Summer is my favorite time of year. Warm weather, abundant hatches, and willing fish anxious to feed after a long winter and spring runoff. Summer is when trout fishing can be at it's peak. The water temperatures move through consistent cycles, hatches develop into predictable patterns, and the combination of the two makes for excellent angling days on the river.
We will cover a variety of tactics for summer trout fishing: making the most of hatches, flies that best match the hatch, and making seasonal adjustments to conditions from month to month. Trout are the products of their environment, so before we dive into the previous listed topics, it is important to understand how summer seasonality effect trout behavior.
Summer Trout Behavior and Habitat - Understanding Summer Trout Patterns
Trout are cold water fish. Trout require cold clean water to survive. Temperatures, are one of the main driving factors of where trout will be found in the summer months. The other major factor that dictates where a trout will lie is the aquatic food sources that are present in the river system. Summer fly fishing requires anglers to adapt to changing weather patterns and hatches in order to take advantage of the summer fishing season.
Cold and Hot Water
Trout require water temperatures between 39-70 degrees. Water in the 45-65 degree range is the ideal temp variation where trout feel most comfortable. Above 70 degrees is too hot. This is the no fishing zone, as trout will often die if caught above this temperature. As the water temp rises the dissolved oxygen supply diminishes. This is important to note, because it is often an important factor on where fish will hold in a river system.
Slow, cold moving water contains high amounts of dissolved oxygen. During the summer months trout are found in prime lies where the water speed moves at 1.5 to 2 cubic feet per second. Cold water with high oxygen content allows fish to feed along slow banks, slow seam lines, gravel shelfs, gravel bars, and slower re-circulating eddies.
As the water temperature rises trout need oxygen to live, so they relocate to find oxygenated water. This causes them move into faster turbulent water which has a higher oxygen content then slow warm water. Fast riffles, heavy banks, deep holes, and anywhere else there is turbulent water will hold fish. During this time period trout will often go into hibernation and stop eating. In addition, late in the summer when the water is at its highest temps, many of the hatches have concluded for the season. Until cooler temps arrive for Fall their is a window of several weeks where a trout's sole focus is to find enough oxygen to survive.
If you fish out West, where whitefish are present, then a telltale sign that the water is too hot, is dead whitefish lying on the bottom of the river. Whitefish are an indicator species that let anglers know how healthy a river is. They are usually the first fish to die when temps climb too high.
The Drawing Power of Aquatic Insects
Food is the other major factor that dictates where fish will hold. During the summer months, there can be multiple types of insects hatching at once. While it is not always true, a good place to start is to focus on the insect that is most prevalent on the water. Trout will follow hatches, and they move from lie to lie in order to hold in prime feeding lanes.
Two clear examples of this are the pale morning dun hatch and the salmon fly hatch. Both species of insects occupy different areas of the river and trout will follow the insects when the hatch begins.
Salmon flies live most of their lives under boulders and river rocks. When it is time to hatch, they crawl along the bottom of the river and migrate to the river banks. Crawling out of the river, they occupy grassy banks, find a mate, and lay eggs. During the salmonfly hatch, many and sometimes all of the trout will migrate to the banks, following the salmonflies. Often times, trout will be so close to the banks, that if your fly isn't almost touching dry land it is out of the strike zone.
P.M.D.s will draw fish to the middle of the river or to gravel bars and shelves. P.M.D. nymphs spend most of their lives in shallow riffles and gravel bars. Once the Salmonfly concludes, the P.M.D.s will begin hatching over a month two two month long period. Fish will migrate back off the banks and into the backsides of gravel bars and deep pools. Deeper water at the back of gravel bars provides safety until the hatch begins. At which point, fish are able to move up on the gravel bars to feed in shallow water, on suspecting mayflies.
Understanding insect lifecycles and the habitats they prefer, will give an angler an increased chance of success to fish the correct the water.
Taking Water Temps into Account
Low water temps are critical to sustaining trout fishing long term. High temperatures are becoming an increasing issue year to year. Whether you fish free stone streams or tailwater fisheries, as the summer fishing season progresses, the water will warm. There are several factors for this change, and tactically approaching a river based on seasonal changes will make you a more successful angler.
Clouds and Rain
Hot bluebird days are perfect for floating down the river and casually crushing White claws, but for serious anglers, nasty weather is best for fly fishing. Clouds and rain storms produce cooler weather and in turn will make fly fishing more productive. Cloud cover is an anglers best friend in August and September. Storms are a welcome sight this time of the summer as water temps in many rivers starts to rise and becomes un-comfortably warm for trout.
