[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"learn-card-eddies-and-soft-spots":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"applyCta":6,"authorId":9,"body":10,"cardType":68,"description":69,"difficulty":70,"discipline":71,"editorId":9,"extension":75,"glossaryRefs":76,"hook":82,"meta":83,"navigation":84,"path":85,"publishedAt":86,"readingSeconds":87,"regionTags":88,"relatedCards":89,"safetyDisclaimerRequired":92,"seo":93,"status":94,"stem":95,"track":96,"updatedAt":86,"version":70,"__hash__":97},"learn_cards\u002Flearn\u002Fcards\u002Feddies-and-soft-spots.md","Eddies and Soft Spots",{"label":7,"action":8},"Find a stream near you","open_planner",null,{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":64},"minimark",[13,22,25,28,57],[14,15,16,17,21],"p",{},"Look at any fast river and you'll see pockets where the water ",[18,19,20],"em",{},"looks"," still — a calm circle behind a boulder, a slack patch on the inside of a bend, a soft spot between two rocks where the current splits. These are eddies and soft spots. They're where fish save energy.",[14,23,24],{},"A trout fighting full current burns calories every second. The same trout sitting in an eddy spends almost nothing — and is positioned to dart out into the seam to grab food, then retreat. Eddies turn current into a feeding station.",[14,26,27],{},"Where to look:",[29,30,31,39,45,51],"ul",{},[32,33,34,38],"li",{},[35,36,37],"strong",{},"Inside of any bend"," in the river. Current accelerates around the outside; water on the inside is slack.",[32,40,41,44],{},[35,42,43],{},"Behind any rock"," sticking up out of the water. Even basketball-sized rocks create soft spots big enough for a 16-inch trout.",[32,46,47,50],{},[35,48,49],{},"Below a downed tree or root wad."," Slack water plus overhead cover — premium real estate.",[32,52,53,56],{},[35,54,55],{},"Where a tributary enters."," The slower side of the merge is often a long eddy.",[14,58,59,60,63],{},"Fishing them: cast across the seam where the eddy meets the main current, ",[18,61,62],{},"not"," into the eddy itself. The fly drifts on the fast side, the leader sits on the slow side, and the fish — sitting in the eddy — sees the food drift past in its cone of vision. A drift through the seam is the most consistent shot in moving-water fishing.",{"title":65,"searchDepth":66,"depth":66,"links":67},"",2,[],"concept","Look at any fast river and you'll see pockets where the water looks still — a calm circle behind a boulder, a slack patch on the inside of a bend, a soft spot between two rocks where the current splits. These are eddies and soft spots. They're where fish save energy.","1",[72,73,74],"fly","spin","bait","md",[77,78,79,80,81],"eddy","seam","riffle","presentation","dead-drift","Slack water inside fast water. Where fish wait between bites.",{},true,"\u002Flearn\u002Fcards\u002Feddies-and-soft-spots","2026-05-08","100",[],[90,91],"pools-runs-and-riffles","reading-a-riffle",false,{"title":5,"description":69},"published","learn\u002Fcards\u002Feddies-and-soft-spots","reading-water","A3GmKpAtT-keOR-pEMntqC10lfG-VUOtTxQAXX0KgSg"]