Hi Folks,

I would like to get some help on reading water. I know where and how in lakes, and the saltwater, but rivers are a complete mystery to me. I usually just go where everyone else is, and I do okay, sometimes.

What are some of the things that you look for in a particular piece of water? Do you fish the top, middle or tailout of a deep hole? Do you ever fish the riffles? Do you ever fish the deep chutes with fast water next to a shallow riffle section? Where in a long slow run would you concentrate your efforts, or would you just pass it by? Methods would help as well. I'm not asking for your secrets, just some basic knowledge to build from.

I am thinking of fishing the Chehalis, Wynoochee, Cowlitz, and a few others this winter, so I am trying not to look like a total gomer. That can require quite an effort, sometimes.

Most of my fishing will be from the bank, but I have a small boat that I can take out in some of the "frog water" as well.

Thanks in advance for your knowledge,

Andy

Gomer...er, Andy,

Man, a guy could write a book to answer this and not cover it all still. One thing I will tell you is use your salt knowledge of rips and fish where two water speeds come together. Also, Steelies love obstructions to hide by and rest. Rocks, logs, etc are always nice to find. Find the "slots" down the drifts as well. Never ignore a good tailout. Those four areas will keep you busy and you just might hook up .

Wow Andy, That question probably has as many answers as there are members of this board.

First, it mostly depends on the species that you are fishing for. Then, time of day, clarity of the water, flow etc...

A few basics to get you started:

Kings and silvers - Deep, slower water. (but not always)

Chums - Gravel bars, with about 3 to 5' of depth, and a walking speed flow.

Steelhead - Depending on conditions, they could be anywhere. But generally, look for them on soft water seams, close to cover, tailouts, broken surface water (riffles), heads of deep pools where riffles pour in etc...

Reading water is one of those skills that a good fisherman is constantly developing. My best advice would be just to put in your time, and experiment fishing all of those places you described. The more you do, the better at it you will become.

Andy,

Since I go right by your place on my way to the Nooch, Satsop, and Hump., I'll have to drag you along and give you some pointers on reading river water. There are many finer points, but you'll be able to pick up on most of it in a trip or two.

I'll keep in touch and we'll get something figured out by the time the winter steelhead show up.

just like 4salt said. just put in your time fishing the rivers and if you have questions ask someone that is fishing near you. i have put lots of hours on these rivers and the only way i have learned was pounding away and taking note of what you are doing right when they hit. good luck my man. i will be doing lots of fishing in forks this fall. anytime you want to meet up in those rivers drop me a line, i owe you one on the help from sekui
devine

When it comes to reading river water,I`m surprised that no one mentioned using polaroid glasses to see through the glare and find fish. Note where they are lying and the current conditions . This will give you confidence when you see similar conditions but cannot see fish.
As many pointed out reading water is a lifelong study.
Always recognize the decline in current speed from surface to bottom. The rougher the bottom the greater the current gradient. The closer to the bank the greater the friction and slowing of the current.
Fish cannot continuously swim in water with a current speed of over 2 knots.

When it comes to reading river water,I`m surprised that no one mentioned using polaroid glasses to see through the glare and find fish. Note where they are lying and the current conditions . This will give you confidence when you see similar conditions but cannot see fish.
As many pointed out reading water is a lifelong study.
Always recognize the decline in current speed from surface to bottom. The rougher the bottom the greater the current gradient. The closer to the bank the greater the friction and slowing of the current.
Fish cannot continuously swim in water with a current speed of over 2 knots.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the starter tips. I will work on it from there. I am always interested in a trip to the river, as I live within 40 miles of 5 or 6 good ones.

I owe a few guys some trips on the salt to Sekiu, and that will probably be my last trip there this year, as hunting season starts soon, but I do have private land duck hunts to trade for river trips. This is property in the Chehalis river valley around porter for anyone willing to show me some bacics.

I also have a pass shooting hunt from November to January on seaducks, surf scoters, that offers folks more shooting in an hour than you usually get in a weekend.