Rain will immediately drop the water temperature, making the river environment more comfortable for fish. The cooler weather and moisture will either provoke a hatch to start, or if it is in progress will make it difficult for aquatic insects to dry their wings. Floating helplessly on the surface of the river for a prolonged period of time, hatching insects are easy targets for feeding trout. A hatch that might have lasted an hour could now last for hours or even all afternoon. Rain also flushes more food into the river system.
In addition, during the months or June, July and August, summer trout are keyed into terrestrial insects that are present on the banks of the river. These could include: beetles, grasshoppers, and ants to name a few. The sudden influx of rain will push these stream side insects into the river and spur a feeding frenzy. Terrestrial insects are a welcome menu item to trout all summer long. This is especially true late in summer trout fishing when many hatches have dissipated. Fish need the calories and a sudden influx of large caloric forage items is just what trout need.
Clouds are a welcome site to any angler who prefers to fish a dry fly. Trout do not have eyelids, staring vertical in the water column into a bright sun is extremely uncomfortable. Not only can they not see flies as well in bright sunny conditions, they can also be seen easier by birds of prey. Clouds cast glare, reduce surface light, and make feeding on surface insects a more comfortable activity for feeding trout. While other anglers head to the bar when the weather turns nasty, pack a rain jacket, stay on the water, and enjoy some of the best fishing of the season.
Avoiding Hot Temperatures
Avoiding hot water is best for both angler and fish. Carry a thermometer with you and check water temps periodically as the day progresses. Fishing early in the morning or late in the evening to catch the evening hatch, can be a productive way to catch trout and avoid hot temperatures.
On the Railroad Ranch section of the Henry's Fork, I love to take a lawn chair, find a grassy flat and post up with a few beers late in the afternoon. The banks are littered with other anglers as well. Everybody is patiently waiting for the evening hatch to come off. Slowly, heads began to pop on the surface, and the last hour and half before dark the fishing is epic. Trout become conditioned to feed on the evening hatch, and by this time, the water temperatures have cooled off substantially.
If water becomes substantially warm, then move higher up stream to find cooler water temperatures. Water released from tail water dams will be colder the closer you get to dam itself. This is especially true if the dam is a bottom release dam. Dams like the Nofork dam in Arkansas, will continue to release extremely cold water all summer long no matter how hot the temperature is.
Spring creeks or natural springs feed colder water into larger rivers systems. Often times, trout will move to mouths of feeder creeks to find colder water. During the hottest months fish will stack up in the cold spring water to seek shelter from rising water temps.
The Best Flies Per Month
Summer hatches change with the seasonality of the months, so it is important to pay attention to hatches and choose flies accordingly. Below is a loose guide on fly selection per month. Of course there is always some variation on the fly choice depending on where you fly fish. Salmonflies for example, don't uniformly hatch across the country at the exact same time.
Choosing Flies For The Month Of June
For many anglers, early summer, the month of June, is the first time of the year that really hot temperatures are present. This provides the environmental factors to get insects going, and the summer hatches start to match the rhythm of the summer heat. This means that for some anglers, this can be a confusing time of late season runoff mixed with some of the best hatches of the year.
For many anglers, June is the time that stoneflies start to make their presence known. The hatch begins when water temps reach 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Stoneflies are such a high calorie food source that spend 2-4 years of their lives in the river. This makes them an important food source all summer long.
I like to carry a variety of sizes and colors of Pat's rubber legs. Typically, I carry sizes #4 to #8 as this covers the Salmon fly hatch as well as any golden stones that are present as well. Golden stones will usually be present all summer, so summer trout are use to seeing stoneflies as a forage item. As the summer goes on, I like to transition to smaller Pat's Rubber leg in sizes #8-#12.
In many river systems summer heat provides plenty of off colored and sometimes high water. In high water situations, carry plenty of egg and worm patterns. Rainbow trout are typically at the end of their spawn by June, but cutthroat will stay in smaller mountain streams that feed larger rivers to spawn until July. Both species of fishes eggs can be present, and a bright egg is easy to see in off colored water. An egg pattern in conjunction with a pink, brown or red squirmy worm in various sizes should also be in your fly box. Rising water in both feeder streams and the main river system itself erodes banks and flushes annelids into feeding lanes. Worms are high calorie meals, and as a larger food item they are more visible to fish. My favorite worm pattern this time of the year is the pink sparkle worm. It is bright and has flash as well as a large profile for better visibility. Another trick to consider, is to fish flies with bright orange hot spots or bead head hot spots for better visibility in dirty water.
