<p>We spend a lot of time thinking about tactics and working on techniques. We devote our energies toward finding fly patterns, tying up our confidence flies and testing new flies. We research new waters and explore unfinished sections in familiar waters. We spend a lot of time doing fishy things. This is a life on the water.</p><p>The guys and I have been talking a lot about reading water. It’s one of the biggest deficiencies we see while guiding — just choosing the right piece of a river for your next cast. It's about understanding what water should receive the most attention and what water gets gets a pass.</p><p>As an angler, reading the water really comes down to understanding what a trout needs. We read water for depth, speed and structure, in reference to what a trout prefers. And when we talk about reading water, we’re thinking about it all from an <em>angler’s</em> perspective. If you’re kayaking down a river for recreation, then how you read water will be pretty differen...