Top Tips: From high winds to heatwaves: fly fishing vs the weather!
As any seasoned angler will tell you, the conditions can have a huge impact on sport. But is it still worth fly fishing when faced with high winds, intense heat or even snowfall? Devon guide and author Dom Garnett has a host of tips and advice.
Every day on the water is different- and it’s up to the angler to adapt.
Did you ever get the feeling the weather had it in for you? I’ve fished in some daft conditions over the years, from baking hot to freezing cold. So often the conditions choose us rather than vice versa, and we must make do. This is summed up by one of my favourite fishing quotes of all time: “The best times to fish is when it’s raining and when it ain’t raining” (Patrick McManus).
Perhaps more than any other kind of angling, fly fishing is impacted by the weather for better or worse. It can make our task feel effortless or bordering on impossible. It’s all part of the challenge, though, and in so many ways reading and reacting to the conditions is part of the enjoyment and the challenge, as well as the key to successful fly fishing.
While we couldn’t hope to cover every eventuality, therefore, this article is an attempt to look at the impact of weather, along with some helpful advice and even a few trusted fly choices for different conditions.
Blowin’ in the wind: How to fly fish in very windy conditions
Our first and often most critical consideration with fly fishing conditions is the wind. Put a stiff breeze behind us and we cast like champions; turn the other way and it’s a strain just to get the fly out! But is it worth fly fishing in high winds? And what impact does it have on the fish?
Tough conditions for casting- but the fish mind a lot less than us!
First of all, trout or any other fish don’t care about our comfort. On most fishing days a bit of wind is helpful. It oxygenates the water, blows insects and other food about and also helps to break up our outline. Indeed, put a good ripple on any lake or river, and fish tend to be less wary.
But what do we do when things get wilder, with stiff winds or even white horses? Our immediate instinct might be one of dread, but blustery days can be amazing for fly fishing! The fish often become less cautious and food will tend to be concentrated in certain areas, especially on lakes.
Casting will feel easiest with the wind behind us, or in sheltered spots, but the best fishing is often where the wind is really pushing! And if we can fish with it across us or even in our face, that stiff breeze has several impacts. One, it will bring hatching flies close into the bank, and the fish with them. Two, a strong wind will hustle and even churn up the water near the bank, making fish feel confident to enter even quite shallow water.
This trout was feeding hard on a breezy day, picking off windfall goodies
The message here is to be brave! It’s common to catch fish very close in, or even casting behind where you’re wading, on blustery days. This is especially true on stillwaters, but also applies to rivers, particularly those where stiff winds can mean a glut of insects falling on the water.
Casting, flies and tackle choices for windy conditions
Casting can be the painful bit of the deal with heavier than usual wind. Two things are worth noting here- first, dropping your cast a bit lower, or side-casting, will certainly cut through the wind better. Single or double hauling can also help add speed to combat the wind- and you may want to step up a line rating or two (for example going to a seven or eight weight where you might usually take a five or six.
Flies for breezy conditions (L to R): Bumble, Kate Maclaren, Sedgehog
The blessing of a good breeze, however, is that long casts and fine presentations are no longer so critical. The fish are likely to be active and aggressive- and a windy day is perfect for going a little bigger and pulling flies harder. “Loch style” patterns are ideal for this- and you can go bigger and brighter, or even try flies you can “wake” at the surface. Favourites for lakes include the Clan Chief, various Bumbles or even a “wake” style flies like a Sedgehog, which is awesome fun to pull across the top for violent takes!
Fly fishing in very sunny weather
A low, very clear river and bright light mean spooky trout.
Of course, in the summer months you might have the opposite issue to cloudy, breezy conditions: baking sun and little or no wind at all. But is it still worth fly fishing in a heat wave?
This depends on several factors. Water temperature is especially key. Just like the air we breathe, water holds less dissolved oxygen as the mercury rises. This can make fish sluggish- or even make catch and release fishing tricky. This varies by species. Trout, for instance, are quite brittle and better suited to cool water, while carp are robust and much better made for hot weather. You will have to make the call- but if its so hot you worry about fish welfare, it may be best to delay. Regardless of your target species, keep them as wet as possible, minimise handling and gently support them on release.
As for the impact on fishing when it’s sunny and windstill, these sort of high pressure conditions can have key impacts. For one thing, flat calm waters and bright light can make fish wary and less active. When the water is like a mirror, every little disturbance sticks out like a sore thumb! This can make rising fish easy to spot, but can also make them much harder to fool. But what can you do?