For aquatic insects, late season B.W.O. hatches (cool cloudy days), caddis, and yellow sallies will start to make their appearance in June. The caddis and yellow sallies will continue to build with intensity as the weather warms.
June is my favorite month to fish a dry fly. There is nothing more fun in fresh water fly fishing then casting large pieces of foam to the banks. The hopeful expectation of a large brown trout smashing your foam fly is what Western fly fishing is all about. The salmon fly hatch provides the first real opportunity to throw some huge flies. Flies like the chubby chernobyl or Gee's supa fly will fished tight to the bank will put you in the position to catch some nice fish. If you aren't losing flies in the bushes, then you aren't fishing close enough to the banks
During the month of June, I focus most of my fishing energy towards the banks. The salmon fly and golden stone hatch is important hatches for the rivers I fish, and during this time of the year summer trout are focused on them too. Slower grassy banks usually hold the most fish. Nymphing, dry dropper fishing, or single dry fly are all good strategies when fished tight to the banks.
Fishing Strategies For June
I typically start the day nymphing deep. I fish an orange indicator with a rubber leg as my point fly and a larger CDC pheasant tail as my second fly. If fish are looking up, they will often times come up and eat the orange indicator or at least swipe at it. I fish an orange indicator because this is the same color as salmon flies. If a trout eats the indicator more then once, then this is my clue to fish a large piece of foam with a rubber leg as my dropper. I adjust my rig from their and depending on how the fishing goes, I might just fish a single piece of foam and remove the dropper.
Until the water clears, I like to fish flies that are bright and have a large profile. A larger profile gives the fish a better of chance of seeing your fly in dirty water.
Choosing Flies For The Month Of July
For fly fishers, July is a prime month of the year for angling. July is a safe bet that high water has receded and fish are keyed into the rhythmic cycle of the river's hatches. There will be a plethora of aquatic insects hatching at the same time. These hatches will overlap, and rising trout can be seen through out the day. It's key to have your fly box stocked with a variety of nymph patterns, dry flies, foam, and streamers.
The hatches you could encounter in the month of July are numerous: various caddis species, P.M.D.'s, B.W.O.'s if the weather gets nasty, green drakes, flavs, yellow sallies, midges, golden stones, and terrestrials, like beetles and ants, tricos, and the hex hatch. This is an exciting time of the year on the fishing calendar, as many of these hatches will bring big fish out of deeper pools and into shallow water.
For both nymphs and dry flies, stock up on impressionistic and imitative fly patterns that will cover both specific hatches and fly patterns that cover multiple hatches with a single pattern. There is large variation in insect size during this time of the year, so for impressionistic flies that cover multiple hatches choose both large and small sizes. For example, sizes #12 - #18 CDC pheasant tails or a jig head hare's ear will cover a wide range of potential mayfly, stonefly, and caddis hatches with a single pattern. I prefer to continue to carry Pat's rubber legs too. As the summer season progresses I downsize and fish sizes #6 to #10. Other impressionistic patterns to fish would be the following: tungsten CDC flashback, guides choice hares ear, bead head hares ear soft hackle, honey badger jig, tungsten pheasant tail jig, and the euro silver hare jig.
For imitative nymphs, flies that match a specific hatch, here are a few suggestions based on specific specific hatches:
B.W.O.s - #18 - #20 size range. The spanish perdigon, juju baetis flashback, and the atomic mayfly nymph are good options.
Yellow Sallys - #14 - #16 size range. The yellow perdigon, iron sally, and double tungsten epoxy stonefly are staples for the fly box
Caddis - #14 - #18 size range. Try the holy grail, bread and butter caddis, or the jigged caddis larva
P.M.D.'s - #14 - #18 size range. The split case sulphur and purdee john are two of my favorite fly pattern for summer trout.
Stoneflies- #6-#18-#12 size range. Pat's rubber leg is still stellar, carry an assortment of colors. Black, coffee and black, brown and orange, and just straight brown work well.
Impressionistic Dry Flies
Parachute Adams - Carry sizes #12 - #22. This is a dry fly classic, and tied in grey it can be colored with permanent markers to cover just about any mayfly hatch.
Parachute Pheasant Tail- Carry sizes #14-#18. This covers any mayfly species that are brown in color.
Stimulators - Carry sizes #12 to #18. The stimulator is an excellent fly to cover small stoneflies or a caddis hatch. Plus, they have enough hackle to float a small nymph.
Imitative Dry Fly Patterns
B.W.O.'s - The Klinkhammer or foam B.W.O. emerger will do the trick for baetis hatches. Choose these flies in sizes #18-#20.
