My youngest daughter plays high school soccer and she often refers to the term “upper 90” when describing her strategy for shooting and scoring goals. I asked her one day what the term meant and she explained to me that it’s something soccer players say when referencing the upper left and right hand corners of the goal, that smallish triangle formed by the 90 degree angle where the side post and crossbar meet.

“This is the spot you want to shoot for, Dad,” she said, “because it’s the hardest place for the goalie to defend. You place your shot in this area and it’s almost always a goal.”

That got me thinking. As fly fisherman we should have this same mentality when approaching the river. Instead of focusing primarily on those sections of a stream where everyone else is fishing, we should be looking for those “off the beaten path” areas where fish may be feeding, but fisherman aren’t covering. The upper 90!

Of course we should never neglect those easy runs we know hold fish, but how many times have we been so quick to jump into the most popular holes without even giving a thought to the treasures that might be available just behind that submerged rock, or below those overhanging tree branches. We spend hours beating up the middle of a riffle or run while overlooking those little nooks and crannies that lay untouched all around us. Albeit these pockets and seams can sometimes be harder to see and tougher to access, but often times the trout holding in these areas are less pressured and more opportunistic. The extra effort can pay huge dividends!

Last year while fishing the Missouri River up in Montana I experienced first hand the importance of this strategy. While float fishing through a certain “fishy” channel of the river I noticed a section of water that could easily be accessed from the road. I made a mental note to try and return later to wade fish this section and fortunately the last night of my trip I got my chance. This time though, instead of fishing the main channel where all the boats pass through, I trudged across to the far island and fished the inside portion, an area just out of reach of the boats. This proved to be a worth while venture as this inside section held a boatload of large trout. Within an hour I netted 5-6 rainbows in the 16-18 inch range. What an evening!

I had a similar experience fishing the North Platte river in Wyoming this past fall. It was the beginning of the brown trout spawn and my son and I were in search of one of those monster browns migrating up from the reservoir. You know, the kind of fish you hang on your wall. We began fishing just several steps from our campsite in a beautiful run just downstream from a short, deep riffle. I started with a streamer. Cinching down my knot with a stiff pull I starred out across the river. My instincts said go straight for the main run but something inside me said be patient. Work the shoreline first.

A large rock just under the surface of the water formed a small seam that extended out just several feet into the river. I made my first cast just upstream from there. Strip, pause, strip pause, my streamer swung downstream right into the honey hole. Nothing! I stepped out a bit further and cast down and across again. Strip, pause, strip pause! Same result. Third cast, same thing, only this time I let my streamer swing a bit further downstream. Boom! This time I hooked up.

The shoreline shallows netted me two really nice browns that morning. Fish I would have missed had I went straight into the main tongue of the river. The upper 90 mentality paid off.

The river offers us multiple options if we are willing to stay flexible and adjust our thinking real-time. This can be especially important when fishing highly trafficked rivers and streams. Look for those “fishy” areas you think might hold trout but may be overlooked by the masses. These sections usually are just as prolific as the popular holes, sometimes even more so! Yes, these smaller pockets and seams typically hold fewer fish, but the trout taking up residence are often much more likely to take what they are given. Mainly because they haven’t seen a fly all day!

Learn more about trout habitat by reading our past blog post on How to Read a Trout Stream.