I fish most for trout in small (10-20 feet width) streams and try to stay on the bank except when I must get in the water to make the cast, as for example when the brush is hanging over the bank. As a result, most casts I make are roll casts.
Almost all other anglers I see are standing in the middle of the stream.
My question: Where do you prefer to position yourself on small streams–on the bank or in the water?
I prefer to stay out of the water when I can. By this I mean that I try to stay out of the water I’m fishing. For example, if I’m fishing a small mountain stream for brookies, I’ll stand in the pool below the pool I’m fishing or on the bank when I can. I may be in the water when I’m in the pool below but generally there is a small plunge from one pool to another. I always assume that the less you let a fish know that you are there, the better chance you have of catching it.
I guess it all depends on where the fish are holding. I never wade when I don’t have to, but my goal is to get to the fish.
Kelly.
Definitely on the bank whenever possible. If I have to step in the water to cast I’ll try to stay as far from the “fishy” water as possible.
Stay out of the water except when you have to go in. Many times the fish are right where you want to walk into the stream. 
Sometime though with a high bank and no other way to approach the hole without being silhouetted against the sky, getting into position by being in the water then becomes an important alternative for me.
Also in my state the stream is like the sidewalk. As long as your feet are wet, you are not tresspassing. While I don’t take advantage of this often, it is one more approach to inaccessible water.
Don’t forget the wading staff, even on smaller spring creeks. Sometimes 2 foot wide and 3 foot deep.
Rick
Back in my early days of flyfishing and living in West Yellowstone, MT, I was fishing the Box Canyon stretch of the Henry’s Fork with Bob Jacklin and friends and, after stepping into the river and fishing for about fifteen minutes from the middle of the river, I cast back towards the bank, about right where I stepped into the river, and hooked the largest trout of my life!
Goes to show that no matter the size of the water the fish may be right under your feet, so wade with care, or not at all if possible.
Kelly.
I fish a lot of small streams, at least what we consider small in SE Idaho and Western Montana.
I have a distinct preference to stay out of the water whenever possible to minimize my effect on the streambed and residents, meaning aquatic insects and their habitat.
Having said that, in the final analysis, my approach is dictated by casting angles and how best to get the fly to where I know ( sight fishing ) or believe ( fishing the water ) the fish are. If that can be done from the bank, that is where I’ll be. If it requires wading, that’s what I’ll do. Streamside foliage and overhead cover, wind speed and direction, and current speed and variety all come into the mix.
John
Stay out, if possible, but it’s not always possible on small mountain streams.
Look, anybody who’s fished more than twice knows to stay out of the water when possible, but as Nick Lyons put it (I think it was Lyons - maybe it was Gierach or Babb), for some of us, flyfishing is just an excuse to go stand in a river.
That describes half of the South Platte River or better. 
I stay on the bank whenever possible. I find enough ways to fall in without actually helping the body of water.
I agree that on small streams it increases stealth to stay out of the water, however on many streams you need to enter the water to get room for a backcast or to get just the right angle of approach. Many times I have stepped into the stream and flushed the biggest fish I will see all day. As a result I have adopted the following stratedgy…
I will start out of the stream first. Then knowing me I would try to gain a vantage point to get a better cast.
I have gotten pretty good at casting but it won’t matter because I will have the wrong fly tied on. But I won’t be discouraged I will make 50 to 60 more casts because I took off my vest to get threw the brush to get to my vantage point and need it to tie on another fly but a poor craftsman blames his tools and stuff so I keep trying. (Even if I had my vest I wouldn’t know what to tie on). In the mean time I have gotten so proficient at casting I can get a size 8 wooly bugger into the opening of long neck bottle without hitting the sides.
Then I would still try to improve my vantage point from the banks and try to get a little closer to the water. This will require the balance and the agility of a 14 year old gymnast. At which time I enter the water. Now the real fishing begins. It starts with my pockets. I fish for my cell phone when it becomes pointless I fish for my shoe, then my hat and sometimes my wallet. I have never have to fish for my rod and reel for some strange reason it doesn’t even get wet. I can’t explain it. Then I climb the bank of the creek or stream (usually on the wrong side) and fish for my vest. By this time I am fished out and go home.
Respectfully,
Sean
Most of the streams I fish tend to be small. While I prefer the bank, I won’t hesitate to wade if it’ll give me the best casting angle and approach.
Look, anybody who’s fished more than twice knows to stay out of the water when possible, but as Nick Lyons put it (I think it was Lyons - maybe it was Gierach or Babb), for some of us, flyfishing is just an excuse to go stand in a river.
Yeah, I like standing in a river :D. On the other hand I agree that it’s best not to unless absolutely necessary. On small streams, which I, too, am very fond of, getting into the water usually means at least five minutes of complete stillness before the first cast to let everything settle back in.
Coughlin
I try to stay out of the water as much as possible, but sometimes you just have to crawl in. Usually its to get a better cast or it might be the only way you can get one at all. I usually try to examine every hole from a distance and come up with the best possible approach and then go from there.
In the South, wading near the middle of a creek can help to prevent one from being bitten by poisonous snakes. I tend to think about that as well as the fish. In other words, remember everything with scales that may bite. It can also help somewhat to prevent encounters with spiders & their webs. (Yes, Mikey, we really DO have copperheads in the trout streams down here.)
Ed
I stand where I need to stand to get to the next fish. Although on many of the smaller waters I fish, that is on the bank, I also tend to fish long sections of stream, and that often requires multiple crossings of said streams. Not all pools can be effectively fished from one bank or another. In fact, one one spring creek in Montana, my roomie (a left-handed caster) and I (right-handed) used to work upriver together, each fishing the spots that were best fished from his or my side of the creek.
One of my fishing buddies is a good hunter, can sneak around in the woods like a ghost, but put him in the river and he clumps and sloshes his wall all over the place. I keep telling him he needs to sneak up on the fish, but… A lot easier to sneak up on fish when you aren’t knee deep in unsure footing.
Lake Erie HighBall, Sean,
Loved your story. Probably because I’m personally familiar with similar circumstances.
And as to the topic, small streams I REALLY try to bank fish for the same reason John mentioned. In the larger rivers, foot intrusion leaves much less of an impact, I think/hope, so where possible and necessary, I wade.
Mark
Snakes…I hate snakes :eek:
Coughlin
I’m in the “stay out of the water” column, if at all possible. Why stir up the water when not necessary?
Dale