[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"learn-card-reading-a-riffle":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"applyCta":6,"authorId":9,"body":10,"cardType":68,"description":16,"difficulty":69,"discipline":70,"editorId":9,"extension":74,"glossaryRefs":75,"hook":78,"meta":79,"navigation":80,"path":81,"publishedAt":82,"readingSeconds":83,"regionTags":84,"relatedCards":85,"safetyDisclaimerRequired":87,"seo":88,"status":89,"stem":90,"track":91,"updatedAt":82,"version":69,"__hash__":92},"learn_cards\u002Flearn\u002Fcards\u002Freading-a-riffle.md","Reading a Riffle",{"label":7,"action":8},"Find a riffle near you","open_planner",null,{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":64},"minimark",[13,17,24,35,38,61],[14,15,16],"p",{},"A riffle is a stretch of stream where the surface breaks over rocks — fast water, broken into tiny waves and bubbles. Two things happen here that fish care about.",[14,18,19,23],{},[20,21,22],"strong",{},"First",", the broken surface oxygenates the water. Fish breathe more easily in a riffle than in a slow flat pool, especially when the water warms up in summer.",[14,25,26,29,30,34],{},[20,27,28],{},"Second",", the fast water dislodges insects and washes them downstream. Fish don't sit ",[31,32,33],"em",{},"in"," the riffle — the current is too strong to hold position efficiently — but they sit on the seam where the riffle slows into a flat or pool, picking off whatever drifts past.",[14,36,37],{},"Look for:",[39,40,41,49,55],"ul",{},[42,43,44,45,48],"li",{},"The ",[20,46,47],{},"tail"," of the riffle, where the broken water flattens out. Fish hold here.",[42,50,51,54],{},[20,52,53],{},"Soft spots"," behind boulders inside the riffle itself — small pockets of slack water surrounded by fast current.",[42,56,57,60],{},[20,58,59],{},"Foam lines"," below the riffle. Foam tracks the same path floating insects take.",[14,62,63],{},"A clean cast lands above the seam and drifts through it without drag.",{"title":65,"searchDepth":66,"depth":66,"links":67},"",2,[],"concept","1",[71,72,73],"fly","spin","bait","md",[76,77],"riffle","dead-drift","Where fish actually feed in fast, broken water — and where they don't.",{},true,"\u002Flearn\u002Fcards\u002Freading-a-riffle","2026-05-07","75",[],[86],"the-dead-drift",false,{"title":5,"description":16},"published","learn\u002Fcards\u002Freading-a-riffle","reading-water","WF8JepuQZvyF9lprukt98gOqbfqSgGIhWZNQ3aSmxsU"]