As in salmon fishing, the successful trout fisher, whether on loch or river, will need to adapt his fishing tactics to suit the season.
For the first month of the season, beginning here in Scotland on 15th March, he can expect the fly fishing to be difficult, with high river levels and cold loch temperatures, particularly at the higher altitudes. Fly hatches will be few and far between and the brown trout will be lying deep down. Any surface activity, by both insects and fish, is likely to be concentrated in the warmest hours of the day, most likely in the early afternoon, when the fly fisherman will have his best chance of a fish.
As the season progresses, from April into May and May to June, the picture changes and, with the rise in air and water temperatures, a trout may be expected at any time of the day in anything but the most inclement conditions. The high Scottish hill lochs will now be fishable and the rivers will be buzzing with invertebrate activity, the trout taking full advantage of the now abundant food supply to regain weight and strength after their spawning exertions of last winter.
The daytime trout fishing will be good now through most of the summer, with perhaps a bit of a lull in August, when the high summer sun might see the trout seeking the cooler depths during the day, and most likely to fall to a fisherman's fly from late evening to early morning.
The cooler conditions of September may bring a brief revival of activity before the close of the Scottish brown trout season on 6th October.
For the first month of the season, beginning here in Scotland on 15th March, he can expect the fly fishing to be difficult, with high river levels and cold loch temperatures, particularly at the higher altitudes. Fly hatches will be few and far between and the brown trout will be lying deep down. Any surface activity, by both insects and fish, is likely to be concentrated in the warmest hours of the day, most likely in the early afternoon, when the fly fisherman will have his best chance of a fish.
As the season progresses, from April into May and May to June, the picture changes and, with the rise in air and water temperatures, a trout may be expected at any time of the day in anything but the most inclement conditions. The high Scottish hill lochs will now be fishable and the rivers will be buzzing with invertebrate activity, the trout taking full advantage of the now abundant food supply to regain weight and strength after their spawning exertions of last winter.
The daytime trout fishing will be good now through most of the summer, with perhaps a bit of a lull in August, when the high summer sun might see the trout seeking the cooler depths during the day, and most likely to fall to a fisherman's fly from late evening to early morning.
The cooler conditions of September may bring a brief revival of activity before the close of the Scottish brown trout season on 6th October.
From my friends at Trout and Salmon Fishing
Albert A RaschAlbert A RaschAlbert A Rasch
Albert A RaschAlbert A RaschAlbert A Rasch
