Okay, so it's not quite as funny as Yogi Berra's famous quote, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it". But at the end of the day, it's true, especially with river fishing. If you're anything like me, you spend a lot of time wading rivers and exploring. I personally always think that the next bend in the river may hold a "hole" the likes of which have never been seen by human eyes. And said "hole" will hold huge fish, the likes of which have only been dreamt about. I've never actually found that "hole", but I've sure enjoyed looking for it.

The main reason to follow the next bend in the river is that it gets you away from the places everyone else fishes. I'm convinced that most people don't walk more than 1/4 mile from wherever they park. It's just a bit too much of an inconvenience for most fisher people. That's good though. At least for anglers like us.

I've found that areas that get less fishing pressure will produce more fish. The fish are much less wary. This is especially true with trout and Trout Rivers. Trout that get heavy fishing pressure can become very picky. They've been there and done that so to speak. I've caught many twenty plus inch rainbow trout in areas that get a lot of pressure and their mouths are just torn up from being caught and released before. And you have to fish HARD for them. In most cases live bait is the only thing that will work. And I'm not talking about the old "worm ball". That worm better look like it just crawled out from under an underwater rock. And if the hooks are visible to you, you can bet that a fish under heavy pressure can see them as well. And if a heavily pressured fish can detect a hook, that means no bites for you.

So fishing pressure is probably the biggest reason to take the next bend in the river, and right along with this goes competition. I don't know about anyone else, but I would much rather fish alone or with a friend than with 10 strangers fishing the same area. If nothing else, it's just much more peaceful. And I think that's one of the biggest reasons I fish anyway. To be in nature and feel the peace that comes from standing in a flowing river with a slight breeze in my face. It's where and how I talk to God. And many times for that to happen, I have to take the next bend in the river. And I think you may be well served to the same.