When the leaves fall heavily on our smallmouth rivers in the fall they often become so thick on the surface of the stream that fly fishing can be difficult. However, I often whip this problem by fishing spots where natural stream features block the flow of leaves from the surface just downstream of them. Three of these areas are river-crossing ledges that extend above the surface of the water, back eddies and log jams. I simply wade in below these areas and get excellent fishing.