The North Fork of the Feather comes down out of the northern Sierra through canyon and forest, a freestone river of pocket water and pocket-sized opportunity — fast runs, boulder gardens, and the kind of broken water where wild and stocked rainbows hold tight behind every rock. There are browns in here too, and they tend to be the better fish, lying deep where the current does the work for them. It's honest mountain trout fishing: you read the water, you put the fly where the seam delivers food, and you keep moving. Snowmelt rules the early season, running it high and cold until the flows settle into shape. Summer brings the freestone river's reliable caddis and the bankside terrestrials, and the pockets fish beautifully on a dry-dropper. Wade carefully — that water moves faster than it looks.

• River
• Mixed