Late Summer Stripping: Pennant Strategies for Tough Conditions

Late summer is the toughest time for stream anglers. The rivers are warm and low, the days are still bright and sunny; everything is the exact opposite of stream conditions. What makes this time really hard to bear is that it’s so close. Like a distant siren song on the wind, the glorious days of fall, with their cool waters and aggressive, stream-hunting trout, are just a few weeks away, which can help to shake off the dregs of summer. But there are still plenty of ways to satisfy your passion for stream fishing.

Late summer stream fishing is all about adapting to get by. Those big trout we all dream of still have to eat, and they’d rather gobble up a fat baitfish or two than spend the energy to eat thousands of late summer bugs. By adapting your fishing strategies, you can take advantage of this behavior and get all the fast stripping, tight line-fishing, whitewater action you could possibly want this late summer. It just takes a little thinking outside the box to pull it off.

Fishing in Cold Waves and Braving the Darkness

No matter how hot the summer is, there will still be temperature drops that trigger trout to feed. Even if it’s just a few degrees cooler on a given day, that can be enough to encourage big fish to come out and hunt. Pay attention to the weather and go fishing on cooler days. When there’s a heavy rain coming or going, a heavy low pressure front, or even a particularly cloudy day, it’s a great time to be drift fishing.

Of course, the best way to ensure the cooler weather is to go fishing in the evening. The big trout that stay in the shade and shadow of deep pools and thick cover during the day become active as the sun sets and the light recedes from the water. This can be a great time to get out and do some research with a current, the best chance of a big fish usually comes just before sunset or a few hours later.

Hitting the Deep

During the hottest part of the day, the big trout will move deep. They will sit at the bottom of holes, pools and riffles and refuse to move or even eat until nightfall. This is frustrating, especially if this is the only time you have to fish. However, you can still encourage and trigger these deep-dwelling summer trout to eat by using a heavy bait and dropping it right into the middle of them.

The Sex Dungeon, Dolly LlamaAnd Double Gonga These are excellent patterns for these situations. You can sink them all the way to the bottom and then jig them along the rocks, right in the faces of the deep-dwelling trout. Fish them by casting upstream toward the head of the pool, and then, as they sink, pull them back upstream with short, sharp casts and quick upward movements of your rod tip. Granted, this method may spook some fish from the hole, but it can and will encourage larger, more aggressive trout to strike. And as with all stream fishing, all it takes is one.

If you are fishing a larger or longer area in deep water, you can also swing these large fly patterns. Cast them upstream and across the current and let them sink until they hit bottom or at least get close to the bottom. Once they are there, tighten up your line and swing the fly across the river, concentrating on the deepest areas. As you swing the fly, you can add small flicks and taps with your rod tip so the currents jump and dance. This may be just what it takes to get a deep water monster to come over and say hello.

Small Bugs and Fast Streams

Unless your favorite river has a lot of deep water or you’re fishing a lot of small streams, you can still catch late-summer fish on currents as long as you think small. During the bright days of summer, trout living in shallow rivers and streams will gather at the heads of pools and streams, extending their noses into the faster water, snatching up insects and small baitfish from the current. You can take advantage of this behavior by drifting and skimming on small currents.

Now when I say small stream fish I mean weightless, single hook baitfish patterns that look like easy prey to catch and eat. Doppelganger, Hornberg, Seal LeechAnd Transvestite They are ideal. They do not sink much, have a low profile in clear water and can be stripped and dragged with equal efficiency.

Fish your baits by casting into the fastest water at the head of the pool and then striping or dead drifting from the middle of the pool. As the fly moves, add lots of twitches, pulses and pauses with your rod tip that will cause the fly to rise to the surface and then sink to the bottom of the river like a stunned or injured fish. This is something a big, hungry summer trout can’t resist.

Fish Carefully

This is a tough time for every fly fisherman, not just fly fishers. The low oxygen levels in warm water are dangerous to fish, as fish can become exhausted and die if a fly gets caught in temperatures above 65 degrees. So fish carefully and when the temperatures are right. But when they are, be sure to go out with a fly rod or two. No matter how close fall fly fishing season seems, those big trout you’ve been dreaming of are still in the water, just waiting for a big fly to come swimming by.