In big water, buddy wading is an excellent strategy. Two anglers wading together can move in water a single angler would find impossible. With two people, the strongest and largest person takes the upstream side.

Tuck your rod down into the front of your waders or vest. Grab the back of each other's vests at the collar with your inside hand, using your staff in your outside hand. The collar provides a high, solid point of contact that won't slip or move under pressure and keeps you in an erect position. Shuffle along. Talk to each other about your progress. This is a remarkably stable arrangement. With three anglers, the same approach works well, putting the smallest or least confident person in the middle.

The deeper the water, the more buoyant you will become and the less traction you will have. There is a point of no return when you are at the mercy of the current, even if your feet are still touching bottom. Learn to anticipate this point and to stop before you reach it.

Crossing the Yellowstone River some years ago with my twelve-year-old son on my downstream side, we were approaching a midriver island in waist-deep water when he said, "Dad, my feet aren't touching bottom anymore!" One more step and mine weren't either! We lunged into the slack water at the edge of the island and dragged ourselves onto the shore. I had counted on my height and weight and the moderate flow of the current to get us both across, and I had misjudged badly. I should have turned around when Ben's feet left the bottom.

Don't be willing to die for your tackle. It may astonish you to hear that anyone would be concerned for their gear when they find themselves suddenly immersed in a cold swift river, but last year a California angler fell into a local river and drowned in what appeared to be an effort to hold onto his rod as he was swept downstream.

If you find yourself swept off your feet, don't risk your life for the sake of a rod or any other tackle. Your recovery will be considerably easier with both hands free.

The key wading skill is judgment. It pays to be conservative as you learn to wade. Pay attention to your comfort zone. When you feel yourself getting anxious, stop and consider your next step carefully.

In the early 1970s, I was an Outward Bound instructor running whitewater rafting trips on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument. I routinely had my students float a moderate rapid in their life jackets at the beginning of the trip to prepare them for the possibility of suddenly being thrown from the raft in the turbulence of a big rapid. As an angler, I have benefited from a similar exercise. I put on my full fishing kit--waders, boots, vest, sunglasses, rod, and reel (I left the fly boxes out)--and, with the help of another person, immersed myself in a swimming pool. I tried floating and swimming, both with and without a wader belt.

It was sobering to discover how difficult it was to move deliberately with all that gear on, and I brought home the need to be completely self-reliant when wading.

Give thought to what you'll do if you suddenly find yourself floating in fast water at your wading point. Plan an escape route. Look for the places where you might get into an eddy. Look for those obstacles that might trap you or injure you. The chances of another person being able to help you are slim. Things happen too fast in moving water. You must be mentally prepared to rescue yourself.

Drift-boat Rescue Position
Eventually every wader ends up in the water. Most often it's a stumble in the shallows where it's a simple matter to stand up. Or it's a little water over the top of the waders--wet feet and legs, but no problem. But one day you may find yourself floating downstream without the chance for a quick recovery. When this happens, don't panic. Settle into the water horizontally, take a deep breath, close your mouth, and think "drift boat."

If you have ever been in a drift boat with a competent rower at the oars, you have observed that whenever the boat approaches an obstacle the rower wants to avoid (rapids, rocks, logs, or narrow chutes), he points the bow at the obstacle and rows away from it, typically with the stern at a 45-degree angle upstream, into the current.

If possible, cross a river where the current is not strong. If the current is strong, and you don't have a wading staff, crossing with a buddy can make it easier. When wading swift water with another angler, put the strongest and largest person on the upstream side.

If you find yourself floating in fast-moving water, quickly adopt the "drift-boat" position. Get onto your back with your entire body--even your arms--in the water. If you are in a horizontal position, you will float much easier. Holding any part of your body vertically above the surface reduces your buoyancy, causing you to sink. This is a critical point. You must be horizontal to float effectively and to keep your body as high in the water as possible. Your feet become the bow, your head the stern, and your arms the oars (see accompanying illustration).

On shallow rocky rivers, stay as near the surface as possible to keep from hitting rocks and becoming entrapped among rocks or logs. Scan the water downstream, pointing your feet at the obstacles you want to avoid and backstroking into the current with your arms. Keeping your body at a 45-degree angle into the current is critical. Backstroking will move you away from the obstacle and toward the shore in a relatively straight line.

Swimming directly across the current often results in being swept farther downstream, and trying to swim upstream quickly tires you. The 45-degree position is ideal because it moves you away from the hazard and toward the bank. It also allows you to see obstacles coming and to use your feet and legs to push away from them. This technique will allow you to get into slower water quickly. When drifting, you should resist the temptation to keep feeling for the bottom with your feet as you float, because you will sink and extend your time in the water.

Once you are out of the current, turn over on your stomach and crawl on hands and knees into the shallows. Don't try to stand in fast water--you may get pushed over again, tiring yourself and extending your time in the water.

Trout rivers are cold. They can sap your strength and slow your reactions. It's important to get out of the water as fast as possible, but don't be in a hurry to stand up. Get into the slow water first.

The deepest and fastest water is always in the main current flow. This is the water that is the most difficult to control yourself in. Rivers are always slower and shallower on the insides of bends. Drops in riverbed elevation create waves. Avoid wading above an area of big waves. Without a life jacket, big waves can overwhelm and drown you.

If you are swept away, you can become entrapped in rocks, trees, or logs. These "strainers" can snag your foot, vest, or belt and hold you, sometimes underwater. If you find yourself heading toward such an obstacle, roll forward onto your stomach and begin swimming vigorously downstream. With this momentum, use your arms to vault up, onto, and over the obstacle. Then resume the drift-boat position and look for a way out of the main flow.

Big waters (rivers large enough to fish from a boat) require a different approach. They have strong currents and powerful hydraulics. In this type of water, getting trapped by rocks and logs is less of a hazard. The danger is in being overwhelmed by waves and current and being unable to stay afloat to get to shore. In these rivers, stay on your stomach and use a crawl stroke to move into slow water or to break through the eddy line between the upstream and downstream flows (Available from Orvis and SOSpenders).

In cold water with no life jacket, you must get out as fast as possible. If you routinely wade big water--the lower Madison, lower Sacramento, Colorado, and Yellowstone, for example--consider using a Coast Guard-approved inflatable life vest.

Don't try to stand in swift water, because you might catch your foot on a rock and get pushed over by the current. Use a backstroke--like a rower in a drift boat--to keep away from rocks and move toward slow, shallow water, where you can

If you find yourself drifting toward a fallen tree, roll forward onto your stomach and begin swimming vigorously downstream. With this momentum, use your arms to vault up, onto, and over the tree. Get clear of the branches, then resume the drift-boat position and look for a way out of the main current.