Hot, dry weather affects trout

Summer 2007 in the mountains is shaping up as hot and dry.

Stream levels are low, and water is crystal clear, certainly not the best conditions for trout fishing. However, trout are survivors; they adapt to weather and water conditions, and trout fishers have to adapt along with them.

When water is clear and low, wild trout prefer the cooler sections of streams, places with plenty of shade and adequate oxygen. Look for waterfalls and small pools below ledges that have white, bubbly water. Also look for areas where small tributaries enter the stream. Such places have cooler water and more oxygen.

Avoid fishing during the hottest part of the day. Early morning before the sun gets on a stream and late afternoon after the sun has dipped below ridge lines are the best — and most comfortable — times to fish.

Expect trout to be extremely wary. Low-water conditions make them more susceptible to predators such as kingfishers and herons, so the slightest movement will send trout scurrying for cover.

Wear earth-tone colors that blend with your environment, fish upstream and keep a low profile.

Fish slowly. When you move to a different section of stream, wait a few minutes before you cast. If you see a trout, know for certain that trout saw you first.

Use long leaders (9 to 12 feet) to get your fly well ahead of you. Don’t waste a lot of time casting to the same place. If you don’t get a strike after two or three casts, move on.

Cast close to banks, under low-hanging mountain laurel and rhododendron bushes. You’ll lose a few flies and spend precious fishing time getting line and flies out of bushes, but that’s part of the experience. Think like a trout and then fish the areas you’d prefer to be in during the heat of the day.

Fish small streams. The ones with the most cover have the coolest water. Small high elevation streams with a dense canopy can be fished all day.

Save the large, open valley streams for early morning and late evening fishing.

Dry flies

Trout feed during the comfortable times of the day — early morning before the water heats up, and late evening after the water cools down.

For dry-fly fishing, these are the most productive times, but sporadic hatches occur all during the day, only in fewer numbers. For morning dry-fly fishing, Blue-Winged Olive, female or male Adams (winged or parachute), Light Cahill, Tan Caddis, and parachute Pheasant Tail are good patterns. Smaller patterns such as a No. 16 or 18 work better than larger flies. For late evening fishing,

Midges are especially effective in gray, crème, brown or black. Sizes 18 to 22 work best.

Some dry-fly patterns, particularly a Cahill or Adams, can be fished all day.

Experiment until you get a strike, then stick with that pattern. When the strikes slack off, switch to a different pattern.

Nymphs

Nymph patterns can be fished all day.

Use bead-head patterns or add a little extra weight to make the nymph tumble along the bottom of a run or to get it down into the deeper sections of a pool.

Strikes can be subtle and difficult to detect unless you’ve done a lot of nymph fishing. Sometimes a strike will be little more than a slight hesitation of the leader.

If your nymph fishing is limited, use a commercial strike indicator and attach it to the leader 2 to 3 feet above the fly. A piece of yarn or patch of cotton attached to the leader works just as well as a commercial strike indicator.

Watch the indicator as it floats. If it hesitates or moves to one side or the other, raise the tip of your rod. You’ve likely had a strike.

Dry flies make excellent strike indicators, and they give you an extra edge in the water. Sometimes, a trout will hit a dry fly instead of a nymph.

When using a dry fly as a strike indicator, use a section of leader and tie the nymph onto the shank of the main hook and use the nymph as a dropper. If the stream is shallow, the dropper should hang about 6 inches below the dry fly, 12 inches for deeper water.

The nymph should be small enough so it doesn’t drag the dry fly down. If you’re using a No. 18 or 16 nymph, for example, use a No. 14 or larger dry fly.

In late summer, a yellow Stimulator or other attractor pattern makes an excellent strike indicator.

Suggested nymph patterns for this time of the year are Secret Weapon, Sheep Fly, Pheasant Tail (nymph or emerger), yellow Tellico, Light Cahill, yellow Mayfly, Yellowhammer and yellow Stone.

Summer insects such as ants, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, caterpillars, inch worms and bees provide a constant and substantial food source for trout. You can find some realistic insect imitations at tackle shops that specialize in fly fishing.

Terrestrials (insect imitators) can be used from late spring until first frost, and they can be fished either wet or dry. Terrestrials usually drop or land in the water with a slight plop, so presentation isn’t a critical factor. However, they should be fished close to banks, near bushes, and anywhere foliage grows along a stream.

Fish the sizes closest to the natural thing: a No. 12 up to a No. 10 or 8. Allow terrestrials to tumble naturally through riffles and runs.

Even in dry conditions, thunderstorms often occur in the mountains. They usually come in quickly and move out just as quickly. After a storm passes, water will be dingy for a brief time, especially at high-gradient streams.

When the water is colored, try a streamer such as Woolly Booger, Muddler Minnow, Dace, and other patterns that imitate swimming aquatic life. Streamers also work well in deep pools, places where big brown trout are more likely to be. Strip them through the water or let them float in a current. Strikes are less frequent with streamers, but you’re more likely to catch a big brown or rainbow.

Not everyone fly fishes. Many fishers prefer spinner fishing or bait fishing. Fortunately, North Carolina has stream classifications that permit just about any type of fishing.

For spinner fishing, effective lures are Rooster Tail, Mepps, Panther Martin and Joe’s Flies. Use smaller lures (1/16 to 1/8 ounce) in small streams and at least a 1/4 ounce in larger streams.

Spinners with gold blades seem to work best in clear water.

One effective way to work a spinner is to stand in the middle of a stream and cast in quarter sections, covering as much water as possible. Let the lure sink, then began a steady retrieve, alternating between a slow and fast retrieve.

Spinning lures are legal in wild trout waters or in streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — but they must have a single hook.

Bait fishing is legal at a few wild-trout streams and at hatchery-supported waters. For small streams, red worms or baby nightcrawlers work much better than regular nightcrawlers. Live crickets, grasshoppers, caterpillars, wasp larvae, inchworms and beetles are excellent baits.

When fishing with live bait, pinch on just enough lead weight to allow a decent cast and let the bait drift naturally through riffles or bumpy water. Retrieve worms with a slow stop-and-go action. Let bugs and hoppers float naturally until they begin dragging then cast again.

Make certain live bait can be used in the stream you plan to fish. In the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, along the Blue Ridge Parkway and at most wild-trout streams in the national forests, live bait isn’t permitted.