Caddis - The Missing link caddis, elk hair caddis, and X caddis are all strong choices. Carry a variety of flies in sizes #12 to #18. These patterns are some of my favorite dry fly caddis patterns
P.M.D.'s - The hackle stacker, sulphur sparkle dun, PMD foam thorax, and light cahill parachute are all fish catching patterns for P.M.D. hatches. Don't forget the rusty spinner. As spinner falls occur, fish will often key into spinners refuse all other patterns.
Green Drakes - The green drake foam para emerger, green drake para drake, and green drake sparkle dun, covers both adult green drakes and emerging drakes in the meniscus. These are large mayflies, so choose sizes #8-#10
Flavs - Flavs are similar to green drakes in appearance and lifecycle, so choose similar patterns as the green drakes, but flavs are smaller. Choose sizes #10-#14
Yellow Sallys - The head light yellow sally is one of my favorite fly patterns for a sally hatch. Small yellow stimulators in sizes #14 and #16 work well too.
Fishing Strategies for July
In the month of July I like to start my day by fishing a dry dropper rig. There are plenty of insects out and about, so summer trout fishing means fish are probably looking up. If the dry dropper fishing isn't productive, then I will nymph under an indicator in deep water, along banks, and off gravel bars. I am always looking for rising fish and trout high in the water column. When seen, make adjustments accordingly.
At the beginning of July salmon flies will be gone, but golden stones can still be present. In addition, there are many mayfly and caddis fly species present too. The banks will still fish well, but with decreased flows and other food sources coming off mid river gravel bars and flats, fish will be found in holding water throughout the river. Both banks and gravel bars should fish well for a period of time. As summer drags on, short but intense hatches, like flavs and greens drakes, will draw fish to different areas of the river for short periods of time. These hatches can bring the biggest fish in the river to the surface for opportunistic feeding opportunities.
P.M.D's have a long progression of emergence, they are an important hatch in the summer months. Every hatch they get smaller and smaller. Caddis also have long hatch periods, and provide consistent action all summer. Fish match the rhythm of the hatch, and will gradually move off the banks and toward mid river gravel bars where most P.M.D. nymphs live. This is the time to focus most of your attention on gravel bars and shelves while fish feed on emergers and duns.
Deep pockets of water on the backside of gravel bars will hold many trout too. Hatches generally happen around the same time every day unless there is a change in an environmental factor (water temp, air temp, etc.). Fish become conditioned to feeding patterns based around hatches, and will move out of the safety of their prime lie and into the shallow water of flats and gravel bars to eat. This is the time to fish dry flies as emerging insects are on the surface of the water.
One dry fly fishing trick to take note of, is as these month long hatches occur, fish will become more difficult to catch. Conditioned to being fished to daily, one common mistake anglers make is to fish the same pattern over and over. I like to fish a dry fly and catch two or three trout from a feeding pod. Then I switch to an emerging mayfly pattern or cripple. Changing patterns will usually result in a few extra strikes. For early season P.M.D. hatches, anglers can get away with fishing size #14 nymphs and dry flies, by August, I have to be fishing a size #18 for a fish to be remotely interested. Down sizing to sparsely tied flies with no flash with usually do the trick.
Last but not least, always have B.W.O.'s in the box. Weather can change fast, and when it gets really cold and nasty or the temp swings dramatically in a downward direction, B.W.O.s can make a sudden appearance, even in the heat of July or August. It is a sick feeling to have left the B.W.O. patterns in the truck when the surface of the river is blanketed with them.
Choosing Flies for the Month of August
Early August, anglers can continue to see many of the same hatches that are present in July, but they start to dwindle. Most of the really big insect hatches, like the green drakes, are long over. Trout in the summer, especially in the month of August, really start to feel the effects of warm water, less oxygen, and heavy summer trout fishing pressure. This is the time to carry a stream thermometer, and pay close attention to temps. Trout begin to struggle and the fishing gets tough too, unless you are lucky enough for late summer storms to blow in.
As temps warm and the snow pack dissipates, many small mountain streams become a trickle and tailwater streams can sometimes run out of water, depending on how water managers manage the resource. Hatches wane, and on my home river, caddis and midges become the main food source. Of course, terrestrials make their appearance on the menu. Beetles, ants, and grasshoppers are critically important food sources for late summer trout.
Terrestrials on the water are an easy meal for trout offer some fun fishing some fun fishing on a hot summer day. The hottest, driest, and windiest days will have fish looking up for beetles, ants, and grasshoppers. Make sure to carry plenty of terrestrial patterns in the fly box. August is an exciting time to fish attractor flies to. Many hours of the day the river will be vacant of insect hatches. There is no hatch to match, so carrying attractor patterns, flashy flies that grab a trouts attention, can be a wise strategy.
