By Kirk Deeter

I've been spending a lot of time lately sitting high on the banks looking through binoculars at the river surface and watching trout eat. Many years ago, legendary guide Rusty Vorous taught me this trick while we were fishing the spring creeks in Montana's Paradise Valley. His theory was simple: If you take the time to watch the river through field glasses, you get a better idea of what bugs are hatching, and what trout are really sipping, long before you're standing knee-deep in an area where every cast matters, and every wasted motion spooks fish. That's especially important at this time of year, when waters are low and clear, and the trout have been through months of "education."