Ankle deep water… that’s where I have been angling the last several years. That’s where I search for fish. It’s in the thin water, the skinny water, the almost nothing water. Just a foot or so deep, sometimes just inches. Catching them in the clear nothing is never easy. In the shallows absolutely nothing goes unnoticed. Angling mistakes get magnified. Your mantra: Stay low, go slow. Sunlight helps you search the shallows for that elusive shadow that is gliding in from the deep to feed.
The shallower the better. The closer the better. The more visual the better. The more challenging the better.
Ankle deep…
Here’s a fine brown trout caught in the shallows on a simple (flat) black ant pattern (size 16) I tie. Local rivers have dropped and most are clear. Trout are starting to look up and take dries…
trout on dries 
Love it. Border is still closed though, so we can’t fish each other’s water yet. I carry your ant, Might fish it on the creeks later this week.
Well it looks like prime angling south of the border. So far slow here re: Rising fish and opportunity. You are on the best side at present. Continued good luck. Heat wave moving in. Thanks for dropping in. Enjoy the creeks.
Bob
Yes to shallower, closer, and more challenging. And, Jim really does carry your ant, he showed me last week!
Les: Jim has a fly for everything!!!…Hope all is well and fish are still cooperating in the heat!
bob
Pulling a fish like that out of water like that seems almost magical. And nothing beats those shallow water hook-ups and battles.
Hi Rick: It is magical finding a fish like that in the shallows. Finding them is such a big part of it, actually the best part and then convincing them to eat. Hope all is well. Heat wave here slowly subsiding…a lot of our rivers are warm. The posted brown was caught and released in cold water.
bob
Catching big fish in little water is as good as it gets! Really like that ant pattern as well!
928: Thanks for the comment on Ankle Deep post…your blog is a good one: 928flies.com.
correction: 928flyties.com