Presentation is an interesting thing.

I was taught, and always try, to keep my bait at about a 45 degree angle upriver of the boat with bait drifting naturally and maintaining boat speed and attitude for drag-free drift.

So one day I take my son out, explain to him over and over where to keep the bait. But he gets lazy and just lets it drag behind boat. Guess what; he sticks three fish while I get skunked.

From this I learned that the fish were not as tight to the bank as I had thought and I was actually drifting the boat right over the fish. The boat obviously wasn't spooking the fish when it passed over them, and this was during summer-level flows.

That's the thing about fishing: as soon as someone comes along and says, "This is how ya gotta do it, son" someone else will come along and make a lier out of you.