snatch him up without having to dive too deep. So, the nervous
trout will move to deeper water (a pool) or water with broken surface
(riffles). Another reason you don't find many feeding trout in runs is
because the food is limited. Runs often have sandy or silty bottoms where
aquatic insects have no place to hide -- they prefer rocky bottoms. There are
exceptions to the rule, however. If a run has some additional structure in
the stream bed, there may be some holding locations (i.e. downed trees). If
the run has a sandy or silty bottom, however, the fish will not stay there
for long. Runs will eventually narrow into a set of riffles, which will again
usually dump into a pool, etc. Click here and here to see two images of textbook runs that do not hold fish.
As just mentioned, various types of structure can attract trout for purposes of
protection and food. These structures are usually in the form of a large rock
or vegetation (i.e. a downed tree). To best utilize these structures, you
have to grasp how they change the river's current. Obstructions create
bottlenecks, funneling drifting food into a buffet line. The dominant
(meaning biggest & strongest) trout in the area will obtain one of these
primo feeding lanes by simply chasing away the smaller fish. The dominant
trout will line up directly upstream or downstream of the obstruction,
because food will be funneled to him at both locations. The downstream
position is more protected, however, due to deeper water and a broken water
surface. Click here, here and here to see some typical stuctures and obstructions
that form bottleneck feeding lanes. Trout holding in these types of
bottlenecks are generally feeding beneath the surface, so nymphs and baits
drifted down to them generally work best. However, never rule out using a
thickly tied dry fly in rougher water when nothing else seems to be working.
