Shade is your friend during the summer, fish it. Photo By: Louis Cahill
When summer is in full swing water temperatures are at their highest levels of the year.
Fly anglers can stay in the action longer if they concentrate on fishing shaded areas. I don’t care if you’re on the lake fly fishing for bass or on your local tailwater chasing trout, I’ve found shaded areas consistently attract fish during the summer months. Shade offers fish shelter from the sun and also cooler water temperatures. Any shade is good, but if you can find shade and deep water together, you’re generally going to be looking at a honey hole this time of year. Fly fishing during the summer can often be very challenging for fly anglers. Fish can become lethargic in the summer heat and they tend to feed more in the morning and late evening, and rest during the middle and afternoon hours of the day. Fly anglers that understand this, generally opt for starting their day extra early or focus on the late evening bite. Doing so, they maximize their fishing time on the water when the sun is the lowest in the horizon and the fish are the most active. Next time you’re out on the water this summer and the bite gets tough, try searching out shaded areas on the water and you should be able to pick up a few more fish.
Keep it Reel,
Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Agreed. When the water is low and the heat is on I usually fish the edges where we have much overhanging structure. I work the edges hard as I have found when moving along an edge I have spooked a large brown sitting in shallow water but had just enough shade, typically would walk right by the spot and not even cast in that direction. Fish and learn.
Trap,
One thing I didn’t mention in the post os that trout in the summer months, especially browns, will move into shade in super shallow water to pick off terrestrials falling into the water. Good point. Thanks
Kent
If you have a choice of streams, or stream sections, during a bright day, look to the one that has a north/south (or south/north) orientation. If it has trees along the shores, the stream will have more shaded areas than an east/west counterpart.
Nooksac Mac,
That’s an interesting tip. I will have to try that and see how it works. Thanks for your comment.
Kent