What to do with my retrieve?

Hi All,

I "finally" got a chance to get out on my river
for an hour after work yesterday. (There is
a trout somewhere in that river bragging to his
friends over my fly he is now sporting in
his lip.)

The spot of water I was targeting was a stretch of
moderate rapids with lots of rocks, vortexes,
hydraulic cushions that trout could practice
their Kármán gaiting.

The one hit I did get was about three feet away
from me on my retrieve. Got to see his head
for a second or so while he threw water over
me and took off with my fly. (Moral of the
story: retie your flies every so often.)

Anyway, the experience got me to thinking about
what to do with my retrieve. I really never
thought much about it before. Usually I am intent
on executing the perfect drift. I know I
got it right when my line moves slower than the top
water and I can feel my split shot occasionally
thumping the rocks on the bottom. Tons of fun!

I fish the drift, not the hatch. This means I
nymph with a lure selection of whatever invertebrate
is currently living in the water and is "clumsy".
I really do not care what is going through a
"metamorphosis" (also known as "the hatch")
I target trout that are Kármán gaiting, as that
is where they are when they are harvesting the
drift.

Anyway, I will typically drift about 40 to 80 feet
at a time, depending on the water. So I really
can not just pick up my line and recast it
when it hits the bottom of my drift (about 20
to 40 feet below me). I like to position
myself in the middle (and side) of my drift.

Question: what do I do with my retrieve?
Steady or bursts? Fast or slow? What does
the group advise?

Many thanks,
-T