Summer Trout

Lure fishing in fast water for great results

Adrian Webb

With the Summer weather well and truly here it’s time to change a few tactics fishing the rivers during these warmer months. Lower water levels and warmer water temperatures is something that the trout don’t like all that much. I have found the ideal water temperature for trout is between 11-18 degrees. Above and below these temperatures, catching trout can become quite tough at times, even more so in Summer if the water temp reaches above 20 deg then the trout tend to shut down.

Spin fishing with lures for trout during the warmer weather can be quite frustrating, you have to keep persisting to catch a few fish. There are so many insect hatches all over the rivers and lakes that makes it very tough fishing for the spin fisher. Great conditions for fly fishing though, the fly fisher will catch more trout for the majority of the time than the spin fisher when these hatches occur. You’ll see trout rising, sipping insects from the surface in most sections of long slow flowing runs. Then you will come across trout leaping from the river trying to snap up caddis, duns and black spinners that are hovering above the water. I have seen some massive hatches of insects during my trout fishing days on rivers during the Summer. It’s these days on the river when you know you’re going to do it tough. That’s when the fast water runs come into play as these will still be holding both browns and rainbow trout, it will be your best chance of catching a trout with a lure. Fishing fast water is not easy, it is rocky, slippery and very hard going in most stretches in the rivers. Tough it out and you will be rewarded with some fine trout.

Tackle and Set Up

The rods, reels and line that I use for river fishing for trout all season are as follows: The rods are 1.8 and 1.98 metre Okuma ULS 1-3 kg coupled up with small Okuma 1000 or 2000 spinning reels filled with Platypus Super 100 or Platypus Pulse 2kg mono line to a swivel and anti-kink, from there it’s 400mm trace of 3kg Platypus Stealth mono with a snap swivel attached, followed by a Mepps inline blade spinner connected to a small snap swivel. An anti-kink to me is a must when using blade spinners as they stop line twist which occurs when spin fishing with blade spinners. I always fish as light as possible and the weight of my most successful blade spinners are 1.5gms and 2.5gms. These are a variety of Mepps Black Furys, Aglias and Bug spinners. The hard body lures are mostly all floating models, 2-3gms in weight and range from 50-70mms in length. These are 0.5-1.2 metre shallow running minnow type lures in rainbow and brown trout patterns, plus I do have quite a few small mixed floating and suspending hard body lures of different patterns that get a go every so often. When using hard body lures the anti-kink is not necessary. I have used a variety of lures for close to 56 years now, but Mepps inline blade spinners and hard body lures are the only type that I fish with. The Mepps inline spinners being my first choice every time I hit a river for a spin session, 95% of the trout I catch are on the spinners. If you have a set up that you’re comfortable with then don’t change it, you may just need to change your line to 2kg and purchase some new lures, and a different approach to your river fishing. I’m only stating the ones that I use and have been successful for me, there are plenty of other models out there that will probably do the same job as mine. Remember the lighter your tackle the better your catch rate will be. Call into your local tackle store, they will have the variety of lures for what you’ll require for fishing rivers and streams.

How and Where to Fish

During the Summer, I find the long slow flowing stretches of a river will rarely give up a fish unless you are on them at first light or very late in the afternoon when the water temperature is much cooler and the sun is off the water. Fast water sections always fish well during the warmer weather as there is more oxygen in it that’s created by water rushing over the rocky sections of the river. Trout will sit in small pockets behind rocks that have small flat water behind them and will pounce on anything that passes by. Fish can be found in small flat waters along the river banks too. It is here that you will find Summer fishing for trout at it’s best.

I mainly use small #00 1.5g and #0 2.5g metal blade inline spinners and these work a treat in the fast waters, if the river is running hard and fast then I’ll go to a #1 3.5g spinner. It’s just a matter of casting the spinner up and across the river, then by keeping the rod tip parallel to the water surface, retrieve the lure at the same speed or a little faster if needed to the flow of the river and hopefully you will soon bag a trout. In shallow fast waters keep the rod tip higher, that will stop the spinner from bottom bouncing on the rocky river bottom and snags.

