Digging deep
BY LOUIS FEROX SUMMER conditions can bring on amazing sport for anglers.
Around the coast, bass, pollack and wrasse are moving in close to shore, mullet are in the estuary with bigger predators like smoothhounds and tope are on the cards.
For trout fishermen, long evenings with lots of hatching insects means there are evening rises filled with active fish to chase on the surface. Hungry trout that stayed out of the way of the midday sun can suddenly switch on.
Hot summer afternoons can be a time when stillwater anglers can struggle to catch. Trout are a cold-water species and as such don’t respond well to high temperatures and low oxygen.
As a result of these summer “doldrums”, some fisheries down south were even forced to close at points during last year’s heatwave.
There’s some warm weather coming up in the next few weeks – and, if you are like me, fishing isn’t always at the optimal times. Some days using Love Island as an excuse to nip away for an evening rise isn’t gonna wash.
There are some things you can do to maximise a day on the trout even through the heat, though.
When fish are in the cooler water near the lake bed, you’ll just have to fish deep. You’ve no doubt heard about fishing deep and slow when fish hug the lake bed in high summer.
In waters that aren’t too deep, it can be achieved with a floating line, long leader and weighted fly. There’s no slower way of fishing than suspending buzzers or oakey doakey’s under a bung.
I’ll look for drop-offs and steep slopes to target. Sometimes fishing “on the drop” with a sinking line, waiting for everything to settle on the bottom before starting a slow figure of eight retrieve, can score when fish aren’t in the mood to chase.
My go-to summer lure is probably a goldhead damsel. You’ll have seen the adults flitting about around the banks but the nymphs are a staple for stillwater trout.
Tied with mobile materials to impart movement at various retrieves, it’s as good a searching pattern as you’ll find.
If you’re unsure of the depth the fish are at, cover the water with an intermediate line using the countdown method. Cast out with an intermediate line, 10ft leader and a pattern of choice (lure or nymph) and count five seconds, 10 seconds, etc before starting a retrieve.
Remember the count and retrieve you used if you get a take. I can get too excitable after hitting fish and start retrieving too fast or too soon – but when you’re consistent, then you’re in business.