Terrestrial Patterns For August
Grasshopper Patterns - There are many to choose from. Select a wide range of sizes from giant number 4 hopper patterns to small size number 18's. Rainy's hopper, parachute hopper, stream bank sandwich hopper, Charlie boy hopper, Snyder's mad hopper, and Morrish hopper are all excellent patterns that work well.
Choose patterns based on how and where you are going to fish. If you are going to be fishing a dry dropper setup, then choose a foam bodied fly with a antron wing. Patterns with a significant wing can float heavy nymphs in fast water.
If I am going to be fishing to picky trout in flat or slow water that have ample opportunity to inspect a fly, then I like to choose patterns like Dave's hopper or the parachute hopper. Both of these patterns have a more natural look with muted colors. This is most effective for me when fishing grasshoppers in slow wide flats or along slow grassy banks.
Ant Patterns - hi vis parachute ant, Galloups ant acid, and a CDC are among some the best ant fly patterns on the market.
Beetles - black beetle, foam beetle, and loco beetle are all excellent beetle patterns and it is wise to have a few in the box for prospecting.
Choosing Attractor Patterns
When there is no hatch to match, try an attractor pattern. Patterns that grab a trout's attention will work year round, but in late summer they work particularly well. For me, late in the summer, smaller patterns in the #18 to #20 size range have worked well.
Here are a few of my favorite: the tungsten rainbow warrior, holo midge, purple dart jig, red dart jig, rainbow perdigon jig, two toned copper john, and purple hot spot perdigon
Fishing Strategies for the months of August and September
I usually prefer to start the days earlier then normal. Getting on the water early is key to success, and this allows me the opportunity to quit fishing during the heat of the day. Early mornings in August and September can yield some of the best dry dropper fishing of the season. A chubby chernobyl with an attractor pattern suspended 2-3 feet from the bend of the hook is a solid setup to start the days fishing.
As water temps rise, focus on fast banks, fast riffles, and deep recirculations. These areas all have higher oxygen temps and fish will move into these zones as water temps climb. When it gets hot and windy, this is the time to start prospecting with terrestrials.
Look for grassy banks. The same types of areas that the salmon flies occupied early in the season will also hold hoppers. Agricultural fields are also areas that tend to hold large concentrations of hoppers. Strong wind, livestock, or agricultural equipment, disturb ants, beetles, and hoppers.
My preferred terrestrial prospecting setup is a hopper pattern, with a cdc ant trailing behind it 18" to 24". The ant almost alway out fishes the hopper. I believe ants looks similar to a caddis, so a CDC ant allows you to cover multiple insects with a single fly. Fish both flies tight to banks, onto to slower gravel bars, and along shelves and drop offs.
In my experience, there is usually a drop off in fishing productivty in the first two weeks of September. Most hatches are exhausted and the water is typically too hot to fish. This can be a good time to mouse at night. Later in the month of September as the weather starts to cool October caddis will appear.
October caddis are one of the largest caddis species that are relevant to fly fishers. Big in size and overly active, they often run across the surface of the river. I have never seen them hatch in large numbers, I have only seen them sporadically skittering across the rivers surface. When they are present, this is a signal to trout that winter is right around the corner, so it is time to take advantage of the last major hatch of the season.
To cover the October caddis hatch, choose large orange stimulators in sizes #10-#12. Large elk hair caddis work well too. The October caddis foam is one of my favorite flies to skate or twitch when fishing this time of the year. Cast to the bank, or slightly upward and across from your position at a 45 degree angle if you are wade fishing. Elevate your rod tip up at a 45 degree angle to the surface of the river and gently shake your rod tip back and forth. Skating and twitching flies can result in explosive strikes from aggressive rainbow and brown trout.
Summer Streamer Fishing
Last but not least, don't forget about the streamer fishing. I usually avoid throwing a streamer on bright and sunny days. When there is ample cloud cover or bad weather, this can get the big fish moving. Throwing streamers will give you the best chance at catching a large trout.
If fishing from a raft or drift boat cast to the banks, throw a mend into the line to allow the fly and fly line to sink, and then make a retrieve by striping the fly line. Change the speed and rhythm of the retrieve. Fish large streamers like the sex dungeon, the meat whistle, or the boogie man. Articulated flies with lots of body push water and attract a trout's attention.
Streamers are fun to throw on cloudy over cast days. When there is lots of cloud cover, I like to fish brown, natural, olive, or black colored flies. Work the banks hard, and focus your efforts around lay downs, log jams, across deep guts, or off the back side of shelves.