Take care, and let me know. Andy

Dogfish,

Id suggest learning reading water in low water conditions with polorized glasses. The low water makes it easy to see structure and the fish. Once you see whats underneath you will know what to look for on top. Different species like different water and hold in different areas of holes. Chinook seem to like the deepest part of the hole, Coho seem to like the tail a little better and the steelhead will mostly be in the head. Unmolesteed steelies could also be in the tail. But you never seem to know for sure with the steelies so I fish the entire Hole.

Another tip is to start out on small rivers and creeks. Its easier to pinpoint the fish learning what they like.

If you make it out to Forks before we get some heavy rain I could give you some water reading 101.

The river is like an electrical current, the fish follow the path of least resistance. Something to think about when you looking at a run.

Just a fine point. B-Run is absolutely correct. But when the steelies are following in this path they are moving and generally not biting. Look to the holding areas just to the sides of this low resistance path. They are like truck-stops or pull-outs off the highway.

Right on Stilly.. thats the second part of the formula. Can't wait to hit a few of those truck stops soon. We got a load of fish just waiting for colder water temps. Just got all the plugs shined up and the drift boat dusted off !!!

I'm not an expert on reading water but I'm doing a pretty good job of reading water for the summer steelhead. I think your chances increase 1000% when you can see the fish. Use polarized glasses except during the early or late hours. Sometimes its hard to see when the sun hits the water at a certain angle during the day. Then it might be better to move to a different hole with shade. It gets easier if you are familiar with a certain stretch of river. Make sure you look at different spots where fish lay and look for fish moving up into a new hole. Usually they lay in the tailout before the sun gets on the water and then move into the middle of the hole as the sun comes out and then into the riffle. I spotted a steelhead Sunday moving in the tailout of a hole. the fish was moving up, back down, and looked real spooky. We tried for it but it was too spooky. My partner moved up to the next hole and got a summer run, in the tailout, while I was wasting my time with this fish. It was unusual that the fish were in the tailout around noon. I moved up to this fast slot early in the afternoon, and caught and released a native that I hooked about halfway into the hole. We moved around to different holes and I spotted another one in the tailout of a hole moving up. Gave up went to a different hole and returned in early evening, told my partner, and he caught one about halfway into the hole. May have been the same fish. Monday morning we fished our favorite spot for a couple of hours with no bites and didn't see anything so we moved on. I went to the same hole we fished the night before and fished the hole and tailout. My son was catching crawdads at the tailout and I was using the tail meat as a change to the eggs. I tried the whitewater above the hole and got a bite and saw a steelhead. I tried again and the trout took the last of my crawdad tails. I switch to eggs and I hooked and landed a little hatchery buck in the whitewater. Kind of unusual to have the fish laying in the riffle pool at 9 AM. Always make sure to look at the rocks laying on the bottom of the river, the summer steelhead will lay over rock bottoms and behind or beside boulders. Remember to fish everything, except for frog water. Hit the head of the hole first and then the tailout. Also make sure to cover the whitewater riffles because they can hide there without being seen and they are more agressive in fast water and will hit your bait faster. I like to cast above the riffle, reel in quickly to avoid snagging, let my bait drop over the break wait a few seconds and then reel in fast again to avoid snags. It sure is fun hooking a summer steelhead in the fastwater because they fight real hard, then you hold them in the hole and they seem to tire faster. I find it tougher to read water for winter steelhead. I think they tend to stick closer to slower water especially when the water is high and they are not as agressive biters because of the cold. The summer steelheading should improve with the next big rain of the fall and there will be more salmon also.

Hey Andy,

If you don't already have it, pick up a copy of Bill Herzog's book "Color Guide to Steelhead Drift Fishing" he's got a section in there on reading water, it's the best explanation I've seen yet. The book is geared towards steelhead, so there's lots of references to water temperature, but I think a lot of what he says carries over to other fish, especially about clarity of water.

Here's the link for Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1...5422857-3281504

-N.