In bright light and calm water, it makes sense to scale down and fish more stealthily. Finer leaders and smaller flies are less likely to scare fish, while we could also drop a weight rating or two; a four or five weight line, for instance, will land a lot more delicately than a seven or eight, especially if we are dry fly fishing. If we are wading in such conditions, and water levels are low, we must go slower and more cautiously than ever to get close to our quarry.
On rivers, your best bet for a hot day is often boisterous, busy water. Trout are not only drawn to the higher oxygen levels, but are a lot less spooky than on smooth sections.
Venue choice might also be key. A big, flat bit of water might be very tough on a baking hot day, whereas a small, spring fed lake or a well-bushed river will often be cooler and more productive for angler and fish alike. If it’s extremely hot, you might also give fragile game fish a miss altogether. For UK anglers, carp and bass are both great high summer targets, while you shouldn’t even think about targeting pike once water temperatures get high!
Flies for hot weather and low water (L to R): Griffiths Gnat, Holo Spider, Coch-y-Bonddu
Back to fly choices and some patterns really stand out for fussy, fish and flat water. Small, unobtrusive midges like a Griffiths Gnat are a winner for these conditions, as are small emerger buzzers and dark, subtle spiders, while July and August see the beetle hatches really get going on bushy rivers and lakes. Try a classic Coch-y-Bonddu or a modern foam backed Beetle cast close to cover!
Fly fishing in rainy weather or flood conditions, and poor visibility
Yuck! The fish are already wet- but an influx of rain can have a big impact on fishing.
Another big challenge to any fly fishing trip is the sudden influx of extra water. This is usually as a result of heavy rain, but could also be due to algal blooms during prolonged sunny weather, or even the excess nutrients many waterways now face.
Is it worth fly fishing in coloured water at all? The answer to that depends on the target species and visibility. For most game fishing, chocolate coloured water is the kiss of death- but if there are even a few inches of visibility you might still have a chance; try testing your fly in the water’s edge and see how visible it is to you. How quickly does it disappear?
Venue choice can be critical here. Some venues, such as chalkstreams, seldom ever go totally brown. The same is true of moorland rivers, whose waters are “filtered” by boggy, mossy ground and escape the run off of spate rivers lower down in the system. Sidestreams are often less impacted than main rivers, too, after rain, so be sure to investigate well.
This grayling still took a fly on a high river- the bright shrimp pattern certainly helped!
Even if your chosen water doesn’t look as appetising as usual, all is not necessarily as hopeless as it seems, bearing in mind that fish can detect food items far better than we can in water. However, we can help them find our offering by going bigger and more colourful- or perhaps even using flies that “push” water by means of bulky materials or even rubber legs.
In terms of fly colours, black, orange and red are amongst the best for standing out in murky water. Bright red loch style flies, streamers and even buzzers can be worth packing if you fish stillwaters that suffer from algal blooms, for instance.
Flies to beat flooded or murky waters (L to R): Red Holo Cruncher, Snatcher, Crazy Legs
When hell freezes over!
Finally, before we wrap up our thoughts on weather extremes, a mention should also be made for bitterly cold conditions. Is it still worth fly fishing when it’s very cold or even freezing? If you pick your venue and species with care, that can still be a yes!
Frost and icy winds might not appeal to us, but fish like rainbow trout and pike are perfectly comfortable in cold water. The same is true of grayling. Just don’t always expect the fish to be ravenous or willing to chase a fly very far. You might need to time your fishing with short feeding spells- or present flies right where the fish are, often on the bottom.
Some of the most reliable fly fishing of all in cold weather comes with smaller spring fed lakes. These always have clear spots, even in a big freeze, thanks to the moving water. A black lure is still likely to bring the aggressive side out in trout, or if the fish are proving more lethargic you could try twitching a bloodworm pattern or even a squirmy worm.
For the species hunter, there is also exciting sport to be had with coarse fish when most game species aren’t available. Some of my best ever pike fly fishing has been on very cold rivers, when there was frost on the bank.
Ultimately, for any fly fishing trip when the conditions are far from normal, there is usually still a way to get some takes. It might depend on how versatile you can be, however, and how much you want to fish! Above all, crazy weather patterns teach us one of the most fundamental fishing lessons of all: we should always start with the question “what do the fish want?” rather than “how would I like to fish”!
Happy fishing, and remember there is rarely any “perfect” day to try and catch fish. We only get the time we have available, and the more we test ourselves the more we learn!