Another way is what I call the cast and drift method, cast the spinner up and across the river, keep the rod tip 30-60 cms above the water surface (this depends on the depth, deep water 2030cms, shallow water 30-60+ cms), a slow retrieve, enough to keep the line tight and let the spinner drift downstream with the flow of the river. Once the line and lure has passed you when you’re facing the opposite side of the river, slowly retrieve the line at the same time giving the rod a light twitch, doing this produces many hookups. Many stretches of fast water that you fish you may not see a trout, this is just a part of what you fish. have to contend with when trout fishing fast waters. Do not bypass any water as you will be surprised where trout will be holding up. I have caught trout in water that many fisher’s would bypass, it’s been no more than 70mms in depth.

The Weather

On bright sunny days with clear skies I always use the spinners with a black blade because trout’s eyes are very sensitive to light, so you should not be using shiny or bright coloured lures in these conditions.

To catch trout and be successful in doing so, you really have to be in the river for the best results. By being in the river you’ll have more access to some of the best stretches of a river that will be holding trout. Then it’s just a matter of casting into pockets of flat water and working the lure across the river and back to you at the same speed as the water. If you retrieve the lure too fast it will more than likely spook the fish more rather than attract it, so getting the speed of the lure is quite necessary for a good catch rate.

If there are sections of the river where the sun is on it, then work the areas that have shade along them from the vegetation that grows along the river banks. These shaded areas regularly hold trout. Wide open spaces and slow flowing shallow runs rarely hold trout on hot, clear days, the opposite can happen on overcast days though when the trout venture into these sections of river more often.

Some of my best fishing in Summer has been on humid days with light drizzle, I have had many great spin sessions chasing trout in these conditions. It’s well worth getting a little damp being in the river in these conditions that’s for sure. This is when you can use a variety of spinners and hard body lures in different colours. Metal blade spinners in black, copper and gold will produce some very good catches of both brown and rainbow trout in this type of weather. Hard body minnow lures in the brown or rainbow trout patterns as mentioned earlier will also do the job on the trout, as will many coloured hard body lures, there’s plenty to choose from nowadays.

I’m one who regularly changes a lure if the fishing is slow going, sooner or later one of them will start to produce a trout or two. Trout fishing is all about patience and perseverance, if you don’t have that, then don’t go trout fishing.

Best Fishing Times

The best time to fish for trout throughout the Summer months is at first light up until around 9.30am or when the sun hits the water, after that you could be wasting your time, plus it’s too hot. If you’re not an early riser then do as I do nowadays and that is go late in the afternoon. I will hit the river after 5.00pm when there are shaded areas along the river banks and you can work those areas and runs until the sun gets much lower and the whole river is covered in shade. Both early morning and late afternoon are some of the best times to be on a river, especially the mornings when the air is crisp and cool. So if you want to catch a few trout over the Summer period, then follow my lead and I’m sure you will pick up a fish or two. A couple of other things is don’t bother fishing the small rivers and creeks at this time of year either, with low clear water trout spook at the slightest movement. You may still catch a few but they stress very quickly in these conditions and their survival rate is very low. It’s best the small rivers are left alone during the Summer months unless there’s a decent downpour of rain that will freshen them up. Summer is also a time to be on the lookout for snakes and rivers are one of the areas they love to hang out, so be alert when walking along a river bank.

As the Summer draws to an end and the weather starts to cool, then it’s time to change a few of the tactics with river fishing. Trout will soon become more aggressive as Autumn approaches and they will take almost anything you throw at them. This is when you can use a variety of coloured blade spinners. With the hard body lures, well I’ll still stick with the same models and patterns that I use each and every trout season rain, hail or shine.

Adrian Webb