Fishing Tips and Where to Fish

The places I fish when fish are actively feeding

When trout are actively feeding, I fish for them in three places in a stream. The Pocket, The Pool and The Run

The Pocket
When I'm fishing in pocket water, (a 'Pocket' is  is a small area located in the rapids) It's easy to spot, as it's usually the calm water located behind a boulder or tree or something in the water's path.  I target that area right behind the rock or tree or whatever it is, because trout love areas like this. They are lazy feeders for the most part and the pocket provides shelter. It's that 'Holding Spot' I mention sometimes. Trout try to not work so hard for a meal.
So....I cast my bait upstream, (but inline with the current), thus allowing my bait to drift along the edge of the slack water. No bites? I cast back upstream and drift the other side. After I have worked both sides, whether I have pulled a fish or not, I  work my way into the pool area.

The Pool

I usually fish at the lead or tail edge of a pool. What is a pool you ask? Well, it's any area of the stream where the water is slower and deeper than the rest. The leading edge is where the ripples feed into it and the trailing edge is where the ripples begin again. Anything in between is "The Pool."

If I plan to fish a pool, I clip a couple ounces of weight on my line to get my bait down. Now to get my bait into the leading edge of the pool, I cast upstream (inline with the current) and allow the bait to be carried into the pool by the current.

I fish the tail of the pool a wee bit differently though. To fish the trailing edge requires more finesse. Since the tail end or trailing edge is shallower, it requires me to use a little more stealth to catch fish. So, I cast  into the middle of the pool and allow my bait to drift into and through the tail section.  By starting in the middle of the pool, your bait has less time to drop and you are less likely to get hung up on snags.

If you haven't mastered casting yet, one trick I have learned, is to use half the weight necessary and sort of drift my bait through the entire pool, just in case there is anything on the bottom. Fish tend to hold up around sunken logs and rocks in a pool and I like to work these areas over too before heading for the run.

The Run
I like to fish runs with a good lure or spoon. In case you don't know what a run is, a run is an area where the stream flow narrows. This can be caused by a variety of reasons, but mainly it's caused by the features on the bottom of the stream, or by the the stream banks.               
It's normally deeper than rapids, but not as deep as a pool. I still drift my bait through the run. The tough part, is learning how much weight to put on my lure to be able to get a good drift. One trick I use, is to use a bobber to aid me. I find that fish will often hold near any structure in the run, so the bobber is 'my advantage.'.

Remember, in all three of these spots, you are only going to get one, maybe two passes before you move on. If by the second pass and you haven't even gotten a nibble? Move on, the fish already have. 

Well, that's it for today, thanks for the read and remember...Stay safe out there and I'll see you on the trail.