I’ve caught countless stream trout, including some of my biggest fish, from flat, seemingly featureless runs—spots most anglers tromp through while making just a few hurried casts.
 
They don’t look like much above or even below the surface—usually just a slick of medium-pace, mid-depth waters sandwiched between more promising spots. They’re not broken by rocks like riffles, dark and deep like pools and undercut banks, or as dramatic and obvious as frothy plunge pools. Bottom line is they provide few if any readily visible targets for casting lures or drifting flies. But they’re consistently my best producers.
 
Sure, I fish all that same classic river structure, and I pull a lot of trout out of those spots, but I find that compared to unassuming runs, they are hit-or miss affairs. You catch the fish or two that have duked out a patch of the prime real-estate, or you don’t. And, as is often the case on pressured streams, the angler who fished the same spot a half-hour earlier probably already did so.
 
So you leapfrog from classic spot to classic spot burning wader rubber and chewing up miles of river with little to show for your trouble. Even if you catch fish, you could almost always catch far more if you’d just fish runs better. 
 
Few Are Featureless
The first step is coming to grips with the fact these seemingly barren spots hold trout—often lots of them. In fact, I’ve made entire days fishing a single, relatively small run, catching what would seem impossible numbers of browns and ’bows. Days like that require an understanding of how these innocuous bands of water actually function.
 
Most runs are simply shaped—their cross sections typically look like an elongated half-pizza, with slightly deeper water in the middle, gradually sloping up to the banks on either side. But there are always subtle depth variations throughout that span. With those come differences in current flow that funnel food and concentrate fish.
 
And though they usually don’t burst through the surface in a spray of whitewater, there are plenty of small- to medium-size rocks and other obstructions hidden below the surface that break current just as effectively as the monoliths every angler on the river beats to death.
 
It’s also important to understand that, even if nothing seems to be breaking the current, there are still places for trout to hold and rest while waiting for a meal. That’s because the water moves along the bottom considerably more slowly than it does down the middle of the column. As a result, trout can belly down to the bottom virtually anywhere in a run—and you’d be amazed by how many are there that you never see. 
 
Bottom transitions add to the mix. One of my favorite streams features a run that’s split lengthwise—two-thirds is rock and gravel and the rest is silt. Brown trout are almost always clustered along that fine line. 
 
And although it doesn’t affect current flow, I’ve found that overhanging vegetation is every bit as important as actual structure and current to trout holding in runs. Trout use this overhead cover and the shade it provides as an ambush point—much as they do undercut banks. 
 
Putting Baits In The Zone 
Obviously, if you can see subtle current deflectors or seams, you’ll want to work your baits past or along them, just as you would in any other stream habitat. Cast to the nearest current breaks first and slowly work your way across the run to the most distant obstructions. If you hit the farthest targets first, you risk spooking fish in between by the disturbance of your casts, the shadow of your line (if you’re using fly tackle) and the splash and noise caused by any trout you might hook.
 
Hit the downstream side of a current obstruction first—again, to reduce the chance of busting fish holding on the upstream side of the break. I find more active fish hold a third of the eddy’s length down from the obstruction itself, rather than tight behind it.
 
Once you’ve peppered the downstream eddy, move on to the upstream side, which I find tends to hold more fish. Place casts well above it—the faster the current, the farther upstream you need to put the lure to allow time for it to sink or dive to strike-zone level. Note that the actual rock or other obstacle is farther upstream than the tell-tale riffled water that forms on the surface above.
 
After you’ve cherry-picked all the key visible spots, it’s time to use a shotgun approach and cover every inch. The entire expanse can, and often does, hold fish, so it’s important to methodically work your way across the run.
Mentally divide the water lengthwise along the current with lines spaced approximately two feet apart, then work your casts along those lines. Again, hit the line closest to you first, then begin casting to the next line toward the opposite bank, and repeat until you’ve covered the entire run from bank to bank.
 
