A freestone river can look like chaos to a new angler: a hundred yards of riffles, rocks, and white water with no obvious place to start. But trout are lazy in the best sense. They want food without burning energy, and once you learn to see the seams where those two things meet, the river starts to read like a map.

Look for the soft spots

Trout sit where fast water carrying food brushes up against slow water where they can rest. Behind a boulder, along the inside edge of a current, at the tail of a deep run, in the foam line that gathers drifting bugs. We call these soft spots, and they hold fish far more often than the open, featureless flats.

Fish the close water first

The instinct is to cast across the river to the far bank. Resist it. The best lie is often three feet off your boots, and wading in clumsily spooks it before you ever make a cast. Work the near water carefully, then move out.

Reading water is the skill that pays off for a lifetime, and it’s exactly what our guides love teaching. Come learn it on the river with us; start with our guided fly-fishing trips.