This is a subject that a lot of people new to the sport of flyfishing for steelhead should pay close attention to. I have often noted that people who are standing waist deep in the water are actually standing right in the "slot" . Steelhead like to lay in soft water near the bank.. not out in the middle of the river. The same thing goes for pulling plugs. How many of you will agree with this ?? Seven out of ten times its the bank side pole that gets nailed when working down a run pulling plugs. I have found that to be true. However, this applys to active fish only, fish on the move that are the type that will hammer a fly or a plug. Fish that are not active and holding, tend to like deeper water. To sum it up. Let your gear hang below you for a while when the fish are on the move. Later in the season as it gets colder and you start fishing with drift gear etc, its not as importaint as the fish will be deeper and off the bank. Good topic.