After hard rain the river comes up and turns the color of chocolate milk. Most people quit. They shouldn't, but they do need to fish it completely differently.
First, safety. High water is pushy, and rising water hides drop-offs and grabs your legs. Wading that felt fine yesterday gets dangerous fast. If you can't see your boots, stay shallow or stay on the bank. No fish is worth it.
The fish are still there. They just bail out of the blown-out main current and tuck into soft water, often spots you'd normally walk straight past:
- Inside bends, behind structure, and the slow water right against the bank. The slack edge of heavy current is a holding lane now.
- Any seam where fast dirty water meets slower water. That edge is where they sit and wait for food to wash by.
Dirty water shrinks how far a fish can see, so make your offering easy to find. Go bigger, darker or brighter, noisier, and slow it down so they can track it.
- Fly: worm and egg patterns wash loose in high water, so tie on a San Juan worm, squirmy, mop fly, or an egg pattern. Or swing a big dark streamer that shoves water a fish can feel.
- Spin: bright or vibrating blades, bigger profiles.
- Bait: scent shines when sight fails. This is its day.
Get down to them and fish the edges, not the middle.