An important thing to remember when presenting sub-surface lures in runs—or anywhere in the stream for that matter—is to think in three dimensions. Your lure moves toward you as you retrieve, vertically as it dives or sinks, and to the side as it’s pushed by the current.
 
That means that you could cast to the same spot four consecutive times, yet bring your lure back along a different path each cast. It all depends on retrieve speed, how long you let the lure sink before starting your retrieve, the angle of your rod to the surface, the amount of bow in the line when the bait hits the water, and other variables.
 
Factor these in to precisely place baits and lures in every subtle trout-holding spot within a run, but really keep them in mind when you’ve reached this stage and are essentially fishing blind. In fact, it’s best to cover a run at least twice using different retrieve speeds to ensure you’ve hit every potential spot.
 
Power Presentations 
The same baits, lures and flies that catch trout in classic stream spots bust them in runs, too, but some produce especially well.
 
A small suspending jerkbait is my go-to lure in runs with enough depth and where current is moderate enough to let it work like the lure should. I find these baits inherently catch the biggest trout, which tend to feed more heavily on baitfish than aquatic insects.
 
Experiment with retrieve styles until trout respond. Speaking from experience, you’ll see a lot fish follow the bait without striking. As frustrating as that is, you can use rejections like that to your advantage. Often, incorporating a longer pause or simply adding another jerk in the cadence is enough to make these fish commit. Sometimes a straight retrieve works best, but this usually results in more follows. Throw in a hard jerk followed by a long pause near the end of the retrieve, and you’ll convert many of these reluctant fish.
 
If trout are aggressive and the run is deep enough, swimming a curlytail jig of 1 to 3 inches
in length is also effective and it’s something trout usually don’t see. Plus, you can fish them on bottom to imitate crayfish or larval insects. 
 
Of course, it takes just the right balance of depth, current, bottom content and jig weight to make this work. If you use too light of a head or a grub body that’s too bulky, your bait will just tumble downstream, never achieving the swimming action needed to work effectively. If you go too heavy, you’ll spend all day pulling jigs out of snags, or you’ll be limited to burning it back on the retrieve. 
 
In-line spinners are, of course, among my top lures, as they are with most stream trout anglers. But be sure to consider blade style and size and match them to the run’s depth, current and fish behavior. These factors trump color and overall appearance. 
 
For example, offset blades like those on Panther Martin in-lines spin like crazy, throwing a tremendous amount of flash and vibration. Only catch is that those qualities also produce a lot of lift, which means the baits can be hard to keep near bottom, especially in deeper runs. On the other hand, they’re deadly for working baits slowly when current allows and trout are sluggish or when high, muddy water limits visibility. 
 
Slender blades mounted on a clevis produce little lift, so they’re better for working near bottom, especially if you need to keep them there while picking up the pace of your retrieve. 
 
When using fly tackle, I like to fish streamers in runs as opposed to nymphs or dries—even when a hatch is on. Theywork much like hard jerkbaits, throwing a big, flashy profile. They also cover water, which is the name of the game when there’s not much in particular to cast to. Plus, as minnow wannabes, they attract the biggest trout.
 
I strip streamers—Muddler Minnows, Wooly Buggers, Black Ghosts and Mickey Finns are my top picks—back toward me in sharp pulls with one- to two-second pauses, just as I would a suspending jerkbait. As they near the downstream end of the drift, I hold the rodtip at a 45-degree angle to the surface and let the fly swing in an arc as the current pulls the line and leader straight downstream. Fish often hit when the fly speeds up and changes direction.
 
Closing The Deal
Runs can range in depth from inches to several feet depending on the river, but in either case, there’s little if anything between you and the fish, so using stealth is critical, especially in shallower stretches with clear water.
 
To make the most of a given spot, I fish from a kneeling position at all times and keep a low profile should I need to move to a different casting location. I also wear drab or even camouflage clothing to further reduce my silhouette.
 
Precautions like these can pay big dividends, because if you recognize these underfished pockets of water and pick them apart without busting yourself in the process, you’re going to catch trout most other anglers miss.