Northwest Zone   |   Southwest Zone   |   Willamette Zone   |   Central Zone   |   Southeast Zone   |   Northeast Zone

River-fishing Techniques

Cast Spoons and Spinners

Use a spinning rod and reel to cast and retrieve lures in deeper pools or faster water. Use smaller, darker lures in bright light and clear water; larger,
brighter lures in low light and murky water. Explore a pool from tailout to head, near to far. The biggest fish will usually be closest to the incoming food supply.

Fish Dry Flies on a Floating Line

The object is to keep the fly floating “naturally” as long as possible. Explore small stretches of a river at a time, fishing near to far (lots of catches are made within 10 feet of the bank). If you are wading, cast upstream, and let your fly drift back with the current, taking in line as the fly drifts toward you. As you cast farther out (upstream and across the currents), mend your line as needed to keep the line from dragging your fly. Re-cast as soon as the fly begins to accelerate faster than the current or skate across currents. Keep your eye on the fly. Set the hook when you see the “take.” If you wait to feel the take to set the hook, you will lose your fish.

Fish Wet Flies on a Floating Line

The easiest wet-fly presentation is a wet-fly swing. Cast downstream at a 45º angle (measured from a line drawn from your position directly across the stream: 2 o’clock on a clock face). Let the fly line and fly swing across the stream till they are directly downstream of your position. Mend the line to slow the progress of the fly as it moves across the current. Count to 10 before re-casting. Trout are more likely to take a fly hanging above them than they are to chase one whizzing by. A second effective wet-fly technique is deaddrifting the fly. Cast upstream as in dry-fly fishing. Picture your fly moving below the surface. Mend line when the current begins to drag the line. A strike indicator is very beneficial with this technique, since you won’t feel a tug when the fish takes the fly. Instead, strike when the indicator hesitates
even for a moment. As a rule-of-thumb, place the strike indicator above the fly one and one-half times the depth of the water being fished. If you aren’t getting any bites, use weighted flies, bead-head flies, split shot, or twist-on lead wrapped around the leader to get your wet fly to drift deeper.

Wet-fly Swing

(1) Cast toward 2 o'clock.    (2) Mend line.    (3) Count to 10, then re-cast.